2019 Neuroscience PhD Applicants and Admission Results

[neko98]

On 2/13/2019 at 10:02 PM, round2_ said:

Seeing rejections on the results and not having heard anything is stressing me out. Is anyone else still waiting on Vanderbilt NGP?

Did you (or anyone else) hear back from NGP yet? I’m trying to decide how long to wait before emailing the program head directly 

[shanaya_neuro]

On 1/3/2019 at 8:26 PM, blackprodigy said:

Yes, but more so emailing faculty members whose research you're interested in. It may help you. They may out in a good word for you to admissions.

 

"Dear Dr. (blank),

I am applying this season and am interested in your work with (blank). My background fits in as I have done (blank)."

 

Then you could ask for a phone or Skype to talk about what's currently going on in the lab, etc. 

I would try this with at least 1 faculty member per university you're applying for.

Good luck!

Hi 

Thanks , unfortunately I have got all rejects. Waiting for 3 more but feeling really skeptic.

I wanted to know if there are any spring intakes for PhD in neuroscience at universities in the US? Please let me know if you know of any..

Thanks in Advance!

[earsnbrains]

On 2/22/2019 at 4:43 PM, neko98 said:

Did you (or anyone else) hear back from NGP yet? I’m trying to decide how long to wait before emailing the program head directly 

Bruce Carter said they're meeting this Tuesday 

[neko98]

On 2/25/2019 at 9:15 AM, earsnbrains said:

Bruce Carter said they're meeting this Tuesday 

Thanks so much for the update! I had to physically stop myself from refreshing my inbox every hour over the weekend so it helps a lot to have a general timeframe for when to expect decisions lol. 

[neuroguy13]

I've been lurking often but am getting antsy enough to ask: anyone know when we are supposed to hear back from Yale neuro (post-interview)?

I know they mentioned early March but I notice past years people got unofficial notices in late February? It's my top choice so I really want to just know if I do get rejected. Thanks!

[sunnyyiu627]

Hi all,

I have just got accepted to the NGP of Vollum Institute/Oregon Health and Science University. I am really excited about the offer because I am particularly interested to work with one of their PIs. 

However, I am currently living in the UK so I don't know too much about the reputation of universities in the US. How do people generally view Vollum/OHSU (particularly in neuroscience)? Is it at the level of around the top 30 in the states?

Also, I know PhD programs in the US are fully funded but I am just wondering if it's true that the chance for foreign students to apply for external fellowships is quite limited?

Thanks!

[AnonNeuroGrad]

30 minutes ago, sunnyyiu627 said:

Hi all,

I have just got accepted to the NGP of Vollum Institute/Oregon Health and Science University. I am really excited about the offer because I am particularly interested to work with one of their PIs. 

However, I am currently living in the UK so I don't know too much about the reputation of universities in the US. How do people generally view Vollum/OHSU (particularly in neuroscience)? Is it at the level of around the top 30 in the states?

Also, I know PhD programs in the US are fully funded but I am just wondering if it's true that the chance for foreign students to apply for external fellowships is quite limited?

Thanks!

I think the general public isn’t that aware of OHSU outside of the west coast because it’s a primarily graduate institution like UCSF or Rockefeller but, as much as I hate rankings, I’d put it somewhere between 30-50th in the United States. That depends on subdiscipline though and I’d say it is great for translational/developmental/molecular work. Not really good for computational work. PI always matters most tho as you know. I’d say it ranks similarly to UC Davis, UC Irvine, Wisconsin, Utah, Oregon, etc which are some of the other places that people who got in had also applied to (three friends I know applied OHSU).

just my personal opinion but I’m sure many people would disagree

Edited February 28, 2019 by HawaiiLee808

[k8e]

On 2/27/2019 at 5:01 PM, neuroguy13 said:

I've been lurking often but am getting antsy enough to ask: anyone know when we are supposed to hear back from Yale neuro (post-interview)?

