Bernt

Posting this on behalf of a friend in my program; if you're interested in applying to MIT BE definitely check it out! "Considering applying to MIT's Biological Engineering PhD program or even just considering a PhD in BE / BIOE? Join the MIT Biological Engineering Application Assistance Program on Thursday, Oct. 21st, from 11 AM – 12:30 PM EST to hear from current students about the program and get your questions answered! The webinar is anonymous and is open to all, even those who may not need one-on-one mentorship through the BEAAP program. Please register at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8EUayfQFTNCsh0PgdBgbRAand add questions & upvote questions you have on the webinar Slido (https://app.sli.do/event/fcd7b6uy) anytime between Friday, Oct. 15th, and the webinar. Contact beaap-webinars@mit.edu with any questions!"

Whoops, made a small mistake - my GRFP acceptance was sent out on March 30th 11PM, a follow-up email was sent on April 21st to give more information post acceptance.

I was notified April 21st at 8AM. Last cycle's GRFP thread included an acceptance timeline for past cycles, which should give you an idea of when the acceptances typically go out.

Not everyone who is invited posts on GradCafe, so don't take the number of posts to be indicative of number of invites. Last year only a few people posted their interviews/acceptances, but our cohort size is ~25 with ~40 interviewed. It is possible that some invites will be sent out later, but it's unlikely given the info I got from other people in my department and trends of past years. Other MIT BE PhD students are letting their mentees know they likely aren't getting interview invites/accepted if they haven't received an invite already.

I asked around the MIT BE department. Interview weekend planning in the department is starting today/next week. Most interview invites have/will be sent out by the end of this week. Last year I got my invitation at 9PM on a Friday, so there still may be more sent out today/tomorrow. It's unlikely that there will be any more sent out after this week.

I applied and was accepted to BU last year and they sent out acceptances in waves. Acceptances were sent out every Thursday for 4ish weeks (iirc). There's also no correlation between their "fellowship" PhD offers and time at which the offer letter is sent out. It may be different this year, but that's how it worked last year!

I received GRFP last year. For the references section, I used size 10 Times New Roman Font and truncated citations (First Author et al. (YEAR) Journal). I put a space between each citation, as opposed to one on each line. Not sure if the rules changed this year, but I had no issues with this format last year.

It's common for students to apply to 8+ schools. 5 is not too many, and 3 is too few in my opinion. Recommenders probably won't write a unique letter for each program, they'll just make slight changes to customize it. If you're worried about applying to too many programs and its burden on your LOR writers, ask them if 5 is too many.

I applied to two programs at the same school (microbiology and BE) and got into both. Applying to multiple programs at the same school can work, but you need to have a "good" reason to do so. Admissions committees can tell when you're applying to multiple programs just because you want to get into the school (by whatever means necessary). This will reflect badly on you, indicate you aren't really interested in each program, and decrease your chances of admission. You need to show clear interest in each individual program. You also need to prepare to answer the question: "why are you applying to multiple programs?" For me, I applied to multiple programs because my interests spanned both programs. The programs also had different structures/focuses for classes and rotations, which I wanted to explore. I used the interview weekends to get a feel for the programs (beyond what was written on the website) and explicitly stated that during interviews: "I am interested in both programs because I have research interests in many broad areas; I want to explore and understand these research topics during these interviews, and get an idea of how good my research fit is. I also want to interact with current students/administrators to better understand the nuances and focuses of each program."

I would choose a professor you felt was a good fit. You'll be successful and do good research in either lab, what really matters is: will you be happy? A Nature article isn't worth being yelled at. micromanaged, and stressed for 4-6 years. That will only break you down and sour your experiences with research. A great PI who respects and supports you will make any paper, big or small, feel important, and will facilitate a healthy research environment. You'll be happier and less stressed, which is more important than fancy publications, in my opinion.

