LisaCurll

I'm primarily a mathematician, and some of the the ODE systems they use (and the professors working with them) are right up my alley. Carnegie Mellon is also well-known as computationally strong... if you've never seen their Robotics school in action, you'll have to, they build the coolest things. The location helps me, too - I'm from Youngstown, Ohio and I've been to several conferences in Pittsburgh, and they've been to at least one of ours, so I've seen the quality of their students first-hand. One of my advisors for one of my research programs had his Ph.D. from Pitt in mathematics dealing with neuroscience. I feel like I'll fit right into their family. I also really appreciate that CMU and Pitt are working together, I think it gives us a much broader range of options and resources. I didn't have a particular biological project in mind when I applied or interviewed, so I don't know how to help on that end, but there seem to be a lot of options there, too. I'm interested in the systems modeling of inflammation related to influenza, and they may be starting a new project looking at modeling malaria within the mosquito (instead of just the human element). The standard SIR model is getting a little overdone, so I appreciate that they're coming at these issues in a new way. Pittsburgh is a nice city, too, although most cities are nice once you get used to them. It is somewhat disappointing that you ALWAYS seem to be walking uphill in Pittsburgh, but... it'll tone your calves? It's a newer program, and they haven't had a lot of recent graduates, so they can't offer you the "All of our graduates have tenured faculty positions!" speech that more established programs might be able to offer, but I have no doubts that they will succeed. I think Pitt (or CMU?) is trying to start up an undergraduate Comp Bio program, which doesn't necessarily help us now, but that means they'll have one of the first undergrad degrees, a master's degree, and a Ph.D. degree. Obviously they have the funding and resources for growth. As far as recreation, Pittsburgh has a zoo and several sports teams and theatres. There's also Kennywood, if you like amusement parks, or... for a 3 hour drive... Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Cedar Point is pretty much the best amusement park EVER. They're also fairly close to Ohiopyle if you like whitewater rafting or the outdoors in general. The summers are generally pretty warm and gentle, although there is a significant amount of snow and cold for 4-ish months in the winter. Cost of living is lower, so you can get a nice apartment, or even a house if you go a little further out of the city and don't mind commuting in. Ummm.... yeah, that's about all the knowledge I have on Pittsburgh, lol, although I'd be happy to answer any other questions. It's really not that far from where I already live.

Received an acceptance email at 6:21 p.m. EST! Yay! Will be accepting

Hello, March 15th! So far the results page has shown three rejections and one waitlist. I'm sorry to all that were rejected I haven't gotten any email yet... hoping this is a good sign.

I just found the result you noticed, says they were accepted, blah. I haven't heard anything yet, but I was told March 15th, which would be Tuesday, so my heart isn't broken yet. I just wish I was one of the ones that were being accepted already, lol. EDIT: Wow, that was awful grammar, sorry.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the waiting is giving me stomach ulcers. I've received one bit of news so far - I was accepted to a Master's in Park & Resource Management program at Slippery Rock. What I want to get into is the Ph.D. Computational Biology program at CMU-Pitt. They said they'd tell us by March 15th... six more days!

Congratulations I went to the first interview session, apparently the computer system had a glitch and was sending out rejection letters by mistake. I didn't get one, but I know at least one person did. He was in an interview at the time... that must have been nerve-wracking. I'm definitely hoping for an acceptance - this school would be my first choice. They said they invited 33 people for interviews and anticipated inviting around 30, with the hope that 10-ish would accept. If that is what they do, I would really hate to be one of the 3 they decided weren't a good fit. =/ I'll have degrees in Applied Mathematics and Biology, and this is really what I would like to move into next.

I keep checking this forum waiting for someone to say they got some sort of letter. I'm waiting, too. Only 12 more days until they promised us they'd let us know! Also... they said they were looking to accept around 10 this year, which is significantly more than 4.