parasitesrcool

Are there any other people here who accepted a Stanford Biosciences admissions offer? Let me know - we're putting an incoming class group chat!

If it helps explain some things, I applied to Yale BBS Micro and the program coordinator called me on the phone (~2 weeks after my interview) to explain they were having a lot of issues with funding. Apparently they weren't already aware of their budget situation because of COVID prior to actually having interviews? Which means they're offering a lot fewer people than they normally would... I got my admissions decision emailed ~4 weeks post-interview.

Check your DMs!

Just got the strangest (and rudest?) rejection letter from UC Davis. They flat told me why I wasn't considered for their program, and while I completely understand/have a realistic sense of my strength as an applicant, their black-and-white reasoning was incredibly demeaning and felt like a punch to the gut. And I never asked for it. Stuff like that just isn't productive. I hope this didn't happen to anyone else here!

I got a call from the program director at UCLA about a week after I interviewed. That being said, she mentioned for the vast majority of applicants, they would not be informed of their status until after the second recruitment weekend/interviews took place.

I got my invite in mid-December (submitted all my applications in mid-November FWIW). The IMMP home area director told us there is going to be a second interview weekend sometime in February—fingers crossed for you!!

The program director did mention they’re having a second interview period in February! Decisions likely won’t be out until after that recruitment event. Fingers crossed for you!!

The interviews themselves were much less stressful than I anticipated. I really only got two questions every time: 1) Describe the research project you’re working on right now and 2) What are your career goals/why a PhD? (Several also asked which other schools I was interviewing at, and I decided honesty was the best policy and didn’t dwell on it.) Then they often shared their group’s research with me, and a few even had slides to show (think of good probing questions to ask while they summarize it). Be prepared to explain your project without the jargon (likely your interviewer is close to but not *in* your exact niche, you know?). I found it helpful to practice a ~1 minute elevator pitch about my work to my roommate, who is also into molecular biology but on the plant side (not microbes like mine is). And you should have a good idea of your career goals by now, so you’ll only need to explain that in a sentence or two if they ask. I wouldn’t be too stressed about them, but it is definitely fatiguing—it’s hard to be “on” for several 30+ minute interviews versus a normal Zoom class where you’re more passively paying attention. But these are really just conversations with scientists that are genuinely curious about the science you’re interested in! Hope this was helpful!!

Not to sound like this person, but I just wrapped up my first virtual interview/recruitment event and I am beyond exhausted. I have six more coming up and many of them are back to back, and I’m starting to wonder if I can actually do it all. How have people been combating screen fatigue? Does anyone have any advice? This was much more doable than the academic year, not sure why this is so much more taxing...

That's weird - email them back ASAP. I had a conflict and Pathobio admin got back to me and rescheduled pretty quickly.

I also got invited! See you there!!

Yes I have. I was invited to interview on December 23rd - doesn't mean you won't get some good news soon though! A lot of people are getting interview invites this week and prob will next week too!

Hey party people! Has anyone else been invited to interview at UCLA (IMMP), Yale (BBS, Micro), University of Washington (Pathobiology), or BU (PiBS)? Would love to say hi to you! (Everything feels so isolating when it's happening remotely...) Also... Has anyone else gotten good news from "reach" schools and waitlist/rejections from "safety"s? I feel like my luck has just been insane (not to be that person. I am genuinely stupid)