LMac

@NeuroT, a friend of mine received a UT Austin Neuro invite in mid-December. That's all I know though...

Unless I'm mistaken, last year UCSD sent invites the Wednesday after the holiday. If that holds true, that would be tomorrow (eek!). It's my top choice and a serious long shot.

It's awfully quiet today. No word from anyone?

Yikes, I totally did. Sorry for the false alarm!

Sorry to hear that @stmwap. You've got some really solid interviews lined up so don't let it get you down

Just got rejected from UCSF

I'm so sorry to hear that PhDreams. I know you will honor their memory in everything you do on this journey. You're in my thoughts

I really thought we'd see some action today but it seems pretty quiet. I guess maybe next week? Anyone else interviewing at Emory Feb 14-16?

I was notified of my interview by phone, which was completely unexpected. In that moment I was so happy and excited, that while I couldn't have come up with anything brilliant to add to the conversation, there wasn't room to do so. My guess is that the person who makes that call just wants to hear genuine enthusiasm in your voice. They know that's not the moment to put you on the spot, so just go with your gut.

There's not a lot of info on the results page for the Duke Neurobiology program but it looks like in the past they've sent invites on multiple days and usually in January. I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Wow, congrats to everyone on the Yale invites!

I applied through NGP but haven't heard a peep either

I had about 8 weeks before I took the GRE as well. I used the Kaplan online course (the one at your own pace which costs almost $500) which helped me figure out how to structure my time. With every practice test, it adjusts which lessons you should do next, so I didn't waste time figuring out what to study. In hindsight, I'm not sure it did much that I couldn't do on my own, certainly not $500 worth of anything. You can find practice tests online that give you feedback on what you missed. Then you can use that info to decide what to work on next. I took a practice test every Saturday morning, which was the day and time I'd take the real thing, so I could adjust my weekly study plan. Closer to the test date I took the free tests on the ETS site which are closer to what you'll encounter on test day. For vocab I created flashcards on my iPhone using an app called Brainscape. I pulled popular GRE word lists that I found online and copied and pasted them into Excel. Then I uploaded them into the Brainscape website in 30 word decks. Every day I learned 30 new words in any spare time I had. I also did the exercised in the Kaplan workbook. My Verbal score went from 54th percentile in my first practice test to 86th in the actual. For Quant I also used the Kaplan workbook. I think my Quant score went from 63rd to 79th, although my practice scores right before the test where in the high 80's (super bummed about that). I was also taking calculus at the time which meant I'd recently reviewed a lot of the algebra that is used on the GRE. One thing I wish I'd focused on more since I'd only recently returned to school after 10 years, was the writing portion. Having to write a succinct essay in 30 minutes proved more difficult than I expected. I would have used the service on the ETS site that you can purchase and have someone grade several essays. Hope any of this helps. Good luck!

Thank you for starting this thread. I know I'm not the only one facing these challenges, but sometimes I lose site of that. @bfat and @whirledpeas13, I can't imagine pursuing this with a baby and I have a lot of respect for both of you for doing so. @radiomars, I'm sorry you had to end your relationship. As I tell my husband, the only way to guarantee that we will never improve our situation is to not try, so here's to all of us for putting ourselves through this. For me... My husband and I own our home, which we would have to sell or rent. It's worth about 75% of what we paid for it, so that's fun. We have lived here for 8 years meaning we have a TON of stuff we'd have to figure out how to move, including a baby grand piano. My husband owns his own business, which he would have to give up and rebuild somewhere else I'd most likely move by myself at first and my husband would be 6-12 month behind me while he wraps things up. We will have to find affordable housing that allows our 2 dogs and 2 cats. Not to mention leaving friends and his family And as previously mentioned by other posters, I can't plan for any of it until I know if/where I'm going. This means that my husband and I can't discuss the reality of what the move would mean for him because it could be any 1 of 7 cities. He's so supportive, but I feel guilty for putting him through this.

Agreed! Happy New Year!

I awoke feeling a sense of calm and an appreciation for one last quiet day before it all begins, which I was proud of because I've never managed that before, apparently preferring the "neurotic basket case" approach. As the day wears on, I'm coming to realize what I feel is actually the fear of what the rest of the week may bring. Now that it's around the corner I just want to continue to hide in a national holiday. I'm realizing that I really need to get in this year because I'm not sure I have the constitution to go through this again

Mine as well, plus a professor gave me a C by mistake. I contacted him immediately and he admitted his mistake acknowledging it should be an A. He submitted a grade correction but the school is closed until Jan 7, so I can't even find out when they'll have it fixed until then. Of all the semesters for them him screw that up!

How about sending an updated GPA to schools I've applied to? I'm a post-bacc student repairing my GPA and my most recent semester of A's brought mine from 3.06 to 3.17. I'd think that's worth pointing out but don't want to be a pain in the butt for contacting them. Thoughts?

I couldn't agree more. I feel like this site is my weird little support group.

I'm applying to PhD programs after 2 years of post -bacc at the age of 34. There are plenty of us out there

By logging into the application portal, I can see my UCSF status as "under review".

Behavioral

I would imagine there's a group that may get an invite later, or are possibly in the "maybe" pile? Don't give up hope yet!

I know there's an element of the irrational, emotional, "You don't want me? Fine, I don't want you either," but right now I feel like I'm going to be so raked over the coals by the end of this that I won't even want to go to grad school.

Yep. Thank you for applying to our Ph.D. graduate program. Our Admissions Committee has made their decisions with regards to interview invitations. We are sorry to tell you that you have not been selected. Again, thank you for your interest and we wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of graduate training