Where are the PhD BME Applicants for Fall 2012?

[koochipudi]

Called Columbia and the guy who answered the phone didn't seem to be very sure or know much aboutu interviews. He didn't know when the open house weekend was or anything but said they should be done sending out interview invites since it's so late already...>< I'm hoping he just doesn't know what he's talking about. Has anyone heard from michigan-ann arbor?

Nvm, michigan is already done inviting students for interviews and if you haven't heard, its a rejection

Edited February 21, 2012 by koochipudi

[ghanada]

Called Columbia and the guy who answered the phone didn't seem to be very sure or know much aboutu interviews. He didn't know when the open house weekend was or anything but said they should be done sending out interview invites since it's so late already...>< I'm hoping he just doesn't know what he's talking about. Has anyone heard from michigan-ann arbor?

Nvm, michigan is already done inviting students for interviews and if you haven't heard, its a rejection

yeah it sounds like everything is wrapping up. I get the sense that if there are any schools left that haven't said anything one way or another, that it is a rejection. I am not sure if there are any schools that accept without interviews or open houses, it is pretty tough to find all that info.

[koochipudi]

Is it normal to receive admission to the schools before the interview? I have the interview next week but received a letter in the mail offering me admission but no mention of funding. Has this happened to anyone else? Can they reject you after the recruitment weekend if you mess up?

[Aaron_T]

Applied:MIT, Yale, UCB/UCSF and Caltech

Stats

UG GPA: > 3.9 from international university with no name

Master GPA: 4.0 from top Canadian engineering school

Research: full time 4 years, plus 2 years TA in chemical engineering

GRE: good Math and Verbal, bad writing

Publication: 9 total, 4 first author

3 strong LOR from a Harvard young PI, my master PI, and a super famous PI in bioengineering.

Hi, do you heard any news from yale BME?

[Musikalgeak]

Applied: Duke, JHU, Caltech, Northwestern, UFL, USC, Umich in Biomedical Engineering, specifically neuroengineering

Haven't heard from any of the above...starting to get nervous

GPA: 3.788 from Private USA university

GRE: 720Q 630V 4.0AW

Research: Two REU programs and 1 2-year research project at a local university

Publications: none but hopefully one soon for the 2 year project

3 strong LOR from two professors and well known PI in the field

[ghanada]

@Musikalgeak - sounds like you and me are applying for a lot of the same spots...I too am going for BME PhD in neuroengineering. In fact, I applied everywhere you did except UFL and Caltech. I have no shot at Caltech and I had no idea UFL had a neuroengineering program, I wish I would have applied there as a safety. Here are my stats to compare:

Undergrad Institution: Top 25 US school

Major(s): Psychobiology

GPA: 2.57 - embarrassingly low, I had no intention of doing any type of grad school and just wanted to pass classes. Obviously my weakest link, however this was about 10 years ago for me and I'm much more mature now

Type of Student: US male

Graduate Institution: Top 10 BME school

Major(s): M.S. in Electrical Engineering (concentration in bioelectrics, thesis in BME lab)

GPA in Major: 3.74

GRE Scores:

Q: 770

V: 600

W: 5.5

Research Experience:

3 years full-time RA in neuroimaging/neuropsychology lab at a top 5 hospital/med school

1 year full-time RA in BME lab at Masters university

Publications:

2 first author published abstracts

2 first author poster presentations at international conferences

2 first author papers (in review)

9 secondary authors in peer-reviewed journals

3 strong LORs from well known professors in neuroimaging and bme

Applied for BME [PhD] at: UCSD, USC, UCLA, UCB/UCSF, Stanford, U Washington, Duke, MIT, U Michigan, UPenn, Columbia, Northwestern, JHU, U Pitts, Brown, U Minnesota, Boston U, CCNY

Rejected: UCSD, UCB/UCSF, Stanford, U Washington, MIT, UPenn, U Minnesota

Interviews: Columbia

Accepted: Boston University (with funding)

Yes, I applied to 18 schools. I'm tired of going through this process (my 3rd time) and I'm relatively older for an applicant so I didn't want to take any chances.

