2021 Biology PhD Admissions Results

[Sky_china]

Just now, pipettingerror said:

Same here, international, second time applying. It does seem quieter than usual but it is an unusual year in every way so why not this.

Is this info on the program websites? A lot of people on r/gradadmissions also posted about receiving really quick decisions for f21 which made me feel like there might be fewer applicants this time around, though it seems unlikely given all predictions. Only does so much good to dwell on it though, for the most part it is out of our hands now. Fingers crossed!

I don't know too much but these are twitter.  I think some professor posted these. Art and Sciences departments are extremely bad. Not so sure about medical school...  some psy phd saw a 2X increase 

[pipettingerror]

6 hours ago, Autoclave Guru said:

Checking my email 5 times a day ??‍♂️. Applied to Michigan State, Duke, UC Davis, UTK, Boston U, U of Florida, U of Georgia, U Chicago, U of Illinois, U of Arizona, Berkeley, Ohio State, Ford fellowship, and SMART fellowship . Good luck to everybody  process is  gunna be long, but worth it in the end !

I know that feeling. Every notification makes me jump out of my skin. One of the programs I applied to sent an email on 2nd Dec, a day after the deadline, and I stg my soul left my body trying to comprehend how quickly they were rejecting me but turns out it was just a notification to inform everyone that the deadline was extended till the end of the day ?‍♀️

Good luck with your college decisions and fellowships!

[pipettingerror]

1 hour ago, Molec157 said:

Ended up applying to biomed sci umbrella programs at UTSW, UTHSCSA, Stanford, UMiami, UWash, Scripps, UMB, USUHS, and a couple others! Submitted mid November and so far I've received interview invites from Miami and UTHSCSA  best of luck to you this season! 

Wow two interviews already! That's fab! Best of luck to you, hope you get them all.

[pipettingerror]

Just now, Sky_china said:

I don't know too much but these are twitter.  I think some professor posted these. Art and Sciences departments are extremely bad. Not so sure about medical school...  some psy phd saw a 2X increase 

Big oof ?

[babymicrobiologist]

I know UNC BBSP sent out their first round of interview invites today. I have heard from admissions directors that there is almost double the applications in micro and biomed programs.

[Sky_china]

1 minute ago, babymicrobiologist said:

I know UNC BBSP sent out their first round of interview invites today. I have heard from admissions directors that there is almost double the applications in micro and biomed programs.

The speed is too quick .... Microbiology would be very hot bc of COVID and I totally understand. 

I hope others are the same. Also I am international so I am more competing with international students that might be a different pool anyway

[pipettingerror]

2 hours ago, babymicrobiologist said:

I know UNC BBSP sent out their first round of interview invites today. I have heard from admissions directors that there is almost double the applications in micro and biomed programs.

Yikes, that's a little scary.

[stem_ness]

On 11/20/2020 at 4:46 PM, stem_ness said:

Is there another similar thread on here? I feel like it's pretty quiet compared to years past...

Sub is live now ?

[pipettingerror]

2 hours ago, stem_ness said:

Sub is live now ?

Yeah a lot livelier than before!

[neurokenzie]

14 hours ago, Sky_china said:

Now with UT health md anderson not giving me any update makes me anxious now....

I applied to UT Health MDA as well and I've heard they're notoriously late on interviews/admissions, but YMMV. 

[a1120]

I got an interview invite for UNC BBSP in late January. Does anyone know how much they use this for evaluation vs. recruiting?

[Molec157]

20 hours ago, pipettingerror said:

Wow two interviews already! That's fab! Best of luck to you, hope you get them all.

Thank you!! ? 

[babymicrobiologist]

45 minutes ago, a1120 said:

I got an interview invite for UNC BBSP in late January. Does anyone know how much they use this for evaluation vs. recruiting?

Was that for last cycle or this cycle? From what I've heard, UNC invites about 3x more applicants for interviews than they plan to extend invites to, so I would say they most likely use it for evaluation. Though I am sure they do have some applicants where they are trying to recruit more than evaluate.