Yes, with no research experience you likely cannot get into any top 30 PhD programs. Applicants with stellar GPAs (3.9+), fantastic research experience (2+ years), and great LORs get rejected from these programs. They're extremely competitive. Personally, as a US student, I got 3 years of undergraduate research experience by doing research in multiple professor's lab. I wouldn't count course-based lab work as research unless you did a project (ie, a senior capstone project). Some people do research both in undergrad and post-bacc, or just post-bacc. It's not uncommon for applicants to take 2-4 years off to gain research experience - at multiple interview weekends I was of the only people to NOT do post-bacc research. I'm in a different field (bioeng), but I imagine many CS applicants do research/gain industry experience after graduation before applying to PhD programs.

For STEM fields, undergraduate research experience (or equivalent industry experience) is effectively a requirement to get into PhD programs. Most successful applicants have at least 1 year of research experience (minimum, at top ranked schools applicants typically have 2+ years of research experience). Graduate schools want to see you have experience doing research, as the majority of your PhD will be spent doing research. It will be difficult to get into decent, let alone top ranked CS PhD programs in the US with no research experience. Honestly, I would recommend taking 1-2 years to gain relevant research/industry experience prior to applying. This will also provide you with at least 1 research-based LOR, which you absolutely need. You can also seek out a research-based MS first, then apply to PhD programs after, but this is fairly expensive. Also, just a note: the GRE matters, but not that much for top ranked programs. It can barely help you, but it can definitely hurt you. A meh GPA with a great GRE is still a meh candidate, because your GPA better represents your knowledge in your field. A great candidate with a bad GRE is cause for concern/pause. Relying on the GRE to boost your application for top 10 programs is not a great idea.

As long as the typos weren't egregious I think you're fine. You will be judged almost solely (99.9%) on your application content, not the emails you send to admissions.

If you have formally accepted and deferred an offer, that is considered a commitment from you to attend that program. While technically yes, you can apply to other programs (unless your program says explicitly otherwise, which some do, check the conditions of your deferral), it is generally frowned upon to do so. Academia is a surprisingly small world. If a professor from your original program happens to chat with a professor from a program you're applying to, you could end up in a sticky situation and jeopardize your admissions at both institutions. You also risk your reputation in your academic field. So, technically, yes you could apply to other programs. But I would not recommend doing so. If you do, proceed with caution.

The anticipated impacts of COVID-19 on graduate admissions is negative. This is due to three primary factors: 1. Increased number of applicants. Historically, more people apply to higher education (undergraduate, Masters, and PhD) during times of economic turmoil. This was seen during the last US recession. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, applications to graduate programs increased (sources: Census Data, NYT, MSN). This is likely due to the job market tanking; people lose their jobs and go back to school for the resume boost and financial security associated with a funded PhD. 2. Less slots due to deferrals. Many students admitted for Fall 2020 deferred their admissions (due to online classes, travel issues, etc.). These deferrals may “take away slots” from students applying during the next cycle. If 25 out of 50 people in a cohort defer, this could affect the amount of available slots + desired cohort size for the next admissions cycle. 3. Less slots due to less funding. COVID-19 is negatively impacting many schools funding, due to decreased enrollment, deferrals, lack of on-campus housing, and other economic factors. If a school has decreased funding, they will prefer to fund their current students as opposed to admitting new ones. Multiple programs have already stated they are decreasing their number of slots or not accepting any applications for this upcoming admissions cycle (source: Reddit Masterpost). The second two reasons are less relevant for STEM. STEM programs typically have more stability and external funding, as opposed to smaller humanities programs. Regardless, it seems there will be more applicants for less slots, resulting in more competition. How significantly this will impact STEM, specifically BME, admissions is unknown at this moment in time. The advice I’ve given to people applying this cycle is to apply to a few extra/backup programs, just in case. Things are hectic right now, it’s better to be overly cautious.

In my experience, applying to 2 programs at the same university is fine. I applied to two PhD programs at the same school, and was accepted to both. As long as you can justify your choice to apply to both programs, and show clear interest in each program individually/separately, you should be fine.

