2022 Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD Admissions

[chr_angel]

11 hours ago, dec said:

Yea UCSD BISB interview is Jan 21. I heard they only have enough funding to support 2 internationals this year (not super sure about this but that's what I heard).

Well, I have talked with a lot of grad students here at UCSD, haha, maybe they just didn't want to crush my dream right away  

[tokyoboy101]

I heard from the CMU-Pitt comp bio program and they asked to set up an interview in the next 2-3 days. This also means they're not doing batches but rather interviewing as they review applications. If you applied, keep your head up! You might hear back soon. 

[Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea]

Has anyone heard back from USC QCB?? Any info on interviews?

[tokyoboy101]

1 hour ago, Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea said:

Has anyone heard back from USC QCB?? Any info on interviews?

I got an interview for USC QCB on Jan 11. Interviews are happening on Jan 28 or Feb 4.

[Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea]

7 hours ago, tokyoboy101 said:

I got an interview for USC QCB on Jan 11. Interviews are happening on Jan 28 or Feb 4.

Thank you for your info! Guess they are done with sending out interviews...

[Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea]

7 hours ago, tokyoboy101 said:

I got an interview for USC QCB on Jan 11. Interviews are happening on Jan 28 or Feb 4.

Good luck with your application!

[Henry13579]

Does anyone know when CMU-Pitt would be sending out final decisions? It seems like most people got either interviews, admissions without interviews or rejections around this time for the past few years. I understand that some get interviews this year. Has anyone received either rejection or admission decisions? Thanks. 

[chr_angel]

Jus received UPenn GCB rejection, how sad. It was my top choice ? 

[Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea]

16 minutes ago, chr_angel said:

Jus received UPenn GCB rejection, how sad. It was my top choice ? 

At least you got an interview! Many of us just received direct rejection on Jan 21? Good luck with your applications!

[justfiguringitout]

12 minutes ago, Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea said:

At least you got an interview! Many of us just received direct rejection on Jan 21? Good luck with your applications!

I haven't heard back anything from UPenn GCB so far... no rejection or interview or anything..

[justfiguringitout]

5 minutes ago, justfiguringitout said:

I haven't heard back anything from UPenn GCB so far... no rejection or interview or anything..

lol just checked my spam and the rejection was there. Good luck to everyone!

[Rachel_Lyu]

No updates on CMU-Pitt Computational Biology program...?

[chr_angel]

3 hours ago, Rachel_Lyu said:

No updates on CMU-Pitt Computational Biology program...?

I think they started sending invitations last week, you can check it on the results section here on GradCafe.  Good Luck  

[Abhro1997]

If anyone here has applied to MSc/ PhD Bioinformatics in UBC (University of British Columbia), any idea when they send the admission decision?

Edited January 30, 2022 by Abhro1997

[Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea]

Has anyone heard back from Brown Computational Biology? I saw an interview on Jan 25 but I haven't received anything...?

[winterishere2020]

Has anyone heard anything from BU Bioinformatics? Any inputs are appreciated!

[ivynotavery]

7 minutes ago, winterishere2020 said:

Has anyone heard anything from BU Bioinformatics? Any inputs are appreciated!

Same question here. I've sent email to request update but never received any reply...

[tokyoboy101]

2 hours ago, winterishere2020 said:

Has anyone heard anything from BU Bioinformatics? Any inputs are appreciated!

Yeah, I believe interview invites were sent last week. You can check on the results page: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

[winterishere2020]

1 hour ago, tokyoboy101 said:

Yeah, I believe interview invites were sent last week. You can check on the results page: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

Just saw it. Thank you! 

Really disappointed that I did not hear anything from BU - I thought I had a chance here. 

[sanaz gh]

Hello, 

I have not heard back from USC and Stanford. I am schedule for an interview with Feinberg Northwestern. Any thoughts, comments, or anyone who is willing to get together to practice for the interview? Thanks

 

Also, does anyone know if we would still get a chance for an interview for USC if we haven't gotten one during the first round?

Edited February 1, 2022 by sanaz gh

[yyyccc666]

Hello everyone,

 

I want to inquire about the application for bioinformatics phd. Any advice or comments is highly appreciated!

my background:

I got my bachelor  degree in Biological Pharmacy in China, and my undergraduate GPA was really low, only 3.28.... I did many public health and pharmacy research and got some awards in public health domain. (I know my gpa is too low...

I am a first-year master student in WashU med school, my major is biostatistics (actually the program  length is only 18 months). I got all A/A+ in all courses until now. I have worked as a RA in a bioinfor lab since my program started. My major project is benchmarking and PI told me there would be a paper for my data (but will publish in late 2022). I also will get another chance to get a strong LOR from another washu professor.

my aim:

I plan to apply for bioinformatics/biomedical informatics PhD programs in US. Could anyone give me any advice like what kind of school I have high/medium/fair chance to be admitted? I am just really anxious and worrying recently because I certainly know my background is really weak.. Thanks again for your patience and advice!! 

