2020 Neuroscience PhD Applicants and Admission Results

[nerdyneuron]

just got interview from UCI 

[gene_machine509]

59 minutes ago, retrograde52 said:

Utah interviews came out earlier this week

Thanks! I saw someone post on the results page earlier this week but wasn't sure if it was legit. I heard back from Utah after I posted, they said "the admissions committee is still in the process of selection, you should hear back soon."

[apaprika]

14 hours ago, CA3 said:

I emailed to adcom a week ago and haven't received a response. But on the results page someone said this " To the poster asking about Neuroscience program. The coordinator of Neuroscience program replied to me that all interview invitations have gone out. But hopefully, BCMB is still making decisions. How I hope to get the opportunity from BCMB !!!".

Yet it looks like in addition to interview invites, some people received rejections and someone was offered evaluation by PBS. I applied to both Neuroscience and PBS programs and haven't heard anything. So what should I understand from of all these? Do you think I should be contacting the PI/POI (we had a long Skype conversation prior to applications)

Many thanks and good luck to everyone!

I also applied to both neuro and PBS programs and got an interview from PBS at beginning of January (email from PI I contacted before admission then received email for arrangement from admin)

[gradcafeneurosis]

7 hours ago, RainbowRyn said:

For those of you who have contacted admissions or academic coordinators, how have you approached asking about your application? Have you gotten pleasant responses? I haven’t heard back from any of my five schools (Brown, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, UMaryland) and see that others have. I don’t want to make a negative impression by asking, but this waiting game is driving me crazy!

I doubt the department coordinator has a role on the admissions committee and even if they did, I doubt that asking for an application status update would reflect poorly on you. I emailed the coordinator at MIT a few weeks ago asking about the timeline for when interviews would be sent out. She responded with:

 

Thank you for your continued interest in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Nearly all interview invitations have been sent out at this time. If at this point you haven't received an invitation to interview, it's likely you are no longer being considered for admission. Applicants will be notified in April once final decisions have been made.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Anyways, from what other people have posted it seems that other coordinators are equally courteous. From what others have posted, Brown and Harvard have already sent invites. I can attest that Penn has sent theirs and I think Stanford may have, though no one has actually said that they have received an official email invite yet. There do not seem to be any data points on UMD -- you should just ask them and I suspect they will be forthcoming.

Edited January 17, 2020 by gradcafeneurosis

[spineyneuron]

19 hours ago, RainbowRyn said:

For those of you who have contacted admissions or academic coordinators, how have you approached asking about your application? Have you gotten pleasant responses? I haven’t heard back from any of my five schools (Brown, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, UMaryland) and see that others have. I don’t want to make a negative impression by asking, but this waiting game is driving me crazy!

Are you talking about University of Maryland, College Park or Baltimore? If Baltimore, some interview invites were sent in the beginning and middle of December based on the results page.

[MEMcard]

has anyone heard anything from USC? 

[Genom3]

30 minutes ago, MEMcard said:

has anyone heard anything from USC? 

I recently received an interview invite from the PIBBS program. I'm an international, if that helps.

[Amy G Dala]

Any updates about NYU or Cornell? 

[wneuro]

Is UCLA done sending out interview invites? 

[featherstars]

Got an interview offer from IU - Bloomington today! It was not a mass email as well if anyone here is waiting on news from them.

[Mimititi]

Did any of you get a weird email from UW Madison reiterating further that all interviews were sent out? It was worded as though it was a reply to an email...but I never emailed to ask about my status at all. So it was, weird? Just wondering if this was a mistake or a mass email?

[sYsTeMsN]

10 hours ago, spineyneuron said:

Are you talking about University of Maryland, College Park or Baltimore? If Baltimore, some interview invites were sent in the beginning and middle of December based on the results page.

Both UMDs have sent out interviews. Brown GPP has also sent out interviews.

