glow_gene

I'm going to second BabyScientist and say that starting rotations early is the most straightforward and productive use of your time

Hey all, After suffering a pulmonary embolism, a house fire in which I lost all my belongings and a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment during grad school, I finally have a defense date for February, 2019 (after 6.5 years!)! I'm feeling nostalgic about my application process and sadness at the thought of leaving Washington University in St. Louis. I just want to offer my input if anyone would like any insider info on WashU, applying here, living in St. Louis or finding a lab at a large institution. I'm going to do my best to keep track of gradcafe. Best wishes and best of luck to all applying! Hello to everyone I recognize from years ago! :D ~glow

Congrats! Especially on that WashU acceptance!

@Dank Why don't you start a "2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results" thread? No harm in getting it started early. I think there would be a lot of people willing to give feedback if it didn't derail the current topic and application cycle.

As usual, just gonna put a little note in this thread. I'm finishing up my 3rd year at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) in the Molecular Genetics and Genomics PhD program. Please feel free to message me with questions about WashU/genetics programs/PhD programs/St. Louis/any of the schools in my signature/questions about making decisions. I really do enjoy helping prospective students make the most out of their application season Best of luck! ~glow

Whoo! I'm glad you found a place and, if you're in town, I hope you're enjoying this gorgeous weather .

f*ck this noise. Spent the first part of the week in the hospital for the second time in two months. At least my apartment didn't burn down again so theres a silver-lining. Oh wait! But that grant application is still due on Friday! No way it's going to get funded now, but I still have to try. No data again in lab meeting because all hell has broken loose. I am tired of feeling like a broken failure. My arm really hurts from the IV. I'm so tired. I just want to get up to speed and stay there for a little bit....just make a little actual progress before I get knocked back down again. So hard to stay focused.

BeakerBreaker covered much of the basics, but I had just a couple things to add. St. Louis is very much like a quilt made of different neighbourhoods. Each neighbourhood has its own feel and it's own culture. Some places are great and some not so great. It's difficult to gauge where you'll fit in best until you move here, but there are lots of great places to live and spend time. I personally choose to live close to campus in a very quiet neighbourhood and spend most of my free-time elsewhere. Places like Clayton and Brentwood (lots of upper-scale stores, restaurants, franchises and the mall) have a MUCH different feel than South Grand or Benton Park (ethnic cuisine, coffee shops, smaller boutiques) but both share similarities with the Delmar Loop. I have previously heard fellow graduate students complain that St. Louis is too close-minded. I have rarely, if ever, had that experience as I choose to spend the majority of my time around people who are open-minded and have found many, many places to speak with like-minded folks. That being said, I do think St. Louis is best enjoyed if you have a car. It's possible to get by without one, but you would likely miss out on finding some of the more out-of-the-way neighbourhoods you might enjoy. I've generally found people to be friendly no matter where I go and my boyfriend and I almost always make new friends when we go out, even if we're just waiting in line at the grocery store. Anyway...I'm rambling to avoid grant-writing...please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions . Aside from "It's a big city that feels like a big town", it's hard to succinctly sum-up St. Louis.

Belatedly: Sure thing! I added 1 or two new spots. I could add about 100 more but I don't want it to get too overwhelming

Thanks, guys . I went to talk to my PI and basically said, "I'm super having trouble motivating: Can I meet with you individually each week for a few minutes and decide on goals that must be presented at next week's lab meeting?" She seemed surprised but totally willing. She's too easy on me most of the time and I hope she holds me to this. Also, our R-01 (the one full of my data) was funded so woohoo!. Also, in additional venting-related news: why in the hell are grant applications so darn difficult? So much to write! So little time! What is my third rec-letter writer doing? How do I EVEN?!

My life kind of imploded in February. Now I can't seem to get back into the swing of things in lab despite all the major non-lab issues being dealt with. I'm scared I'm going to stay this disconnected from my work until it's too late to recover/get data/graduate. Sometimes I find myself just staring at my computer screen. Just needed to get that off my chest. My friends keep telling me it'll be fine and I'll get back to it...but sometimes I just need to vent my fears.

Apparently I really like maps....here's another one! I made it editable by anyone, so people are welcome to add their own favourite places. This way you have access to their websites/addresses etc. I added small notes so you can click on the red marker and find out why I added it. Hope this helps! https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=znSq18U6Bxo4.kU-6heM8gSjU

I highly recommend doing the best you can and advertising here for editors. We can help you edit a document, but you shouldn't ask us to write it for you. Justifying funding will likely be a large part of your career and it's a good idea to start now.

^^^Good advice. I mostly got in touch with the program coordinator. He/She is usually the one doing all the paperwork and any message you send to anyone else will ultimately have to go to him/here to be official. I then usually sent a thankful/regretful e-mail to any POI I had been in touch with. Be careful with your order of operations, though. I did this at one school and got a "WAIT! But we have this extra-funding for you!" after I had already officially declined. Awkward turtle. I feel like I burned a bridge there because I declined to hear about the funding offer, despite her insisting.....I could/should have handled it better but I was caught off-guard.

