Where are the PhD BME Applicants for Fall 2012?

[bme_bat]

Just wondering, has anyone heard back from UTexas at Austin or Yale BME programs yet?

[koochipudi]

Just wondering, has anyone heard back from UTexas at Austin or Yale BME programs yet?

At my visit weekend this past week, a couple of people said they got accepted into Yale,so i guess they starrted sending out acceptances but I don't know if they are all done yet or not

[nic_]

Does anyone know when recruitment weekend at Rice is? I received an email stating they are still looking at applications and I want to know if I still have a chance

hi! rice's recruitment weekend is 22-24 march. i hope you hear favourably from them soon!

[ghanada]

Yes please, any suggestions on where to eat? I am from CA so I've been to all the touristy spots but I'm looking for good korean bbq eateries and more local places to explore. Also, do you have any info about the BME program at UCLA? I know it's younger than other schools so do you have an idea on how their funding situations or classes are/ Any info will help! Thanks ghanada!

I pm'd koochipudi about the food stuff, but in case anyone else was wondering about my thoughts on UCLA's bme program here is what I said:

I don't know a whole lot about the bme program at UCLA because I was more neuroscience when I was going to school and working there. However, I think the program is pretty decent, definitely a top 25 program, and the UCLA name carries some good weight in engineering in general. The one thing you are prob going to have problems with is funding. First, it is match based so you will have to lock down funding on your own with an adviser. Also, I have had some friends get accepted to the program and were only offered like <$20k a year. This isn't terrible, but it is low for the area that UCLA is located in (surrounded by Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Santa Monica). I would personally think that living off less than $2,000/month is a bit tough.

[Sara_Rachel]

Is UCLA better than USC for BME? I personally thought USC was better. And has anyone heard from U Texas yet? I havent heard anything from them. ALso I havent heard anything from U Rochester after the interview. Although maybe its because I didn't even send an email expressing my gratitude. I do hope that i get into U Texas. Otherwise I am taking that Provost fellowship at USC.

[ghanada]

Is UCLA better than USC for BME? I personally thought USC was better. And has anyone heard from U Texas yet? I havent heard anything from them. ALso I havent heard anything from U Rochester after the interview. Although maybe its because I didn't even send an email expressing my gratitude. I do hope that i get into U Texas. Otherwise I am taking that Provost fellowship at USC.

UCLA pretty much always ranks better than USC in all the bme systems I have seen. However, I think USC edges out UCLA in terms of general grad engineering, but not by much if at all. In terms of location, there is NO DOUBT that UCLA is in a better place than USC...one of the few things even USC alum will admit to. But if you decide to goto USC you will not be disappointed. It is a great school and socal is a fantastic place to be spending the next 5+ years of your life.

[banana_panda]

socal is a fantastic place to be spending the next 5+ years of your life.

As a native of Orange County and attending school in San Diego, I do agree that socal is a great place to live in. However, East LA is not. I would not want to be around USC for any extended amounts of time. Just my two cents.

Also, if you do end up going to UCLA, ask around about the quals. I have heard of some people having bad experiences with that.

[Dongwon Lee]

Hi, all.

I am a international applicant but I did not receive even an interview offer.

This is really frustrating me.

1. Is there still any chance to receive a Ph.D. offer with BME/BioE? (Already 9th, March today....)

Here are schools that I applied but got no response: Gatech, UCLA, UCI, Columbia, Umich

2. Gatech' status shows me just "No decision has been made" since I submitted at the end of Dec.2011.

-> Is this normal? (I have applied BioE/Gatech, through Mechanical Engineering Department.)

Thanks.

[kneebuz]

I applied to GaTech this past January for the Chemical Engineering PhD program and I have not heard back from them either yet so I would not worry too much about it.

[Musikalgeak]

I got a full fellowship to University of Florida.

So far:

Accepted: University of Florida

Rejected: Northwestern, JHU

Waiting to Hear: USC, UMIch, Duke, Caltech

Unfortunately, the professors that I contacted at Duke don't have any spots available for me so I most likely will be rejected there. However, they sent me nice emails, which was really great.

[intirb]

Sorry for not posting this earlier. I'm a bit paranoid, and my background makes me very easily identifiable. Anyway, I think we're late enough in the decision process now that the adcoms aren't going to find anything here that they don't already know.

Academics

BS BME from #1 school with 3.6 GPA (but I graduated early)

MS Neuroscience from well-respected international institution, top in class

GRE: 800Q 680V 5.5W

Research

5ish years of research experience. No publications, but quite a few conference posters. My capstone engineering project generated some buzz in the lay press. I also wrote a master's thesis, for whatever that's worth.

