greenertea

Yup!

Don't wanna post a full profile cause I'm lazy and I already did it on another site that most people are probably familiar with, but I've just accepted my offer for UPenn's CAMB program. Good luck everyone else still working on a decision!

Congrats! Although I would pick schools based on how many faculty are there that you'd be interested in working with and whether the location is minimally livable, I would say one thing about Caltech. I live in the city of Los Angeles and I wouldn't consider Pasadena really a part of LA. I wouldn't let the proximity of Pasadena to L.A. be a selling point for you. If you don't have a car, forget it completely. If you do, the traffic will be enough of a hassle to keep you from going very often. Potentially you could live in L.A. and commute, but it'll be a pain. Just thought I'd give some advice in case you were partially drawn to Caltech because it's "in LA". Hope it helps. Also, I would have to respectfully disagree with Spew - every Caltech student I've met (grad and undergrad) has been really unhappy with their work-life balance and couldn't wait to get out. Caltech is a place for type A personalities to thrive, but can be a bit much for everyone else.

I have a friend still waiting to hear from the following schools (he's international). Anyone know if there is still a chance of admission still? UMass, UT Austin, Texas A&M, NYU, Michigan

I'm debating between Penn and Weill Cornell at the moment. I liked both schools a lot actually, definitely taking the edge off of all the rejections. I'm leaning towards Penn at the moment but I would really love living in in New York and did like a lot of the faculty I met at Cornell. Also, I worry that since Cornell was my 7th interview and Penn was my first I have an inherent bias towards Penn :/ Lol, this is all more complicated than I ever imagined.

I've had 4 post interview rejections and am expecting a 5th one soon. I know how you feel, it's hard not to take it personal. I've contacted a couple of the schools I was rejected at and it seems they mostly rejected me because of my lack of outward enthusiasm for the program (which I attribute to my generally quiet demeanor and being tired from so much plane travel all the time) . It sounds like this could be true in your case if you already had another school as top choice?

Thanks all for the encouragement! And yes, emmm, this professor was the one who initiated contact with me originally. But I'll probably bump into him at a conference again, just hope it's not awkward.

In case anyone is curious, a mini update: he never responded to my email. No regrets sending it, but I sure hope I didn't offend him.

I'm still waiting on Stanford technically, but I feel like since they called people last week it's probably a rejection. Which home program did you interview with? I interviewed with biochemistry and saw an acceptance posted from biophysics and cancer biology not that long ago, so I don't think all programs are done sending out acceptances.

From what I gather from my survey stalking skills, they have gotten back to people on the Wednesday after the first two interviews. I dunno if they're planning the same thing after the last interview.

Intel for people waiting to hear back from MIT Biology: I heard through the grapevine that from each of the two first interviews they accept the top 1/3 of the applicants. They wait until the end of the third interview to review the rest and by the end they will accept roughly 70% of the total people they interview.

In addition to Coonskee's advice, I would ask where you are on the waitlist/how likely it is that you will be able to get off the waitlist. That might give you a better idea of your chances.

Lol, it was so long ago I don't remember very many names, but I'm sure I met you at some point. Congrats and have fun at Columbia!

Thanks for all the advice! Indeed, I was really impressed with his work and wanted to thank him earlier but it easily slips the mind when you're constantly preparing for and attending interviews. I have no intention of contacting him to try to reverse the decision. I hold no grudges or regrets at all in fact -- I'm sure the committee had their reasons. @coonskee, I was at the first weekend so not sure if you were there or not?

So I recently got rejected from a school but had been meaning to sent a thank you letter to a professor who emailed before the interview and took extra time at the interview to talk to me about his project. But sadly, I got rejected from this school I had been meaning to send him a thank you letter, but it sort of got away from me with all the other interview madness. Do you think it's awkward that I send him a thank you letter now? Thanks in advance