MarxistHegelian

They already finished their process about a month ago. That's last time I heard from them.

Nothing new to report. My list was finalized a couple of weeks ago. Just wanted to remind you of how cool you all are for staying strong all the way through May. Aside from having a freaking pandemic out there, you are still getting interviews and holding it together. I will be sending some angry letters to the NIH grant people to demand schools to have the same due dates for their interview rounds. It's very unfair that we have been waiting since December (and even earlier) for programs that have summer start dates. Is it just me, or we all have a life to run and commitments to fulfill aside from waiting for an interview? Congrats if you have committed to a program. If you are still waiting, don't worry, at this rate they will be making offers through June ?

Wohoo! Congrats. Honestly, if you look at their alumni page, quite a lot of people decide to stay. They connected me with someone currently in the program, and they said that although applying to grad-school there is not a requirement, quite a lot of people decide to stay. Let me know when you interview is, I can pass you some wisdom on the questions they asked me and the answers I gave. As of last week, they still had more than 1 spot in the program. Channeling the universe's energy so you get an offer. They will start August 3rd along with most PREPs. Apparently most programs jointly decided on that as a start date. If COVID stay-at-home orders are extended, they promised me to initiate 50% online so you can get the payroll + insurance.

He was known to develop the idea of justification of suffering (not in a good way thou). So think about it as a long term investment in growth. It is fair to email programs to ask for constructive feedback. A rejection could mean two things: 1) You are ready for a PhD program, and therefore in no need for help from PREP. 2) You application failed to demonstrate how you can benefit from PREP. Both paths led to rejection, and both could be unclear unless you request feedback.

Wohoo! Congrats

I recieved 25K from Uchicago but I have heard from someone who was offered 30K as well

Same!

I can speak for two of them. I committed to UChicago some time ago. And I heard that they are extending their deadline, meaning that they are not done sending out interview appointments. (Hope you get one!) I called Mayo about a month ago. They told me they where filling spots with early applications, they have a first come first serve type of admission. At that point, it seemed that they had already sent out their appointments and were very close to finalize their cohort. Hope this helps!

Just heard back today! (weird, its on a Sunday) They will be conducting interviews next week and the week after.

Also, The UChicago program is extending their deadline to April 15th to accommodate for the COVID-19 crisis. So if you had your program cancelled, you might as well give it a try!

Just heard that UC Davis is sending out their first round of offers today. Good luck!

You apply where you think you might want to go ? So no worries! Mind sharing the institutions and any updates with the community?

Depends. If the program is getting near their decision deadline, I would go ahead. If the program is just reviewing applications, your email might be ignored and the silence will cause you lots of anxiety. If they provide a phone number, I would go that way. It seems that people in this forum have had more luck contacting PREP programs via phone than e-mail. Good luck!

Dear all. Thanks for your continued support! I received and e-mail from MIT saying I was selected for their interview stage, but they could not conduct them due to MIT's campus closure. They will be cancelling MIT BCS postbac because their start date was June 1st, and they cannot accommodate a later start date. If you were hopeful, like me, to hear from them, it sounds like they will not be having postbac or summer program this year due to COVID-19. Best of luck to you all! I have committed to UChicago, and will keep you updated if I hear back from anybody else in my list ?

Wohoo, congrats! Just got their rejection letter on Tuesday. Hope someone drops so you can get the spot! It would be a dream if all of us get into our top choice programs

Still, two months less to prepare for admissions! I'm hoping graduate programs will be real nice next cycle, and lower their expectations. There is a whole generation of seniors and postgraduates that will not be getting the same opportunities than previous cohorts.

Nobody has heard from Hopkins? Thought they were sending off their interview offers last week. Tempted to cross them off my list ? Congratulations to everybody who has heard back from someone. COVID-19 has taken the world by surprise, so don't over-stress if programs delay their admission process. I have a friend that received 3 emails from PhD admissions asking for longer waiting periods due to telecommuting. Is much harder to rally the whole committees when everybody is getting sick and self-isolating. Stay healthy... and strong!

Congrats!! I'm happy to hear that programs are still rolling with their process. This time brings a lot of uncertainties for us all.

It is definitively a last option resource!. I know someone who did that for graduate admissions. The school was not "thrilled" to have someone accept their offer and then back out of it. But it definitively benefited my friend to get into his top choice school, while opening up the spot for someone else to take the opportunity in the other program. Schools foresee this as a possibility, so they have large waitlists to make up for declining applicants.

Something similar happened to me, maybe you won't agree with my approach: I was offered a spot at UChicago, then Northwestern, while still waiting to hear back from other schools. I stretched the waiting period to the very last day of the two-week turnaround. I didn't want to run out of luck if I turned down both schools, so I went ahead and said yes to UChicago and no to Northwestern. Northwestern offers on-site visits and meetings with potential mentors in April, so I thought it was rude to say yes, get a ticket, and then decline. I accepted UChicago (They run admissions until the end of the month), and might decline if I hear back from my top schools (MIT and Hopkins). As my friend says,"It is much easier sending emails asking for for apologies rather than favors". You want to play it safe, and hold on to what you can. If you turn them down, or run out of time, you might be facing the possibility of not hearing back from anybody else. It is not your fault that this happens! NIH should have deadlines for these programs to distribute their awards. It would not be the first time that your program will have to deal with somebody who declines after accepting. This is just the byproduct of having such a decentralized award model. Keep us updated!

Wohoooo! congrats!! Happy to help with interview questions/tips if you need.

Called Mayo today. I was told that they have been sending invitations for the early applicants, and they hope to wrap up their last appointments by next week. I was told that is highly unlikely to get an invitation now if we haven't heard from them already. Maybe time to cross that one out??

Talking to you must be a charm, because I've been trying to get this info unsuccessfully haha. If the timeline is similar to last years, Harvard won't get their admission resolved until late March to mid April. I also imagine that the issue with coronavirus will definitively put a strain on committee decision-making capabilities.

I've been asked about my research. How do I see PREP fitting in my academic goals. Experiences that demonstrated resilience. And then more personal questions about my CV. I'd recommend that you do your research of the program, and avoid asking question of stuff they explicitly state in their web-page. Make sure you find a quiet place, with little to no distractions. No need to dress fancy or sound fake. Be yourself and let your personality shine through!

Yeah. They have rolling admissions until the end of the month. Te earlier the better