Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering Applications for 2020 Admission

[LHMQ]

15 hours ago, Bernt said:

Congrats on getting into and choosing BU. I am finishing up my BME undergrad at BU right now and it's a fantastic school! Best of luck

Thanks, you too! I really enjoyed the open house day and people seem happy there.

[LPT]

23 hours ago, AlwaysPPE said:

Just to update my thoughts here:

I have also ruled out universities I've interviewed at, but have not yet responded to me. Given they've sent people acceptances, it's clear they picked their first choices and the delay is just hedging me as a backup.

I guess I really care that if I'm going to spend 5+ years somewhere, that I am their first choice too! I imagine it would be weird to work for a PI that didn't view you as a top candidate, especially if that has a lasting effect on their impression of you.

 

At this point, if a university couldn't be bothered to get back to me by now, I have sent them an email (nicely worded) letting them know I'll be pursuing a better fit elsewhere. 

I encourage others to do the same if you also care about such things, it'll help people waiting who don't have any other options. It should also (eventually) teach them a lesson about prompt responses.

Completely agree!

Today I sent in my emails to two schools (one I interviewed at and one still ghosting me), honestly felt relieving. 

[aniben]

Hey Guys. I accepted the offer for the University of Oregon's PhD program in Molecular Biology. However, I just got an email from UCSD giving me the option to pursue a Master's, and transition to their PhD program after the first year if I earn a GPA higher than 3.4. I'm kinda torn, and I was wondering if any of you know anything about the culture of the program at UCSD. I visited U of O and it was great, but I want to work in immunotherapies and UCSD conducts a lot of research in that field. Any insights?

[AlwaysPPE]

On 4/2/2020 at 3:13 PM, aniben said:

Hey Guys. I accepted the offer for the University of Oregon's PhD program in Molecular Biology. However, I just got an email from UCSD giving me the option to pursue a Master's, and transition to their PhD program after the first year if I earn a GPA higher than 3.4. I'm kinda torn, and I was wondering if any of you know anything about the culture of the program at UCSD. I visited U of O and it was great, but I want to work in immunotherapies and UCSD conducts a lot of research in that field. Any insights?

Can't speak much to the culture at UCSD, as I only heard some slight rumblings of toxicity but I don't know anything personally.

 

I will say though, one big no no is going back on your word. You accepted an offer, the program made their decisions based on that, and to go back on that would reflect badly on you. Like bad enough to where I've been told to absolutely not even think about it if one is even considering a career in academia. Ultimately the decision is yours, and you may choose to take that hit...

Perhaps others have a better perspective on this

[polymer engineer]

Can someone comment on my chances of getting into the schools I have listed with my background? Interested in applying for enrollment in 2021 or 2022 and want to do what I can to develop into a stronger candidate in the meantime

 

Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): Virginia Tech

Major(s): Chemical Engineering, focus in Polymers
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.60/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.51/4.00
Demographics/Background: Caucasian

GRE Scores: 
Q: xxx (xx%) TBD
V: xxx (xx%) TBD
W: x.x (xx%) TBD

LOR: 

#1 Supervising research professor - polymer and composite materials

#2 Supervising research professor - cellular and molecular neuroscience

#3 Research PhD at company

Research Experience: 2 years undergraduate in polymeric materials for 3D printing; 3 years in industry - ePTFE membranes, industrial applications; on-going research in neuroscience lab at UMB

 

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 1 co first author publication, 1 poster presentation in undergrad, 2 poster presentations in industry

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Technical Excellence Award (2019), Merit Scholarship (2016,2017), Dean's List student, Outstanding member scholarship (2012)

 

Fellowships/Funding: n/a

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: EHS internship at GE Aviation, College recruiter for current company, STEM mentor at local high school, chemistry tutor, project manager for R&D team

Other miscellaneous accomplishments

cycled across the country for charity

Anything else in your application that might matter:

Research interests: biomaterials, neuroengineering, neural prosthetics

Instituitons/programs: Duke, Northwestern, GA Tech,... on-going list still researching

Comments: would love to hear about what other schools I should consider applying to!

Edited April 5, 2020 by daromi
add comment

[2020bioE]

On 3/23/2020 at 10:24 PM, Bioenglover said:

I got my acceptance letter on the first week of April! so don't worry if they haven't responded yet, It's not necessarily a rejection. 

Have you received an invitation for a one-way interview?

TD is a fantastic PI! I hope you'll get in! 