1. I could go on and on about this, but in short: yes. MO is on the whole quite conservative but St. Louis (many parts in particular) is much more open 2. Obviously the earlier the better but we got our apartment a week or two before we moved in August and there were still many options available. I suggest looking early but you're not in any rush unless you have your heart set on one block/building. I have a map of frequently-lived-in-neighbourhoods if you would like it . It's tailored to the med campus neighbourhoods, though. Will you be on the Danforth or Med campus? ($900/mo for a 1 bedroom (and a massive 1 bedroom at that) is the MOST expensive I have heard of among my group of friends). Some people rent houses for $1100-1200/mo split across 3 people so finding affordable housing close by is rarely a problem. 3. There are lots of neighbourhoods that would fit your needs in the area. The Central West End (north of the med campus) and University City (north of the danforth campus) would probably work best for you. There are lots of other small neighbourhoods that are a short drive away from campus. The two I mentioned above are easy walking or metro distance from either campus. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions. I love St. Louis and I really enjoy helping people find their place here ~glow

^^^ For the record, I really wanted to say this as well.

Whooooo! I really hope we see you in the fall!!! Congratulations and please feel free to send me a message if you have any additional questions!!

So uh...I'm biased...but I did want to throw in my 2 cents. I turned down several "big" name schools to go to WashU because I felt my training here would be better and more well-rounded than at the other schools. I also felt I had a better general research fit with WashU and I loved St. Louis. When I brought this question up to my advisors, they all told me that I should go to WashU. When I spoke to people outside my field, they all told me I should pick a school with a bigger name. I struggled with the decision for a while because name recognition is not unimportant but I just felt so at home at WashU and so excited about the science being done. I ended up listening to my gut and my advisors and I'm very happy here. That said, my experience/interests etc aren't yours. I also haven't tried to get a job after graduating from WashU vs an Ivy league but I've watched the students around me do very well in that respect so I'm not too worried when my time comes. My parents still call me from time to time and ask me if I'm "sure it's not too late to go to Hopkins and switch to an MD program?" but that's the worst problem I have had with my decision. Anyway, please feel free to message me if you have any questions about WashU or making this decision. Obviously I would love for you to come here, but more importantly you need to find the right place for you and your career. ~glow

That's exactly how I felt at WUSTL

I second all of this. I was trying to muster up a big ol' response despite being sick, but this pretty much covers it! Thanks, stygldbby

I just wanted to throw something out there...it seems like a lot of people are "giving up" on schools because they didn't make the first round of interview invites. Unless you or someone you trust has called the school and the school has said, "That's it, there are no more invites to give!" then don't give up. Some schools don't send out rejections until later because they're waiting to see how the first round of interviews go and will send out interviews later. I received an invite in March for a program that started sending invites in January. Don't give up hope!

You won't be left to wander on your own! A grad student or the professor you just interviewed with will usually take you to your next interview or group event. Keep your printed itinerary handy (you'll almost always get one at the hotel or at a morning meeting) so you can remind whoever is leading you around where you need to go next. Interviews will be your only "solo" activity, everything else will be as a group, though there will likely be mixers with current students where you can separate from your interview group and be social. This was true of all of my interviews, which were primarily larger genetics programs. I don't know if smaller programs differ significantly but I can't imagine any of them would leave you to wander your way through the campus trying to find your interviewer's office.

Like I said, a dress is fine in that it is not inappropriate and if it makes YOU feel confident, then go for it. I just saw only one or two people in dresses across all of my interviews and if being dressed differently would make you feel uncomfortable, then you may want to wear slacks. I've heard professors say they find skirts or slacks more professional but I don't think that would impact your acceptance and obviously varies between interviewers. Also, please take my temperature suggestions with a grain of salt. I'm from the Bahamas and the worst thing I can imagine is being cold all day. I was pretty darn freezing in my pants and jacket and couldn't really imagine doing it all in a dress or skirt...but then again I'm always cold.

This ^^^ My undergrad had <2000 students. I still spent all my free time, summers and weekends in the lab and that comes across in your rec letters and interviews. Honestly, biggest adjustment I had? Larger research universities have "Support centers" where you can BUY SCIENCE SUPPLIES ON CAMPUS!! First day I was a kid in a candy shop. Don't worry...be clear about the experience you do have and you should be fine . As for attire: my preferred outfit was grey slacks, a nice white top with minimal decoration and a black, fitted jacket. Black flats/nice black boots; no heels. Feel free to wear heels if you can do so without killing your feet; it's a long day and, if you find them at all uncomfortable, I recommend not wearing them. As for skirts vs pants: it's cold and you will likely have to walk outside, but that's the only downside to skirts...you just look a little silly in a skirt in snow. I would not recommend a dress for interviews...women who wore dresses looked out of place and you may feel uncomfortable, but by all means wear a dress for the after-interview activities. That being said...wear what makes YOU comfortable. I think slacks, nice top and jacket will fit in everywhere, present the right amount of "seriousness" and keep you warm but most importantly you want to feel confident in what you wear!

From the attending student's perspective: We just got e-mails about signing up for interview-weekend duties! I'm so excited to meet everyone and good luck to those with busy weekends over the next few months ~glow