goldenbuff

What department are you interviewing with? IMP sent mine yesterday afternoon.

The travel agency booked everything for me so I didn't have to pay for anything. You should probably ask the coordinator or the travel agency about your situation. All I know is what they told me about my own specific situation.

Apparently the travel agent found a round-trip flight that would be cheaper than Amtrak. You should probably ask them about the commuter rail. I imagine they would be willing to reimburse you though if they don't have to pay for a hotel room.

All I got was the contact information. I'm assuming/hoping the travel people know something about the timing. I'm coming from Boston though so I can take Amtrak the morning of and I'll be fine. You could always try replying to the coordinator and asking for a little more information.

I just got an email (about 10 minutes ago) from the coordinator with contact information for their travel agency. I would expect you'll be getting the same one soon.

I ended up with just the one interview. I thought that it went amazingly well. I was feeling really good about my chances and I let myself start thinking about the future. Then I get an email 20 minutes ago telling me that I'm waitlisted. I'm enraged, heartbroken, and scared ****less all at the same time. I really don't know what I'm going to do. I literally have all of my eggs in this one basket and I'm not sure what I should do next. Is it worth emailing (as undesperately as possible) to let them know that I'll definitely say yes if they offer? Should I wait a while before I do this if I do it at all? Why can't life come with a fast forward button where I don't have to wait in agony? Sorry for the dramatics but it's really stressful to think about having to go through this process a THIRD time and having to wait at least another year before I can start working on a PhD.

Just out of curiosity, is there anyone else out there who hasn't heard from Cornell-Weill BMCB (Allied)? I've seen a few "rejected via website" outcomes but they were a week ago. I really wish they would just "officially" reject me already. I'm 99.99% sure that I am but it's even worse when they don't have the decency to tell you in a timely manner. Even an automated, impersonal rejection email is better than being left to rot. I also have yet to hear anything from UMASS Worcester or Yale. I sort of wish they would just crush my hopes already so I can focus on the one interview I DID get. Until then, I'm stuck with this little voice in my head, sounding a lot like Jim Carrey, whispering, "So you're telling me there's a chance..."

It looks like Sloan Kettering is starting to send out rejections. The hits keep on coming...

Just got a rejection from Dartmouth. That was the only one I still had some hope for. I was really hoping to get more than one interview but based on who I still have to hear from, that doesn't seem likely. I'm really freaked out about having all of my eggs in one basket but I guess there's nothing I can do about it. I'll just have to hit it out of the park when I go to Farmington in a few weeks...

If I were you, I would go on the interviews to your "safety schools" anyway. You never know what you might find and you would still be able to decline any offers later. At the very least, that would allow you some more time to consider your final decision without closing off any opportunities. At best, you might find that you would be really happy at one of your safety schools.

I made a list of questions I was expecting to get and I was asked most of them when I interviewed my first time around. Not to toot my own horn, but I tried this list out on someone who was interviewing last year for her to practice with. She said that this included pretty much everything they asked her about. Some of them are a bit "job interview-y" but are still good to think about because you never know what they might ask. What are your strengths and weaknesses? If you're not accepted into graduate school, what are your plans? Why did you choose this career/field? Why did you choose to apply to our program? What other schools are you considering? In what ways has your previous experience prepared you for graduate study in our program? In college, what courses did you enjoy the most? The least? Why? Describe any research projects you've worked on. What was the purpose/goal of the project and what was your role? How will you be able to make a contribution to this field? Describe your greatest accomplishment. What are your career goals? How will this program help you achieve your goals? Why should we take you and not someone else? Any questions? (This is a big one I think. Try to have at least 1-2 questions of your own to ask)

I've decided to basically count as a no any school that I haven't heard from by 2 weeks before the last interview date. For me, that means that Yale is definitely out and UMASS Worcester and Cornell are also probably out. I have no idea what's going on with my other schools but I still have hope for Dartmouth PEMM at least. Their deadline wasn't until January 15 and I haven't heard of ANYONE getting an interview from them yet. I'd really like to have more than one interview when all is said and done but I'll be grateful for what I've already got regardless.

Thank you for the encouraging words! I hope things work out well for you. I just got my formal rejection from MIT as well. I definitely saw it coming though and it doesn't really bother me. Honestly, I expected to be rejected by most (if not all) of the "top tier" schools that I applied to because of my GPA (3.3ish) and my lack of publications but I only applied to schools I would really like to go to in places I'd really like to live so any offer is one I would accept without reservation. Since I've already got one interview, I'm at peace. Any further positive responses are just icing on the cake. Happy Friday everyone! Here's to a stress-free weekend!