I heard from the PI that funding has dried up and they were only able to renew a postdoc and take on a current master's student this year. The communication was much appreciated but nevertheless disappointing. Columbia offered me an unfunded masters which I can't afford to take so I'll probably be accepting my PhD offer at UCSD. My other alternative is to work for a year or two first and take company funding to help me get into grad school, but I'm worried about how future admissions cycles will look. 

[Cece333]

On 3/31/2020 at 12:41 AM, AlwaysPPE said:

Just to update my thoughts here:

I have also ruled out universities I've interviewed at, but have not yet responded to me. Given they've sent people acceptances, it's clear they picked their first choices and the delay is just hedging me as a backup.

I guess I really care that if I'm going to spend 5+ years somewhere, that I am their first choice too! I imagine it would be weird to work for a PI that didn't view you as a top candidate, especially if that has a lasting effect on their impression of you.

 

At this point, if a university couldn't be bothered to get back to me by now, I have sent them an email (nicely worded) letting them know I'll be pursuing a better fit elsewhere. 

I encourage others to do the same if you also care about such things, it'll help people waiting who don't have any other options. It should also (eventually) teach them a lesson about prompt responses.

Agreed 100%! I interviewed at Duke (my #2 choice) at the end of January and the PI said they would get back to me first week of March, then they changed it to end of March, and then they never got back to me! I got an offer from my #1 choice school and I just emailed the PI from Duke, nicely saying that I was surprised they never got back to me after they said they would, but luckily it has just shown me that my first choice was the right fit for me. They replied 3 mins after blaming it on the COVID-19 situation and how it "slipped their mind" to not tell me they rejected me because it was a "very competitive year". Let's just say, I dodged a bullet.... I am so happy I will not be stuck with such a selfish, irresponsible researcher for the next 5+ years! They never even checked in with me even knowing I am an international student currently stuck in the US with no family during the pandemic and with a history of lung disease!! I feel bad for whoever will join their lab...

[AlwaysPPE]

Hey all! Big day is here and almost gone, so congratulations to everyone who accepted an offer!

I am curious where everyone ended up, and why?

Anyone wish they did anything differently?

Personally, I wish I took a bit longer deciding which schools to apply to. Luckily it worked out for me, but could have been real regrettable. 

[Bernt]

1 hour ago, AlwaysPPE said:

Hey all! Big day is here and almost gone, so congratulations to everyone who accepted an offer!

I am curious where everyone ended up, and why?

Anyone wish they did anything differently?

Personally, I wish I took a bit longer deciding which schools to apply to. Luckily it worked out for me, but could have been real regrettable. 

I second the wishing I took a bit longer to decide which schools to apply to. I mostly applied to top programs, but in hindsight a lot of them weren't great fits (not a ton of labs in my field of interest). I also wish I applied to more schools. Even though I was a very competitive candidate (and got into my top choice of MIT BE), I didn't get a lot of interviews/offers, which was extremely anxiety inducing. I would have applied to a few more safety/backup schools, if only to have more options and save myself the anxiety. 

Overall, I genuinely think grad school induced anxiety aged me like 5 years. Refreshing the results page constantly for months, having a mini heart attack every time I got an email notification, prepping obsessively for interviews, all that gets to you. I'm just glad it's over and things worked out. 

[Itai]

5 hours ago, AlwaysPPE said:

Hey all! Big day is here and almost gone, so congratulations to everyone who accepted an offer!

I am curious where everyone ended up, and why?

Anyone wish they did anything differently?

Personally, I wish I took a bit longer deciding which schools to apply to. Luckily it worked out for me, but could have been real regrettable. 

Hi,

I wish I knew how important the fit to the program is. It would help me to filter the Ph.D. programs better. Also, I regret that I found out about the Gradcafe site so late in the process since I missed great universities, such as Stanford and Caltech, for the simple reason of not knowing about their existence. 

Anyhow, I got into one of my top choices: MIT. So in the end, everything turned out just fine. 

[AlwaysPPE]

16 hours ago, AlwaysPPE said:

Hey all! Big day is here and almost gone, so congratulations to everyone who accepted an offer!

I am curious where everyone ended up, and why?

Anyone wish they did anything differently?

Personally, I wish I took a bit longer deciding which schools to apply to. Luckily it worked out for me, but could have been real regrettable. 

I'll also add that I wish I knew that this WHOLE process is entirely dictated by the professors. It's their labs you'll end up joining, so of course it makes sense that even if a single one wants you, you'll definitely get interviewed and get an offer. I wish I knew that before applying, so I could have spent more time before the applications went in talking to POIs, not in Jan/Feb or whenever I found out.

