2020 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[computationaldd]

UCSF CCB just dashed my hopes...top choice ?

[Pnwbio]

Has anyone heard back from University of Chicago's GGSB or other molecular bioscience programs?

[uncertainty]

29 minutes ago, Pnwbio said:

Has anyone heard back from University of Chicago's GGSB or other molecular bioscience programs?

I think they have sent out interview invitations. 

[Pnwbio]

3 minutes ago, uncertainty said:

I think they have sent out interview invitations. 

what's your source for that?

[uncertainty]

2 hours ago, Pnwbio said:

what's your source for that?

Someone has heard back from GGSB here. 

 

[mitochondria_1]

Have anyone heard back from Einstein or UChicago (Cancer Biology)?

[ToMe]

So apparently Harvard BBS is not anticipating sending out any more interview invites. Have any internationals gotten an interview?! So far there’s only Americans in the results listing...

And has anyone received a rejection email? In the past they have sent out rejection emails in December..

Edited December 24, 2019 by ToMe

[appcs2020]

30 minutes ago, ToMe said:

So apparently Harvard BBS is not anticipating sending out any more interview invites. Have any internationals gotten an interview?! So far there’s only Americans in the results listing...

And has anyone received a rejection email? In the past they have sent out rejection emails in December..

International applicant here too, been dying to know. Haven't recieved anything from Harvard BBS, has any other internationals got any info? Or is it possible that they sent out interviews in waves (domestic first?). I've been told that this years admission process would take longer since GRE is no longer required and applications have increased.

Edited December 24, 2019 by appwccs

[tadaa]

Has anyone heard back from Chicago Bioscience (Microbiology), Cornell Microbiology or MIT Microbiology? 

[tadaa]

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 in Japan
MS Institution: Top university in Japan
Major(s): Biology (BS), Biomedical science (MS)
GPA in Major: 3.57 (BS)
Overall GPA: 3.47 (BS) (started undergrad without knowing Japanese...so I guess I should be happy that at least I didn't flunk any classes?), 3.93 (MS)
Type of Student: well,  I am a US citizen but I received all my education in Asia, so I'd be applying as a domestic student but not sure how the admission committees would judge me.

GRE Scores :
Q: 170
V: 149
W: 4.5

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Total research experience: 1 year full-time undergrad, 2 years full time master degree (graduating next spring) working on computational biology(gut microbiome related), within it a 3 month research internship in France (microbiology). No publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Full scholarships for both BS and MS
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I was an interpreter for some professors/government people for their visit in Japan. (Not sure if this counts as an accomplishment)

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

don't think so
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Volunteer experience, TEDx staff, Chinese/English tutor, 2 year of community service(kind of)

Don't know if these matter for PhD applications though

Applying to Where: (All microbiology related)

Harvard, MIT, Cornell, UCSD, Duke, Chicago, UCI, MIT-WHOI, WashU

 

I haven't heard back from any universities , I guess it's my low GPA and lack of publication...

Perhaps I am aiming too high

[EvoDevoTW]

2 hours ago, appwccs said:

International applicant here too, been dying to know. Haven't recieved anything from Harvard BBS, has any other internationals got any info? Or is it possible that they sent out interviews in waves (domestic first?). I've been told that this years admission process would take longer since GRE is no longer required and applications have increased.

My friend (we are both international applicants as well) also applied to Harvard BBS and hasn't heard anything yet. I personally applied to Harvard MCO and all I can find are two interview invites posted by two international applicants early last week and zero domestic report, which seems to be quite abnormal. Hope there're still chances for us to receive interview invites in Jan. finger-crossed.

[BabyScientist]

3 hours ago, ToMe said:

So apparently Harvard BBS is not anticipating sending out any more interview invites. Have any internationals gotten an interview?! So far there’s only Americans in the results listing...

And has anyone received a rejection email? In the past they have sent out rejection emails in December..

Remember that not every applicant visits GradCafe. It's totally possible that internationals have received invitations but aren't posting.

[NegativeCation]

11 hours ago, ToMe said:

So apparently Harvard BBS is not anticipating sending out any more interview invites. Have any internationals gotten an interview?! So far there’s only Americans in the results listing...