I know they mentioned early March but I notice past years people got unofficial notices in late February? It's my top choice so I really want to just know if I do get rejected. Thanks!

I got an acceptance call today! the prof who called me said it was up to applicants' individual faculty contacts whetehr they'd call the applicant or not, so if you dont get a call right away its not a problem. but acceptances are going out within the next week. hope i didnt stress you out more than i'm sure you already are ?

[neuronerd95]

On 2/6/2019 at 8:11 PM, Burn28 said:

 

When did you hear about the acceptance?  Just curious?  Congratulations!

Sorry just saw this -  I heard back a few days after my interview in January 

[LenaW]

On 2/5/2019 at 6:42 AM, maya123z said:

I've interviewed so far at Penn, UCSF, and UNC. They've all been very casual and relaxed. Mostly they just asked me about my research experience and what I want to study in grad school, maybe another random question like why I applied to that school or where else I've applied, and then they'd spend the rest of the time telling me about their research and answering my questions.

Hi, thanks for sharing. I was interviewed by BBSP via Skype from Jan 15 to Jan 20, and the committee told me to choose 3 professors. However, one of them is not interested in my research. His interview seems not that relaxing for me.  Therefore, I heard that I am still on waiting list.  

Edited March 4, 2019 by LenaW

[maya123z]

Anyone else get auto-rejected for NSF GRFP? Pretty annoying since I had a prof at my university (who used to be a reviewer for this program) check over my application and confirm I was eligible. My proposal was about neuroimmunology in Drosophila so I have no clue why they thought it was an ineligible topic. There's literally one sentence at the very end which mentioned this could possibly be applicable to human diseases, but that wasn't the primary goal of the project at all. This was their email:

The GRF Program Office has completed the review of your request for reconsideration of your eligibility status for your 2019 GRFP application. We regret to inform you that your appeal has not been accepted. Your application was confirmed ineligible due to your Graduate Research Plan Statement describing research with disease-related goals as specified in section IV.3 of the Program Solicitation (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm).

As stated in Section IV.3., Field of Study: Individuals are not eligible to apply if they will be enrolled in graduate study focused on clinical practice, counseling, social work, patient-oriented research, epidemiological and medical behavioral studies, outcomes research, and health services research. Ineligible study includes investigations to provide evidence leading to a scientific basis for consideration of a change in health policy or standard of care, and includes pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, and behavioral interventions for disease prevention, prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy. Individuals pursuing graduate study focused on community and other population-based medical intervention trials are also ineligible.

In Section IV. 3, the Solicitation also states that disease-focused research and clinical study are not eligible, and specifies the clinical areas that are excluded: Individuals are not eligible to apply if they will conduct biomedical research for which the goals are directly health-related, such as etiology, diagnosis, or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality, or malfunction in humans and other animals. Research activities using animal models of disease, for developing or testing of drugs or other procedures for treatment of disease, and statistical modeling for which the purpose is diagnosis or epidemiology also are not eligible for support.

This decision is final. We wish you well in your future endeavors.

Edited March 4, 2019 by maya123z

[_kb]

Does anyone know when Berkeley will be sending out their official acceptances? I was told they would come out soon after the informal ones but Im too impatient lol 

[aspiringscientist]

5 hours ago, maya123z said:

Anyone else get auto-rejected for NSF GRFP? Pretty annoying since I had a prof at my university (who used to be a reviewer for this program) check over my application and confirm I was eligible. My proposal was about neuroimmunology in Drosophila so I have no clue why they thought it was an ineligible topic. There's literally one sentence at the very end which mentioned this could possibly be applicable to human diseases, but that wasn't the primary goal of the project at all. This was their email:

The GRF Program Office has completed the review of your request for reconsideration of your eligibility status for your 2019 GRFP application. We regret to inform you that your appeal has not been accepted. Your application was confirmed ineligible due to your Graduate Research Plan Statement describing research with disease-related goals as specified in section IV.3 of the Program Solicitation (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm).

