AlwaysPPE
-
Posts
32 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by AlwaysPPE
-
-
16 hours ago, AlwaysPPE said:
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.
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.
-
On 4/2/2020 at 3:13 PM, aniben said:
Hey Guys. I accepted the offer for the University of Oregon's PhD program in Molecular Biology. However, I just got an email from UCSD giving me the option to pursue a Master's, and transition to their PhD program after the first year if I earn a GPA higher than 3.4. I'm kinda torn, and I was wondering if any of you know anything about the culture of the program at UCSD. I visited U of O and it was great, but I want to work in immunotherapies and UCSD conducts a lot of research in that field. Any insights?
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
-
On 3/13/2020 at 1:49 PM, AlwaysPPE said:
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.
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.
-
12 hours ago, Itai said:
International student here.
-First of all, some of us already have a 10-year VISA, so that's not such a big issue.
-Second, I asked about it when the Corona thing started. I have been told that as a first step, international students will participate in online lectures, and any other problems will be solved, hopefully, along the way.
-Also, as far as I know, some US borders are still open.
If you ask me, the biggest issue that affects all of us, international and domestic, is the economic crisis that might harm our stipends.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...
-
3 hours ago, Baarbod said:
I haven't heard back from Columbia, uPenn, USC, and Northwestern. Should I just assume that I got rejected at this point? I'm contemplating just accepting one of my other offers already.
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.
-
2 hours ago, AtLeastOneAdmission said:
I know people who got their rejections from Cornell already
I wonder why they won't just notify everyone rejected at the same time, isnt their system automated anyway.
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.
-
On 2/24/2020 at 11:08 PM, AtLeastOneAdmission said:
Got my rejection from Harvard. Does anyone know if there's any hope in waiting for Cornell and GT?
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...
-
-
-
2 hours ago, WhatTheHek293 said:
As far as I know they are not holding more interviews. You aren't rejected until you get the official email, so there is always a sliver of hope!
5 hours ago, Baarbod said:So given the recent Stanford acceptances, does no interview yet indicate 100% that I am rejected?
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?
-
2 hours ago, 2020bioE said:
Yeah I also heard that some training grants provide funds that can only be used to support domestic students, but I do not know how true this is. Wishing you guys the best of luck. If none of you international students have heard much back yet I would wager the admission process is slightly different as all the profiles I've read on this site have been very strong.
8 hours ago, Anik_91 said:It's just that tuition fee is up to 3 times more for international students compared to in-state/American students, hence it's harder to find funding that would support an international student. If you didn't get any scholarship/fellowship, then Principal Investigator has to agree to take you on and pay your tuition, stipend etc.
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.
- BME2020PHD and vjysd
-
2
-
6 hours ago, DreamOfferPlssssss said:
thank you for your reply! but the point is that PI is from department of radiology so Im not sure if he is familiar with the BE admission procedure XD. anyway, I can only wait at this time... hope I can get the invitation. Seem like 90% of invited students will be admitted. and congrats to you!
Penn BE has what's called the "Graduate Group" which consists of all professors a BE admit can join the lab of, even if their primary appointment is outside BE. As long as that PI is on that list, I can't imagine they wouldn't be aware of admission procedures.
-
4 hours ago, DreamOfferPlssssss said:
So they didn't have skype interview previously? I just had skyped with a faculty this tuesday and was waiting for a campus visit invitation...
Honestly, I don't for sure know. I thought they didn't before as that's what people here implied, but either way they could still be sending invites.
Especially if you've recently had a Skype interview, it doesn't make sense for that PI to spend time doing that if they weren't gonna send out any more right?
-
6 hours ago, DreamOfferPlssssss said:
Hi folks!
according to last 3 yrs' results, seem like there are two rounds of campus visit invitation for UPenn BioE. the first round is about a week ago. anyone get any notification about 2nd round?
I'll just add that previous years' data may not be as relevant as usual, because they have a new system in place this year (where they did Skype interviews then invitations).
Best of luck either way!
-
12 minutes ago, WanderingNomad said:
I couldn't find a reply-by deadline in the e-mail; there were only deadlines to provide them with some related information (like the list of preferred faculty, etc.).
Congrats!
For nothing more than my curiosity, would you mind giving us some stats or relevant info that you feel helped you get accepted? Totally cool if not, best wishes either way!
-
1 hour ago, WhatTheHek293 said:
They changed it this year. All short listed candidates got 3 zoom video interviews with 3 different professors last week. We were told that accepted applicants are then invited for a recruitment event March 9-10. This is different from last years on campus interviews (with decisions following the in person interviews). I do not think on campus interviews are happening this year and I am not an international student.
Appreciate the detailed info! This is the exact kind of inside scoop I like from this forum. Now I can quite worrying about their decision.
-
Applying to Biomedical engineering PhD programs, and this is the time when on-site interview invitations are being sent out (and will probably continue being sent for the next few weeks).
I have had a few professors reach out to me for a Skype interview, and that I felt helped me land on-site interview invites. Should I reach out to other profs and ask them if they would be "interested in a discussion for a few minutes sometime soon, now that you have hopefully had time to review my application."
Or would that come off poorly?
-
21 minutes ago, AtLeastOneAdmission said:
Thanks for the insight!
I truly hope they'll send out more interviews in the coming days. BTW, I noticed you also applied to Cornell? Did you hear anything from there?
p/s my specialty is microfluidics/lab-on-a-chip
No, I saw they've been trickling out straight acceptances (I assume that comes with a visit offer too lol), but at least I haven't been rejected...yet. It's somewhat interesting how different schools (and even departments within schools) take such different approaches to admissions. Just sucks we have to be on the receiving end of all that uncertainty.
-
4 hours ago, AtLeastOneAdmission said:
So if I didn't get invitation for UPenn interview by now, it must be a rejection, huh?
Possibly, not definitely.
In their email they did not admit anyone, just invite us to visit. I'm sure some people won't take the invitation, or will be otherwise not be offered admission post visit.
I will add, they claimed that each visit is personalized and had us mark faculty we wanted to meet (as well as faculty mark students they wanted to interview), and that the preference for which date we get to visit was based on first come first serve, and to respond in 3 business days. Take that how you will, but I nonetheless wish you the best of luck.
-
6 minutes ago, nodog28 said:
Im guessing I didn't get a UPenn invite ?
5 hours ago, 2020bioE said:Did many others receive UPenn interview? I see one on results. I also see Columbia masters interview — did anyone receive one for masters leading to phd?
Can confirm at least some have been sent.
Let me know if you have any questions, best of luck and hopefully they'll send more.
-
2 minutes ago, AtLeastOneAdmission said:
Are there any other international applicants who did not receive any updates?
I applied to UCLA, UIUC, UMich, UPenn, Georgia Tech, Cornell, Harvard.
I am one. Applied to all but the first two (+others). Have not heard anything official from any of them. Do we even know that intl students receive notice deferentially?
Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering Applications for 2020 Admission
in Engineering
Posted
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.