Other relevant info

Three probably excellent LORs - I really need to go and thank them next week profusely, probably with home-baked goods. One 'famous' PI, two other PIs with whom I've worked very closely. All international

Hertz Finalist

Schools

Stanford University Bioengineering - rejected (2/6)

MIT/Harvard HST - interview (2/2), accepted (3/9) - 1 year funding

MIT Biological Engineering - rejected (2/16)

Brown University Biomedical Engineering - interview (1/26), accepted (2/29) - 5 years funding

University of Pennsylvania Bioengineering - interview (1/30)

University of Washington Bioengineering - interview (1/28)

[ghanada]

@intirb - wow those are some very impressive stats! Are you an international student or domestic? I wasn't sure because of your international Masters. And congrats on those acceptances, but I am shocked that you got rejected from Stanford and MIT. It doesn't sound like ANYONE is getting into those programs this year? I am a bit sad to hear that you already interviewed and were accepted at Brown, I haven't really heard anyone else mention results from there so I was hoping I still had a decent shot.

It looks like all your acceptances (or lack of) after interviews have come like a month after the interview? Is this normal? I thought offers would come sooner than that. Do you know where you are going to accept or are you still waiting for UPenn and UW to respond?

[intirb]

Thanks ghanada - although I guess I'm a bit surprised by your reaction. My GPA is pretty low compared to what I often see on this forum (i.e. >3.9), and I don't have any journal publications. My guess is that the people who got into Stanford this year had both of those things. I sort of expected the MIT BE rejection. Their program is very molecular/cellular, and that's not my background at all. It was probably stupid to apply there - HST is a much better fit. I admit I was pretty sad about the Stanford rejection though. In my interviews so far, it seems like a lot of very qualified people didn't get into Stanford. The few candidates I met who got an interview seemed absolutely stellar but more traditional (i.e. straight out of undergrad). I only have a few sample points though.

Oh, yeah, and I'm American. Just wanted to be abroad for a few years before committing to 5ish years in one place.

The dates in ()s up there are the dates I was notified about the interviews, not the dates of the interviews themselves. I've generally been hearing back about 1-2 weeks after the interviews, although the professors I'm talking to have been good about dropping appropriate hints. I'm waiting to visit UW (my last interview) before I decide anything. Also, hopefully I can hear back about the fellowships I've applied to before I have to make a decision. Either way, it's going to be very tough to decide.

Sorry for bringing bad news about Brown. Have you been keeping up on the results page? Historically, it seems like Brown has been extremely slow about their rejections.

[ghanada]

I wouldn't sat your GPA is "low" by any means. In fact I think most of those top schools report average GPAs as around 3.6 anyways. Plus you were doing this at a top school. Don't mind the posts on these forums because obviously only the top people are mostly posting up their ridiculous scores. I'm sure for every one of those posts there are like 5 times as many people with much more mediocre scores that are choosing not to post. Also, your Masters GPA is good, your GRE scores are excellent (prob some of the highest I have seen) and you have lots of research experience. Plus on top of that you are a female which is highly desirable for engineering schools. I'm sure the lack of publications is a slight negative, but in light of all your achievements and awards, I don't think that is a deal breaker. I would just think that the reason you didn't get into Stanford or MIT is that you may not have matched well with a prof or that a POI isn't taking new students.

You are really going to have a tough decision on your hands. Those are all such great schools. Why is the HST program only 1 year funding? Are you not guaranteed funding all your years there? That looks like such a great program and really the best of both worlds with Harvard and MIT jointed together.

And yeah, I have been checking the results, but the posts have been pretty sporadic and I haven't seen much going on with Brown. I get the feeling that I am in a limbo/waitlist stage with quite a few schools since some people have heard either acceptance or rejections, but I haven't heard anything.

Good luck with your last interview, I have been to Seattle a few times and have visited UW. It is a great school and a really cool city.

[tanzee]

I have a recommend admit from UCLA's BME PhD program too. This has come as a pleasant surprise to me, being an undergrad from a university that is just about halfway to the top-tier where I come from.

I am wondering what the typical timeframe is for UCLA BME admits to hear about lab placements, funding and not to mention, the official offer from the grad division? This, factoring in any correspondence with a PI who has hinted interest in their profile.

Thanks!

Edited March 13, 2012 by tanzee

[banana_panda]

My guess is that the people who got into Stanford this year had both of those things.

