Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering Applicant Profiles for 2019 Admission

[gummybear9]

UC Davis hasn't confirmed the receipt of my itinerary and payment information (for reimbursement for the visit) and now I'm irrationally worried that they're going to be like "Sorry actually that was a mistake and you're not actually accepted." I wish they'd just send the official acceptance letter to make me feel better

[Indecisiv]

Does anybody here know how the Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology program at Rice compares to the Bioengineering program at Berkeley-UCSF? I'm real interested in Synthetic Biology research and have interviews at both schools, but don't know how the relevance and quality of these programs compare to each other. Any insight would be much appreciated.

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

6 hours ago, gummybear9 said:

UC Davis hasn't confirmed the receipt of my itinerary and payment information (for reimbursement for the visit) and now I'm irrationally worried that they're going to be like "Sorry actually that was a mistake and you're not actually accepted." I wish they'd just send the official acceptance letter to make me feel better

Is there someone you can contact for the receipt confirmation, such as the department's graduate coordinator or who told you about the interview? Or have you already contacted them about it? How long ago did you send them the receipt?

[gummybear9]

48 minutes ago, Moods said:

Is there someone you can contact for the receipt confirmation, such as the department's graduate coordinator or who told you about the interview? Or have you already contacted them about it? How long ago did you send them the receipt?

It's only been about a week and I emailed the coordinator again yesterday. I'm sure they're just really busy and I'm being paranoid lol

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

Just now, gummybear9 said:

It's only been about a week and I emailed the coordinator again yesterday. I'm sure they're just really busy and I'm being paranoid lol

Yeah, I would wait at least a couple of days and see. I know paranoia is high right now, but try to remember that you deserve the chance you were given to interview there.

[starkid]

22 hours ago, sgaw10 said:

It was around January 24th. it is honestly my top choice, so I'm quite sad and feel your pain

Eh, I emailed the Bioeng Grad program coordinator and she said she'd put my new transcript with my application. My friend who's in grad school said if they haven't rejected you, they're still considering you, and so I've resolved to stop freaking out. Stay strong. They literally said in their Q&A that they might go past their 6-8 week soft deadline because of the government shutdown affecting funding security, and UPenn is known to do quite a few 'direct' to-lab admits. 

[sgaw10]

21 minutes ago, starkid said:

Eh, I emailed the Bioeng Grad program coordinator and she said she'd put my new transcript with my application. My friend who's in grad school said if they haven't rejected you, they're still considering you, and so I've resolved to stop freaking out. Stay strong. They literally said in their Q&A that they might go past their 6-8 week soft deadline because of the government shutdown affecting funding security, and UPenn is known to do quite a few 'direct' to-lab admits. 

I just don't have much hope because Penn doesn't really send out any rejections with their interview invites, so it makes more sense to me that I'm already rejected but won't hear back for several months. That's interesting about the government shutdown though. Thank you for sharing!

[Victorious Secret]

Yes, the government shutdown has led to budget constraints at a number of schools because of uncertainty about NSF grants. I discussed something about this a couple weeks back. I am hoping that those stresses may be diminishing now.

[sgaw10]

So I might not be entirely out of the running for places that are seemingly ghosting me...

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

I just got rejected from UW Seattle, so everyone beware...

[StHoly]

9 minutes ago, Moods said:

I just got rejected from UW Seattle, so everyone beware...

So sorry to hear

Anyone heard from Columbia yet? My application has yet to be reviewed and they said it'll take them 6-8 weeks to review it so it puts the deadline to be Feb 15th.. I hope I am considered and not rejected even before the review.

[Y_TheScientist]

Hi! Has anyone heard from Cornell or TAMU? 

[yeebioe]

Not to give anyone false hope, but I did receive an interview from Penn after the initial wave of invites. I got mine on the 30th and according to the results page it seems I was the only one. Good luck!

[sgaw10]

Rejected from UW. It's fine. I didn't want to live in Seattle anyway...

[sgaw10]

43 minutes ago, yeebioe said:

Not to give anyone false hope, but I did receive an interview from Penn after the initial wave of invites. I got mine on the 30th and according to the results page it seems I was the only one. Good luck!

I am so jealous 

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

5 minutes ago, sgaw10 said:

Rejected from UW. It's fine. I didn't want to live in Seattle anyway...

Sorry, bud. It does hurt, but at least we know now, right? 

[sgaw10]

1 minute ago, Moods said:

Sorry, bud. It does hurt, but at least we know now, right? 

Yeah, it sucks. In all honesty I don't think the research fit was great for me there. I'm sure it hurts worse for you since you had a Skype interview there and seemed much more passionate about the program.

Everything is shaky at the moment.

[jtro37]

1 hour ago, Y_TheScientist said:

Hi! Has anyone heard from Cornell or TAMU? 

Yeah I heard from TAMU. I got an email from a POI I mentioned in my SOP and was accepted the day after the phone interview. Not sure if that is standard procedure. Their visit weekend is 2/21 - 2/23

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

13 minutes ago, sgaw10 said:

Yeah, it sucks. In all honesty I don't think the research fit was great for me there. I'm sure it hurts worse for you since you had a Skype interview there and seemed much more passionate about the program.

Everything is shaky at the moment.

That fact definitely stings, but such is life. 

The world is currently shaky, but I hope you hear good news soon! 

[Y_TheScientist]

21 minutes ago, jtro37 said:

Yeah I heard from TAMU. I got an email from a POI I mentioned in my SOP and was accepted the day after the phone interview. Not sure if that is standard procedure. Their visit weekend is 2/21 - 2/23

Congrats on the acceptance! Guess that probably means they already sent out all invites to the visit weekend. But, why the silent treatment?! 

[sgaw10]

Just now, Y_TheScientist said:

Congrats on the acceptance! Guess that probably means they already sent out all invites to the visit weekend. But, why the silent treatment?! 

Not to dwell on bad news, but Rice already rejected you?

[Y_TheScientist]

1 minute ago, sgaw10 said:

Not to dwell on bad news, but Rice already rejected you?

Yes, they sent the rejection letter in early January (Jan 10th). That same day they sent out mass rejections and acceptances. 

[sgaw10]

29 minutes ago, Y_TheScientist said:

Yes, they sent the rejection letter in early January (Jan 10th). That same day they sent out mass rejections and acceptances. 

I was under the impression they did not send out rejections to anyone. I thought there were only acceptances and waitlists. You weren't initially waitlisted?

[Y_TheScientist]

5 minutes ago, sgaw10 said:

I was under the impression they did not send out rejections to anyone. I thought there were only acceptances and waitlists. You weren't initially waitlisted?

No, just rejected. Guess I wasn't the right fit. They sent me this: "This year our graduate program received a large number of applications for graduate study, and the applicant pool was extremely competitive.  Since we are able to offer admission to only a small fraction of the applicants (fewer than 15%), we cannot accept many students who are well qualified for graduate work." 

[treeaway]

1 hour ago, sgaw10 said:

Yeah, it sucks. In all honesty I don't think the research fit was great for me there. I'm sure it hurts worse for you since you had a Skype interview there and seemed much more passionate about the program.

Everything is shaky at the moment.

Can relate honestly. Also got the rejection email this morning.