Biomedical Science PhD Applicants (Fall 2021)

[ssrour98]

On 12/25/2020 at 9:16 AM, Research Enthusiast said:

I applied to UT Austin - Pharmacology and Toxicology. Got an interview invite on Dec 23rd. Interview scheduled in the first week of February. However, even after getting the invite, the status on my application status page is still ‘In review’.

Congratulations!!! I wonder if it is the same admissions committee or it is separate for the cell and molecular biology program. I guess the only thing to do is be patient!! 

[Danbbk]

Hello hello guys !

I have a question for you all!

what if I'll get three interviews in a same day, and they dont offer other days as well. I mean can I asked them what are the odds to be accepted after interview? 

Have a happy new year!

[jakeperalta]

Hey everyone,

for those who applied to WashU DBBS, does you application say "Ready for review" because mine says that and I haven't heard anything back  I'm international with US BS and MS degrees, still waiting on 8 programs ? 

[Sky_china]

39 minutes ago, Danbbk said:

Hello hello guys !

I have a question for you all!

what if I'll get three interviews in a same day, and they dont offer other days as well. I mean can I asked them what are the odds to be accepted after interview? 

Have a happy new year!

I would say that is a dangerous question to ask...  however, some program are willing to make some arrangement for you if you cant attend bc of some season scheduling or not... ask the coordinator again nothing is promised but really I think that is a dangerous question for you to ask 

[jill1997]

2 hours ago, Danbbk said:

Hello hello guys !

I have a question for you all!

what if I'll get three interviews in a same day, and they dont offer other days as well. I mean can I asked them what are the odds to be accepted after interview? 

Have a happy new year!

I think even if you ask them, you might only get some ambiguous answers like "it varies every year". Try to rearrange the interview with them. Good luck!

[icsyr]

4 hours ago, Danbbk said:

Hello hello guys !

I have a question for you all!

what if I'll get three interviews in a same day, and they dont offer other days as well. I mean can I asked them what are the odds to be accepted after interview? 

Have a happy new year!

I would argue against asking that. Odds of getting in after being invited for an interview are quite high. But preempting the interview by asking a question like that might make the panel nervous about your willingness to be recruited. 

I understand the difficulty, though. I am going to have to decline an interview because of scheduling conflicts. It's likely that you can ask the coordinator to reschedule your interview, but do it sooner rather than later since they are trying to arrange professors to align with your interests specifically on the day(s) for you were recruited. Good luck; and good job getting interviews!!

[virushunter]

1 minute ago, icsyr said:

I would argue against asking that. Odds of getting in after being invited for an interview are quite high. But preempting the interview by asking a question like that might make the panel nervous about your willingness to be recruited. 

I understand the difficulty, though. I am going to have to decline an interview because of scheduling conflicts. It's likely that you can ask the coordinator to reschedule your interview, but do it sooner rather than later since they are trying to arrange professors to align with your interests specifically on the day(s) for you were recruited. Good luck; and good job getting interviews!!

I’ve had to contact coordinators because the schools that have offered me interviews want the same weekends, and most have been very understanding. Yes it isn’t ideal, but they don’t necessarily know the other schools dates either, so if you want to do multiple interviews it’s a juggling act. I believe it also really has to do with how you word the email, and just be very nice and grateful.

[winterishere2020]

16 hours ago, jakeperalta said:

Hey everyone,

for those who applied to WashU DBBS, does you application say "Ready for review" because mine says that and I haven't heard anything back  I'm international with US BS and MS degrees, still waiting on 8 programs ? 

My application says so too. I hope WashU hasn't sent out all invites yet. 

[jakeperalta]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:36 AM, winterishere2020 said:

My application says so too. I hope WashU hasn't sent out all invites yet. 

Sigh I hope WashU hasn't either -- I applied for Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis and I've seen that some people have received rejections and others have received interviews [only on results page so idk how accurate that it] but its crickets for me. Fingers crossed for us ❤️

[rmg20]

On 12/28/2020 at 8:03 PM, winterishere2020 said:

I also applied to the JHU CMM program but I haven't heard anything. When did you submit your application? I wondered if they will still send out more invitations as the first interview is not too far away.

I will be anxiously waiting for more news (hopefully not rejections) while enjoying cookies and movies in the coming few days. 

 

They are still sending them out! I figured I was out of the running too but then I received an interview invite

Edited December 31, 2020 by rmg20

[calizab]

20 hours ago, Danbbk said:

Hello hello guys !

I have a question for you all!

what if I'll get three interviews in a same day, and they dont offer other days as well. I mean can I asked them what are the odds to be accepted after interview? 

Have a happy new year!

I've had to contact both UCSF, and UNC Chapel Hill about switching my interview dates and they were super accommodating. I️ wouldn't ask your odds tho. emailing to ask if you can interview on another weekend wont hurt you.

[BostonShaker]

20 hours ago, jakeperalta said:

Hey everyone,

for those who applied to WashU DBBS, does you application say "Ready for review" because mine says that and I haven't heard anything back  I'm international with US BS and MS degrees, still waiting on 8 programs ? 

4 hours ago, winterishere2020 said:

My application says so too. I hope WashU hasn't sent out all invites yet. 

Same here! No word from them yet but I'm hopeful.

 

[jill1997]

Hey everyone,

a quick question about interview

How do you guys think about using some visual aids (like powerpoint slides) when introducing previous research work? Would it be useful for the professor to better understand my previsou work? 

