PhD/DrPH Applicants: Fall 2021

[epi2be]

On 1/31/2021 at 4:31 PM, Epiiiiiii said:

Yes, I was interviewed twice in early January by two separate faculty members.

I'm not sure what's the number of interviews given out for this year. As for if people who get interviewed will be automatically accepted, speaking from my experience last year, I actually was waitlisted after being interviewed and was lucky enough to get off the waitlist. Hope this helps!

Hi! Thanks for this information  It is so helpful! When did you hear back about getting off of the waitlist?

[michellerubadub]

Just checking in to see if anyone has heard from NYU?

[brightbluebirds]

For most of my interviews, I was asking the faculty questions rather than them asking me questions. I was wondering if others have experiences this and if it's the norm. I got the sense that they weren't that interested for some reason. 

[teabunny]

19 minutes ago, michellerubadub said:

Just checking in to see if anyone has heard from NYU?

I got an email yesterday about an interview invite (I applied to SBS) -- they said they're still finalizing the timing and format of the interviews, but wanted to confirm time zones.

[drunkenduck]

4 minutes ago, brightbluebirds said:

For most of my interviews, I was asking the faculty questions rather than them asking me questions. I was wondering if others have experiences this and if it's the norm. I got the sense that they weren't that interested for some reason. 

At least half of each my my interviews was me asking questions to the faculty. It's pretty normal. I think that in most cases, the main purpose of the interview is to make sure you seem like a chill person to work with and to recruit you.

[t12345]

1 hour ago, inanycase said:

Hi all, I hope you are all surviving this intense application cycle! And a huge congrats to everyone who received a good news so far! I'm always impressed by how accomplished this group is and definitely learning a lot through this forum. I'm also joining the JHU-HPM-reject party eyyy  I know there is still a lot of results to be released, but I've been in a reflective mood thinking about the next cycle because as hopeful as I'd like to be, there is a good chance I'll need to try this again. So, for all those who have conducted interviews thus far, is there anything you wish you would have asked or mentioned during an interview to help you stand out more? Or, if you've already been accepted somewhere, is there something you think helped you stand out during an interview? Thanks a bunch!  

In one instance, I wish I had sat down to think about a research question in more detail. I was fairly specific in my statement, but when it came to questions of what data I would need, how I would collect it, and whose help I'd need to do so, I was left to think on the spot.

That kind of specificity has only come up once in my 8 interviews, but every interview counts! For the most part, I think they're simply looking for PhD candidates who are affable and have a voracious intellectual appetite + curiosity.

1 hour ago, PhDAPP2021 said:

Has anyone heard anything from UNC HPM? 

I have not heard anything from UNC's Health Policy and Management program.

 

 

[ood63]

Anyone hear from USC Pibbs yet?  UCI CMB?  Radio Silence from them so curious if any of you have heard from them?

[niram]

Just checked my Columbia application portal again. Looks like they corrected the glitch because my application is back to being under review. 

[DarkPassenger]

1 hour ago, inanycase said:

Hi all, I hope you are all surviving this intense application cycle! And a huge congrats to everyone who received a good news so far! I'm always impressed by how accomplished this group is and definitely learning a lot through this forum. I'm also joining the JHU-HPM-reject party eyyy  I know there is still a lot of results to be released, but I've been in a reflective mood thinking about the next cycle because as hopeful as I'd like to be, there is a good chance I'll need to try this again. So, for all those who have conducted interviews thus far, is there anything you wish you would have asked or mentioned during an interview to help you stand out more? Or, if you've already been accepted somewhere, is there something you think helped you stand out during an interview? Thanks a bunch!  

Did you interview at JHU?

[DarkPassenger]

Do you guys think the GRE will be mandatory next cycle? I haven't written it lol

[HSR_PhD Hopeful]

25 minutes ago, DarkPassenger said:

Do you guys think the GRE will be mandatory next cycle? I haven't written it lol

It looks like a lot of schools are trying to move away from the GRE because of the systemic issues/ equity concerns that are brought up with standardized tests generally. That being said.....maybe?

[hhh0996]

1 hour ago, drunkenduck said:

At least half of each my my interviews was me asking questions to the faculty. It's pretty normal. I think that in most cases, the main purpose of the interview is to make sure you seem like a chill person to work with and to recruit you.

Any good questions are suggested to ask if the interview is about 45-60 mins? Thanks in advance. 

[Epiiiiiii]

2 hours ago, epi2be said:

Hi! Thanks for this information  It is so helpful! When did you hear back about getting off of the waitlist?

Late March. It was a long wait... I was literally about to commit to another school in that same week.

That being said, the waitlist definitely moves!! It moves faster if those who got accepted but are not going declines asap; it moves slower if people take a long time to decide until the last minute. 

[marlenemae9]

28 minutes ago, hhh0996 said:

Any good questions are suggested to ask if the interview is about 45-60 mins? Thanks in advance. 

