AlwaysPPE

At least you got a reply after reaching out! I've dealt with programs where I visited and the PIs I talked with AND the point of contact person all ghosted me. Another pro tip for future applicants: A PI/Program that is interested in you (as in will give you an offer) will NOT ghost you. Even in these COVID circumstances, PIs will make all reasonable efforts to court their acceptances (at least any PI worth working with will do this). So if you don't hear back after a reasonable period, it's a safe assumption that those PIs are not going to move forward with you, consider other options.

I'll also add that I wish I knew that this WHOLE process is entirely dictated by the professors. It's their labs you'll end up joining, so of course it makes sense that even if a single one wants you, you'll definitely get interviewed and get an offer. I wish I knew that before applying, so I could have spent more time before the applications went in talking to POIs, not in Jan/Feb or whenever I found out. Again, I definitely feel very lucky anyway, but just a note for future applicants :)

Hey all! Big day is here and almost gone, so congratulations to everyone who accepted an offer! I am curious where everyone ended up, and why? Anyone wish they did anything differently? Personally, I wish I took a bit longer deciding which schools to apply to. Luckily it worked out for me, but could have been real regrettable.

Can't speak much to the culture at UCSD, as I only heard some slight rumblings of toxicity but I don't know anything personally. I will say though, one big no no is going back on your word. You accepted an offer, the program made their decisions based on that, and to go back on that would reflect badly on you. Like bad enough to where I've been told to absolutely not even think about it if one is even considering a career in academia. Ultimately the decision is yours, and you may choose to take that hit... Perhaps others have a better perspective on this

Just to update my thoughts here: I have also ruled out universities I've interviewed at, but have not yet responded to me. Given they've sent people acceptances, it's clear they picked their first choices and the delay is just hedging me as a backup. I guess I really care that if I'm going to spend 5+ years somewhere, that I am their first choice too! I imagine it would be weird to work for a PI that didn't view you as a top candidate, especially if that has a lasting effect on their impression of you. At this point, if a university couldn't be bothered to get back to me by now, I have sent them an email (nicely worded) letting them know I'll be pursuing a better fit elsewhere. I encourage others to do the same if you also care about such things, it'll help people waiting who don't have any other options. It should also (eventually) teach them a lesson about prompt responses.

I think most international students require a F-1 Visa, which are a maximum of 5 years, and are only issued after getting an I-20 (which only happens after enrollment/registration). This process usually involves a Visa interview, conducted in their home countries (which have now been suspended). Glad to hear there's some flexibility with online courses happening, hopefully that continues to be the case. Check the news, the US's southern, northern, European, and Asian borders are all but closed. I am also worried about the economic crisis, though hopefully the nature of the issue makes governments realize they need to spend MORE not less on biomedical research (which is ultimately where our stipends come from, PI's grants).

So for all the International students currently not in the US, how does this current outbreak affect them? Especially with the news that all US Visa operations abroad are suspended, and all the borders being closed? Do y'all think universities will simply wait for them to get here whenever that's possible? Or will they give them a spot in next year's class and give their current spot to someone else? Is it possible they just get their acceptances revoked (hopefully not as that sounds awful)? Assuming of course this whole thing doesn't just blow over in a few weeks, which hopefully it does, but probably won't...

From past posts, and people I heard from, I believe all of those have sent their interview invites and / or most of their acceptances. I am in the same spot for some of those (i.e. haven't heard anything), and I'd say certainly it's not hopeless they may extend you an offer, but I'm treating them as a rejection effectively. Personally, I am waiting to hear back from the places I've interviewed at to make a decision, but won't be waiting until last second for some slim hope of an offer from a University that has ghosted me, and I haven't visited. I guess it matters to me that a University cares about me, and sees me as a valuable candidate worth contacting and keeping up to date, not some backup.

Perhaps it's because we are both international students, and they are trying to first primarily focus their capacity on easier-to-fund domestic students? Unfortunately I don't have a full explanation, but maybe reaching out and asking may shed some light.

I'm in the same boat, and to be honest, not really holding out much hope for either. Others have said that GT is done interviewing, and Cornell is done accepting. I assume they haven't gotten around to rejections yet as a backup. Unfortunate to say the least...

Does anyone have updates for any of the following? Harvard, Cornell, Northwestern, and Georgia Tech. I am not sure if they are likely done sending invites/acceptances and I haven't heard anything from any of them.

Anyone have any updates on Harvard? I saw something on the results page a while back , but not sure what's really going on. Are their invites all sent? Have they done any Skype interviews? Do they just go to straight acceptances?

I am in the same boat, and I'm just going with a working assumption that I'm rejected. A program like Stanford's would presumably know how many people to interview so they can always pick from that pool, and avoid the risk of an un-interviewed acceptance. Having said that, you do hear stories of miracle acceptances from people in March w/o an interview. I just find it useful to go with the aforementioned working assumption.

Congrats to the person who heard back from Harvard! Could you tell us any more details?

I am not quite sure if the admissions timeline would be different for international students, but certainly it is harder for departments to fund them. While all out-of-state students pay the same much higher tuition (i.e. international and those who are from other states), this is only applicable for public universities, as they subsidize in-state students' tuition through state tax dollars. What actually makes international students much harder to support in practice is their grant ineligibility. They cannot apply for any federal grant (NSF, NIH, DOD, CDC, etc), this makes them unable to attain many lucrative fellowships for example (they can still be paid from general grants awarded to PIs). Since most of these top schools basically guarantee funding, international students are riskier investments as research/department funding may not always be stable. Less important is also the fact international students are just that, non-US citizens. This means they are not as likely to stay in the US, get prestigious academic positions, or otherwise help build the reputation of a lab/university. Though I've never personally heard this reason alone be a deal breaker (not that I'd even know). Back to admissions timeline, for all these reasons I guess it's possible some departments first go through US applicants? But I don't have any evidence to say one way or the other here.