isk20

I was accepted to Columbia with guaranteed campus housing for 5 years, which sounds like a pretty good deal. How is the grad student housing/the environment of the Morningside Heights area in general? If I’m in lab late and need to walk home, is it safe? (Petite female, if that makes a difference)

Columbia is this weekend. It starts today. 

Columbia is this weekend. It starts today. 

Ive seen one post about Organic. I also know how to use the search bar..... 

No they are still in the process of sending out acceptances and reviewing applicants. Different disciplines (organic, inorganic, physical, etc) will send out acceptances at different times and also not all at once. This process can take as long as a month from when they send first acceptances, as it has in previous years. So be patient and wait it out if you are still waiting to hear back.

Current Columbia Chem student. The Dean's Fellowship supports all first- and second-year students in the department, and after that, you get funding either through external fellowships (like the GRFP) or your PI.

Fall 2020 applicant and current first-year here, came back to offer reassurances because I know it's a stressful time for everyone. I'm wishing all of you luck. Also, don't panic if you haven't heard back from your top choices yet. Covid is causing a ton of delays. Hang in there! ?  

Fall 2020 applicant and current first-year here, came back to offer reassurances because I know it's a stressful time for everyone. I'm wishing all of you luck. Also, don't panic if you haven't heard back from your top choices yet. Covid is causing a ton of delays. Hang in there! ?  

Fall 2020 applicant and current first-year here, came back to offer reassurances because I know it's a stressful time for everyone. I'm wishing all of you luck. Also, don't panic if you haven't heard back from your top choices yet. Covid is causing a ton of delays. Hang in there! ?  

Fall 2020 applicant and current first-year here, came back to offer reassurances because I know it's a stressful time for everyone. I'm wishing all of you luck. Also, don't panic if you haven't heard back from your top choices yet. Covid is causing a ton of delays. Hang in there! ?  

Fall 2020 applicant and current first-year here, came back to offer reassurances because I know it's a stressful time for everyone. I'm wishing all of you luck. Also, don't panic if you haven't heard back from your top choices yet. Covid is causing a ton of delays. Hang in there! ?  

Search committees are made up of people in the field, so it's highly likely that they are aware of its reputation. Also, the stats seem to support that if they place alumni quicker. Research fit is important in a PhD. It sounds like you put a lot of thought into your decision prior to making it, but are getting last minute nerves. Trust in yourself and the decisions you've made. Northwestern is also a great school. 

Here’s the thing about applying next cycle - between the recession and the fact that a lot of schools are burning through their cash fast, indications are that admissions will be unusually competitive. (This is coming from professors, so straight out of the horse’s mouth, so to speak.) I can’t emphasize enough how much labs across the board have gotten slammed by school closures and industry funds drying up. It sounds like UAB made you happy and you could realistically see yourself going there and being productive, which is very important for a PhD. I’m sure you know that there are no guarantees for next year’s admissions - in my field (chemistry), schools are allowing the incoming cohort to defer until 2021, so spots could be even more limited. So it all comes down to how much risk you want to take. If you decline your offer this year and decide to apply next year, you definitely could get into a more highly-ranked program, but the alternative is also possible. Funding will also be a lot more tenuous, so that’s something to keep in mind  
There’s no right or wrong answer. Choose what you’re most comfortable with *at this moment*, not how you think you might feel in a year or five. 

Are you an undergrad at Hopkins? In STEM, it’s generally better to do UG and grad at different schools since it shows that you’re branching out your skills. 
Don't worry about prestige at this point. The closer you get to the top, the less rankings matter. Yale is also a world-renowned school and won’t hold you back in your career. The fact that you seem to be dreading another 5-6 years in Baltimore suggests that you would probably benefit from a change of scenery and pace. After all, you need to enjoy the location to be happy and productive in your program. 

Here’s the thing about applying next cycle - between the recession and the fact that a lot of schools are burning through their cash fast, indications are that admissions will be unusually competitive. (This is coming from professors, so straight out of the horse’s mouth, so to speak.) I can’t emphasize enough how much labs across the board have gotten slammed by school closures and industry funds drying up. It sounds like UAB made you happy and you could realistically see yourself going there and being productive, which is very important for a PhD. I’m sure you know that there are no guarantees for next year’s admissions - in my field (chemistry), schools are allowing the incoming cohort to defer until 2021, so spots could be even more limited. So it all comes down to how much risk you want to take. If you decline your offer this year and decide to apply next year, you definitely could get into a more highly-ranked program, but the alternative is also possible. Funding will also be a lot more tenuous, so that’s something to keep in mind  
There’s no right or wrong answer. Choose what you’re most comfortable with *at this moment*, not how you think you might feel in a year or five. 

Well, I bit the bullet tonight. I’ll see both of you at Columbia this fall! (Provided the school is open, which seems kinda doubtful atm.)
Tom Rovis is actually a big draw for me - his research is super interesting and he made a great impression on me at the visit weekend. But I’d be happy joining some of the more biological groups as well.

I am compelled to point out that Stanford is, in every way that matters, an inferior institution to the University of California. It is a more horrible place than even UCLA--the lowest satellite second-tier campus in the UC system that steals glory from Cal. #irony.
Much more seriously, I would avoid Cal if I had an opportunity to attend a private university. MOO, the impact of COVID-19 is going to hit the finances of public institutions sooner than private ones, and public institutions will also be vulnerable to secondary and tertiary impacts beyond the control of regents.
And also...
https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/04/01/coronavirus-response-financial-impacts-of-covid-19/

My understanding is that’s correct, but we might get emails before the list on the site itself goes live in the morning. Not sure though so don’t quote me on that lol!
edit: for example, if results technically go up at 11 and we get the email at 2, I don’t expect to see the full list until the next morning but we’d know whether we got it. 

Past threads have stated that you can check the portal page. Emails tend to be delayed, IIRC.

I mean, I'm sure they just compare you somewhere in the middle. Is it fair to compare students at prestigious institutions with those at schools with less resources? Not really, but metrics for scholarship judgement are never perfect. 

I applied for Chemistry (life processes) and Neuroscience, so I guess my application was interdisciplinary? I’m at the end of my second gap year post-undergrad and starting my PhD in the fall (hopefully......) I’m not expecting much but the extra money would definitely help since I’ve narrowed my admissions offers down to two locations infamous for absurd COL.

I applied for Chemistry (life processes) and Neuroscience, so I guess my application was interdisciplinary? I’m at the end of my second gap year post-undergrad and starting my PhD in the fall (hopefully......) I’m not expecting much but the extra money would definitely help since I’ve narrowed my admissions offers down to two locations infamous for absurd COL.

Assuming the same amount of people apply this year as last year (~12,200), the acceptance rate this year would be about 13%, which I've placed on the graph below with the question mark (green is stipend level, blue is acceptance rate).

I was accepted to Columbia with guaranteed campus housing for 5 years, which sounds like a pretty good deal. How is the grad student housing/the environment of the Morningside Heights area in general? If I’m in lab late and need to walk home, is it safe? (Petite female, if that makes a difference)

I was accepted to Columbia with guaranteed campus housing for 5 years, which sounds like a pretty good deal. How is the grad student housing/the environment of the Morningside Heights area in general? If I’m in lab late and need to walk home, is it safe? (Petite female, if that makes a difference)