rosekeet

I was accepted to Einstien for the biomedical sciences PhD program. I enjoyed my visit and it seems like a good program. However, I haven't been able to figure out what the school's reputation is. It's not on the US News rankings. what's the word on the street?

As someone who was born, raised and is still living in Cali, trust me. You'll be fine. You'll get more radiation exposure going to the beach for a few hours than you will from the nuclear issues in Japan. Don't let earthquakes freak you out either. There are very strict building codes.

I have been accepted to three schools so far. I have not made a decision. I have received several emails from one school (a "prestigious" school, very highly ranked) requesting that I make a decision soon. I replied that I wanted to carefully consider my decision and I would let them know by April 15. Today, I check my email at 11:45 am. I have an email from the program coordinator saying that if I do not accept their offer by 3pm today, my spot will be given away. I am on the West coast and this school is on the East coast, so it basically means I had 15 minutes to make a decision! I was freaking out, but responding in the affirmative because this school is at the top of my list. I reread my admissions letter and it clearly says that I am NOT OBLIGATED to respond before April 15. I emailed the head of the adcomm and he said he did not know anything about this email and that I would not be held to that email. Now, I'm confused and angry. I really liked this program and the faculty. However, I do not appreciate the harassment or this kind of email. I got the email at 9am, my time, so I basically had 6 hours to respond. What if I hadn't checked my email? I could have been working, or in class, or out of town, or anything. It also seems shady that the program coordinator is sending emails like this without the head of the admissions committee knowing! I don't know what to think... The program is a good match with my interests and I liked the faculty and research. The students seem happy. It's very highly ranked. It was my first choice, but I wanted to hear from all my schools before making a decision. Thoughts?