greengrass2

I think you should go. The academic world is quite small, so you'll likely run into the faculty (from the school you're hesistant to visit) again. It's tough, but the interviews are almost over; make the sacrifice to save your name And like the above post mentioned it, maybe this will even top your current first choice!

Thank you all! I've been trying to be as well-informed an applicant as I can be (although it's meant me staying up reading about research profiles and preparing interview answers until 3am--obviously nervous behavior!); hopefully this will leave me a bit more confident when it counts! I'll keep you updated

Lol! That sounds disasterous! For the sake of being nice, I hope I don't have fellow applicants getting all boozed up at my dinner tonight. But if they dooooo... you'll hear about it!

I have a 2-day interview tomorrow. I'm freaking out! I'm doing what I know helps me "chill out" (reading about the school, going to the gym, breathing, etc.). Any tips for the actual interview?

Agreed! I think this is where naivety comes into play... I'd love to see it in action, hahaha!

Has anyone been on an interview and seen/been an applicant have a little too much wine at dinner and act "a little strange" at the table? I wonder if this happens... stories, anyone??????

Most of the Masters students in my program were trying to get into medical school. The next set were using it for career enhancement (bigger paycheck). The minority were student who were actually interested in pursuing a Ph.D.

Well for somewhere like NYU, for example, because they have so many different schools, the MS and PhD programs may each fall under different schools, in which case, the adcom is likely different. For example, getting a MS at NYU in biology is associated with the "Graduate School of Arts and Science" but if you were going for a PhD in "Cellular and Molecular Biology", that would be associated with the "Sackler Institute". If you investigate the schools and see if there is overlapping faculty, that will help you figure out if there is a possibility of any part of the adcom being the same.

Um... is there an app for this? (You can thank me with stock privileges and a Maserati or two)

I read a person's comments on the results board calling someone else's stats "pathetic" and how they couldn't believe that the "pathetic stats" person got an interview before them. I wanted to reply and tell them that their attitude must suck so much (even on paper) that the adcom at "Harvard" or wherever couldn't bear to see them in person. What an a$$h0le! I honestly thought this website was meant for us to help each other-not bring each other down! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

If you're not on a workout plan of any kind, get on one! Exercise invigorates the body AND mind! It makes you more confident and give you better energy for face to face communication. (Plus it's a good way to get your mind off of decision letters, too!) Good luck everyone!

26 (27 in June). Still got it, though. I think my age is helpful because I've gained experience with my age; I'm not fresh out of college and have been working (in the same field I plan to study for a doctorate, pharmacology) for over 4 years. If I was doing some non-relevant work during those 4 years, my age wouldn't mean much in terms of being "more" prepared.

Yeah, I think that one line bugged me for days, actually. I didn't know what to think of it... until I just stopped thinking about it altogether! They could have just chosen not to add that part to the letter; all that line meant to me was "you're not good enough to be even wait-listed," and if I'm already rejected, who cares?

Here's one I liked: "I would like to keep your application open as the opportunity for its further consideration may occur, but it is unlikely." Translated: "You might still have a chance. Not!"

This might be a silly question, but has anyone been rejected after being invited for an interview? If so, what do they say as their reason (do they even give a concrete reason, based on additional info from your interview, if any)? I'm asking because I've seen a few rejections on the results page for some programs I applied to, but I'm curious to know if any of those people actually got as far as the interview and THEN received a letter of rejection. Any thoughts??

Not sure if this is true... but I guess you should be happy in such a case since they're the ones lowering their standards (so YOU don't have to)!

Mt. Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Interview dates I was sent are: February 14-15, February 22-23, February 28-March 1

I'm just curious: what does "rejection via website" mean? I've seen people posting results with this outcome, but I'm not really getting a grasp as to what that is. Is it an email with a link to a webpage with a rejection letter on it? Is it from the same website used for the original application to the school? If anyone can elaborate on this, I would really appreciate it. I'm just trying to keep track of my responses from grad school, and I want to ensure that I'm looking at all possible modes of notification (so far I'm only aware of emails and post mail). Thank you!

Sorry to say this, but I've worked in big pharma for 4 years now, and if you don't have a Ph.D., no one will even bother to listen to you. People with M.S. degrees only differ in salary from people with just B.S. degrees. If you want to be on the top, go for the Ph.D. If you want to be a lab rat or in sales, stick to the M.S. Also, getting a Ph.D. means you're becoming specialized. Along with being "over-qualified" due to your degree of education, this can be a set back. An M.S. can be a good thing, especially if you want to steer away from the lab and enter a more business based aspect of research or science.

Yep. Of course. I regret not applying to more safety schools. I knew that I wasn't as competitive as other applicants based on my credentials, but I applied to only ONE safety school. That basically means I won't have much to choose from in the end. Funny thing is that I knew this from the get-go, as every other applicant had known. I think I was gambling. In retrospect: not worth the gambling. A night in Atlantic City would suffice. ::SIGH::

My friend did that when he was applying to grad school. He looked like a chipmunk.

My mousepad (which is basically functionless) has a picture of my old undergrad campus, which has a beautiful green landscape. So, I picked my username from the first thing I saw when creating my profile. Boring story, but true.