[SuspiciousMajor9]

3 hours ago, Mimititi said:

Did any of you get a weird email from UW Madison reiterating further that all interviews were sent out? It was worded as though it was a reply to an email...but I never emailed to ask about my status at all. So it was, weird? Just wondering if this was a mistake or a mass email?

Yes, I got one as well... I think it was "replying" to an earlier mass email they sent three days ago that said they had invited "a number of" applicants to interview but the original one wasn't explicitly clear that that number represented all of the interview invites that are going to be sent out. I bet some people contacted them for clarification in the last few days so they just emailed again to make it clearer that all interviews have been sent out. 

[CA3]

On 1/17/2020 at 5:27 AM, apaprika said:

I also applied to both neuro and PBS programs and got an interview from PBS at beginning of January (email from PI I contacted before admission then received email for arrangement from admin)

Thank you for your reply. I found out that I was rejected by both programs. I'm feeling utterly devastated, but received the kindest email ever from the PI I admire. And I feel pretty lucky to meet him. So don't hesitate to contact admission committee or PI. Actually, no one can understand you better them, they have been here before.

[CA3]

14 hours ago, Amy G Dala said:

Any updates about NYU or Cornell? 

Haven't heard a peep from NYU

[gradcafeneurosis]

NYU has already sent out both batches of invites. I got one in the first batch and I know someone who got one in the second batch.

[Claire_98]

On 1/18/2020 at 1:08 AM, MEMcard said:

has anyone heard anything from USC? 

My boyfriend and I received Skype interview invitation from Neuroscience program before Christmas and have met with 2 faculty members so far. Looks like there're gonna be more. We are international and contacted PI before application.

[gaultiero]

On 1/18/2020 at 9:35 PM, gradcafeneurosis said:

NYU has already sent out both batches of invites. I got one in the first batch and I know someone who got one in the second batch.

Did you mean two or both? Who confirmed that 2 batches were all that will be sent?

[gradcafeneurosis]

18 hours ago, gaultiero said:

Did you mean two or both? Who confirmed that 2 batches were all that will be sent?

I suppose that it's possible they'll send more but considering one of their interview session is this weekend it seems unlikely. I really don't know anything though - if you want to really find out, email them.

[GliaCells]

Those who had on-campus interviews already, did you guys follow up with a thank you email? If so, who did you send the email(s) to? The director of the admissions and/or the individual interviewers? Thanks in advance for your help!

[saliva_everyday]

Does anyone knows what will happen if you haven't heard from Berkeley now? Apparently they have sent out ALL of their invites in mid-Dec but I still wonder if the molecular and cellular program would email me for an interview or the neuro waitlist may showup. Do Berkeley just silently reject students they didn't send invites to? Should I email my POIs or program coordinators? I saw someone posting in Jan 15 that they didn't reply to emails of inquiries.

[blacknnerdy]

9 hours ago, mmalam294 said:

Those who had on-campus interviews already, did you guys follow up with a thank you email? If so, who did you send the email(s) to? The director of the admissions and/or the individual interviewers? Thanks in advance for your help!

I sent all of my interviewers a thank you email. I just thanked them for their time and mentioned something I liked or was memorable from our conversation.

[Kare62]

Got a reject from Stanford. Letter says that they got record breaking number of applications this year and was a tough decision. 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Kare62

[retrograde52]

4 hours ago, saliva_everyday said:

Does anyone knows what will happen if you haven't heard from Berkeley now? Apparently they have sent out ALL of their invites in mid-Dec but I still wonder if the molecular and cellular program would email me for an interview or the neuro waitlist may showup. Do Berkeley just silently reject students they didn't send invites to? Should I email my POIs or program coordinators? I saw someone posting in Jan 15 that they didn't reply to emails of inquiries.

They send their rejections in March for whatever reason. It's a bit annoying.

[gradcafeneurosis]

1 hour ago, Kare62 said:

Did anyone get an official email from Stanford ? 

Just got an official rejection email!