Astaroth

Almost exactly what I needed, especially today. Thanks.

I think you missed out the word "go"...

...I would backpedal on everything I've said so far and forget every criterion I decided to use when "choosing" places to apply. This is actually quickly becoming reality.

Just got a rejection letter from Rockefeller. Good stuff! Read on another forum that they're done looking at applications and have sent replies to all applicants by mail.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TBtpyeLxVkI

I've personally spent OVER NINE THOUSAND

How did everyone organize their applications? I used Google Notebook just to make sure I could access it anywhere, anytime. I had one notebook for listing places i was interested in with all the good & bad aspects of each, plus links to crime stats and weather history for each town. I had another notebook where I wrote down what I had completed for each application and how much money it had cost me.

You said it... "very small town". I have a friend who did his undergrad there, Film & Literature studies, if you are looking for small and quiet (REALLY quiet) then you will love it. Pretty much the diametrical opposite of NYC. As a university, I believe it is considered pretty good for humanities, but I'm not in your field so wouldn't know.

Interesting.

As single as it possibly gets. This sounds like I'm making excuses for myself but I really think it would be stupid of me to distract myself with that right now, in such a transitional period of my life. 6 months from now... bring 'em on.

I am pretty sure that there is a difference at least in the case of some programs. I know that UMichigan (PIBS) has notified american students already, and after that I received an e-mail from them saying that they are looking at my application (i'm international) and that I should expect to hear back before March 8th. On the other hand, I know that MIT sends out interview invitations to all the students they are interested in, international or not, at the same time. I'm sure that some programs will have a similar strategy to Michigan and some to MIT. BTW: We have a thread especially for Biology PhD applicants going in the Life Sciences sub-forum. viewtopic.php?f=41&t=14555

It means they are looking at your application, along with everyone else's. Stop obsessing.

The Kite Runner and a backlog of the 4 Economist issues that I had no time to read because of exams (and because they are HUGE... seriously each Economist issue has about as much reading material as the average paperback).

For anyone who has applied to MIT and hasn't heard back yet: My housemate just called them to ask about her status and was told that if you haven't received an invitation to an interview by now, whether you are domestic or international, you can assume that you have been rejected. They will send out rejections soon. :cry:

I want to say that I don't give the proverbial fink about rankings, but that's not true, so I voted "below 50". After thinking long and hard about it, I realised there are a myriad other factors more important than prestige when choosing a place to do a PhD. In fact, high prestige may even be a bad thing because of the mentality that goes with the prestige in certain circles. In retrospect, I really wish I had not worried so much about rankings when choosing where to apply. The most important criteria, in my view, are: - Whether you "fit in". In other words, look at the research done in that department, and see how far it aligns with the things that interest you. - Location, location, location. And weather. - Whether you think you can get in. Applying to reaches is a bit silly (I know cause I have done it) unless there is something about the place that you would DIE for. - Funding. - Reputation, but not necessarily prestige. You will not get this information from any sort of website or list, you simply need to ask around.

Most people's interests are pretty broad if they're still finishing their undergrad. You can hardly expect someone to know exactly what they want to do research on before they've done full time research in a lab, and this is one of the main reasons why you do lab rotations during the first year of your PhD. In fact, you would probably be constraining your options too much if you decide on your research field this early on in your career. The most I can narrow it down for my own interests is essentially cancer and molecular machines. I happen to have some more specific interests within those fields, such as cell cycle control, or the ribosome, but frankly these interests seem to change on a monthly (if not weekly) basis because of what I'm exposed to during the final year of my undergrad. Hence, I wouldn't say your interest is too broad, it sounds about right for the level you are at right now. If you're wondering where to do a neuro PhD... four letters: UCSD.

Yeah I really enjoyed reading that. Didn't really give me any more or less confidence about my applications, but it is at least comforting that they are enthusiastic about applicants and want to read their files.

Sounds like my 670 falls smack in the middle. Maybe the Gaussian distribution should be renamed the GRE Verbal distribution?

Applied to 9, already rejected by 1, 5 of the remaining 8 are reaches. Wooo!!!!

I've seen people mention on this forum that the various grad schools communicate with each other regarding their common applicants, for example I remember reading that if you back out of an acceptance then you might get a "bad rep" with other grad schools because they will hear about it. Well, if that's true, and I don't think it sounds entirely outlandish, that for example all the biology departments of grad schools of roughly equivalent reputation communicate with each other... perhaps they don't just do so for things that will hurt us? What if they are also trying to look out for us to a certain extent, perhaps by looking at whether someone has ended up with no offers at all and "making sure" they at least get an offer somewhere? I'm thinking of a situation where a few candidates are roughly similar and most of them have ended up with at least one offer, but one or two have been left out even though they aren't weaker candidates, maybe they would make sure that those people do get an offer somewhere? This is extremely wishful thinking but if these schools are indeed communicating with each other regarding their applicants then I don't see why it would only be for ill, and not for good. :?:

Seems like a lot of my "competitors" have publications, unfortunately I spent a year in research at a pharmaceutical and they have a particular aversion to publishing things, it seems. The data I generated was easily publishable, but it was just never going to happen. Also, some things I've discovered during my current project are easily publishable, but unfortunately the timing made it impossible for me to have anything even in press before applications. I was only about a month and a half into my project when I submitted 90% of my applications.

My choice would have been Western US, but I've already been rejected from there, so my next favourite is UT, hence I voted South.

I LOVE Nanaca Crash! Such a bizarre game. I kind of hit a wall with it though so I stopped playing. Here's my high score:

Oh wait, I'm a thicko. I voted 750-800 even though I got 740. I guess that shows why I lost those 60 points.

Originally from eastern Europe but studying in the UK so I voted that.