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Just_Alice

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Posts posted by Just_Alice

  1. 21 hours ago, OldFire Mamba said:

    Just got my rejection today. I think youre on waitlist, still wishing you the best.

    Good luck to all my international applicants, youll need it!!!!!

    I also got the rejection later that day... Well, a rejection is way better than just being ignored, which I got from Yale INP and probably from Duke Psychology and Neuroscience ?

  2. Hi guys! Did anyone receive a rejection letter from Sinai?

    It is so weird, I can see that last years they always sent out rejections early and fully... It is way past their time for sending out rejections. I would assume they are keeping a waitlist for interviews, but they sent out more interviews this year if judging only by the results page. I counted 7 interviews, and last year it was 5 and the rejections were sent out. 

    Do you think there is still hope for Sinai? They told me more than a week ago that applications were under review, but it seems kinda late for it at this point. 

  3. 20 hours ago, NeuroKween said:

    Hey! So I literally went to websites of universities I wanted to RA at, picked out labs I was interested in, read their latest papers and then emailed the PI directly (whether or not the website said they were hiring). I did this for like 10/15 labs at a few different institutions! The good thing is that universities can get you here on a J1 visa (research scholar) which is much easier than a H1B visa, and if the PI wants you, the HR team will do all the paperwork! I know quite a few other RAs that are international. Some PIs are really nice and realize that they have the power to give people who don’t otherwise have opportunities in their home country a chance in the US, and they want to see that you’re genuinely interested to learn and work more than how qualified you are. 
     

    To be really specific here, My RA position pays $40,000 a year.. and I live pretty comfortably in New York with it. It also covers medical insurance. So i would definitely try to do this if I were you! 
     

    Feel free to DM me if you have more questions :)

    Hi NeuroKween, thanks so much for this detailed explanation! I will DM you soon?

  4. On 1/10/2021 at 12:33 AM, NutsaN said:

    Hey, I'm from Georgia! The situation is same here regarding physics and math, we have schools dedicated to these two only and many people who want to go on that path are kinda easily accepted into the top universities, however biology and chemistry is completely disregarded, no international contests or anything like that and neuroscience is almost nonexistent (especially what i'm interested in - molecular bio crossed with cognitive neuro) since funding is always scarce and as an undergrad I can't work at a lab and get paid well, so I have to balance myself with a different part-time jobs. 

    I had some figuring out to do too. At first I started studying at a medical university (I was fascinated by psychiatry, university was totally shitty though) and after three years I've changed my major, started from the scratch and finally I'm graduating so don't worry, it took me 7 years to get a bachelors degree as u see. Also I think that Georgia is an unknow country in the US scientific-wise, especially when I'm studying at the university that was created only 7 years ago.

    I wish you all the luck and hope you get accepted to the program of your desire, thank you for your response ❤️ 

    Hi NutsaN, I am sorry I initially mistook PennState for UPenn, the second one is a great school, no doubt. I do not know much about the first one, but I think doing a PhD in the US is worth it as long as your POIs are there. I agree with the above commenters that the interview will help you realize whether you should go for it. I need to say that you are a very brave and courageous person. I have applied to 4 schools in the US and 1 in Europe (I will apply to some more European schools probably), and many people I know kept telling me that I did not stand a chance.

    My last year's research advisor almost broke my heart by refusing to give me a reference, intimating me that I got my hopes too high and he would not support my applications. To be fair, I was not the only one he treated this way; he is quite a complicated person. But I did my best and always did everything I was asked, he graded me with A- on my term thesis which is a good grade to receive from him. I thought we had a good relationship, and then he treated me this way. And I know that even those professors who agreed to support me probably made a face at me inside. My family, obviously, also does not support me in this... Well.. I am even afraid that if I do not go anywhere this year, I may not be able to get myself together next year to apply. And my program actually has cases of alumni getting into Ivies.

    I can only imagine what you must have gone through, I do not know your particular situation, so I am sorry if I am wrong. But I still think that the fact that you have applied and have put so much effort into this shows that you are a brave and strong person and you will succeed in whatever you choose one way or another. 

  5. On 1/9/2021 at 8:48 PM, Nightrestr said:

    Hey NutsaN!

    Congrats on the PennState interview! I don't think you should worry about school rankings if there are your POIs there...
    I'm also from a post-soviet country (but the biggest one), and it is my second application cycle. 
    So, as I have been applying for almost two years, this is what I realized: 
    being an international student, you shouldn't expect much from the very top schools (like Ivies and UC's)... Most of them have limited funding for internationals and can accept only a few, if not one, of them (I mean for a particular program). And, of course, they prefer international students having research experience in the US to those who have their research experience only outside the US. Especially if it's not a renowned university/institute... So if you really want to get into one of the top grad schools, I would suggest you find a RA position in the US to get some experience there. 

    Also, have you applied only to 4 programs in the US?

    Wow wow, another Russian future neuroscientist here! Do the two of us know each other? ? Are you by any chance affiliated with HSE (Moscow)?