On on of mine that was about 50 minutes I asked questions about their lab or writing groups and how those would work in case we were to be online in the fall. I also asked questions regarding what type of research I would be likely to do or not do in my first year; as well as in general how they approached advising and what they considered the most important milestones for PhD students outside of the traditional proposal and dissertation stages.

Edited February 5, 2021 by marlenemae9

[inanycase]

2 hours ago, brightbluebirds said:

For most of my interviews, I was asking the faculty questions rather than them asking me questions. I was wondering if others have experiences this and if it's the norm. I got the sense that they weren't that interested for some reason. 

 

2 hours ago, drunkenduck said:

At least half of each my my interviews was me asking questions to the faculty. It's pretty normal. I think that in most cases, the main purpose of the interview is to make sure you seem like a chill person to work with and to recruit you.

 

1 hour ago, t12345 said:

In one instance, I wish I had sat down to think about a research question in more detail. I was fairly specific in my statement, but when it came to questions of what data I would need, how I would collect it, and whose help I'd need to do so, I was left to think on the spot.

That kind of specificity has only come up once in my 8 interviews, but every interview counts! For the most part, I think they're simply looking for PhD candidates who are affable and have a voracious intellectual appetite + curiosity.

This is all super helpful, thanks! Definitely a few things for me to think about. Interviews are a big black box to me and maybe this is why people keep saying PhD is about "fit" and a bit of random luck. Still unsure what "fit" exactly means. Some days I feel like I'm beginning to get what "fit" means and other days, I'm completely thrown off ?

[inanycase]

1 hour ago, DarkPassenger said:

Did you interview at JHU?

Yes, I did

[drunkenduck]

3 minutes ago, inanycase said:

Some days I feel like I'm beginning to get what "fit" means and other days, I'm completely thrown off ?

Fit is 80% how similar your research interests are to a prospective advisor's and 20% how well they like your personality.

[sirzachy]

2 hours ago, ood63 said:

Anyone hear from USC Pibbs yet?  UCI CMB?  Radio Silence from them so curious if any of you have heard from them?

I applied to those as well but still absolutely no word. I see on the uci cmb they usually have interviews around this time but I personally wasn't invited to one lol

maybe covid is delaying things this year?

[denify]

20 hours ago, ham1 said:

Epidemiology! I had a set of interviews with the training program for which I applied

Did you apply for the Phd Program or just the training program? Do you know if interviews are normally conducted for columbia?

[XXXXXXphd2021]

37 minutes ago, inanycase said:

 

 

This is all super helpful, thanks! Definitely a few things for me to think about. Interviews are a big black box to me and maybe this is why people keep saying PhD is about "fit" and a bit of random luck. Still unsure what "fit" exactly means. Some days I feel like I'm beginning to get what "fit" means and other days, I'm completely thrown off ?

Every school/program also has its own personality. E.g. if they prefer students with very strong quantitative backgrounds, very defined research interests etc. If you already got interviews then at least you got what they value already! Just be yourself and sometimes your gut feeling will tell you

I noticed some of these differences in preparing for my applications (e.g. if the program asks for a personal history statement and how many under representative students are in the student cohort) and talking to POIs. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by xxxxling

[ham1]

2 minutes ago, denify said:

Did you apply for the Phd Program or just the training program? Do you know if interviews are normally conducted for columbia?

I applied to both the PhD program and the training program. I'm not certain about if interviews are normally conducted for Columbia, and I haven't seen anyone else mentioning that they have gotten word from the school.. I know the training program only takes one student per year, so it seems my chances are low.. It's all been very mysterious to me so I'm sorry I can't be more helpful! 

[denify]

37 minutes ago, ham1 said:

I applied to both the PhD program and the training program. I'm not certain about if interviews are normally conducted for Columbia, and I haven't seen anyone else mentioning that they have gotten word from the school.. I know the training program only takes one student per year, so it seems my chances are low.. It's all been very mysterious to me so I'm sorry I can't be more helpful! 

Ok thanks

[moosepup]

4 hours ago, teabunny said:

I got an email yesterday about an interview invite (I applied to SBS) -- they said they're still finalizing the timing and format of the interviews, but wanted to confirm time zones.

I also got an email yesterday about an interview invite from NYU. (I applied to Epi.) Same thing about time zones and dates/times TBD. 

I got an email today about a PhD interview day event from NYU too.

[teabunny]

7 minutes ago, moosepup said:

I also got an email yesterday about an interview invite from NYU. (I applied to Epi.) Same thing about time zones and dates/times TBD. 

I got an email today about a PhD interview day event from NYU too.

Woohoo! Looks like they figured out all the logistics  

[MarP]

On 1/22/2021 at 10:33 AM, Jungle345 said:

 

Yes, I applied to majority hybrid programs -- Rutgers, Georgia Southern, Medical College of Wisconsin, New York Medical College (non-hybrid). So far I've only heard from MCW (had an interview in December and nothing back from that so far..) Agreed the wait is really hard! Wish you the best of luck! 

Hey! Do you mind sharing how your interview went and what was the format/questions