darwingirl

I'm just wrapping up my second interview. Been a fun process so far! Microarray, have fun at umich and let us know how it goes! And of course good luck. I'll be freezing just as much in Wisconsin gotta love the timing of these things.

I'm starting to get nervous! My interviews start next week and I have 2 in a row. I also just saw a rejection from Brown EEB in the results survey. I still haven't heard anything from them.

Good post and good info. I had to send a rejection last time around and I really did feel bad because he was such a nice guy that took a lot of time with me. But I did exactly what the post said, explained that I chose Other University because it was a better fit and thanked him for everything. Though I'd rather reject a school than have them reject me!

Good points. I would definitely rather be over-dressed than under. EEB is pretty laid back though so I'm not too worried. I'm more worried about the weather. I'm from the deep south so winter is sort of intimidating for me! Although, I happened to be in Chicago at the beginning of the month, during the polar vortex, and survived so I guess I'm good.

If the program actually specifies informal dress should you go with that, or is it better to still dress up slightly? One of mine said it was informal just dress for the weather.

Hi all, I just found this post! EEB person here, mostly focused on phylogenetics/biogeograhy of plants but I've also done some insect stuff. This process is so confusing most of the time. I've had better results than expected from a couple of places I thought were a no go, but I haven't heard a word from a couple that I was pretty positive were going to work out. Oh well.... Good luck to everyone!

Good to know about Michigan. And no idea about Brown. I know their application deadline was a little later than most so I'm hoping by the end of the month. If not I will be calling!

How's it going for the EEB people?! I know there are not many of us here! Anyone hear from University of Michigan EEB yet???

If I'm talking to faculty members, especially potential PIs, I always like to ask how many graduate students they've had and where they ended up. I also usually ask about collaborations within the department and how much interaction there is between labs. I don't know if this is as common in other areas (I'm in EEB).

I studied butterflies as an undergrad before I switched over to plants. Insects are awesome! I've always thought plants and insects were the coolest study systems for evolutionary bio questions.

Yale EEB interview feb 4-6!

Congrats! I interviewed there last time I applied and it was such a good experience. Everyone is great! And I don't know how it is this year but for mine the post interview acceptance rate was pretty close to 100%.

I know that there aren't many plant people here but just in case. I heard from UW Madison Botany today. Prospective student weekend is Feb 13-15!

Yes, good luck to everyone next week! I'm finally starting to get nervous.

The Davis lab

I'm plant biology-ish! Technically I'm EEB because I do phylogenetics/biogeography stuff. But I study plants!

I agree with the other responses, most of the people that post here are probably in the top half of applicants. If it makes you feel any better my undergrad GPA was very low (~3.1 overall, though much higher in major classes) so not everyone is in that range. However, I'm doing a masters and my grad GPA is a 4.0 so I hope that'll work in my favor and show that I've improved and am much more serious now. The lovely thing about applying to PhD programs is that they really do take into account your whole application.

So it's only going to be one weekend? I think that weekend conflicts with a few others :/

So are most schools pretty good about letting you change interview dates if you have a conflict? And does anyone know how rejecting an interview (because of scheduling conflicts) affects your acceptance?

I guess I was being too general. I just meant that of the interviews that have been sent, none of them have been EEB. Which probably means I shouldn't start being nervous until early January!

Why do the EEB programs seem to wait so much longer to review apps/send out interview invites? All these micro/immuno programs are on the ball.

Hi all, I'm going on my first interview soon and it's a 3 day affair. The first day I'm meeting my grad student host and potential advisor for lunch and then just hanging out and exploring. My question is, should I show up dressed nicely or will jeans and jacket suffice since this isn't the interview? I should also mention it's an ecology program (usually very laid back). Thanks in advance!