virion

For any biologists using MS Word 2007 or later, the following plugin is pretty great: http://compbio.umbc.edu/3655/ (DNA/Protein sequence related)

Though your chances of finding a good match will be slimmer here than craigslist, I'm willing to bet your chances of dealing with crazies is slightly lower.

Excellent contribution. Guessing you're building up your post count to drop a bunch of spam for the url listed as your website.

Yes. It's possible that someone could have an emergency come up and have to defer or cancel but you should assume of course that you will be applying next year.

The quote I get for the Uhaul Pod service essentially doubled in price since I last checked a few weeks ago, making it completely non-feasible at this point. Should have reserved it then but was unsure about exact dates. doortodoor.com fortunately had the same price that Uhaul originally had, so I went with them. They were extremely helpful on the phone, we'll see how it goes...

I feel like it would be easier for me if I didn't have a car. I've got a small sedan and enough stuff that a Uhaul would be a good size, but a trailer would likely be too small (not to mention obnoxious moving across the country). I think I'm going to go with the pod system (like TakeruK said, Uhaul Ubox) - if anyone knows the cheapest, reliable providers of services like that, I'd be keen to hear about it.

It's most likely collegeconfidential.

For something that's going to impact your life to such a magnitude, your argument holds no ground. Being social creatures has absolutely nothing to do with it. Given that it's been 8 days already, he could have compiled his own list, which would be better suited for him and, obviously, personalized. That's not to say that it isn't a great help to have your own list, and a list someone else produced, and to compare them side-by-side. I think that's great. I'm sure you've got a list you made, and intended to send it and so on. But it should be a high enough priority to him that he should assume the list might not make it to him in time and he should be working on this. Suggesting that your future depends on someone on a message board producing a list of schools for you is difficult for me to even comprehend.

This is exactly why you shouldn't rely on others for important things like this. If someone takes you 10 days to produce a list that they supposedly already had, you are better off figuring this out on your own (you are better off figuring it out on your own anyway). It was probably inherited from someone else to begin with anyway. This is no way to go about something this important to you with such a looming deadline.

Sounds like Miami has a lot going for it, then, unless your plan is to get a masters and then apply to higher ranked PhD programs. In that case, an MS with significant financial assistance sounds nice. Of course, if you didn't finish your PhD at Miami you could wind up with a MS but I suppose it would look better to have enrolled in a masters program and received one, than to have left early with a terminal MS.

I can't say a thing about the program, but having done a term of undergrad at SIU years ago, I am thrilled about the idea of never setting foot in Carbondale again. (hopefully no offense to anyone ) More importantly, which program has more interesting research to you? It seems as though there is more molecular bio, genetics, and microbiology going on in the Miami program.

Congrats!

Here are some other schools that I either applied to or considered applying to based on the amount of virology work going on there. Some are "safer-ty" (a school I considered safe rejected me while "more competitive" ones accepted me), some have more virology than others, given that I might consider rotating in other areas, etc: U Minnesota (MICaB), UVa (MIID), U Iowa (Micro), Stony Brook (MVM), Penn State (Micro), Columbia, U Florida, U Rochester, and again University of Maryland. I listed the other ones in my previous post, and most of those ACEB re-listed. Congrats on Duke btw! I probably didn't apply there after seeing that it was vaccine/immuno-centric. I'd love to explore those areas, but I similarly didn't apply to U Maryland in favor of programs which had a lot of molecular/micro stuff going on (ideally, in addition to the immunology rather than instead of).

Right, as I said, no offense intended. I agree that the most important thing is of course the content: your experiences and your ability to understand why you did what you did, as well as your future intentions. That's not to say, however, that someone reading it won't be turned off by bad grammar. If another student from your country with a similar background had their SOP edited by someone with a better understanding of English it might give them the leg up. It's not fair, but any help you can get will go a long way. The application/interview process has really shown me how much more difficult this is for you international applicants. I spoke to one professor on an admissions committee (not the one I was interviewing for) who told me how incredibly difficult it is to choose international applicants based on their applications and, ideally, a skype interview. She said they were picking a single international student (most likely).