Again, I definitely feel very lucky anyway, but just a note for future applicants :)

[2020bioE]

Shoutout to UPenn for giving me absolutely no response this entire time. 

[Bernt]

12 hours ago, 2020bioE said:

Shoutout to UPenn for giving me absolutely no response this entire time. 

UPenn is the evil villain of the BME Ph.D. application process. Of course, with it's sidekick in ghosting: Columbia. 

I have so much more respect for schools that send out rejections early. Being led on/ghosted is awful.

[2020bioE]

10 hours ago, Bernt said:

UPenn is the evil villain of the BME Ph.D. application process. Of course, with it's sidekick in ghosting: Columbia. 

I have so much more respect for schools that send out rejections early. Being led on/ghosted is awful.

Yep. I interviewed at Columbia and would have no idea what my status was if I didn’t reach out to the individual PIs that I talked with. Still haven’t received reimbursement for the visit, lol. Props to MIT/Stanford/Princeton for sending the rejects early.

[AlwaysPPE]

1 hour ago, 2020bioE said:

Yep. I interviewed at Columbia and would have no idea what my status was if I didn’t reach out to the individual PIs that I talked with. Still haven’t received reimbursement for the visit, lol. Props to MIT/Stanford/Princeton for sending the rejects early.

At least you got a reply after reaching out! I've dealt with programs where I visited and the PIs I talked with AND the point of contact person all ghosted me. 

Another pro tip for future applicants: A PI/Program that is interested in you (as in will give you an offer) will NOT ghost you. Even in these COVID circumstances, PIs will make all reasonable efforts to court their acceptances (at least any PI worth working with will do this). So if you don't hear back after a reasonable period, it's a safe assumption that those PIs are not going to move forward with you, consider other options.  

[Bioenglover]

On 4/5/2020 at 2:24 PM, 2020bioE said:

I heard from the PI that funding has dried up and they were only able to renew a postdoc and take on a current master's student this year. The communication was much appreciated but nevertheless disappointing. Columbia offered me an unfunded masters which I can't afford to take so I'll probably be accepting my PhD offer at UCSD. My other alternative is to work for a year or two first and take company funding to help me get into grad school, but I'm worried about how future admissions cycles will look. 

Yep that makes sense.. I also tried to switch to that PIs lab and they said there's no money

Honestly I don't recommend the Master's program, it is way too expensive and there are not a lot of offered courses. I would definitely go with UCSD!  

I can't wait to graduate and apply for a different school, Columbia is not what I thought it was

 

BTW [Question for everyone] I would love to know - which programs are considered the best for a PhD in biomedical engineering? 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Bioenglover

[2020bioE]

4 minutes ago, Bioenglover said:

Yep that makes sense.. I also tried to switch to that PIs lab and they said there's no money

Honestly I don't recommend the Master's program, it is way too expensive and there are not a lot of offered courses. I would definitely go with UCSD!  

I can't wait to graduate and apply for a different school, Columbia is not what I thought it was

 

BTW [Question for everyone] I would love to know - which programs are considered the best for a PhD in biomedical engineering? 

Thanks. Yeah, it was way too much money for a master's -- I was also told there is no options for funding even in the form of TAing. To your question, I think it depends on the specific field you're interested in as some programs/departments are known for certain focuses. Certain schools are good in certain fields (UCSD biomaterials is good, UCSF drug delivery/pharmacology-related fields) and some schools focus heavily on one aspect of research (I think Stanford is generally more focused on tool development and basic biology? I could be wrong though). What I did was roughly judge the schools I was interested based off their overall ranking and then tried to get a sense of the department that I fit the best. In general though, schools like Stanford/MIT/BU/Duke/GATech/UCSD/Columbia/UCSF-Berk/Northwestern/Harvard/UPenn/Caltech come to mind. 

[Bernt]

I second what 2020bioE said. Some programs have very specific strengths, while others have a wide range of fields. I would consider schools like BU and MIT very broad-spectrum in that they have a lot of different research fields within their BE programs. In general though, the top ranked BE Ph.D. programs can be found on https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools.

However, choosing a "best" program is pretty subjective. Factors like research areas, faculty, education, location, and stipend are all factors that can determine what school is "best" for you. Personally, I think the most important thing for choosing a Phd. program to apply to is finding a school with 2-5 research labs you would be interested in joining. Labs can be full, lack funding, or not be a good fit after rotating, so having multiple options is very important.

[Bioenglover]

Thank you @2020bioE and @Bernt, will do my research!