Quiteña

Duke (for pharmacology) was actually my favorite for a while, especially after the interview. My student host was really nice and was willing to set up a Zoom call to talk about the program, the faculty were easy to talk to and had research interests similar to mine, and their career development program seems fantastic. A faculty member who I didn't even interview with reached out to say congrats, that he also went to undergrad where I did and was happy I did well there, and to reach out if I had any questions. Overall, they made me feel really welcome. Penn is similar in the sense that I am very interested in the research there, my student host was amazing, and I actually enjoyed the interviews. I think both would be really good fits for me, but because my boyfriend got into a medical school in Philly, and none in North Carolina, Penn ultimately has the edge. I totally understand not feeling a connection with a program though - everyone keeps saying to trust your "gut feeling" on schools, and there were some interviews that were just more tiring than exciting. It's harder to get a feel through Zoom, but I think those initial intuitions are still valid and very important.

I actually did reach out to my top choice (UPenn PGG). Taking advice from my professors, I wrote an email that let them know the options I was considering (UPenn, Duke (with said stipend fellowships), and Rockefeller), expressed my preference for their program, and politely inquired if there were additional fellowships I could pursue due to my additional financial responsibilities. I concluded saying I was looking forward to the additional events being hosted this month. I addressed the email to the chair of the PGG admissions committee and CC'ed the chair of the department, and the chair was actually the one who replied to me. She was very kind, and to summarize, she basically said that unfortunately, unlike schools primarily in the South, they do not have additional funding to offer their recruits. However, they are working on additional financial perks for students entering this fall, and she would collect relevant information and contact me to schedule a call in the next week to discuss any questions I might have. She completely understands the financial constraints of being a graduate student and wants to help any way she can. So even though they weren't able to offer me a higher stipend, I am still very glad I reached out and can get some guidance from the chair. I don't think there is any harm in trying (especially if your top choice is located more in the south!). Let me know if you have any additional questions!

Hi guys, looking for some advice! I pretty much decided on a grad school, but another one of my options has offered me additional fellowships with a significantly increased stipend (11.5k increase by my third year). Does anyone know if it's possible to contact my first choice school and say something along the lines of "are there any additional financial opportunities I can pursue?" I don't want to come across as haggling or demanding them to match the stipend, but my S/O is attending medical school at the same time and it's quite expensive, so anything helps. Can programs even offer more than the stipend they declare? I don't really know how to go about this, and would appreciate any insight/advice. Thanks so much!

I think you should definitely let the schools know asap if you are certain you would rather go to one of your other choices. The schools appreciate knowing that, and applicants will as well since they can get more offers out earlier. I also think that if you are no longer interested in a program, you should withdraw your application. That interview offer could go to someone who is still interested!

Molecular pharm! Kind of a tangential question, but do different admissions committees review applications based on what area you indicated as an interest? I ask because a lot of these umbrella programs state that they do not require commitment to a department until the end of the first year, so I assumed there would only be one large committee as opposed to separate ones based on department.

I received an interview invite on Dec 23rd, but the dates were for the 1st week of March, so there is still plenty of time for more to be sent out.

They sent out interviews for the weekends of Jan 14th and Feb 4th.

Does anyone know what kind of applicants Rockefeller is looking for? I saw on the results page that some seemingly strong applicants (in terms of years of research, publications, etc) got rejected. I got an interview, but I'm nervous because I would think that my experiences are not as extensive as some post-grads with many publications, and I'm not sure what to emphasize about myself on the day of.

They sent me an interview invite on December 23rd for interview dates of Jan 11-12 or Jan 25-26.

I received an interview invite from them in December, but I don't know if they are done!