anthro_eco

I was finally accepted to Brown University EEOB yesterday. After six straight rejections, its a bit overwhelming, almost surreal. After a really long time I'm looking forward to the future, absolutely excited about the lab and the department. Congratulations to everyone else and I wish you guys all the very best for graduate school.

Heard from my PoI at Stanford yesterday, he told me I wasn't invited for the interviews so I'm going to assume that all invites have already been sent out. I too am waiting to hear back from Harvard and Princeton.

which program? I applied to Biology

Hi!! So glad to meet EEB people here, gradcafe can sometime feel like an ocean of MolBio and BioMed peeps. I'm from India and will be graduating with a masters in Biology in the spring. India is dreadful when it comes to the intellectual diversity in Ecology labs so I was sort of always boxed into behavioral ecology as the only ecology lab at my uni did that. But I still feel fortunate that all my external research experiences, though they dealt with beahvior and physiology, it was at least in the context of global change. For my PhD I will be working on the intersection of community ecology and biogeography to better forecast future forest distributions and patterns of diversity. Though I'm still figuring out the logistics of the question I have asked, I'm happy that my prospective PIs are excited about the abstract concept I presented. I think the programs I'm applying to should be in my signature, if not, I'll add them shortly. So far I have a verbal confirmation from my PI at Brown and am also quite hopeful about Stanford. All the best and I hope we all get into our top choices!!

Had a meeting with my prospective PI at Brown today, I'm almost in. According to him now its only a matter of whether I choose to go there. So excited and relieved!

Hi, though I'm applying in EEB, most of my coursework has been molecular. I can help you out.

Just got done with all my apps except Brown which has a January deadline, hoping I get some interview invites.

Almost done with my statements, submitted 1 of 11 applications. Schools I'm applying to : Stanford Biology, Harvard OEB, Duke Nicholas, UCSB EEMB, UCLA EEB, Brown EEOB, UW Seattle Biology, UMN EEB, Princeton EEB, Columbia EEB, Rutgers EEB

Can anybody chime in on how much the faculty can weigh in on during AdCom in tracks without lab rotations? I had been in conversation with a faculty who was in his words rather impressed and very excited about the ideas I pitched them, they even went on to say they'll do everything in their power to get me into the program. I would've been confident after their commitment if I didn't have the profile I do, but all my research experience only has a conceptual overlap with what I'd like to do during grad school due to the field being so small in my country that there just weren't people working in what I was interested in.

Hey man! we're a small group so good to see more EEB people around here. All the best for your TOEFL! I took mine in July. If you're 100% confident that you're getting in that uni I'd say that's cool, otherwise you should definitely look at other places as well.

Hi all EEB enthusiasts, I though we could start a thread early as our app process also starts earlier than most STEM fields as we have to get in touch with potential advisors. I'm broadly interested in global change biology and am looking to join a lab which works within community ecology and ecophysiology in the context of global change, so that includes climate warming, exotic species invasions, land use change etc. I don't exactly know which schools I'll be finally applying to yet as I'm still in talks with potential advisors and hope to keep getting in touch with more until at least mid November or so. As of now I plan on applying to UCSB, UCLA, Berkeley, UWM, UWashington, Brown, Stanford, Duke and Princeton cause I have at least one PI interested in all these places, I still need to talk to some people from some less competitive programs to possibly be on the safe side. Would love to hear what you guys plan on doing and where yall are applying. Best wishes

Hi! I'll be applying in Ecology, reached out to a faculty and found out they aren't taking students next year, but they said they'd be happy to co-advise so that's something not negative I guess.

Thanks! I don't know how I should evaluate whether the programs have weak committees but in EEB generally you have to line up an advisor before you apply, otherwise you just won't get in no matter how good you are. It somehow skipped my mind that the semester hasn't started in the US so most PIs are either away on vacation or working in the field, I've slowly been getting more replies and got two more zoom invites from UCSB and UMich. I will probably E-Mail the rest of the PIs in mid-Sept when the would definitely be in office and wouldn't have to reply to academic emails from their phones.

Yeah I'm pretty stressed as well, have been told by the profs in the US I have been emailing that I have a very strong track record but it just isn't working out with as many people I'd like to, many have said they don't have funding for internationals or they already are in touch with a domestic student so my chances are low but I should still apply given my profile. I'm going through a rough patch financially so I'll have to be careful where I apply to. I do have a professor who seems to be interested in me at Wisconsin-Madison so I hope that zoom call with him goes well. I'm a final year master student from India by the way.

Its hard to say 'which' universities because its Phd admissions, just apply and see where people respond, I've been sending E-mails and have somehow gotten more zoom call invites from top 5 programs than the schools I considered safe.

I'm applying in EEB, how about yourself?

Undergrad Institution: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Major(s): BS-MS in Biology and Physics(Minor) Overall GPA: 7.52/10 ~ 3.5/4.0 Major GPA: ?? Type of Student: International, South Asian male GRE Scores: Won't take TOEFL : 112 Research Experience: - 4 months in an animal behavior lab at my university - 5 months at University of Wurzburg(Behavioral Ecology) - 2 months at a circadian neurobiology lab at my university - 3 months at University of Glasgow(Behvioral Ecology) ------PANDEMIC HIT------- - 4 months in a Bio-Sensor lab at my university - Master thesis in cognition at my university Publciations : 1 published in ICB, 1 in review at Nature Eco Evo, 2 in prep. Conferences : 1 abstract presentation at an international conference in Spain. Other Relevant Experience: ?? Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Receiving the most competitive and highest paying undergraduate scholarship in the country(selection rate 0.5%) Dean's list for 1 semester. Other Info: - Most experience has been in behavioral ecology but got interested in the neural substrates of behavior after I scored an internship in the same which was later canned due to covid. Applying to Where: NYU, WashU in St. Louis, UWashington, UIUC, Northwestern I would say I definitely have a not so suitable background for neuroscience, but I'm familiar with the techniques from my lab courses and am quite interested in the subject, so I'll shoot my shot with these five schools and apply to EEB departments in the others. Would love to hear any comments on my profile.

Hi, I'm a final year master student from one of the top(?) institutes in India, I'm looking to apply to Ecology and Evolutionary Biology programs this fall. I'm a little lost about where I stand with my profile and what should I expect from this application cycle. My profile : Major : Biology Minor : Physics Research Experience : 2 internships in Germany, 1 in the UK. 21 months in total, 9 projects,. (Anthropogenic Change, Behavior, Ecophysiology) LORs : I'm very tight with the my guides in Scotland and Germany, my thesis guide at my uni will write decent things as well. Publications : 1 in Press(icb), 1 under Review(Nature eco evo), 2 in prep should be submitted by October tops. Conference : 1 abstract presentation in an international conference in Spain. Interests : Impact of climate change on ecosystem structure and function Scholarships : Highest paying and most competitive undergraduate stem scholarship in the country. GPA : 3.4 Where do I stand with this? Even though I'm in an extremely privileged position relative to the rest of the students in the country, it had always been hard to come across opportunities that align well with my interest so I had to jump on whatever I could get, so I'm afraid I might not have the relevant quantitative background on paper other than my physics minor and the 6 math courses I had to credit, I'm familiar with statistical analysis from the first author manuscript I've been working on but unfortunately do not have formal experience working with theory and models, though I have been working on a spatial model independently. Many thanks