I'm worried that using slides might make my speech longer, but also worried about unable to make my idea clear without some graphs and data.

What's your suggestions? 

[queerorpheus]

8 hours ago, jill1997 said:

Hey everyone,

a quick question about interview

How do you guys think about using some visual aids (like powerpoint slides) when introducing previous research work? Would it be useful for the professor to better understand my previsou work? 

I'm worried that using slides might make my speech longer, but also worried about unable to make my idea clear without some graphs and data.

What's your suggestions? 

Personally I wouldn't use slides. From what I've heard, interviews aren't going to go super in depth on your work, they just want to know that you can talk about what you did and its implications. You can talk about trends in the data, but having the specific data isn't necessarily helpful. Since interviews are online, I'm planning to have some notecards by my computer so I don't miss any talking points about my research. Hope this helps!

[Stadman]

On 1/1/2021 at 3:31 AM, jill1997 said:

Hey everyone,

a quick question about interview

How do you guys think about using some visual aids (like powerpoint slides) when introducing previous research work? Would it be useful for the professor to better understand my previsou work? 

I'm worried that using slides might make my speech longer, but also worried about unable to make my idea clear without some graphs and data.

What's your suggestions? 

so I have said this in another forum but the Hello PhD podcast has an episode (146) that geos over virtual interviews and one of the hosts is part of UNC's admissions committee and the head for Vanderbilt is a guest, they go over what is good and what is too much,  the general advise/ rule of thumb was don't use slides/ images as a crutch, they can tell if you are speaking from a place of genuine knowledge and understanding or not. If you have some figures that support what you are saying then it could help but don't read from it. The PI's are also going to be passionate about their research and might do the same thing, if you show how much you care about what you are doing I think the slides could be a useful asset.

[Crucial BBQ]

On 12/30/2020 at 5:47 PM, Danbbk said:

Hello hello guys !

I have a question for you all!

what if I'll get three interviews in a same day, and they dont offer other days as well. I mean can I asked them what are the odds to be accepted after interview? 

Have a happy new year!

You can ask, but you likely won't get an answer.  

There is a chance three interviews will fall on the same day but I doubt that you will receive all three invites on the same day (although I suppose that could happen, too).  When the invites come in it is up to you to accept (RSVP) or decline.  I wouldn't wait until all three come in before doing this, so accept each as they come in.  If there is a conflict with date[s], contact the program[s] ASAP and ask if the date can be rescheduled and suggest a few dates that work for you.  The programs are trying to sell themselves to you as much as you are trying to sell yourself to them.  No one can reasonably expect to hold your calendar open from the time you submit your application to when ever they decide to send you an invite on a date that you cannot predict will come in.    

 

[Crucial BBQ]

On 1/1/2021 at 3:31 AM, jill1997 said:

Hey everyone,

a quick question about interview

How do you guys think about using some visual aids (like powerpoint slides) when introducing previous research work? Would it be useful for the professor to better understand my previsou work? 

I'm worried that using slides might make my speech longer, but also worried about unable to make my idea clear without some graphs and data.

What's your suggestions? 

If you were to do an in-person interview would you bring an easel and posters?  I am not being cheeky here, but if you feel it may be difficult to talk about past research without visual aids I suggest to start practicing mock interviews to the question Tell me about your past research. 

The interview is just that, an interview.  You won't be giving any speeches.  Your past research is indicated on your CV, likely discussed in your SOP, and (hopefully) reinforced by an LOR or two.  You likely will not go in-depth over past research and in reality who ever is interviewing you won't care that much about it beyond that you did it, that you loved it, and that you want to do it for a living (but not necessarily the same research or the same project). 

 

[winterishere2020]

On 12/31/2020 at 1:08 PM, rmg20 said:

They are still sending them out! I figured I was out of the running too but then I received an interview invite

Thank you for your information! May I ask when did you receive the invite?

[jakeperalta]

Anybody here get an interview from Weill Cornell IMP? 

[immunolover]

1 hour ago, jakeperalta said:

Anybody here get an interview from Weill Cornell IMP? 

I did, I think it was on the 18th or so.

[immunolover]

On 12/28/2020 at 7:54 PM, Blackroses said:

Anyone applied to UCSD biomedical sciences  Immunology track heard back?

I'm wondering this as well... 

Also, recieved a rejection yesterday from WashU DBBS Immuno

[jakeperalta]

45 minutes ago, immunolover said:

I did, I think it was on the 18th or so.

Also got rejected from WashU yesterday ? When did you submit you app for Weill Cornell? And if you don't mind me asking, when is your interview?

[immunolover]

8 minutes ago, jakeperalta said:

Also got rejected from WashU yesterday ? When did you submit you app for Weill Cornell? And if you don't mind me asking, when is your interview?

I submitted it the day of the deadline, interview is Jan 20-22nd. Early, early early. 

Sorry to hear about your rejection too

[parasitesrcool]

Hey party people! Has anyone else been invited to interview at UCLA (IMMP), Yale (BBS, Micro), University of Washington (Pathobiology), or BU (PiBS)? Would love to say hi to you! (Everything feels so isolating when it's happening remotely...)

Also... Has anyone else gotten good news from "reach" schools and waitlist/rejections from "safety"s? I feel like my luck has just been insane (not to be that person. I am genuinely stupid)

Edited January 5, 2021 by ggthot

[Needanswers1]

Im still waiting on NYU and Sinai and I'm going to go insane lol