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Thanks for the great responses! This is really helpful. My advisor is supportive and knows I have applied for a couple of things, but is out of the country right now and so we haven't talked about this interview, which came up pretty quickly after I applied. This is a non-academic, non-research position at a non-profit, no particular educational background specified. The work I have done during grad school, both for my dissertation and not, is definitely relevant to the position, but it doesn't require a PhD.

Hi all, I'm working on my dissertation and plan to finish sometime before next June. I've started applying for a few jobs here and there that seem like a really good fit, both for practice/connections and because I've known people to finish up really quickly or finish writing in their free time when a good opportunity came up. I do plan to complete my PhD. Well, I ended up getting an interview for one of these jobs (a non-academic position, does not require a PhD), which would be a really great fit for me. But I also feel like I'm not ready to jump over to a job this soon. Since my end date is kind of a flexible unknown, I put optimistic guesses on my application. Now I'm not sure exactly how to address this in the interview--how much information do I share at this stage? Has anyone been in a similar situation? Thanks!

Got a third post-interview rejection today. Fortunately, I'm in at my first choice, but it's hard not to take it personally and feel a bit led on after what seemed like three fantastic interviews. Anyone else feeling this way?

I interviewed with biology, and there have been results posted, so I was thinking probably rejection or waitlist, too. Disappointing, though, since I thought it went very well and they gave the impression that the post-interview admit rate would be high.

Anyone else still waiting on Stanford after interviewing? They said we'd hear back quickly, and some people heard last week, mostly by phone, but I haven't heard a thing. Also waiting on Michigan, where I interviewed a month ago.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, newleaf. While those things do happen here, I am surprised you had so many issues, as I don't think your experience is typical. I've lived in HP for more than four years now and have never had a single incident, and neither have many people I know. I have rarely felt unsafe here. It can certainly be scary to hear about the muggings and violent crimes in the area, but it's really not atypical for an urban area- Hyde Park is actually one of the safer neighborhoods in the city by crime statistics. It happens, but it's still relatively rare considering the number of people who live here.

As someone who attended one of those schools and has visited the other three and had friends attend the others, I really don't think the undergrad culture is that different at those schools. Maybe if Dartmouth or Princeton were included, but Chicago, Yale, Columbia, and even Brown are really pretty similar. They all attract smart, intellectual, somewhat quirky liberal arts types interested in a more diverse social life than just frat parties. They do have their own personalities, but not to the extent that I think it would matter for a graduate student.

If you live in HP, there are also buses and shuttles that run around the neighborhood that can be nice when you have groceries. But I usually just walk.

Chicago is very bikable, though less so downtown than in places like Hyde Park. There is a fantastic path that runs along the lakeshore-about 7 or 8 miles from HP to Millenium Park or so (but the path goes way north beyond that. You can take bikes on buses and trains (not sure about the El, though), though there's usually a limit-bus bike racks have room for 2 bikes, I think. Bikes are popular on campus, lots of bike racks. Bike theft (or theft of parts) can be an issue-you really need a U-lock or something of that caliber, and I would recommend a used bike rather than anything fancy, but you should be ok. Soul Veg is another veg restaurant that my friends like, but it's down on 75th. For grocery stores, I love HPP. Treasure Island is a bigger store that I don't like that much, but I'll go there for some things. There's also a weekly farmer's market on 61st for most of the year. Getting downtown is easy, but the fastest route will depend where you live. The most common ways to get downtown are the Metra (fast, but only goes up to the Loop and runs less frequently, usually once per hour), the 6 bus (gets you to the river, takes maybe 30 min), and the Red Line (usually a quick bus from campus to the stop, then the Red Line runs way up north). There are other options, such as the 2, 4, and Green Line, which may be convenient depending on where you live and where you are going.

