2013 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

[livinlite]

@Bassish, sorry for the late response but thanks! Congrats on all your acceptances and Rockefeller is a great place! I'm sure you'll do great there.

 

@anatotitan. I interviewed at MIT 3 weeks ago as well, and have yet to hear back. My guess is we're either on a short list (a pseudo-waitlist if you will) or perhaps have not been accepted. Of those I've spoken to that were accepted all heard back the following Friday :/ But who knows!

 

Hope you hear from them soon (as well as I)!!!

[ion_exchanger]

I committed to Rockefeller this morning! I am really excited! It was definitely a difficult decision, and it came down to Rockefeller, Harvard, UCSF, and MIT in the end, but Rockefeller is really the best program for me.

 

Congratulations! I think we were all taking bets. Best of luck to you in the future!

[Gram Neutral]

My interview went well this weekend. It was the make-up interview so there were only a few of us. They told us that they will let us know by Wednesday/Thursday, so fingers crossed. I would like to get accepted somewhere haha.

[MicroB2012]

@Bassish and Proge: I committed to Wiell Cornell, our institutes are pretty close to each other. 

[Looking to the horizon]

I committed to Yale a few weeks ago. So scared when I was responding to the letters, since I thought I would accidentally hit "no" by accident.

[porge1991]

@Bassish and Proge: I committed to Wiell Cornell, our institutes are pretty close to each other. 

 

Very close. And as far as i'm aware we can go to seminars/talks at one another's institutions. Its a pretty great part NY.

[MicroB2012]

Very close. And as far as i'm aware we can go to seminars/talks at one another's institutions. Its a pretty great part NY.

yea, and half of the faculties in my program are GSK's faculties as well. I will prob see you very often.

[bamafan]

The final tally.

 

Rejected: Berkeley, Wisconsin

Accepted: Cornell Tri-I, UCLA, UCSD, Michigan, Dartmouth, USC, BU

 

Hoping to make a decision soon...

[LMac]

That's a good looking list

[Biohopeful]

Still no word from anywhere.  Then again, I couldn't really find anyone else applying to the same programs I did on here.  Maybe mine are just oddballs?

 

In any case, congratulations everyone!

[livinlite]

Does anybody know if all of the MIT Bio acceptances have already been sent out? I interviewed 3 weeks ago and have yet to hear back.

 

Update from my last comment @anatotitan, I interviewed 3 weeks ago and just heard from MIT yesterday. officially accepted They must have had a short list for after they were done with interviews.....I hope you got good news!

[Snblowe]

Has anyone had an interview for appalachian state's clinical psychology program? I'm out-of-field and don't know what to expect! Terribly nervous!

[courage101]

Has anyone had an interview for appalachian state's clinical psychology program? I'm out-of-field and don't know what to expect! Terribly nervous!

 

 

I feel you might be in the wrong forum...

[biotinman]

All this talk of people comitting... Is there any benefit to making the decision before the deadline?

[mrmolecularbiology]

All this talk of people comitting... Is there any benefit to making the decision before the deadline?

Normally If you decide and commit, you also go ahead and officially decline other offers. It helps those on the wait list. Plus it makes setting up rotations and talking to PIs easier (they get more enthusiastic and share more.) If they know you are really coming. But mostly it is just a weight off your shoulders. (although many programs allow summer rotations, so If you are interested in starting early you should definitely commit as soon as you are positive about your decision). If you are truly undecided take your time and properly weigh your options. But if you already know, why wait?

Edited March 20, 2013 by mrmolecularbiology

[ragumar13]

Guess I never got to posting my stuff. Here's my wrap-up anyway.

 

 

Undergrad: Top 10 school (USNWR)

Majors: Biology, Music

Minor: Chemistry

GPA in Biology: ~3.1 (last 2 yrs was >3.5)

Overall GPA: ~3.2 (last 2 yrs was >3.5)

GRE percent: Q/V in the 90s,  W/Bio in the 70s

 

Research Exp: Pretty much all over Biology, looking to focus now on what I did in the main lab I worked in as an undergrad. Got BS a couple of years ago, have had a bunch of science jobs in all different fields since. Have a mid-authorship in a mid-tier journal, couple conference talks, etc.

 

Misc: I thought my application was strong except for the very bad GPA. Looking back I think the most important thing to have in the apps is momentum, and by that I mean having a serious desire to go to graduate school beyond just going through the motions as an undergrad.

 

Still Waiting:

Harvard OEB, UT-Austin PB

 

Rejected:

No interview: UNC-CH BBSP, NYU Biology, Rice BCB

Declined interview: UVM CMB, NCSU Genetics, NCSU Biochem

Post-interview: CSHL-WSBS

Waitlisted: Brown MCB

 

Accepted:

UT-Austin ICMB, Yale BBS, Dartmouth MCB, UMD-CP BISI, UMass-Amherst MCB, UMass-Amherst PB

 

Heading to Yale!