I recently applied to top 10 BME programs, so I have some experience with this! Take my advice with a grain of salt though. If you have any questions feel free to respond/DM me. Because of your GPA, I would recommend looking at schools lower ranked than the top 10 programs. Top BME programs are extremely competitive, having hundreds of applicants with strong profiles. If you look at the successful application profiles for the BE programs at MIT, Stanford, BU, etc., their GPAs are typically above 3.75 and they have extensive research experience. You can see some of these profiles on the BME threads or results pages. This doesn't mean you shouldn't apply to top 10 programs - it's good to have reach schools, but given your profile you should look more at schools below the top 20-30. If you're 100% dead-set on top 10 schools, you need to boost your profile through additional research (during undergrad and after graduation, such as a research assistant position in a well-known lab) or a MS with a high GPA. When you're deciding what schools to apply to, your main focus should be research fit. Research fit/environment is more important than rank IMHO. There should be 2-3+ professors that do research you're interested in. I would recommend looking at the school's professor's websites (many are organized by broad research areas). You can also look at the author lists of relevant papers, as they will list the universities the authors work(ed) at. Other factors you should consider beyond research, location, and rank are diversity, outreach/leadership opportunities, size of the program/school, etc..

From personal experience, I received external funding (NSF GRFP) and was offered admission to a program who had otherwise not accepted me. A lot of schools heavily promote external funding (and sometimes offer "bonus" funding as a reward for getting external fellowships), as it decreases the amount of money they have to pay you. It can also help you get into a lab of interest more easily, as a student who is partially/fully funded requires less grant money. This may not be universal, but that's what I've experienced.

I'm also undergraduate bioengineering, but I received 3 reviews. E/E, E/VG, E/E.

I didn't see an existing MIT 2020 thread so I figured I'd start my own! I'm an incoming biological engineering student. Anyone wanna connect/chat/freak out about COVID-19 together before the fall semester (hopefully) starts? We can chat here, exchange contact info, and/or make a whatsapp group chat if people are interested!

Has anyone who received the GRFP award received additional information? The original email said information regarding how to accept/decline the award would be sent out before April 21st, which is in 2 days. I haven't received any additional emails/info, so I just want to make sure I'm not the only one.

I second what 2020bioE said. Some programs have very specific strengths, while others have a wide range of fields. I would consider schools like BU and MIT very broad-spectrum in that they have a lot of different research fields within their BE programs. In general though, the top ranked BE Ph.D. programs can be found on https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools. However, choosing a "best" program is pretty subjective. Factors like research areas, faculty, education, location, and stipend are all factors that can determine what school is "best" for you. Personally, I think the most important thing for choosing a Phd. program to apply to is finding a school with 2-5 research labs you would be interested in joining. Labs can be full, lack funding, or not be a good fit after rotating, so having multiple options is very important.

UPenn is the evil villain of the BME Ph.D. application process. Of course, with it's sidekick in ghosting: Columbia. I have so much more respect for schools that send out rejections early. Being led on/ghosted is awful.

I second the wishing I took a bit longer to decide which schools to apply to. I mostly applied to top programs, but in hindsight a lot of them weren't great fits (not a ton of labs in my field of interest). I also wish I applied to more schools. Even though I was a very competitive candidate (and got into my top choice of MIT BE), I didn't get a lot of interviews/offers, which was extremely anxiety inducing. I would have applied to a few more safety/backup schools, if only to have more options and save myself the anxiety. Overall, I genuinely think grad school induced anxiety aged me like 5 years. Refreshing the results page constantly for months, having a mini heart attack every time I got an email notification, prepping obsessively for interviews, all that gets to you. I'm just glad it's over and things worked out.

I was recently accepted to MIT and have been looking for off-campus housing. MIT has an official off-campus housing website for students, staff, and alumni, which is where I started looking. I found a potential roommate/place very quickly on there (like, in my first few hours). They work for the university and their LinkedIn/Twitter seem legit. They currently live in the apartment, and have found another roommate, so there would be three of us total. Overall I think it's a great fit, but I want to be careful. I can't visit/check out the place in person because of COVID-19. The rent seems reasonable, but the security deposit is pretty low which has me worried. They seem very excited about me potentially moving in (and are considering talking to the landlord about getting my rent decreased for the months I won't be living there due to quarantine). What should I do to make sure the offer is authentic/not a scam?