Xanthan

Pat's King of Steaks in South Philly is the original and still the best. One wit cheez whiz an' onions is a religious experience.

Seeing as we're already into the middle of March, I don't think it would be out of line to email the other programs you haven't heard from and politely ask if/when a decision (and funding) will be available.

Wait a sec... you've never heard of the University of Houston? (My mind, she is blown.)

1. Qualifying exams: written, oral, or both? What's the pass rate? (PhD from low ranked school beats exiting with masters from a top school.) Do the required classes really prepare you for quals? (This should be asked to current students.) Or are quals just an excuse for faculty to abuse the students? 2. Geography: what's the cost of living? Weather? Overall culture? Will you have a car? What is public transit like there? (I can tell you, it's pretty non-existent in Princeton.) Also note that you're most likely to get a faculty position somewhere close to your grad school--it may not just be 5 years that you're in the area. Plus: proximity to major cities: Berkeley is near San Francisco. Princeton is near New York. Ann Arbor is near... Detroit. 3. Funding: not just stipend amounts, but also benefits: health insurance? Gym membership? Subsidized housing? And are the stipends for fellowship, TA, or RA? If TA or RA, how much work is required? 4. Time to graduation? Attrition rate? Learning is great, but without the piece of paper, you'll never get the job. 5. Are you moving with a significant other/family? What do they have to say about it? What would their job/school prospects be like?

My impression is that it depends on what area of the life sciences you're talking about. Programs that are primarily about human-based/biomedical research tend to do lab rotations, with only minimal or no TA work, and often even no RA work. Programs that are non-human based (ecology, evolution, botany, ect) are more likely to have you sign on with a prof at the start, as well as do TA and RA work. I'm going the biomed route, and looking at a lot of program websites, I didn't see any that required identify a mentor without doing lab rotations.

No, not wanted in the criminal sense. What I mean is, should you consider how eager a school is to have you in your decision? As a hypothetical, say I have two schools, A and B. Suppose they are roughly similar on fit, funding, ranking, ect. (But not so similar that you couldn't decide on those factors alone.) In other words, a close toss up. School A gets back to you less than a week after the interview, with note from the PD really trying to sell the school to you. School B sends you a short note several weeks after interviewing that you've been placed on the waitlist; a few weeks after that, offers you a spot (without so much selling of the program). How much (if any) weight should be placed on the fact that one school seemed more interested in recruiting you?

I would think if you emailed them and told them of your situation, they would be willing to let you know by email. (As a practical consideration, they want to know if you're accepting an offer, the sooner the better.) If they won't play along, that might be a sign that the program admins aren't student friendly.

UK = University of Kentucky. (I've gotten that from my friends too... I posted on Facebook "I got an interview invite for UK!" and someone thought I was going to London.)