Albert Einstein: Jan 12-13, Jan 26-2 Brandeis University (Neuro): Feb 3, Feb 17, Mar 3 Boston University (GPN): Mar 4-6 Case Western Reserve University (BSTP): Feb 3-4, Mar 2-3 Columbia (Biological Science) March 1-3 Columbia (Integrated CMB): Jan 20-22 Columbia (Neurobiology & Behavior): Feb 8-10, Feb 29-Mar2 Columbia (Pathobiology & Molecular Medicine): Feb 3-5 Cornell (Weill): February Cornell Tri-Institutional (Weill/Cornell/Memorial Sloan Kettering) Computational Biology and Medicine: March 4-6 Dartmouth (PEMM) March 2-3 Duke (Toxicology and Environmental Health) February 2-4 February 16-18 Emory (PBEE): February 2-4 Emory (IMP): Feb 2-4, March 1-3 Emory University (neuro): Feb 9-11 or Feb 23-25 FSU (Molec. Biophysics): Feb 16-18 Harvard (BBS): Jan 26-29 and Feb 9-12 Harvard (MCB): Feb 1st - 4th, Feb 15-18 Harvard (neuro): Jan 19-22 Harvard (BPH): Jan 26-27 Indiana University - Bloomington (Biology): Feb. 16-19 Marquette University (Biological Sciences): Feb 1 MIT (Biology): Feb 11-14, Feb. 25-28, Mar 10-13 MIT (CSBi): Feb 9-11, Feb 16-19 Mount Sinai (Biomedical Sciences PhD): Jan 9-10, Jan 17-18, Jan 24-25 or Feb 13-14 MSU: Jan 5-8 MSU (Zoology): Feb 2-3 Northwestern (IBiS): Feb 13-14 or Feb 27-18 Northwestern (Neuro: NUIN): Jan 19-20, Feb 2-3, Feb 23-24 NYU Sackler: Jan 19-20, Jan 26-27, Feb 9-10 Ohio State University (IBGP): Feb. 9-11 Ohio State University (Neuro): Jan 18-20 OHSU: Feb 1-4 OHSU (neuro) feb 5th- 7th Princeton (neuro): Feb 16-18 Princeton (EEB): February 8-10 Rockefeller: March 1-2 and 8-9 Scripps Research Institute-CA campus: Feb 24-25, Mar 2-3 Sloan Kettering: 1/17-1/19 Stanford (SCBRM) feb 29th - mar 3rd Stanford (Biology) feb 29th - mar 3rd Thomas Jefferson (neuro): Jan 26-27 Tufts-Sackler (Integrated Studies): Jan 27 Tufts-Sackler (Genetics and ISP) Feb 10th Tufts-Sackler (Molecular Microbiology) Feb 2-3 Tufts-Sackler (Neuroscience) Feb 17th UAB (BMS): Jan 19-21 University of Arizona (Medical Pharmacology): Feb 9-12 University of Arizona (Physiological Sciences) Feb 16-17 University of Cambridge (UK): Jan 18th-20th University of Chicago (BSG): Feb 23-25 University of Chicago (Molecular Biosciences): Feb 16-18 University of Chicago (CEB): Feb 15-19 UC Berkeley (Biophysics): Feb 14-16 UC Berkeley (MCB): Feb 5-7, Feb 26-28 UC Berkeley (MBN): Jan 26-27 UC Davis (BMCDB): Mar 1-2, Mar 5 UC Davis (GGG): Feb 16-17 UC Davis (neuro): Feb 9-10 UC Irvine (CMB):Jan 26-28,Feb 2-4 UCLA ACCESS: Jan 28-30, Feb 11-13, Feb 25-27 UCLA ACCESS (Molecular and Medical Pharmacology): Dec 22 UC Riverside: Feb 24 UC San Diego (Biomedical Sciences): Feb 9-12 UCSD Biological Sciences: Feb 1-2, Feb 22-23 UCSD (Bioinformatics and Systems Biology): March 1-3 UCSF BMS: Jan 26-28 OR February 9-11 UCSF iPQB: Feb 9-11 UCSF iPQB (Bioinformatics): Feb 16-18 UCSF Tetrad: Feb 2-3 OR Feb 24-25 UC Santa Barbara MCDB: Feb 23-25 or Mar 1-3 UChicago (neuro): Feb 10 or Feb 13 (but travel times drag it out several days before and/or after) U Colorado - Denver (BSP): Feb 2-5, Feb 9-12 U Illinois Urbana-Champ (neuro) - Feb 16-19 U Iowa (Micro): Feb 23-26 U Iowa (Neuro) - Jan 26-28 U Kentucky (IBS)- Jan 12-13, Jan 26-27 UMASS Worcester: Feb 2-4 and Feb 16-18 U Maryland - Baltimore - Feb 3 U Miami (RSMAS): Feb 3-4 U Mich (PIBS): Jan 27-28 (Cancer Bio), Feb 3-4 (general) U Mich (EEB): Feb 16-18 U Minnesota (MICaB): Feb 9-12 or 16-19 U Minnesota (neuro): Feb 23-26 UNC Chapel Hill (BBSP): Feb 2-4, Jan 26-28, Feb 9-11, Feb 23-25 UPenn (Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics): Jan 19-21, Feb 9-11 UPenn (CAMB): Jan 12-14 UPenn (neuro): Jan 20, Feb 10 UPitt (IBGP): Jan 20-22 URochester (BMB): Feb 3-4, March 2-3(environmental medecine) Feb 2-4 University of South Carolina (Biomedical Sciences) Feb 6-7 UT Austin (CMB): Jan 26-28, Feb 16-18 UT Austin (MSI): Feb 10-11 UVa (BIMS): Jan 12-14 or Feb 2-4 UW-Seattle (Biology): Jan 13 or Jan 20 UW-Seattle (MCB): Jan 25-27,Feb 8-10 UW-Seattle (GS): Feb12-14, Feb 26-28 UW-Seattle (Neuro): Jan 24-25 U Wisconsin - Madison (Biophysics): Mar 1-3 U Wisconsin - Madison (CMP) : Feb 27th, March 5th Vanderbilt (IGP): Jan 12-14, many others (just got back from the 1st weekend, they said there would be 8-9 other weekends) Virginia Commonwealth University (Biomedical Sciences Doctoral Portal): Feb 3rd or Feb 17th Washington University in St. Louis (DBBS-MCB): March 1-3 WashU (neuro): Jan 27-28, Feb 3-4 Yale (B.B.S.): Feb 2-5, Feb 9-12

