UNC BBSP vs Scripps?

[factanonverba]

Hi all,

I would like to get some input from you guys. Basically I am invited to interview at both UNC BBSP and Scripps, and Scripps asked that I purchase my air ticket by the end of this week. However, I have yet to hear back from Stanford, whose interview period falls on the same dates as my tentative Scripps interview. Although I don't know if I will get an interview offer from Stanford at all, I don't want to give it up by purchasing my Scripps air ticket now. So I have three options:

1. Cancel UNC interview, move Scripps to the UNC date, wait for Stanford.

2. Keep UNC interview, cancel Scripps interview, wait for Stanford.

3. Keep both UNC and Scripps interviews and confirm air tickets. (Probably have to pay for the Scripps ticket if I get an offer from Stanford later.)

I am personally in favor of #1 or #2. So my question is, which interview do you think is worth keeping, UNC or Scripps? I am interested in molecular biology and would like to do research on the molecular mechanisms/gene regulation/signaling/metabolism involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis. These both seem to be strong programs, Scripps has quite a strong focus on structural biology, which I am not particularly interested in. I will also go over all their respective faculty research in more detail, but would like to hear what you guys think.

Thank you!!

[StemCellFan]

I normally say to go for as many interviews as you think you can manage.  This is tricky since I can see from the past and have heard that Stanford is typically late with their invites.  Have you contacted the coordinator for Stanford to see where they are in the process?  Are you positive there isn't an additional Stanford weekend?  If you aren't crazy about Scripps, you could probably still cancel and not purchase the ticket.  But it would suck if you did that, didn't get the invite from Stanford, and then you have UNC.  Does UNC have another date you could go to?

I would contact Stanford to see if they can give you a timeline.  If not, evaluate the number of interviews you have currently and cancel Scripps (since you don't seem too interested in the structural stuff) if you really think you'll get the Stanford invite.

[BigPharma]

When did you get your interview from Scripps?

[GummyQ]

Which program are you applying to at Stanford? If it is bioscience the interview session will be Feb. 28 -Mar. 5, while TSRI (CA) has an interview session before Feb.25th. Unless the slot for Feb interview at TSRI (CA) ran out or you are interested in the Florida branch? 

[factanonverba]

56 minutes ago, StemCellFan said:

I normally say to go for as many interviews as you think you can manage.  This is tricky since I can see from the past and have heard that Stanford is typically late with their invites.  Have you contacted the coordinator for Stanford to see where they are in the process?  Are you positive there isn't an additional Stanford weekend?  If you aren't crazy about Scripps, you could probably still cancel and not purchase the ticket.  But it would suck if you did that, didn't get the invite from Stanford, and then you have UNC.  Does UNC have another date you could go to?

I would contact Stanford to see if they can give you a timeline.  If not, evaluate the number of interviews you have currently and cancel Scripps (since you don't seem too interested in the structural stuff) if you really think you'll get the Stanford invite.

I have not contacted Stanford yet, but they say clearly on their website that offers are coming in mid-Jan so I don't want to bother them about this... This is there only interview weekend unfortunately, and the other UNC dates all conflict with my other interviews.

The thing is, I have 8 interviews already, so I am not worried about having backups. Scripps is not really a backup though - they have a prestigious program and so does UNC, I guess. There is exciting research at both institutions, though it's hard to assess fit before even visiting them. I am hoping that you guys, and people who are particularly familiar with my research field of interest, could potentially provide opinions about their strengths and prestige, weaknesses, etc...

21 minutes ago, BigPharma said:

When did you get your interview from Scripps?

I got the Scripps interview before the holidays, and I responded yes last week. Deadline for airticket confirmation is Jan 12.

[factanonverba]

2 minutes ago, GummyQ said:

Which program are you applying to at Stanford? If it is bioscience the interview session will be Feb. 28 -Mar. 5, while TSRI (CA) has an interview session before Feb.25th. Unless the slot for Feb interview at TSRI (CA) ran out or you are interested in the Florida branch? 

Yes, I am applying to the Stanford biosciences program (cancer biology); My UNC interview is on Feb 22-24, so I picked the March interview for TSRI (CA). So if I want to keep Scripps, I will need to move it to the Feb date and cancel my UNC interview. 

[GummyQ]

18 minutes ago, factanonverba said:

Yes, I am applying to the Stanford biosciences program (cancer biology); My UNC interview is on Feb 22-24, so I picked the March interview for TSRI (CA). So if I want to keep Scripps, I will need to move it to the Feb date and cancel my UNC interview. 

I see.... How about the research and career path if you really want to make a decision between UNC and TSRI? For instance, have you found more POIs in one of these two schools? Are you favor in pursuing an academic path or go to industry after PhD? I found the statistics at TSRI website that the majority of TSRI grads went to industry, while for UNC I would assume the percentage be lower. 

Edited January 10, 2018 by GummyQ
typo

[BigPharma]

25 minutes ago, factanonverba said:

I got the Scripps interview before the holidays, and I responded yes last week. Deadline for airticket confirmation is Jan 12.

Thanks. Do you have any clue of whether they're done with interviews?

[factanonverba]

2 hours ago, GummyQ said:

I see.... How about the research and career path if you really want to make a decision between UNC and TSRI? For instance, have you found more POIs in one of these two schools? Are you favor in pursuing an academic path or go to industry after PhD? I found the statistics at TSRI website that the majority of TSRI grads went to industry, while for UNC I would assume the percentage be lower. 

Your point about industry vs academia is interesting. I definitely want to pursue an academic career - I'll need to look at the stats again tonight. Thanks for bringing that up!