To the OP, make sure you have your SOP drafts checked by someone else. I'm sure souparno wrote a fine statement, but judging by the grammar used here it probably shouldn't have gone unchecked (hopefully that's not taken with any offense). Of course, for a forum user of any nationality posts online will be sloppy compared to actual work to be submitted professionally. Still, there are phrasings which (in some cases) may not be technically incorrect but will stand out as extremely awkward.

Please tell me you're joking.

Pretty funny, though!

I do this. Though most of the work is collaborative (shared projects, though with each being spearheaded and thus found more important/interesting by one particular PI). You definitely learn not only different techniques, but different outlooks on science/the scientific process. I can see exactly how it could go to hell, though. Fortunately, the worst things come to for me are having a PI say something along the lines of, "Oh, he's having you do that? Well, don't be surprised if you find that you've wasted a significant amount of time there." It's easy for me to keep a good grip on which experiments are high and lower priorities for each of them, so it's not really a problem. I do know people, though, who will have one PI essentially forbid them from doing what the other is asking of them. Not a nice situation to be in. If the two don't work together, you're going to need to figure out how you're going to balance yourself. As jayeyesee says, you might get pulled in several directions which lead to some great output. Or you could simply be pulled apart.

jayeyesee - you had the same result from UW if I recall? Congrats on Stanford! I know someone (a fellow virologist) who was rejected from UW but accepted at Stanford and Harvard two years ago. Scores are not something to take lightly when it comes to their programs.

UPenn, WashU, University of Pittsburgh, UC Irvine, BU, Madison, plenty of others. I just went through the application with the same area of interest (as you might guess by my handle). Most programs I applied to were interdisciplinary, sometimes with an option for virology focus/sub program type thing. Usually not virology specifically. BU's micro program is small, but has virologists who are all working on fascinating things. It was crazy tough to turn that one down, having decided on Pitt, and quite happy with that (take a look at their MVM program maybe). As far as how competitive your stats are, the GPA likely depends on your institution, but it shouldn't keep you out of anywhere if everything else is good. I would consider retaking the GRE just because it can sometimes get you weeded out. I asked why my University of Washington application was rejected, and was told it was a score cutoff thing (730Q/640V GPA 3.53, though from a not so stellar school). Make sure you look at both the micro and cmb type programs at schools. One or the other may be better for virology at any given school (University of Washington has basically everyone in both programs, though). As far as how crucial your scores are I also think we micro people have it slightly easier than many applying for immuno/neuro programs. They tended to have better scores I feel, having met plenty at the interdisciplinary program interviews. And I've got several years of research exp in virology labs as well, same location you've got listed. Any chance you're at OHSU?

After my first few interviews I sent thank yours, and then kind of ran out of steam. Responses varied from nonexistent to a quick, 'it was very nice to meet you to', to very long, thorough responses. I got two unsolicited thank yous (1 email, one snail mail) from professors I met with, hoping that I'm giving their programs serious consideration.

Well, I'm going to U Pitt. During my visit, most of the grad students I spoke to said they like living just a little bit farther from the university as there are a lot of undergrads in Oakland. Though North Oakland was not made out to be nearly as bad as South. Some do live there, and the only positive thing they had to say about it is that it's close and cheap. If you want to be close to CMU I would look at Squirrel Hill. That way you're close and actually in a nice place to live. I think I might be moving to Highland Park. From what I gather it's nice, though quiet (if I'm hanging out with other grad students, will likely be traveling to their neighborhoods). But it's inexpensive, a block from a frequent bus line, and not too far out in general. Basically I was looking for apartments in Friendship, as they're cheaper than Shady Side, and just worked my way up north a bit farther.

Just goes to show that research experience, personal statements, and letters of recommendation go quite a long way.

@muhammadaffawn I'm moving to Pittsburgh this fall and the only advice I've heard is: avoid Mozart Management. Other than that, I'm not sure, so far regent square rentals seems a bit more professional. Have you tried padmapper.com? I've been told that Squirrel Hill is a nice area to live in, as is Shady Side, though the latter is a little pricier and trendier.

I'm not sure what you mean here...