Got an interview at Michigan EEB. Which is cool, except for the fact that it causes a conflict. I would just go with the first invite and better program except for the issue that the first school is both local for me and my undergrad school...can't decide which would be more important to be present for the official weekend. Better fit, or school that I've never been to and know less about? Also, I have another situation that I thought I'd ask you all your opinion on. Back in December, pre-application, I had a really great phone chat with a POI at a school that does not do official interviews but recommends visiting. At the end of the phone call, the POI invited me to visit, talking about the funds available for travel, taking me out to dinner, etc. I was really excited. Well, not long after the call, I e-mailed him to make arrangements to visit, and I never heard back. I sent a follow up email more recently, and still no response. He'd been very timely in responding to emails in the fall. The phone call was pre-application, but my application is pretty solid, no red flags. I really like this school and was looking forward to visiting, and now I don't know what to do. Wait it out? Email again or call? I'm leaning towards just waiting but it's pretty frustrating.

I haven't had any official interviews yet, but my go-to question about programs for phone chats with POIs this past fall was "What makes the program at X different from the other programs I may be looking at?" Everyone came up with great, really useful answers, often including both strengths and weaknesses of their particular program or department. Many times their answers provided opportunities for follow-up questions. Now my problem is coming up with new questions for POIs I have already spoken to for the real interviews....

Has anyone else gotten any e-mails to the effect of "We're thinking about inviting you to interview but this isn't an invite yet"? I've gotten two, one that wanted to talk on the phone, another asking if I was still interested in the program (uh, of course, I applied didn't I?) and if I would come to the recruiting event if invited. It's very annoying- you think you've got news but actually you have to wait longer.

As a reference, here's a link to the course entry requirements for the grad group in ecology at Davis: http://ecology.ucdavis.edu/admission/coursereqs.html And here's what Colorado State has to say: What constitutes a proper background? Is my undergraduate work sufficient? In general, having at least one course in Statistics and one course in Ecology is important. However, each applicant's situation and interests are unique. Research experience as an undergraduate, especially if you have the opportunity to complete an independent research project, is perhaps the most valuable investment of your time, since this will give you a taste of what to expect in graduate school, and allow you to decide if a research career is something you really want to do. It sound like you might be okay, but it might depend on what kinds of courses you took in Environmental Studies. (For example, mostly policy type classes vs. ecology classes.) You could take physics and stat now, but your time would probably be better spent getting involved in research.