I am pretty happy about BU and am glad I have a potential home. At this point, I am assuming all the other schools are going to reject me. I think maybe USC, Northwestern, Brown, UPitts, and CCNY are still not done with apps. I think UCLA, Duke, and JHU have already accepted or interviewed all their applicants. I was contacted by a U Michigan POI that wanted me in his lab but didn't have any power in making U Mich accept me. He basically said that it looks like I am getting rejected.

[renoona]

BME PhD applicants: If it makes anyone feel better, I too am getting nervous from not hearing back. Hoping that I still have a shot with the whole rolling-admissions thing, and that i'm not too far down on the priority list for invites. My numbers might be low, but I have the heart, haha!

Major: ChemE from Top 10 Engineering School

Undergrad GPA: 3.6

GRE: 590V / 740Q / 5.5W

Research: 2 years in drug-delivery focused lab in ChemE, 1 year in drug delivery BioE lab (1 publication pending)

Work experience: 1 year as chemical process engineer in manufacturing industry

Applied: UCSF/UCB, UCSD, UW, UC Davis (BME and ChemE), USC, UCLA (BME and ChemE), Caltech, Stanford

Rejected: UCSF/UCB, UW, Stanford

Accepted: ...all silent on acceptance front.

I'm giving it one more week before I start applying to jobs.

[ghanada]

BME PhD applicants: If it makes anyone feel better, I too am getting nervous from not hearing back. Hoping that I still have a shot with the whole rolling-admissions thing, and that i'm not too far down on the priority list for invites. My numbers might be low, but I have the heart, haha!

Man, your numbers aren't even really that low! It is just crazy how super competitive apps are this year. I talked to someone on the admissions committee at Boston University and heard they turned down a 5.0/5.0 GPA from MIT. So numbers really aren't exactly everything.

Looks like you only applied to west coast schools? Is there any reason you didn't want to venture out? Unfortunately, basically all the BME PhD schools on the west coast are all highly ranked. Good luck on the rest of your schools, if it helps at all I already got a reject from UCSD so if you haven't heard anything from them you could be on some sort of waitlist. If you have to apply again next year, consider applying to schools outside the west coast and you should have a great shot at lots of places.

[navier]

Yes, I agree this year is extremely competitive. I'm not an 'out-of-this-world' applicant but I have a pretty strong app. Been rejected to 3 places so far, admitted to 2 and one more interview. I'm really happy with how I've done thus far but I thought I'd get one or two more interviews. I'm still waiting to hear from Penn, UCSD and Columbia but I consider those rejections. Seems like I made the '2nd tier' list for those places.

[ghanada]

Yes, I agree this year is extremely competitive. I'm not an 'out-of-this-world' applicant but I have a pretty strong app. Been rejected to 3 places so far, admitted to 2 and one more interview. I'm really happy with how I've done thus far but I thought I'd get one or two more interviews. I'm still waiting to hear from Penn, UCSD and Columbia but I consider those rejections. Seems like I made the '2nd tier' list for those places.

Do you mind saying which places you got into, rejected, and interviews? You might have a shot at UCSD and Penn though because I think a number of people have gotten straight rejections (including myself) from those schools.

I'm also a little disappointed with not getting some more interviews. My undergrad GPA was terrible, but it was in psychology and it was like 10 years ago. Since then I have taken all the undergrad engineering core classes, plus upper divs, plus a year's worth of graduate courses with about 3.8 GPA for a Masters in EE, but yet admissions people keep telling me I am being considered but most likely will get rejected because my undergrad GPA was low. It really surprises me just how ridiculous it is these days to get into good programs. For those that are getting into top programs (MIT, Caltech, UCSD, UCSF/UCB, JHU, etc), I give you all serious props and you must be rocks stars in bme.