And has anyone received a rejection email? In the past they have sent out rejection emails in December..

International applicant here, received interview invite last week for Harvard BBS (probably same time as everyone else). Not sure if they send it out in waves though.

[TheDefeater]

9 hours ago, EvoDevoTW said:

My friend (we are both international applicants as well) also applied to Harvard BBS and hasn't heard anything yet. I personally applied to Harvard MCO and all I can find are two interview invites posted by two international applicants early last week and zero domestic report, which seems to be quite abnormal. Hope there're still chances for us to receive interview invites in Jan. finger-crossed.

Applied to MCO here too. I saw some posts from last year indicating that MCO was still sending interview invites in January for interview February, so you may want to consider that. 

[neuromol]

Does anyone have any information about Harvard BBS post interview acceptance rate? I've heard that in the past it was very high (>80%), but is that still true? 

[neuromol]

Need to some advice: 

I was fortunate enough to receive two great interview offers from UCSD BBS and Brown Neuroscience. However, they are both on the same weekend (Feb 20-23). I contacted UCSD to see if they have an alternative weekend, which they do (Jan 30-Feb 2), but it's currently full. I got put on the waitlist for that interview weekend, but I doubt anyone will cancel their interview. I know Brown doesn't have an alternative weekend. They are both very different, but great programs and I would love to have the opportunity to interview at both. Does anyone have any other suggestions? 

[ToMe]

1 hour ago, NegativeCation said:

International applicant here, received interview invite last week for Harvard BBS (probably same time as everyone else). Not sure if they send it out in waves though.

Thanks for the info.

To be honest I was just grasping at straws, but I did kind of know that not receiving an email probably meant a rejection. I am disappointed however that they have not sent a rejection email (and my application status is also still ‘submitted‘). Oh well, thank you guys!

Would you mind sharing your application info? And are you an international with Or without a US degree? Thanks!

Edited December 24, 2019 by ToMe

[NegativeCation]

10 hours ago, ToMe said:

Thanks for the info.

To be honest I was just grasping at straws, but I did kind of know that not receiving an email probably meant a rejection. I am disappointed however that they have not sent a rejection email (and my application status is also still ‘submitted‘). Oh well, thank you guys!

Would you mind sharing your application info? And are you an international with Or without a US degree? Thanks!

I suppose I will stop lurking...

Undergrad Institution: Ivy

Major: Biochemistry and Statistics
Minor: NA
GPA in Major: NA
Overall GPA: 3.9
Type of Student: International, Asian

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 161
W: 5.0

Research Experience:  (All during undergrad)

• 2.5 years in a molecular biology lab
• 1 semester in biostatistics
• 1 summer + 1 semester in pharmacology
• ~9 months in organic chemistry

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

• 1 co-first author paper, another 2 papers in preparation (one 2nd author and one 3rd author, not from the same lab)
• 4 conference poster presentation
• Some awards in high school but don't think it matters

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• Currently working as a software engineer in big tech (less than a year)
• one internship experience in big pharma, one internship in big tech, another internship in biotech startup
• Teaching assistant for a few classes
• Residential counsellor
• Leadership in some clubs in undergrad, some volunteer experience

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

NA

Special Bonus Points: 

• 1 very strong rec from molecular biology PI
• 1 strong rec from pharmacology PI
• 1 decent rec from biostatistics PI (I only met him twice during my time in his lab, but we are submitting a paper together so hopefully it isn't too bad, I don't know)
• 1 strong rec from professor whom I worked with for extracurriculars, can speak on leadership

Applying to Where:

• Harvard BBS (interview 12/18)
• Harvard Systems Biology (interview 12/18)
• MIT Biological Engineering
• HST MEMP
• Caltech Bioengineering (interview 12/18)
• Stanford Bioengineering
• UC Berkeley - UCSF Bioengineering

I'm interested in synthetic biology, don't really have any experience in this area though.  

My PI (who's on the admissions committee for many years) said that international students are harder, but not significantly if you studied in the US. There's less funding for internationals but most schools do reserve some funding for internationals. He says that the LOR is the most important part, and they don't really pay very much attention to the personal statement (it's more for sanity check that you're a nice person and know what you're getting in for) so I shouldn't stress about it . 