 

This is my first time to post, so plz tell me if I post a wrong place

[Henry13579]

Hi! I am an international with no green card applying to bioinfo this around.

Unfortunately, it is extremely hard for international to get a PhD in bioinformatics in the States, since lost of bioinformatics programs receive training grants not available for internationals without permanent residence.

The first thing that I would say is try not apply to the bioinformatics programs that receive NIH/NLM training grants:
https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/instpredoc/pages/PredocInst-Bioinformatics.aspx
U Arizona, UCSD, UCSF, Georgia Tech, JHU, BU, MIT,  Duke, UNC, Brown
Harvard BIG usually does not take many internationals as well. 
Penn GCB, Stanford Biomedical informatics are difficult for internationals as well.
Many Chinese people get in Yale computational biology and bioinformatics by getting China Scholarship Council - Yale World Scholars Program, but you have to be nominated by these 9 Chinese top universities.

Sometimes these schools have 1-2 positions supported by private foundations, and you can try the chances of winning lottery.

See. The top 20 are almost there.

My suggestions would be: try to establish connections within WashU and you might get a better shot there. 
Search for more programs that accept internationals and good luck.

 

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Henry13579

[Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea]

4 hours ago, Henry13579 said:

Hi! I am an international with no green card applying to bioinfo this around.

Unfortunately, it is extremely hard for international to get a PhD in bioinformatics in the States, since lost of bioinformatics programs receive training grants not available for internationals without permanent residence.

The first thing that I would say is try not apply to the bioinformatics programs that receive NIH/NLM training grants:
https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/instpredoc/pages/PredocInst-Bioinformatics.aspx
U Arizona, UCSD, UCSF, Georgia Tech, JHU, BU, MIT,  Duke, UNC, Brown
Harvard BIG usually does not take many internationals as well. 
Penn GCB, Stanford Biomedical informatics are difficult for internationals as well.
Many Chinese people get in Yale computational biology and bioinformatics by getting China Scholarship Council - Yale World Scholars Program, but you have to be nominated by these 9 Chinese top universities.

Sometimes these schools have 1-2 positions supported by private foundations, and you can try the chances of winning lottery.

See. The top 20 are almost there.

My suggestions would be: try to establish connections within WashU and you might get a better shot there. 
Search for more programs that accept internationals and good luck.

 

 

Very insightful and extremely helpful comments! I wish I could see this earlier, but luckily I do avoid some programs as they are famous for "not taking international students". I would add that grad school admission is pretty random (as I felt at this cycle), and what you can really do is to build connections from your current mentor. Try to inquire POI who has been working with your current mentor, or in any form of collaboration. That would probably help! 

 I would also add some programs here: CBB at USC and Biomedical PhD at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Based on USC's website, they do take many Chinese students. The later, though titled as Biomedical, they have exciting training area like Genetics and Data Science, and they also have another new training area- AI and technology...Sth like that. And the school is expanding and taking lots of PhD students. I actually found it's a really great program when I went to their interview day. 

Plz correct me if I made some mistakes in my comments. For me, it's my first cycle and hope my comments help!

[darklings]

12 hours ago, Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea said:

Very insightful and extremely helpful comments! I wish I could see this earlier, but luckily I do avoid some programs as they are famous for "not taking international students". I would add that grad school admission is pretty random (as I felt at this cycle), and what you can really do is to build connections from your current mentor. Try to inquire POI who has been working with your current mentor, or in any form of collaboration. That would probably help! 

 I would also add some programs here: CBB at USC and Biomedical PhD at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Based on USC's website, they do take many Chinese students. The later, though titled as Biomedical, they have exciting training area like Genetics and Data Science, and they also have another new training area- AI and technology...Sth like that. And the school is expanding and taking lots of PhD students. I actually found it's a really great program when I went to their interview day. 

Plz correct me if I made some mistakes in my comments. For me, it's my first cycle and hope my comments help!

I've just done my sinai's interviews and really like people there, which is beyond my expectation! Beside their new AIET (Artificial intelligence & emerging technologies), there's also a new center for advanced genomics technology, called AGI or something. Anyone applying for PhD programs in genomics and neuroscience can keep an eye on Mount Sinai, it's def a great place for research and it's in Manhattan lol 

[dreamer1]

Hi, does anyone hear from CMU-Pitt program? I applied to PhD but did not receive any ac or rej or interview. I also applied to CMU CS PhD and also heard nothing from this program. Pretty strange, is there anybody in the same situation with me? Thanks.

 

P.S.: I got offer from UW CS PhD, which I believe is more difficult to get admission comparing with the programs I mentioned above. I used to interview with one PI of CMU before my application, who is in the committee. Thanks.