[navier]

Oh yeah, sorry. My list is as follows:

Accepted: Duke, UM

Interview: JHU

Rejected: HST, MIT, Stanford

Pending: UCSD, UPenn, Columbia

>3.9GPA from top 20 engineering school. >90% on GRE in all sections. Several years research. 1 paper. Some scholarships. Top very strong LORs

[ghanada]

Oh yeah, sorry. My list is as follows:

Accepted: Duke, UM

Interview: JHU

Rejected: HST, MIT, Stanford

Pending: UCSD, UPenn, Columbia

>3.9GPA from top 20 engineering school. >90% on GRE in all sections. Several years research. 1 paper. Some scholarships. Top very strong LORs

NICE admits with Duke and UMich!! Congrats! Those are both solid schools for sure. You should def not be disappointed at all with those. I would be hard pressed to call those "2nd tier", maybe lower "1st tier" or something. And with an interview at JHU, you are looking at top schools. I really can't figure out who actually does get into MIT or HST...it doesn't even sound like people are getting interviews over there. Stanford also seems unusually tough this year for not being a top 5 BME school. I think we are all in a rough admit year this year. Sounds like numbers are abnormally high and I can only guess with the crappy economy and govt. cuts on research grants that competition is fierce.

I'm guessing JHU would be your number 1 choice from your list of available options. If it came down to Duke and UMich do you know which you would go with?

[navier]

Thanks! Yeah I would say those are definitely first tier schools. I'm definitely going to Duke if I don't get into JHU. Even if I do get into JHU it will be a tough decision. Duke is an awesome place and I love it there!

As for Stanford and MIT/HST... I honestly don't know either. I thought I would get an interview at HST. Two of my recommenders have ties with MIT and know the people I was interested in working with... so idk. And Stanford really blows my mind. They're out of the top 5 and their research doesn't seem as cutting-edge to me as other schools... I honestly just wanted to go there because of the location lol.

But I'm really hoping to get into JHU because I'm really interested in several PIs research, but I know they're going to reject a decent number of people who they interview.. so we'll see.

[ghanada]

Yeah Duke sounds awesome. I really like the work they are doing out there. And JHU is like the holy grail of BME so I can imagine how tough a decision is must be...just sucks that JHU is in baltimore!

Haha, and yeah I am from cali so I totally agree with you on Stanford for location. That was one of my biggest draws there...I don't personally particularly like the culture on that campus because people seem a bit pretentious to me, but it is in a pretty ideal spot.

hehe and not to rush you or anything, but if you are for sure not going to UMich, would you mind declining your offer? I think there are a few of us here that are in a gray area with them and could use any extra help if possible.

Good luck on the JHU interviews!

[navier]

I sort of had the feeling the Stanford community was pretentious... Not my style at all. And I definitely will! Trust me, I understand how it is! I'm even going to decline my interviews at the schools I haven't heard from, if I get any more interviews, because it would be wasteful for me to take that spot from someone else. Who are you interested in working with at Columbia? I know some of the professors there, so I'm just curious.

[bme2012]

have people heard from harvard seas?

[Musikalgeak]

Rejected from JHU and Northwestern, interview with UFL, pending: USC, UMich, Caltech and Duke

[ghanada]

@Musikalgeak - congrats on the interview at UFL! Hope you get an offer. When did you hear from JHU and Northwestern??? That is the fist I have heard of anyone getting rejection news from those schools. Ahhh, I know I have 0 chance at JHU, I really wish they would send me a formal rejection as well.

[Musikalgeak]

@ghanada: I emailed someone from JHU and they told me I am rejected.

[ghanada]

@ghanada: I emailed someone from JHU and they told me I am rejected.

Got my Northwestern rejection via website today (along with a lot of other people it seems). I am also definitely assuming JHU is a rejection so it looks like we are on the same boat. What a rough application year. I am going to keep my fingers crossed for USC since it doesn't sound like anyone has heard anything (positive or negative) yet from them. Seems like one of the last reasonable shots.

[navier]

Anyone know anything about UPenn BioE? I still haven't heard from them and was wondering if anyone had insight into this..

[intirb]

Have you checked your status on the website? UPenn has already sent out rejections/acceptances and they have three interview weekends (for funding) - one last weekend, one in early March, and one in late March. It's possible that you're on some kind of wait list, but if I were you I would call if the website doesn't have any useful information.

Edited February 27, 2012 by intirb

[navier]

Hey, thanks for responding! My status on the web page still says under review... I've sent several emails with no response. Did you get to choose your visiting weekend?

[intirb]

Sort of.. we ranked them in order of preference, but my understanding is that it depended a lot on the faculty as well.

[navier]

Hmm ok. It seems like I should've received my rejection by now. This is odd. Thanks for the info though!