lowestprime

All offers sent Rejected by email today.

Anyone know if UC Davis is done sending admission/waitlist letters? I saw someone was rejected from UC Davis NGG by mail yesterday. I also know someone who got accepted on Monday and another who was waitlisted Wednesday. Finally, the program coordinator said "We are working on sending out the Neuroscience Admission’s decisions this week." on Monday. If ppl haven't received a waitlist invite by now, I assume that means the rejection letter is coming? Any additional info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Thank you! Got a more detailed response this morning:

In case anyone is curious, apparently Stanford may not actually be done sending out invites. I emailed to ask and got an autoresponse stating:

UCLA Interview invite acceptance deadline was Jan 13th. Only way would be if they have a pre-interview wait-list. I know UCD Neuro has one if not enough ppl accept their invite by the deadline.

Any update on UCB?

February 9-10

Figured, thanks.

UCLA: February 5 – 6 Does anyone have the Stanford interview dates? Are they done sending invites?

During the info session, they said they're going to try to interview "as many as possible" this year. Could be true if interviews are virtual.

If virtual interviews, I would guess ~60% That's what it was for UCSF virtual interviews FA21 cycle.

Less than it used to. In 2021, UCSF admitted under half of the people they interviewed.

Phew.... ?‍? University of California, Davis Integrative Genetics and Genomics Graduate Group Interview this morning. I'll take it! ? My theory was right, genomics etc better fit than neuro in my case. Prob would have gotten more interviews if I applied to genetics for all.

Yep. Still waiting to hear from both. Why oh why did I apply neuro.... Genomics, Mol Bio, BMS,Tetrad and similar are all better fits ?

Aaand they did me dirty again ? Rejected around midnight

Not sure if good or bad though, because last time I applied (Fa21), the rejection letter status update appeared right above the upload materials sec.

Suspense is wild. Did your portal update too? 4:30pm My portal just updated to remove the submitted application items checklist, but still does not contain any info about invite/reject. 5:10pm I can't. This is absurd lol, only b/c all rejects and zero invites out of the 10 I applied to so far (6 remaining). the UCSD invite would also mean a lot since it's my alma mater. single additional acceptance added to admissions results and my portal still has no additional info.

? Congrats ? My portal still shows neutral, no reject letter or invite.... Was yours an email and portal update? I wonder if they're done sending rejections?

UCSD is pioneering a new rejection process? It's very odd, just signed into the portal and there's no updates.

Emailed earlier this week, they were very vague: UCLA: "Applications are currently being reviewed for the Fall 2023 cohort. If there are any updates regarding your application or interviews, our program will reach out to you directly." Harvard (emailed general admissions, because the PiN contact was a specific person. I'll prob email her now): "Some, but not all, of the 58 graduate programs of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offer interviews. If you have questions, you may reach out to the contact for your program of interest to determine whether any further guidance is available."

UCSF, UCLA, UCB and several others too.

Good luck to you too! I thought Harvard PiN was done sending interview invites after the initial round of emails? Will there be more?