As stated in Section IV.3., Field of Study: Individuals are not eligible to apply if they will be enrolled in graduate study focused on clinical practice, counseling, social work, patient-oriented research, epidemiological and medical behavioral studies, outcomes research, and health services research. Ineligible study includes investigations to provide evidence leading to a scientific basis for consideration of a change in health policy or standard of care, and includes pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, and behavioral interventions for disease prevention, prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy. Individuals pursuing graduate study focused on community and other population-based medical intervention trials are also ineligible.

In Section IV. 3, the Solicitation also states that disease-focused research and clinical study are not eligible, and specifies the clinical areas that are excluded: Individuals are not eligible to apply if they will conduct biomedical research for which the goals are directly health-related, such as etiology, diagnosis, or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality, or malfunction in humans and other animals. Research activities using animal models of disease, for developing or testing of drugs or other procedures for treatment of disease, and statistical modeling for which the purpose is diagnosis or epidemiology also are not eligible for support.

This decision is final. We wish you well in your future endeavors.

Others have reported the same issue with plant pathology proposals, which are certainly not human health pathology-related. However, if you did have a sentence referring to human disease at all in the research plan, they can declare ineligible for that. Yes, the work was basic science in Drosophila you proposed, but by framing the potential "broader impacts" as human health applicable at all, it technically counts as a "goal," especially if the neuroimmunology proposal was specific to any existing disease.

This was a warning I received when working on my proposal. Therefore, I ensured it was entirely mechanistic and not based on anything that applied to health (rather a basic understanding of the genetic code). NSF is very stingy (especially this year with the effects of the shutdown) and will outright reject anything that would be eligible for NIH funding. Sorry that you ran into this problem, but at least you can still apply again next year as a first year grad student!

[maya123z]

17 minutes ago, aspiringscientist said:

Others have reported the same issue with plant pathology proposals, which are certainly not human health pathology-related. However, if you did have a sentence referring to human disease at all in the research plan, they can declare ineligible for that. Yes, the work was basic science in Drosophila you proposed, but by framing the potential "broader impacts" as human health applicable at all, it technically counts as a "goal," especially if the neuroimmunology proposal was specific to any existing disease.

This was a warning I received when working on my proposal. Therefore, I ensured it was entirely mechanistic and not based on anything that applied to health (rather a basic understanding of the genetic code). NSF is very stingy (especially this year with the effects of the shutdown) and will outright reject anything that would be eligible for NIH funding. Sorry that you ran into this problem, but at least you can still apply again next year as a first year grad student!

I see, very annoying how a single sentence could screw me over. Oh well, it was a good learning experience to prepare.

[glialstar]

Just got a call with an offer for the Brown Neuroscience PhD! With my gpa from undergrad being 3.27 (3.07 in major), i really wasn't too hopeful for this round of applications- But I'm ecstatic! 

[AnonNeuroGrad]

1 hour ago, maya123z said:

I see, very annoying how a single sentence could screw me over. Oh well, it was a good learning experience to prepare.

If it makes you feel better, a friend of mines got rejected as a first-year because he had one reviewer completely misunderstand his proposal and rated him a "poor". The other two reviewers rated his proposal "excellent".

I had another friend get auto-rejected because his proposal went a few lines over the limit after the upload because one of his figures got reformatted during the upload.

Edited March 4, 2019 by HawaiiLee808

[Sen Ver]

Has anyone heard from Georgetown IPN since the interview? I know they had three weekends and that the last one finished up Feb 23rd.... waiting is the worst! 

[DA1607]

On 2/4/2019 at 2:42 PM, maya123z said:

I've interviewed so far at Penn, UCSF, and UNC. They've all been very casual and relaxed. Mostly they just asked me about my research experience and what I want to study in grad school, maybe another random question like why I applied to that school or where else I've applied, and then they'd spend the rest of the time telling me about their research and answering my questions.

