2022 Neuroscience PhD Applicants and Admissions Results

[wistem11]

47 minutes ago, ninjasub2 said:

Hi all-- I just received my first acceptance earlier today (woo hoo!) and am wondering how to respond to an acceptance when you're still interviewing with other programs and want to tell the program you want to interview with/hear back from all schools before making a decision? 

Wondering this too in case it happens

[wistem11]

Penn is really just ghosting us all, honestly just waiting for the rejection email

[neuro7]

1 hour ago, ninjasub2 said:

Hi all-- I just received my first acceptance earlier today (woo hoo!) and am wondering how to respond to an acceptance when you're still interviewing with other programs and want to tell the program you want to interview with/hear back from all schools before making a decision? 

Congrats!!! I think being honest is best.. it’s not like they will take back the offer haha.

[uninvitedColumbus]

12 hours ago, ninjasub2 said:

Hi all-- I just received my first acceptance earlier today (woo hoo!) and am wondering how to respond to an acceptance when you're still interviewing with other programs and want to tell the program you want to interview with/hear back from all schools before making a decision? 

congratulations!

did they ask you to tell them if you want to attend? 

[brkkmnkk]

Isn’t there a decision deadline around mid-April for most programs? I doubt anyone can force anyone’s hand to make a decision this early on. 

[wistem11]

25 minutes ago, brkkmnkk said:

Isn’t there a decision deadline around mid-April for most programs? I doubt anyone can force anyone’s hand to make a decision this early on. 

Yeah April 15

[brkkmnkk]

The important thing to keep in mind is, if you have multiple acceptances and have decided on a program, let the other ones know as soon as you can so peeps from waitlists get a chance.

[cyaline]

I just got my first (and probably only) interview for McGill's rotation Neuro program (it was my top choice so im freaking out with excitement). Anyone have any interview tips? In the email it says "It will be a casual interview format with several standard questions and a chance for you to also question us about the program." What would you say are typically considered "standard questions" ? 

[brkkmnkk]

26 minutes ago, cyaline said:

I just got my first (and probably only) interview for McGill's rotation Neuro program (it was my top choice so im freaking out with excitement). Anyone have any interview tips? In the email it says "It will be a casual interview format with several standard questions and a chance for you to also question us about the program." What would you say are typically considered "standard questions" ? 

Congratulations!!! I'm sure you will do great in your interviews. Some common questions I've been asked so far:

Why us? What do you want to do with your degree after? What is your current project? [Usually this is the majority of the interview when the conversation is about you], what have you done so far to approach your goals in phd? [I wanted to combine computational stuff with neuroscience, so they asked me what I did till now to prepare], tell us about yourself., and maybe there are some questions specific to your program. Best of luck!

Edited January 27, 2022 by brkkmnkk
typo

[doodlynoodly]

16 hours ago, cyaline said:

I just got my first (and probably only) interview for McGill's rotation Neuro program (it was my top choice so im freaking out with excitement). Anyone have any interview tips? In the email it says "It will be a casual interview format with several standard questions and a chance for you to also question us about the program." What would you say are typically considered "standard questions" ? 

For all the interviews I had so far they have been very casual; 

they asked me about my previous research project and some questions on the way(which I felt like they were genuinely curious about but not to test me or so). And they asked me really in depth about what I am interested and what I want to do for phd.  Also they asked me if I have questions about the program.  Other than that, the questions were initiated by me - I had talked to faculties who I were pretty interested, so I asked about on-going projects, general direction of the lab ,etc.

In general they have been very nice and trying to be informative. Good luck on the interview!

Edited January 28, 2022 by luluhaya

[ninjasub2]

So i received an offer from a school and responded back that i'm super excited abt the offer but am still interviewing and would like some time to think abt my decision after completing all itnerviews- and I haven't gotten a response back from the department yet. The email was carefully worded and super polite/grateful/professional-- do we think it's a little weird I haven't gotten a response back yet? It's been over 24 hours since I sent my response

[ninjasub2]

Also, for those of you who have been saying your interviews were laid back-- I also want to mention that several of my interviews have been VERY dense. Not all of them, but some of them were definitely notably and deliberately dense. Just a note to stay prepared to answer questions beyond your own research work. 

[neuro7]

14 minutes ago, ninjasub2 said:

So i received an offer from a school and responded back that i'm super excited abt the offer but am still interviewing and would like some time to think abt my decision after completing all itnerviews- and I haven't gotten a response back from the department yet. The email was carefully worded and super polite/grateful/professional-- do we think it's a little weird I haven't gotten a response back yet? It's been over 24 hours since I sent my response

I don't think it's weird. People working on admissions are SOOO busy... they have to manage those getting interviewed, accepted and rejected... it is a lot of work. Just be patient!

