Hostmicrobe

Just wanted to chime in and let everyone know that I have chosen to accept the offer from Washington University in St. Louis (Cancer Bio). I would like to thank everyone for the invaluable information, and experience sharing. I'm certain that we'll meet at some point in the future, either at conferences, or maybe reading a letter of recommendation written by one of you at some point, collaborating on research, or perhaps working together. I'll see you out there. 

I was once given advice "to go with your gut. Don't waste time writing pro's and cons list. Things change, people change, you change. Trust your gut and go with it. chances are, you won't make a bad choice."
Hope this helps

Wow, its good to know that we have met :). Honestly, I enjoyed the visit very much, and found everyone very warm and welcoming. The research aligns perfectly with my interest and that is what led me to apply in the first place. I am very much interested in two faculty's work and luckily I got to meet them both there, I found both of them very nice (so nice that they personally emailed me after the visit). I agree with you on the lack of diversity. Although they seem to have been trying a lot, the program and school seems less diverse. Apart from that, my only concern is the cold climate there, given I have options for schools located in much warmer areas. 
Please do keep me posted about your decision. Who knows, we might be in same cohort in UW Madison :). 

Hi! I would say it was pretty casual. The current graduate students seemed very nice and honest about their experience. The faculties I interviewed with wanted to know a little bit about my research and they liked talking about theirs. I'd suggest to look a lil bit on their website and have a couple questions about their research, and a couple about the program. Overall, I found them very welcoming and easy-going; also the BIMS program's diversity is what I was impressed with. Good luck with your interview!

Hi, this is my second time applying, I applied for Fall 2021 intake too but did not get any interview. I applied to 9 schools/programs this time and 4 of them were the ones I had applied to last year also. Out of the 4, I got interview from 3 of them this time. I believe it is mostly because I wrote a better SOP and I had 2 second-author papers published in between. Everything else on the application (including recommendation letters) were the same. 

Hi, this is my second time applying, I applied for Fall 2021 intake too but did not get any interview. I applied to 9 schools/programs this time and 4 of them were the ones I had applied to last year also. Out of the 4, I got interview from 3 of them this time. I believe it is mostly because I wrote a better SOP and I had 2 second-author papers published in between. Everything else on the application (including recommendation letters) were the same. 

Hi, this is my second time applying, I applied for Fall 2021 intake too but did not get any interview. I applied to 9 schools/programs this time and 4 of them were the ones I had applied to last year also. Out of the 4, I got interview from 3 of them this time. I believe it is mostly because I wrote a better SOP and I had 2 second-author papers published in between. Everything else on the application (including recommendation letters) were the same. 

Hi, that was most likely me. I interviewed with the BMG cluster/track last week.

I just got into HARVARD! The virology program. It was my number 1 choice and i'm so excited. i would like to ask you guys opinion. I have 5 more interviews but is it better to decline the interviews and free up the waitlist? my mentor says i should see the interviews through so that i can make an informed decision. what do you think?

Thank you for that information! Hoping for good news for you!
I did apply to the same track but have not heard anything. Sounds like most invites will be given out by the end of January.

Just received my first acceptance to the University of Chicago! I am so excited!!

Yes, I received the same document. I don't think it was an accident, I guess it was just convenient for them to make one document and send a mass email rather than do it individually. As far as I know, they want us to see and let them know if there's any error in the personal info or preferences on the document.
Personally, I like how they sent it to everyone as it gives you a chance to see how many and who your fellow interviewees are, to know what people are interested in and to contact them before or after interview about their views on school, the interview process etc. I recently interviewed for another school and there was no chance to communicate with fellow interviewees at all, and no way of getting their contact info. 

Hi All! Since many of us may have interviews coming up, I thought it'd be helpful to share tips or experiences. Like what questions to be prepared for or anything else. I've heard that you're most likely to be asked about your research experience at broad. I'm sure its different from school to school and program to program, but any other thoughts?