Hi! Thanks for sharing! When did you hear back from UNC about their decisions? I attended UNC interview on Feb. 21st,  but I haven't heard back from them. 

[maya123z]

35 minutes ago, DA1607 said:

Hi! Thanks for sharing! When did you hear back from UNC about their decisions? I attended UNC interview on Feb. 21st,  but I haven't heard back from them. 

I interviewed Feb 2 and got accepteed 2 weeks later. Plenty of time still for you, since you were a bit later in the month!

[DA1607]

24 minutes ago, maya123z said:

I interviewed Feb 2 and got accepteed 2 weeks later. Plenty of time still for you, since you were a bit later in the month!

Thanks! 

[EnGarde]

On 3/4/2019 at 9:20 AM, maya123z said:

Anyone else get auto-rejected for NSF GRFP? Pretty annoying since I had a prof at my university (who used to be a reviewer for this program) check over my application and confirm I was eligible. My proposal was about neuroimmunology in Drosophila so I have no clue why they thought it was an ineligible topic. There's literally one sentence at the very end which mentioned this could possibly be applicable to human diseases, but that wasn't the primary goal of the project at all. This was their email:

The GRF Program Office has completed the review of your request for reconsideration of your eligibility status for your 2019 GRFP application. We regret to inform you that your appeal has not been accepted. Your application was confirmed ineligible due to your Graduate Research Plan Statement describing research with disease-related goals as specified in section IV.3 of the Program Solicitation (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm).

As stated in Section IV.3., Field of Study: Individuals are not eligible to apply if they will be enrolled in graduate study focused on clinical practice, counseling, social work, patient-oriented research, epidemiological and medical behavioral studies, outcomes research, and health services research. Ineligible study includes investigations to provide evidence leading to a scientific basis for consideration of a change in health policy or standard of care, and includes pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, and behavioral interventions for disease prevention, prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy. Individuals pursuing graduate study focused on community and other population-based medical intervention trials are also ineligible.

In Section IV. 3, the Solicitation also states that disease-focused research and clinical study are not eligible, and specifies the clinical areas that are excluded: Individuals are not eligible to apply if they will conduct biomedical research for which the goals are directly health-related, such as etiology, diagnosis, or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality, or malfunction in humans and other animals. Research activities using animal models of disease, for developing or testing of drugs or other procedures for treatment of disease, and statistical modeling for which the purpose is diagnosis or epidemiology also are not eligible for support.

This decision is final. We wish you well in your future endeavors.

NSF is bound to follow the solicitation, and if your actual research isn't disease related/biomedical, then your research plan should be eligible.   In previous years, rejected applicants were given the option to appeal, so it should be no different this year (despite the claim that "this decision is final" - after all, sometimes mistakes are made).  While you cannot appeal the final outcome of whether you win an award or not,  I think you should respectfully appeal this ineligibility judgment.  

[maya123z]

9 hours ago, EnGarde said:

NSF is bound to follow the solicitation, and if your actual research isn't disease related/biomedical, then your research plan should be eligible.   In previous years, rejected applicants were given the option to appeal, so it should be no different this year (despite the claim that "this decision is final" - after all, sometimes mistakes are made).  While you cannot appeal the final outcome of whether you win an award or not,  I think you should respectfully appeal this ineligibility judgment.  

I actually already appealed, this was their response to my appeal.

[a.weav55]

Has anyone heard from Stony Brook? I interviewed February 1st and when I emailed Dr. Kritzer she mentioned that they were planning on wrapping interviews up early this month

[AnonNeuroGrad]

1 hour ago, a.weav55 said:

Has anyone heard from Stony Brook? I interviewed February 1st and when I emailed Dr. Kritzer she mentioned that they were planning on wrapping interviews up early this month

I’m a bit of a special case but I can help you out. I have heard a few things from the program.

Feel free to PM me.

Edited March 10, 2019 by HawaiiLee808

[k8e]

Has anyone heard from Vanderbilt NGP yet?