[brkkmnkk]

9 minutes ago, ninjasub2 said:

Also, for those of you who have been saying your interviews were laid back-- I also want to mention that several of my interviews have been VERY dense. Not all of them, but some of them were definitely notably and deliberately dense. Just a note to stay prepared to answer questions beyond your own research work. 

I had 4 interviews for 1 school. All 4 faculty were amazing people, but especially 2/4, I was bombarded with questions and had to act/think confidently. So I agree that you should expect anything.

[GibonFrog]

7 hours ago, brkkmnkk said:

I had 4 interviews for 1 school. All 4 faculty were amazing people, but especially 2/4, I was bombarded with questions and had to act/think confidently. So I agree that you should expect anything.

what school?

[brkkmnkk]

36 minutes ago, GibonFrog said:

what school?

Weill Cornell

[GibonFrog]

57 minutes ago, brkkmnkk said:

Weill Cornell

Nice, good luck

[uninvitedColumbus]

Hi everyone, I'd be very grateful if you could share what you know about the following matter:

How does a neuroscience PhD from the US compare with one from the UK? Considering the sheer number of active researchers in my field of interest in the US, it's reasonable for me to do a PhD in the US and that will probably carve out a easy trajectory for postdocs. In a way, it will be very convenient to network in the US, and especially in a dept full of researchers whose work I like. 

On the other hand, I have the opportunity to work in a prestigious university in the UK in a good lab. However, the community there for my kind of research is rather limited, although the neuroscience ecosystem is vibrant on the whole. My worry is that culturally there might be less mixing and collaboration in the UK uni as compared to the US. My worries may be baseless, but can't help thinking there is some truth to it.

That's why anything you people can honestly contribute to this discussion will help me greatly. You may also write to me directly in the inbox in case you'd like to share something more "off-the-records". Thanks! I hope you understand my situation!

 

Edit:

Equally helpful would be any knowledgeable contacts you could give me and I'll talk to them.

Edited January 29, 2022 by uninvitedColumbus

[PotatoBrain]

1 hour ago, uninvitedColumbus said:

Hi everyone, I'd be very grateful if you could share what you know about the following matter:

How does a neuroscience PhD from the US compare with one from the UK? Considering the sheer number of active researchers in my field of interest in the US, it's reasonable for me to do a PhD in the US and that will probably carve out a easy trajectory for postdocs. In a way, it will be very convenient to network in the US, and especially in a dept full of researchers whose work I like. 

I heard from one of my PI's to be a bit careful considering UK schools since their PhD length is only 4 years (likely because most UK students have a Masters before doing a PhD). Not that you still be rigorously trained but if you decide to do a postdoc at the United States, there may be some PI's not keen on taking you in since they believe you didn't get 'enough training'. Though I feel like that potential lab not accepting you would not be a good place to be in because you are still getting trained as a post-doc. Hope this helps!

[docmarten]

On 1/28/2022 at 1:05 PM, brkkmnkk said:

I had 4 interviews for 1 school. All 4 faculty were amazing people, but especially 2/4, I was bombarded with questions and had to act/think confidently. So I agree that you should expect anything.

what kinds of questions were they asking when it wasn't related to your research?

[brkkmnkk]

45 minutes ago, docmarten said:

what kinds of questions were they asking when it wasn't related to your research?

For instance, I'm international and lived in many countries growing up. I was asked why I moved so often, how those experiences shaped me, and why did I decide to move to the US. Languages I speak, where my family is right now, these were all asked "casually" in two of my interviews. 

This is a relatively unique situation given the common applicant, so if your application has something that would be different than that of a regular applicant, this will come up for sure. If it doesn't, bring it up yourself in a positive manner.

 

[ninjasub2]

Soooo no hope for UPenn anymore right lol 

[siguy]

Does anyone know if it is okay to cancel interview after accepting it? I have been accepted to my top choice, and I thought it would be best to cancel interview for some of the programs.. I thought that would open up spaces for other propspective students and save time and energy for both the programa and myself. At the same time, I think canceling after accepting the interview may seem rude and not professional.. What do you guys suggest?

[MatinSaba]

Any intentional candidate got an interview this year? 

[KCallen]

6 hours ago, siguy said:

Does anyone know if it is okay to cancel interview after accepting it? I have been accepted to my top choice, and I thought it would be best to cancel interview for some of the programs.. I thought that would open up spaces for other propspective students and save time and energy for both the programa and myself. At the same time, I think canceling after accepting the interview may seem rude and not professional.. What do you guys suggest?

No, I say go for it and the earlier the better. The AdCom people understand that things change. Just be professional about it and move on.