Biomedical PhD Applications

[IRNTGIAPP]

Looking for advice from those applying to/currently in biomedical PhD programs. I applied to 7 programs that fall generally within the scope of translational/biomedical sciences. I have received a rejection from 2 (which I pretty much expected; they are extremely competitive programs) and have not heard anything at all from the other five so, as of now, I am sitting with not even a single interview offer while it seems most of everyone else has at least a few upcoming interviews if not an acceptance or two already. My undergraduate PI as well both other professors who wrote my LORs tell me I should not be worried and that it's too early to assume my chances of getting interviews now are very low; however, as far as I can tell, all of the remaining 5 programs I applied to have already conducted one interview weekend and will conduct a second around mid-late February which leads me to believe that any offers for that second round of interviews would already have been extended - or at the latest would be extended in this last week of January. Any thoughts on whether I should assume my chances of receiving interviews are low (I started looking at Masters programs just in case) or is there actually still a good chance interview offers might come my way?

[flippase]

May I ask what programs you applied to? I'm also waiting on a few biomedical programs so I wanted to see if we had any in common

As far as chances go... I've been told to prepare for the worst at this point. 

[DRMF]

If I were you I'd just email all these 5 schools. They usually will let you know whether they're sending out more interview invites, and some will let you know of your specific application's status. It could also be a good idea to check the Results page for the same schools' records in the last 2 cycles, to see how late they sent their last batch of interviews. I applied to 13 programs last cycle, got 6 interview invites, and all were received by mid Jan - obviously your apps could be reviewed at a different pace.

I would take the advice of faculty members within the context of how familiar they are with admissions. I've heard of a few cases where PIs misjudged their own undergrads' application outcomes, sometimes because they themselves aren't actively involved in reading applications at their own school - but also possibly because they knew the applicants as people, whereas these other schools' adcoms only got to know them on paper.

And yes, I think some preliminary search into Master's or tech jobs would be wise.

[IRNTGIAPP]

1 hour ago, flippase said:

May I ask what programs you applied to? I'm also waiting on a few biomedical programs so I wanted to see if we had any in common

As far as chances go... I've been told to prepare for the worst at this point. 

NYU Sackler umbrella program, Yale experimental pathology - rejected; Johns Hopkins molecular medicine, UMB molecular medicine, URochester cell biology of disease, UVA BIMS, UMass Medical School GSBS - still waiting. It seems some people got interview offers in the past two years from a few of these programs as late as February 5-6th but I'm not necessarily going to get my hopes up because of that.

[flippase]

2 hours ago, IRNTGIAPP said:

NYU Sackler umbrella program, Yale experimental pathology - rejected; Johns Hopkins molecular medicine, UMB molecular medicine, URochester cell biology of disease, UVA BIMS, UMass Medical School GSBS - still waiting. It seems some people got interview offers in the past two years from a few of these programs as late as February 5-6th but I'm not necessarily going to get my hopes up because of that.

Thank you for replying!

Unfortunately I didn't apply to any of your programs so I don't have specific information about them... however I emailed both of the schools I am waiting on and one of them got back to me saying that they were still extending interview invites for February (also biomedical program) so I would say do not lose all hope but definitely start exploring other options. If you want to have some piece of mind about where you stand currently, do what I did and just email them! You have nothing to lose. Plus, I had this annoying and completely irrational fear that they just never received my application in the first place which disappeared after sending those emails hahaha.   

[Yas-man]

3 hours ago, IRNTGIAPP said:

NYU Sackler umbrella program, Yale experimental pathology - rejected; Johns Hopkins molecular medicine, UMB molecular medicine, URochester cell biology of disease, UVA BIMS, UMass Medical School GSBS - still waiting. It seems some people got interview offers in the past two years from a few of these programs as late as February 5-6th but I'm not necessarily going to get my hopes up because of that.

UMass Medical School GSBS has already had both official interview weekends for US students. There was talk of a third (smaller) weekend just for the invited students who couldn't attend the first two weekends, but I don't think it was something where they'd invite additional people for and I know nothing about it or if it is even happening.

[BabyScientist]

There's still a chance, but now is the time to consider backup plans.

Take a look at your application and decide what needs improvement. A masters isn't necessarily the next step. Assuming you're applying from undergrad, maybe what you need is a full time lab position

[mtd]

Hi guys just seen this forum I got rejected by Rutgers and NYU for biomed programs, but i got an invitation to apply for another rutgers phd program - is this just a marketing scheme to reject me later on?