Albert Einstein: Jan 12-13, Jan 26-2 Brandeis University (Neuro): Feb 3, Feb 17, Mar 3 Boston University (GPN): Mar 4-6 Case Western Reserve University (BSTP): Feb 3-4, Mar 2-3 Columbia (Integrated CMB): Jan 20-22 Columbia (Neurobiology & Behavior): Feb 8-10, Feb 29-Mar2 Columbia (Pathobiology & Molecular Medicine): Feb 3-5 Cornell (Weill): February Dartmouth (PEMM) March 2-3 Duke (Toxicology and Environmental Health) February 2-4 February 16-18 Emory (PBEE): February 2-4 Emory (IMP): Feb 2-4, March 1-3 Emory University (neuro): Feb 9-11 or Feb 23-25 FSU (Molec. Biophysics): Feb 16-18 Harvard (BBS): Jan 26-29 and Feb 9-12 Harvard (MCB): Feb 1st - 4th, Feb 15-18 Harvard (neuro): Jan 19-22 Harvard (BPH): Jan 26-27 Indiana University - Bloomington (Biology): Feb. 16-19 MIT (Biology): Feb 11-14, Feb. 25-28, Mar 10-13 MIT (CSBi): Feb 9-11, Feb 16-19 Mount Sinai (Biomedical Sciences PhD): Jan 9-10, Jan 17-18 or Jan 24-25 MSU: Jan 5-8 MSU (Zoology): Feb 2-3 Northwestern (IBiS): Feb 13-14 or Feb 27-18 Northwestern (Neuro: NUIN): Jan 19-20, Feb 2-3, Feb 23-24 NYU Sackler: Jan 19-20, Jan 26-27, Feb 9-10 Ohio State University (IBGP): Feb. 9-11 Ohio State University (Neuro): Jan 18-20 OHSU: Feb 1-4 OHSU (neuro) feb 5th- 7th Princeton (neuro): Feb 16-18 Princeton (EEB): February 8-10 Rockefeller: March 1-2 and 8-9 Scripps Research Institute-CA campus: Feb 24-25, Mar 2-3 Sloan Kettering: 1/17-1/19 Stanford (SCBRM) feb 29th - mar 3rd Stanford (Biology) feb 29th - mar 3rd Thomas Jefferson (neuro): Jan 26-27 Tufts-Sackler (Integrated Studies): Jan 27 Tufts-Sackler (Genetics and ISP) Feb 10th Tufts-Sackler (Molecular Microbiology) Feb 2-3 Tufts-Sackler (Neuroscience) Feb 17th UAB (BMS): Jan 19-21 University of Arizona (Medical Pharmacology): Feb 9-12 University of Cambridge (UK): Jan 18th-20th University of Chicago (BSG): Feb 23-25 University of Chicago (Molecular Biosciences): Feb 16-18 University of Chicago (CEB): Feb 15-19 UC Berkeley (Biophysics): Feb 14-16 UC Berkeley (MCB): Feb 5-7, Feb 26-28 UC Berkeley (MBN): Jan 26-27 UC Davis (BMCDB): Mar 1-2, Mar 5 UC Davis (GGG): Feb 16-17 UC Davis (neuro): Feb 9-10 UC Irvine (CMB):Jan 26-28,Feb 2-4 UCLA ACCESS: Jan 28-30, Feb 11-13, Feb 25-27 UCLA ACCESS (Molecular and Medical Pharmacology): Dec 22 UC Riverside: Feb 24 UC San Diego (Biomedical Sciences): Feb 9-12 UCSD Biological Sciences: Feb 1-2, Feb 22-23 UCSF BMS: Jan 26-28 OR February 9-11 UCSF iPQB: Feb 9-11 UCSF Tetrad: Feb 2-3 OR Feb 24-25 UC Santa Barbara MCDB: Feb 23-25 or Mar 1-3 UChicago (neuro): Feb 10 or Feb 13 (but travel times drag it out several days before and/or after) U Colorado - Denver (BSP): Feb 2-5, Feb 9-12 U Illinois Urbana-Champ (neuro) - Feb 16-19 U Iowa (Micro): Feb 23-26 U Iowa (Neuro) - Jan 26-28 U Kentucky (IBS)- Jan 12-13, Jan 26-27 UMASS Worcester: Feb 2-4 and Feb 16-18 U Maryland - Baltimore - Feb 3 U Miami (RSMAS): Feb 3-4 U Mich (PIBS): Jan 27-28 (Cancer Bio), Feb 3-4 (general) U Minnesota (MICaB): Feb 9-12 or 16-19 U Minnesota (neuro): Feb 23-26 UNC Chapel Hill (BBSP): Feb 2-4, Jan 26-28, Feb 9-11, Feb 23-25 UPenn (Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics): Jan 19-21, Feb 9-11 UPenn (CAMB): Jan 12-14 UPenn (neuro): Jan 20, Feb 10 UPitt (IBGP): Jan 20-22 URochester (BMB): Feb 3-4, March 2-3(environmental medecine) Feb 2-4 UT Austin (CMB): Jan 26-28, Feb 16-18 UT Austin (MSI): Feb 10-11 UVa (BIMS): Jan 12-14 or Feb 2-4 UW-Seattle (Biology): Jan 13 or Jan 20 UW-Seattle (MCB): Jan 25-27,Feb 8-10 UW-Seattle (GS): Feb12-14, Feb 26-28 UW-Seattle (Neuro): Jan 24-25 U Wisconsin - Madison (Biophysics): Mar 1-3 U Wisconsin - Madison (CMP) : Feb 27th, March 5th Vanderbilt (IGP): Jan 12-14, many others (just got back from the 1st weekend, they said there would be 8-9 other weekends) Virginia Commonwealth University (Biomedical Sciences Doctoral Portal): Feb 3rd or Feb 17th Washington University in St. Louis (DBBS-MCB): March 1-3 WashU (neuro): Jan 27-28, Feb 3-4 Yale (B.B.S.): Feb 2-5, Feb 9-12