2021 Biology PhD Admissions Results

[jakeperalta]

Anyone get an interview from Weill Cornell IMP?

[PhDBound123]

Did anyone get a confirmation email from the coordinator at Johns Hopkins CMM confirming your interview date? I got an interview invite during the holidays and emailed her my 3 preferences but have not heard back since then. 

[compbiodude]

Has anyone heard from Harvard BIG or MIT CSB? Trying to confirm if i've been rejected or not lol. 

[The Kimster]

1 hour ago, compbiodude said:

Has anyone heard from Harvard BIG or MIT CSB? Trying to confirm if i've been rejected or not lol. 

 I saw the rejection results from MIT being released in mass on Jan 15th last year. I’m thinking it’s probably going to be the same. I been praying to Buddha schools release results a bit faster this year 

[The Kimster]

On 1/2/2021 at 10:05 PM, The Kimster said:

Got rejected from Cornell's Plant Biology program last week! 

Here are my stats: 

3.62 UC GPA from 2 years of undergrad at UCSD and 1.5 years at UC Berkeley (I transferred from UCSD to UCB after 2 years). 

1 year research experience at Zymo Research Corp in Irvine California 

No Publications 

Applied: UCLA, Cal, Yale, Brown, MIT, Stanford, UCD, Cornell, Duke, UCSB

Rejected: Cornell 

Interview Invites: None 

Rejected from UC Davis today. 

[Finnmertens]

Does anyone know how many people are interviewed for UC Davis bmcdb?

[The Kimster]

5 hours ago, Finnmertens said:

Does anyone know how many people are interviewed for UC Davis bmcdb?

 

[sirtuingirl]

I hear that Duke Biology (not the biomedical programs under School of Medicine) will be sending out interview invites next week. 

[basilhibiscus]

Just curious, for people who got an interview at UC Davis BMCDB, what did the email say?

[Crucial BBQ]

On 1/8/2021 at 5:32 PM, The Kimster said:

 

It's always worth getting feedback on your application[s].

 

 

[foreverontheQ]

2 hours ago, Crucial BBQ said:

It's always worth getting feedback on your application[s].

I also got a rejection and I ended up replying to it asking for feedback. Apparently they got too many requests to give individual feedback, and basically sent a generic email saying the same things about applying that are on their website. 

I’m curious to see if anyone else heard something different. 

[Crucial BBQ]

2 hours ago, foreverontheQ said:

I also got a rejection and I ended up replying to it asking for feedback. Apparently they got too many requests to give individual feedback, and basically sent a generic email saying the same things about applying that are on their website. 

I’m curious to see if anyone else heard something different. 

I had written about this previously... back in 2014 I believe.  I was waitlisted to one program, then ultimately denied.  I reached out and was told that my GPA was a little low but I had solid experiences (research, field work, volunteer work...) and a few skills they liked (like small boat handling).  I was told it was between me and another applicant and the other applicant got the admit for having slightly higher GRE scores.   Another program told me it was not completely clear in my SOP why I wanted grad school and they were also baffled that I did not mention a low grade (a C-) in my SOP, either.  

For the program I was waitlisted to I called the advisor I was in contact with and for the other program I had called the program director.  

[grapefruitenthusiast]

Does anyone know if schools will email you to let you know you've not been invited for an interview or will you just have to go to your app page to find out?

[L-Dopamean]

I still have not heard back from any of the schools I have applied to. 

I am an international applicant.

Does this mean that I am rejected or waitlisted for the next wave of interviews?

[L-Dopamean]

On 11/16/2020 at 11:44 PM, biologybear said:

Can anyone please comment on my school choices compared to my stats? I don't have a good grasp of whether I am a strong applicant for these schools or should reconsider adding more safeties.

 

Undergrad Institution: UC Berkeley

Major(s): Molecular and Cell Biology

Overall GPA: 3.47

Major GPA: Science GPA is 3.25

Type of Student: Domestic, female

 

GRE Scores:

(Although none of the programs require GRE, I'm hoping some will still consider my scores)

Q 165 (85%)

V 164 (84%)

W 4.5 (80%)

 

Research Experience: 

- Nearly three years (still working there today) in an academic bioengineering lab on campus, extensive wet lab experience and in vivo work. Including certification to perform cranial surgery on mice independently. One publication (mid author) from this work. Letter of rec coming from PI, as well as another from a former mentor who is now a professor at different university

- Two summers of an internship at a small biotech company, although this was before college. Mostly molecular biology work done. Two conference posters from this.

- One summer immunology internship at very well-known big pharma company (online internship because covid, mainly presented project proposals and lit surveys virtually). Co-first author or second author publication in development for submission (won't be submitted by application due date). Letter of rec coming from mentor.