Regarding funding for specific programs for international applicants, different biology departments seem to have varying amount of funding for internationals. Sometimes the biomedical program can only fund 1 international student every year, but another sister program (like bioengineering) can fund many internationals, even as you can probably work for the same PIs in the end. I emailed a few schools to check on their funding for international applicants before I applied. 

[biomed_gal]

14 hours ago, NegativeCation said:

I suppose I will stop lurking...

Undergrad Institution: Ivy

Major: Biochemistry and Statistics
Minor: NA
GPA in Major: NA
Overall GPA: 3.9
Type of Student: International, Asian

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 161
W: 5.0

Research Experience:  (All during undergrad)

• 2.5 years in a molecular biology lab
• 1 semester in biostatistics
• 1 summer + 1 semester in pharmacology
• ~9 months in organic chemistry

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

• 1 co-first author paper, another 2 papers in preparation (one 2nd author and one 3rd author, not from the same lab)
• 4 conference poster presentation
• Some awards in high school but don't think it matters

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• Currently working as a software engineer in big tech (less than a year)
• one internship experience in big pharma, one internship in big tech, another internship in biotech startup
• Teaching assistant for a few classes
• Residential counsellor
• Leadership in some clubs in undergrad, some volunteer experience

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

NA

Special Bonus Points: 

• 1 very strong rec from molecular biology PI
• 1 strong rec from pharmacology PI
• 1 decent rec from biostatistics PI (I only met him twice during my time in his lab, but we are submitting a paper together so hopefully it isn't too bad, I don't know)
• 1 strong rec from professor whom I worked with for extracurriculars, can speak on leadership

Applying to Where:

• Harvard BBS (interview 12/18)
• Harvard Systems Biology (interview 12/18)
• MIT Biological Engineering
• HST MEMP
• Caltech Bioengineering (interview 12/18)
• Stanford Bioengineering
• UC Berkeley - UCSF Bioengineering

I'm interested in synthetic biology, don't really have any experience in this area though.  

My PI (who's on the admissions committee for many years) said that international students are harder, but not significantly if you studied in the US. There's less funding for internationals but most schools do reserve some funding for internationals. He says that the LOR is the most important part, and they don't really pay very much attention to the personal statement (it's more for sanity check that you're a nice person and know what you're getting in for) so I shouldn't stress about it . 

Regarding funding for specific programs for international applicants, different biology departments seem to have varying amount of funding for internationals. Sometimes the biomedical program can only fund 1 international student every year, but another sister program (like bioengineering) can fund many internationals, even as you can probably work for the same PIs in the end. I emailed a few schools to check on their funding for international applicants before I applied. 

From my experience, if you are applying to bioengineering programs, they want you to have an undergraduate degree in engineering or a significant background in engineering. I did biology undergrad and a master's in biomedical engineering, and I was rejected from all of the bioengineering programs I applied to and accepted into all of the biomedical science programs I applied to. If I were you, I would try to emphasize your knowledge of engineering in the application to prove you are qualified since I see you do not come from an engineering background. Please contact me if you have any other questions!

[mitochondria_1]

Have anyone heard back from University of Chicago (Cancer Biology)??

[DuckDuck]

On 12/19/2019 at 1:37 PM, researchrocks said:

To those that got NYU Sackler interview invites, CONGRATS! Was it a generic email or a personalized one? Does it appear that they sent out all invites as one mass email?

I didn't apply to NYU Sackler, but I'm currently working there. They send out invites in waves. So don't worry if you have yet to receive one. 

[DuckDuck]

On 12/23/2019 at 8:43 PM, mitochondria_1 said:

Have anyone heard back from Einstein or UChicago (Cancer Biology)?

I got an interview at Einstein. The invite was sent on 12/23, but I think they send out invites in waves. 

[GliaCells]

10 hours ago, DuckDuck said:

I got an interview at Einstein. The invite was sent on 12/23, but I think they send out invites in waves. 

What Einstein program did you apply for? I applied for neurosciences and I haven't heard anything

[pipettingerror]

Has anyone heard back from Pittsburgh MCDB and Rutgers Biochem? Seems like most of the talk on this forum is around top tier programs. Can't relate lol ?

[anxiousinternational]

What are the top-tier programs?