[gunjrita]

I have applied to University of Toledo PhD Biomedical Sciences program, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders track. I am a medical school graduate from India in 2007 with GPA 3.2, and was a doctor back home. I graduated with MS in health administration from University of Scranton with GPA 4.00 as 2012 Who's Who Among Students honoree and Upsilon Phi Delta honor society member. I have 4 publications in US, 1 manuscript and 3 abstracts, of which am primary author for 3 which are about healthcare administrative issues. I am just one of several authors for the fourth publication that deals with under diagnosis of obesity amongst clinicians. I also have experience of delivering my research based presentations, 1 of which was for 3 CEUs of nurses. My GRE score was 730 Q, 420 V, and 4.5 analytical writing. My application's status has been 'complete awaiting decision' since 11th jan, and a faculty member told me that I must wait till late April before assuming that I didn't make it. I am worried because my lab experience is strictly curricular, first 2.5 years of med school lab work for anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, forensic medicine. Furthermore, all my 3 recommenders were not lab supervisors but grad school mentors, 1 of whom was the Chair, who would have endorsed my skills for literature review research, dedication and work ethics, but not my lab work skills. My publications are about healthcare management but not laboratory science. This waiting period is making me very nervous since this is the only program I applied to. also, I have green card so they don't need to sponsor a visa for me. Dear colleagues, please give me your honest opinion whether you feel I will make it? I really really want to use my med school training for research :-(

[bamafan]

Wall of text alert.

 

To answr your question, you should just email or call the school. I try not to be negative, but I think it's very important also to be honest and realistic, and it's getting awfully late in the application cycle to be getting admissions unless it's from a school that had a recent, late interview weekend. When did you hear from this faculty member? If you haven't gotten anything at all, I would assume you're either rejected or on some sort of internal, unofficial waitlist, so there's definitely a small chance, but you should be prepared for the possibility of bad news coming. You have to play probablities in life. 

 

That said, you've identified the weakness of your application already -- research experience. To my knowledge of the process, curricular research experience almost never cuts it so if you do have to apply again in the future, consider spending this year working in a laboratory to buff up your credential. Good luck.

[gunjrita]

Thank you bamafan. This program has not interviewed the candidates till recent years and I don't know if they would include interviewing in their process this year. I spoke to the faculty member in early March and she said 'Don't panic. The selection committee will meet soon but there is no information for now.' I asked her if I shall be contacting other faculty members, she said ' we go only by merit and candidates' contacting us does not influence the decision. Just wait and relax for 2 months, if u don't hear back by end of April, that means you didn't get through'. That being said, I would not annoy the faculty by calling before April end. I appreciate. Your honest feedback.

[biotechie]

Any of you that were waitlisted prior to interviews for UCSD Biomedical Sciences should check the status page and messages in the online application, today. It looks like they're reviewing students in the wait list! They ask if you are still interested in the program.

[bassish101]

@livinlite & ion_exchanger: Thanks guys! Where are you going to go livinlite?

 

@MicroB2012 & porge1991: Yeah, I'll probably see you guys around next year

 

@biotinman: At Rockefeller, they give you higher priority for when they assign housing if you commit earlier.

[Weezyweasel]

Undergrad: Large Research University, strong in Bio

Majors: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Minor: -

GPA in Biology: 4.00

Overall GPA: 3.92

GRE percent: Q/V in the 80s, W around 50, Biochem: Upper 80s low 90s

 

Research Exp: Worked in a microbio training lab in freshman/sophomore year.  Did summer research program (Amgen Scholars/SSRP) at Stanford in biochemistry/enzymology.  Working currently in a Structural Enzymology lab currently.  

 

Misc: Application seemed very strong going in and it went really well overall.  I think my letters of rec were actually strongest, 3 of them were from well known PIs in the field that I either did research with or took a class with (I submitted a fourth from first PI who was less well known).  Having trouble deciding where to go though haha.  Largely interested in topics in Biochemistry/Structural Biology/Chemical Biology but open to anything really.

 

Rejected:

None

 

Accepted:

UCSF TETRAD, UC Berkeley MCB (with university fellowship),  Stanford Biochemistry, UCSD Chem/Biochem, Scripps Research Institute, Harvard Chembio, Yale BBSB (offered gruber fellowship), MIT Biology

 

Still not sure where I am going >.>

[docholliday]

School: State university

Major: Math

Minor: Biology

GPA: on the lower end but above the minimum required by grad programs.

GRE: 92% Quant

 

Research Experience: 1 REU, 1 project at school, 2 wet lab projects in the beginning of college but no publications yet

 

Misc: Had great LORs from 3 research mentors, and SOP was framed using my research experiences, bringing out my interest specifically in comp bio. My GPA was my biggest worry during the waiting process.

Applied: Duke Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and CMU-Pitt Computational Biology Joint Program

Accepted: Duke Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and CMU-Pitt Computational Biology Joint Program

 

Attending: Undecided

Edited March 22, 2013 by docholliday

[epsilon]

Wrapping it all up...

 

Applied to Neuroscience Programs, sub-field of Computational/Systems

 

School: Big Public

GPA: ~3.8

GRE: 98% Q

 

Research Experience: 1 summer REU, 1 year in wet lab, 1 semester in psychology lab

Applied: Duke, Vanderbilt, UCSD, Columbia, MIT, Stanford

Accepted: Duke, Vanderbilt, UCSD, Columbia

 

Attending: UCSD

[Winteriscoming]

It's finally time to decide. I'm going to attend Rochester next fall! USA, here I come!!