    What makes me sad is that I know at least three Russian students who used to work and study at HSE as well... two of them got into Ivies (one actually did not go and decided to stay here), and the third one went to Oxford. They seemed stronger applicants than me, but not that much. However, maybe this is a different year. Also, I have really struggled with this application cycle due to many reasons, so I did not expect much, but I was so hopeful ? 

    Did you try to find an RA position in the US?

  6. 14 minutes ago, NeuroQween said:

    Definitely reach out directly to lab PIs for a RA position. I read up on every PI's research, then wrote a little paragraph about what I love about their work, my interests and that I'd love to join their lab. I tailored it to each PI, and applied to over 10 labs. I ended up with two interviews, and finally was offered an RA position. I used my time RAing to save up money to apply to 8 universities this round. Being international, it's especially a numbers game.. I applied to 3 last year and got 0 interviews. This time around I got 3 interviews out of 7 applications. 

    Thanks NeuroQween, this is a really interesting suggestion. However, I find it hard to imagine - how to apply for an RA position? I mean why would a lab higher someone living on a different continent?.. Also, I am not sure if I would be granted a visa in that case, and I would also have to live somewhere, and would money from RAing cover all the living expences?.. Here in Russia RA positions are not well paid, unfortunately, and one cannot get by on just one RA paycheck. 

    If this would be feasible, I would love to follow your advice. If you would like to share your experience with regard to the aforementioned circumstances or just share some website maybe where you might have learned something about it, we would be tremendously greatful. Even though you cannot do any of the above, still, I am greatful for your advice and I will definitely look into it.

  7. 7 hours ago, NutsaN said:

    At least UPenn was honest and they said: hey you know what you can apply of course but we're accepting only very small number of international applicants this year so don't get your hopes up if you'll apply

    Nutsan, I am also from a post-Soviet country (from Russia, actually). Our scientific situation is more or less okay, but with neuroscience it is definitely not the same as in the US or UK. However, I am impressed by your stats and I think you should be competitive. My stats are not as good because I had some trouble figuring out who I wanted to be and have an undergraduate degree in law an a year of master's in international relations (but then, I am completing master's in cognitive neuroscience now). 

    Still, I understand the committee members may look down on my stats, but I definitely do not understand why they treat you like that. I think there are many people here who apply to UPenn, though, (I didn't), so it should be a good school. And I think many schools in the US are better than the post-Soviet ones (strictly in terms of neuroscience, as this field is not that popular here, unlike physics or mathematics, let's say). 

  8. This situation makes me hold onto hope that maybe international applicants are invited later than the American ones. I wonder when I should let go of this hope and accept that I am not actually going anywhere... Someone in the thread said Sinai would be sending interviews next week. Maybe these are not the only ones? However, there have been posted quite a lot of them and it looks like all are out already?

  9. 23 minutes ago, corticostriatal said:

    International here having the same question for many other programs (e.g. Harvard, Yale, NYU...etc). Hearing ppl saying these programs have sent out invitations but barely see a international without US degree (‘I’) report on grad cafe. Welp also could be these schools aren’t giving chances to ppl w/o US degrees.

    This whole situation is a bit sad... well... too bad if it is true and international applicants are not really considered by most schools.

  10. 53 minutes ago, sirtuingirl said:

    Duke Neurobiology is admitting 1/3rd the number of students this year (less than 10) compared to last year but got 2.5 times as many applications (230 this year versus around 90 last year). Unless your POI is on the admissions committee, chances are slim this year in all of the Duke Biomedical PhD programs as well as the Biology PhD program, even if you have a 4.0 or close to 4.0 GPA and decent research experience.

    Any info on the Psychology and Neuroscience PhD program in Duke? I have applied to Psychology and Neuroscience and have not heard back, neither an invite nor a rejection. And this is not a Biomedical program, it belongs to another department I think.

  11. 12 hours ago, imnothere said:

    idk about other people, but I'll just keep being a lab manager for another year and hope I can push out more pubs I guess. I was unlucky this year bc both of my conference presentations were full-on canceled. And i've only been doing full time research for two years, so I only have 1 pub. 

    I am also a lab manager and I see people here who have been lab managers for quite a while... I do not want to be stuck like that. However, I am going to have to be, as it seems. Cheers to the lab managers in this thread!

  12. Just now, imnothere said:

    idk about other people, but I'll just keep being a lab manager for another year and hope I can push out more pubs I guess. I was unlucky this year bc both of my conference presentations were full-on canceled. And i've only been doing full time research for two years, so I only have 1 pub. 

    I am sorry about your conferences... I am also a lab manager and I see people in labs here who remain to be lab managers for so long...  I do not want to be stuck like that. However, it seems like I will have to continue doing this as well... and I also have 1 pub and have not been doing research for too long. Anyway, cheers to lab managers in this thread!?

  13. Just now, imnothere said:

    idk about other people, but I'll just keep being a lab manager for another year and hope I can push out more pubs I guess. I was unlucky this year bc both of my conference presentations were full-on canceled. And i've only been doing full time research for two years, so I only have 1 pub. 

    I am also a lab manager and I see people in labs here who remain to be lab managers for so long...  I do not want to be stuck like that. However, it seems like I will have to continue doing this as well... and I also have 1 pub and have not been doing research for too long. Anyway, cheers to lab managers in this thread!?

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