Hey, figured my exp might be of value to someone. I know it's long. Applied for the first time in 2020, a year after completing undergrad at UCSD. Interviewed at UCSF but was ultimately rejected along with many other interviewees (at UCSF at least, being interviewed during COVID was by no means a formality, in fact, most of the interviewees were unfortunately rejected). Was also rejected from UCLA and UCSD. For Fa23, I applied to 10 progs: UCSF, Harvard, UCLA, Stanford genetics+neuro, UCSD, Mt. Sinai, UCB, UCD genetics+neuro. Rejected from UCSF, Harvard and UCLA so far. Still hoping for an interview invite from UCD, UCSD, Mt. Sinai and/or Stanford, but already planning to apply to industry positions for the next two years if things don't work out. Few lessons/thoughts from my second cycle so far: I didn't email PIs or students in labs of interest this year. But, last time I did and was able to meet with 2 UCSF professors on zoom a month before the submission deadline. One happened to be on the admissions committee that year. While emailing/meeting PIs/students is not required or supposed to make a difference in your interview/acceptance chances, but I still credit it as the reason I was interviewed with so little exp and qualifications at the time. I think this is an underrated step, at least for schools without undergrad progs, because the professors are less busy teaching and tend to have more free time to meet prospective applicants. Make your SoP shooooorter, especially for programs with longer word/character limits. Please. It will boost your chances. Even if you have a lot to cover, be as selective as possible, only highlighting the most important stuff. Just because you are 100-300 words under the limit, doesn't mean it's short enough. Concision is a sign of maturity, confidence, respect for the reader and good writing generally. My SoPs were longer this time as I had more to cover, but looking back at them, despite over a month of editing, I still feel the same things could have been communicated more succinctly (maybe shaving off ~200-500 more words). My PI who regularly serves on the UCSF BMS admissions committee (similarly low acct rate to neuro), said that reviewers use LoRs as a screener and read them before anything else. If they identify any red flags/kisses of death, or more often, if they don't see certain desirable graduate student characteristics mentioned (e.g. independence/initiative/drive, persistence, creativity/troubleshooting, critical thinking skills, talent in specific areas etc), they often rank the application much lower and barely consider the rest of the app. I assume it is a similar process for UCSF neuro at least. After working at UCSF for 1.5yrs, 3 more relevant pubs from my lab, and connecting with several faculty, students, fellow applicants, I was immediately rejected without virtual interview this second app cycle. Previously interviewing for the program (under strange circumstances at that) and working for the same uni full time for over 1.5 yrs did not help at all. VET PIs first before accepting postbac research jobs, their rep doesn't matter as much if they are an ambivalent mentor. Try to find a mentor who communicates well and is available and invested in your success as the top priority. Only the methods and field of the lab need to match your interests/field of intended grad program, the rest is less important. I know you can't take admissions results from top programs personally and no one is entitled to an interview, but it was rough receiving the rejection despite preparing for two more years. It feels like a step back for sure. It also makes me realize how much more competitive neurograd admissions are becoming. The new two part interview structure for UCSF Neuro this year was quite surprising, maybe it's just a hybrid approach inspired by covid, but I can't help but think they are going for the multi-interview structure of medical school applications. My UCSF PI mentioned something when I was first hired that I was too stubborn to take seriously. They stressed that the specific grad program you join at a given university doesn't matter much, as long as it is somewhat related to your research interests/career goals and you can still find a good mentor. Usually, you can still take most of the same classes and rotate in/join the same labs etc. So why would someone choose to apply to the much lower acceptance rate, supersaturated and smaller class size neuro programs, risking consecutive rejections or never being interviewed at all, just for the "neuro" description on their PhD degree? If a university only allows a single program application per cycle, I will always choose the prog with the highest acceptance rate (e.g. genetics, bioinformatics, Tetrad, PSPG and other less popular programs) that overlaps with my research interests (neurobio/genomics/molecular psychiatry) moving forward. In my case at least, there is zero reason to risk waiting 2 or more years just for the "Neuro" label. Does anyone else feel this way, especially multicycle applicants? TL;DR: take NOTHING for granted. Consider applying to higher acct rate progs at the same schools instead of Neuro, where you can still pursue your interests and prepare to achieve your long term goals. Sorry for being so pessimistic, happy to answer any other q's abt my first cycle or in general. Good luck to everyone this cycle, I know it has been rough for a lot of folks. This is probably one of the most competitive application cycles yet.

Thanks haha. UCSD + UCLA already rejected, so UCSF is my only shot ?. I thought UCSF interviews (week 1) went ok, but have been doubting that lately for several reasons ?. Won't have to wait too long anymore to find out at least lol.

ohh, gotcha thanks. Yeah, they admitted a handful (~7 ppl) on the 9th (2 ppl reported on gradcafe). From what I've heard, I think the rest should come out any time between this evening and Wednesday at the latest.