Extracurriculars:

-One semester of inorganic chemistry class lab assistant

-Two summers of TAing organic chemistry (given same roles as a grad student TA: instructing own lab section, proctoring tests, holding office hours, etc.)

-One summer of assisting in a high school science extracurricular class

-Volunteer at hospital emergency department for almost 3 years, although volunteered there non-consistently throughout the 3 years

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

-Departmental honors program for my major to write a senior honors thesis. 

-Conducted research under the Chemical Engineering honors program for my school.

-Dean's list: 2 times 

 

Applying to Where:

NYU GSAS: Molecular Biology

Weill Cornell BCMB Allied Program

Rockefeller Bioscience

Mt. Sinai Biomedical Sciences

Columbia Biology

UCSF Tetrad

UCLA Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology

USC Molecular Biology

USC Keck: PIBBS: Programs in Biomedical and Biological Sciences

Boston University Biology

Maybe CUNY or SUNY in NYC? Or Fordham or Albert Einstein in NYC? Not sure if I need more safeties..

 

Any advice on my schools list is appreciated!!

Have you heard back from any of the programs? 

[dymatthew]

4 hours ago, grapefruitenthusiast said:

Does anyone know if schools will email you to let you know you've not been invited for an interview or will you just have to go to your app page to find out?

They normally will email you to let you know. Don't forget to check your Spam folder too, though! (Some people have reported finding their invites there.)

[clemntiney]

I see that Stanford genetics have sent out interview invites. Does anyone know if Stanford immunology will send out invites soon? I'm guessing that each track within Biosciences has their own committees/timelines?

[ProspectiveGrad21]

19 hours ago, clemntiney said:

I see that Stanford genetics have sent out interview invites. Does anyone know if Stanford immunology will send out invites soon? I'm guessing that each track within Biosciences has their own committees/timelines?

I think usually (based on past results for stanford biosciences in gradcafe) stanford biosciences interview invites usually come out all at once regardless of track. Plus, they almost always send the invites when they say they will (second week of January). 

For the past few years, invites have gone out towards the end of the second week of January, so I'm hoping they'll be consistent and we'll find out later this week. Good luck!

Edited January 12, 2021 by ProspectiveGrad21

[foreverontheQ]

1 hour ago, ProspectiveGrad21 said:

For the past few years, invites have gone out towards the end of the second week of January, so I'm hoping they'll be consistent and we'll find out later this week. Good luck!

I hope so! Looking back on GC for Stanford Dev Bio (which is what I applied for), the department at least seem to send notifications in Dec. I’ve already seen one Dev Bio invite which went on 11th Dec, so I’m not putting too much hope in Stanford for me lol 

[KellyTD]

Did Anyone hear anything from Duke for Molecular Cancer biology?  I did not hear a word

Edited January 12, 2021 by KellyTD

[stem_ness]

Does anyone know program acceptance rates post interview? Is it similar across programs? How about the top programs?

[virushunter]

6 minutes ago, stem_ness said:

Does anyone know program acceptance rates post interview? Is it similar across programs? How about the top programs?

I ~think~ it is pretty high for most programs. As my PI told me "As long as they don't have to bail you out over your interview weekend, you're in." ?

I definitely wouldn't go in too over confident though and it also probably depends on if you have a good research fit with the program. If the people there see that your interests don't mesh, or if you're being too arrogant then you may get rejected. 

That's an educated guess though, I don't know the exact numbers.

[justwanttogosomewhere]

Anyone heard back from Columbia PhD in Biological Sciences? On the website they have mentioned that first virtual interview would be on Jan 25th. I was wondering if they have sent out the invites already. The application deadline to the program was Dec 30th. 

[helpert]

3 hours ago, virushunter said:

I ~think~ it is pretty high for most programs. As my PI told me "As long as they don't have to bail you out over your interview weekend, you're in." ?

I definitely wouldn't go in too over confident though and it also probably depends on if you have a good research fit with the program. If the people there see that your interests don't mesh, or if you're being too arrogant then you may get rejected. 

That's an educated guess though, I don't know the exact numbers.

You could also check out the program website- some will actually list stats from the previous cycle like how many applications they got, how many were invited to interview, and how many were offered admission (at least Penn CAMB does)

[StemCells4Lyfe]

22 hours ago, stem_ness said:

Does anyone know program acceptance rates post interview? Is it similar across programs? How about the top programs?

It really varies from school to school rather than it being similar in a certain field/program. I originally thought unless you're super arrogant/rude/clearly don't know your science, then you're essentially in. But apparently some schools only accept 30-40% post interview. 
Like @helpert said, some programs disclose that info, but I've found that to be super rare. For the others, I'd take a look at past years results on here for people posting rejections after being interviewed. If it's a bloodbath, I'd say it's safe to assume they are very selective when they interview.