I've posted a few times in this thread but I haven't really done the big "this is who I am and where I'm applying" post yet. I'm applying to schools in the Northeast and I'm primarily interested in cancer biology. I'm not exactly the ideal applicant numbers-wise (3.3 GPA, good General GRE, Mediocre Subject GRE) but I have a little over 4 years of total lab experience and I'm a cancer survivor (compelling personal statement) so I have a few redeeming qualities. That said, I was planning on swinging and missing on most (if not all) of the top tier schools I applied to but you have zero chance of getting in if you don't at least try. I thought I would post my list of schools, what I know about the status of my application, and my appraisal of my chances. I haven't actually gotten a single rejection yet though so most of this is speculation and secondhand gossip I've heard. Interview: UCONN Health Center (Biomedical Science): I haven't heard of more than one other person who's gotten an interview here yet but I'm pretty excited to know that I won't be left completely out in the cold this application season. Programs I have given up on: Harvard (Cancer Biology): Didn't get invited and they're done sending interviews MIT (Biology): Seems like only one wave and I was not part of it Programs I have pretty much given up on: Rockefeller: I've heard that people have gotten invites and that some more will probably continue to trickle out but I'm not very hopeful for me personally. Sloan Kettering: I have no idea what's going on here. I saw on the survey here that one person got an interview invite a few weeks ago but I think they were either trolling or an internal applicant. That said though, also according to the interview date thread, their interview weekend has already happened. I'm not really certain of anything but I don't think I've heard of any one else getting news from them. Cornell Weill (Allied Programs): These started trickling out a few days ago but seem to have stopped. Perhaps there will be another wave? Yale (BBS): Invites seem to have stopped flowing but I know that they review applications based on the track you apply to. I applied to Molecular Medicine Track and I haven't heard of anyone who's gotten an invite from them so I haven't counted them completely out. Programs I'm still hopeful for: UMASS Medical School (BBS): I've heard of a few invites coming out in the survey but they seem to be scattered and my application still says "Under Review" when I log into it. Dartmouth (PEMM): I haven't heard of any interviews going out from them yet but their deadline was only January 15th. Also, I got an interview with Dartmouth MCB 3 years ago straight out of undergrad so I think I have a pretty good shot here even though I didn't end up getting offered back then, supposedly due to a lack of experience.

I can't necessarily vouch for the ladies, but when I interviewed around a few years ago, I saw a total of one guy wearing a suit. I ended up going with some nice pants and a shirt and tie with a nice sweater over it. That seemed to fit in pretty well with the atmosphere both places I interviewed. Most of the females were wearing a skirt or slacks. I don't remember seeing any suits on them.

I'm in the same boat you are but staying optimistic because I haven't heard of ANYONE hearing back from Harvard who wasn't Neuroscience.

Case Western Reserve University (BSTP): Feb 3-4, Mar 2-3 Columbia (Pathobiology & Molecular Medicine): Feb 3-5 Harvard (Neuro): Jan 19-22 Northwestern (Neuro: NUIN): Jan 19-20, Feb 2-3, Feb 23-24 University of Chicago (BSG): Feb 23-25 UCLA ACCESS (Molecular and Medical Pharmacology): Dec 22 UPenn (Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics): Jan 19-21, Feb 9-11 UPenn (Neuro): Jan 20, Feb 10 U Wisconsin - Madison (Biophysics): Mar 1-3 Scripps Research Institute-CA campus: Feb 24-25, Mar 2-3 Harvard (BBS): Jan 26-29 and Feb 9-12 Rockefeller: March 1-2 and 8-9 Cornell (Weill): February Dartmouth (PEMM) March 2-3 MIT (Biology): Feb 11-14, Feb. 25-28, Mar 10-13 UMASS Worcester: Feb 2-4 and Feb 16-18

I used Interfolio and there are some pros and cons. I submitted 9 applications and had 3 recommenders, one of whom basically did the same thing you describe. Pros: -Recommenders don't have to be bothered to submit multiple times. -Once they submit to Interfolio, YOU control when letters are sent. No more worries about missed deadlines because you control everything. This ended up being thing that made it worth it to me. I applied to a number of schools right after I graduated from undergrad and one of the things that made it stressful/mostly unsuccessful was one of my recommenders being out of the country and cutting some deadlines REALLY close (and missing one) Cons: -It costs money. There's a startup fee ($35 I think) and there's a charge for each delivery. I did online deliveries which cost $8 for the first item to each school and an additional $1 for each extra letter. -There are certain situations where Interfolio will not do online deliveries. They can send letters but they will NOT answer additional questions if they are required of the recommender (for example, rate the candidate in certain areas on a scale from 1-10). If they are required, Interfolio will refuse the delivery and notify you that they couldn't make the delivery. I had this happen with one of my nine apps. In some cases though, they will skip the additional questions if they can (by marking N/A), which could potentially weaken your application. For you, with 15 applications, you would end up paying about $12.33 per application to submit your letters through Interfolio. To me, that's a small price to pay for peace of mind and knowing that everything will be done on time. If your letters are strong and the additional questions are not required, then I would say it's definitely worth it.

I made a spreadsheet too but I uploaded it into a google doc. I don't think I can overstate how awesome google docs has been for working on apps. I uploaded my working drafts of all of my personal statements so that I can work on them at both home and work and not have to worry about what version is more current. I also store the login info for all my various apps so that I can check on things from anywhere. The best part is that it saves EVERYTHING automatically. No more worries about losing edits if your computer crashes because your document is safe in the cloud. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who's applying.

I'm going to be applying for grad school in biological sciences this coming Fall/Winter for entry in Fall of 2012. The question that I have is (hopefully) a simple one. When a school says that a GRE subject test is "highly recommended" or "strongly recommended" does that mean you're screwed if you don't take it? I would take it, it's not a question of being nervous or being too lazy to study, I just don't really have the money to spend $140 on top of application fees (which are going to be around $700 for 10 schools) and paying to send GRE scores (another $230 at least). Should I email the specific school and ask or does that give the wrong impression? I don't want to waste money on an application fee if I'm going to be disqualified because I didn't take the GRE subject test but at the same time, I don't want to lose out on a top choice school because I didn't take the stupid test. Please help!

I just stumbled on to this site tonight and hoping that someone might be able ease my pain (or at least share it). Has anyone heard from the Molecular and Cellular Biology program at Dartmouth yet? I interviewed just a little over a month ago and since I only had one other interview (quasi-waitlisted) I'm naturally starting to get a little nervous. Any inside info/advice would be much appreciated.