[a1120]

Just now, babymicrobiologist said:

Was that for last cycle or this cycle? From what I've heard, UNC invites about 3x more applicants for interviews than they plan to extend invites to, so I would say they most likely use it for evaluation. Though I am sure they do have some applicants where they are trying to recruit more than evaluate.

It's for this cycle. The interview is late January and I got the invite yesterday.

[babymicrobiologist]

6 minutes ago, a1120 said:

It's for this cycle. The interview is late January and I got the invite yesterday.

Oh that makes a lot more sense. From what i have heard from applicants in previous years, they invited about 300 people to interview for about 100 spots.

Congrats on getting an interview!

Edited December 6, 2020 by babymicrobiologist

[neurokenzie]

48 minutes ago, Witty-biologist said:

I decided to create a GroupMe where we can share our experiences and encourage each other whilst we await Interview requests.

Click to join >>>>You're invited to join my group "2020 Graduate School Applicants" on GroupMe. https://groupme.com/join_group/64369277/428Y1QIP

if this is the same one I saw on r/gradadmissions, I've joined!

[sirtuingirl]

10 hours ago, a1120 said:

It's for this cycle. The interview is late January and I got the invite yesterday.

BBSP has 13 PhD programs under it, which one did you receive the interview invite for?

[sirtuingirl]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:03 AM, babymicrobiologist said:

I know UNC BBSP sent out their first round of interview invites today. I have heard from admissions directors that there is almost double the applications in micro and biomed programs.

BBSP has 13 PhD programs under it, do you know which one sent out the first batch of interview invites on Friday? 

[a1120]

53 minutes ago, sirtuingirl said:

BBSP has 13 PhD programs under it, which one did you receive the interview invite for?

They didn't say which one specifically, but I applied for both chemistry and molecular medicine.

[sirtuingirl]

1 hour ago, a1120 said:

They didn't say which one specifically, but I applied for both chemistry and molecular medicine.

Molecular Medicine? I couldn’t find that on the list of programs under BBSP

https://bbsp.unc.edu/prospective-students/

There is Genetics & Molecular Biology.

[a1120]

15 minutes ago, sirtuingirl said:

Molecular Medicine? I couldn’t find that on the list of programs under BBSP

https://bbsp.unc.edu/prospective-students/

There is Genetics & Molecular Biology.

NVM that's what I did for MIT. For this one, I did Chemical Biology, Pharmacology, and Nanomedicine

[babymicrobiologist]

15 minutes ago, sirtuingirl said:

Molecular Medicine? I couldn’t find that on the list of programs under BBSP

https://bbsp.unc.edu/prospective-students/

There is Genetics & Molecular Biology.

I didn't apply for a specific program because I don't recall seeing that section on the application. I listed pathogenesis & infection as my area of interest and pathogenesis, infection, and immunity in the program supplemental then just mentioned in my statement which specific program I was interested in.

[Tomthegreat]

On 12/4/2020 at 4:59 PM, Sky_china said:

I really thought this cycle there will be a lot of applicants especiallly in the biology field which made me very anxious. 

It also seems to be the cases from some schools maybe from the information I got from other places. I am wondering if anyone have any data on this? 

 

This is my third time applying as an international students and probably last time. I don't think I will apply again even if I didn't get in.  So this puts additional pressure on me. My profile isn't excellent but Its almost the best I can do now. 

 

Would love to talk to some anxious future Dr.  in the same boat

I am also a Chinese student reapplying to PhD programs this year. Hope for the best for both of us.

[applepapple]

On 12/4/2020 at 12:20 PM, pipettingerror said:

Now that the Dec 1 deadline has passed, where did you guys end up applying?

Some of my deadlines aren't until jan, but I applied for biology/ecology/marine bio programs at UNCC, UNC Chapel Hill, UConn, UMiami, and Penn State.

Only been a couple days but I'm so anxious to hear back

[Neuromantic]

I think that UNC BBSP only sent out invites for the priority applications. I applied on the final deadline (11/30 - 12/1) and still haven't heard anything...