It's funny because I got into Stanford but got rejected after interviews at HST. I am really intrigued as to what sort of things different programs look for. I was surprised that I didn't even get an interview at UCSF and got rejected first thing in January. Definitely thought that I was going to get rejected from everywhere else at that point haha.

intirb: Did you study at MPI institute by any chance?

[intirb]

Why is the HST program only 1 year funding? Are you not guaranteed funding all your years there?

I guess that's just how the department works. It gives you a year of funding, basically to give you time to find a lab. After that, hopefully your lab funds you - so I guess money is a big factor in choosing labs, in the end.

intirb: Did you study at MPI institute by any chance?

Yes - Since you went to the HST interviews, I'm guessing that means you've figured out who I am. Sorry about the rejection - did they give you any hints during the interviews about their concerns? For me, they were concerned maybe I couldn't handle the coursework. Congrats on Stanford though! If I'd gotten in there, I would definitely have chosen them over HST. Any insights from your interviews about what they were looking for?

[banana_panda]

I'm not really sure what their criteria was but to be honest, I am not too sad that I didn't get in. I wasn't really a fan of the culture that I noticed and I don't think I would have been the best fit over there. So things seemed to have worked out pretty well. See you at UW?

[ghanada]

@banana_panda That is surprising that you got all the way through the interviews at HST but didn't get an offer. It is so hard to figure out how competitive the interviews are or if they are just trying to make sure you aren't crazy. Do you know where you want to go? It sounds like you have some great options there.

@intirb What type of research are you trying to get into? Since you did a Masters in neuroscience are you doing neuroimaging? I too have a background in neuroscience and engineering and I applied to all neuroimaging/neuroengineering POIs. I'm guessing we might have applied to a lot of the same people.

[banana_panda]

@ghanada: I'm trying to decide between Stanford and Vanderbilt right now and then I'm waiting to see how the UW interviews go. I'm trying not to lean anywhere before I check out all the programs first. I'm actually interested in imaging too - not so much neural though. What sort of schools are you looking into?

[ghanada]

@banana_pand: ohhh what type of imaging? Optical? I have recently been more interested in optical imaging. I have been looking at schools that do neuroengineering and specifically neural prosthetics. So I applied to like 18 of the top 25 schools and really focused on the schools that were good in bme and neuroscience. Wow, I am surprised to hear Vanderbilt is up there with Stanford on your list. Do you particularly like the research that is going on? I heard the campus is nice and that the program is getting stronger, but I personally would have a hard time turning down Stanford. Like everyone I have talked to this year got rejected by Stanford, that is really awesome you got in!

[banana_panda]

@ghanada: I'm more interested in macroscopic imaging, so MRI is pretty darn exciting for me. I would be interesting in learning more about optical techniques though. OCT and OFDI seem pretty interesting out there. 18 is a lot of schools!! I applied to six and I thought that was a lot. What are you leaning towards right now?

Vandy actually has a sick imaging program. They have a whole imaging institute with top notch hardware and tons of dedicated young faculty. Plus, they offered me a fellowship and there is a really cool PI I could work with. So that is why it makes deciding a little tough

[jorgebar]

Hello everyone,

this is my first time posting, I recived this email form Rice BioE on Feb 29th

Thank you for your application to the PhD program in the Department of Bioengineering At Rice University. This year our department received a large number of applications for graduate study and the applicant pool is extremely competitive. We are able to offer admission to only a small fraction of the applicants (less than 15%) who apply.

Our Graduate Recruiting and Admissions Committee is still considering your application. We will let you know the final status of your application as soon as possible.

Since, the I havent received any other email, I know that the recruiting week is the next week. By the way I am an international student.

Do you think I still have chances to get accepted??

Thanks

[ghanada]

@banana_panda: Dammit, I guess I kinda regret not applying to Vandy! I knew about them and sorta had them floating around on my list, but I was so tired of applying to all the other programs that I just decided to not put in my app, even though it is the only free app....I looked at their website and they really do look like they are doing some great work. My background is in EEG/MEG and fMRI, so I hear you on MRI. It does sound like we have pretty similar interests. My only acceptance is at BU, but I am waiting on a final decision from Columbia. Keep us updated on your final choice, and I am sure future applicants could look back at this thread and learn about Vanderbilt, especially if you end up choosing them over Stanford!

[Musikalgeak]

I have decided to take the offer from UF. I still haven't heard from UMich or Duke but it's not worth waiting for me. I haven't had the best correspondence with my POI from Duke, but I have had the best correspondence with my advisor from UF. I am very excited and I wanted to wish you all the best luck as you find where you are going next year. I am done.