Chance of getting in after interview

[biochemgirl21]

Hello,

I am applying to Biomedical science programs throughout the country for PhD.

I had gone through the application process last year, only got one interview and didn't get in. They told me to take a year and work as a lab tech to garner experience.

 

I have applied to 6 schools and have recieved 3 interview requests. The other three schools don't do interviews anymore. My concern is that the same thing that will happen again, I don't want to get my hopes up with the three interviews. So what are the chances of rejection for these:

 

Penn State Hershey

UVA

Wake Forest

 

I'm also applying to UConn,GWU, university of maryland, and the london school of hygeine (I did a phone interview).

 

Thank you!

[biochemgirl21]

any advice would be great

[Vincenzo]

Don't worry about chances. Once you've got interviews this process is all about people. No more math. And, you've already gotten interviews with each place you applied to that does them - I'd look at that as having nothing to worry about, statistically.

So, aside from the general advice of preparing for those interviews by planning out responses to questions about your prior research and future research interests, it would be good to go in with a list of questions (both general and program-specific; have a look at for some ideas). After that it's simple mechanics. Look professional, smile, show your excitement, and remember to breathe.

Be cool.

 

Jules: ...We're all gonna be like three little Fonzies here. And what's Fonzie like? Come on Yolanda what's Fonzie like?
Yolanda: Cool?
Jules: What?
Yolanda: Cool.
Jules: Correctamundo. And that's what we're gonna be. We're gonna be cool.

[iowaguy]

Hello,

I am applying to Biomedical science programs throughout the country for PhD.

I had gone through the application process last year, only got one interview and didn't get in. They told me to take a year and work as a lab tech to garner experience.

 

I have applied to 6 schools and have recieved 3 interview requests. The other three schools don't do interviews anymore. My concern is that the same thing that will happen again, I don't want to get my hopes up with the three interviews. So what are the chances of rejection for these:

 

Penn State Hershey

UVA

Wake Forest

 

I'm also applying to UConn,GWU, university of maryland, and the london school of hygeine (I did a phone interview).

 

Thank you!

 

Not to sound like an a#@, but it probably depends on how well you do on your interview, no?  Think of your grad school interview the same way you would think of a job interview.  They wouldn't invite you for an interview if they weren't serious about you, yet if you don't do well on the interview you might not get the job... 

[bio0930]

Hey Vincenzo have you heard back from any programs yet?  I'm applying to Computational Biology and Bioinformatics programs.  So far I have been offered interviews at Baylor and UC Denver, and rejected from UCSF.

[Mecasickle]

A friend of mine who got into UC Berkeley Neuroscience last year (he was 1 of the 8 chosen ones), told me that as long as you know your professors research well, you're all set.

 

He also said that after an interview you are 70% in. The only reason they could not accepted you (reject you), is if they notice that you're crazy, have a weird sense of humor, are a sociopath, have 'no idea why you want a PhD', are a poser, have some sort of psychological disorder,etc...  It pretty much is a verification process to see if what is in your brilliant application is who you really are, it gets better if you can prove that you are more than meets the eye.

 

If you are an international it's very important to prove that you can fluently communicate in English.

 

If there are social events, don't really look like an antisocial and awkward person, but instead talk a lot and have fun (but don't get shitfaced or too high)

[kaister]

Does anyone know how badly it affects your chances if you cant attend the interview? I mean they say it doesnt, but i dont entirely believe that.

[biochemgirl21]

thanks everyone! 

[EngiNerd-12]

Hey Vincenzo have you heard back from any programs yet?  I'm applying to Computational Biology and Bioinformatics programs.  So far I have been offered interviews at Baylor and UC Denver, and rejected from UCSF.

 

Hey bio0930,

 

I'm also going to Baylor's interview. Best of luck!!!! 

[EngiNerd-12]

A friend of mine who got into UC Berkeley Neuroscience last year (he was 1 of the 8 chosen ones), told me that as long as you know your professors research well, you're all set.

 

He also said that after an interview you are 70% in. The only reason they could not accepted you (reject you), is if they notice that you're crazy, have a weird sense of humor, are a sociopath, have 'no idea why you want a PhD', are a poser, have some sort of psychological disorder,etc...  It pretty much is a verification process to see if what is in your brilliant application is who you really are, it gets better if you can prove that you are more than meets the eye.

 

If you are an international it's very important to prove that you can fluently communicate in English.

 

If there are social events, don't really look like an antisocial and awkward person, but instead talk a lot and have fun (but don't get shitfaced or too high)

 

I sure do hope that's the case! From my understanding, if you are invited to an interview, that means they are really interested in you and your academic and research backgrounds fit well. The interview process is to make sure you can articulate your thoughts properly, be able to speak on the spot, and aren't too anti-social or scared of talking to others. They want to know the real person behind the paperwork, especially given that they only take on a few people each year.

 

Best of luck to everyone!

[iowaguy]

Does anyone know how badly it affects your chances if you cant attend the interview? I mean they say it doesnt, but i dont entirely believe that.

 

I would personally recommend trying to attend if at all possible if it is one of your top choices.  IMHO it sends a very bad message if you skip the interview; they're trying to put a face to an application and make sure that your personality will fit in with their program.  Just think about it from their perspective - they extend you an interview offer, and you decline (for whatever reason).  How can that be a positive outcome?  I think it shows them that they're not your top choice...

[kaister]

Ugh I know...it's just a ticket there would cost me around $1000 and they're only promising around 100-200 bucks reimbursement...I still haven't decided what I will do.

[Quigley]

Ugh I know...it's just a ticket there would cost me around $1000 and they're only promising around 100-200 bucks reimbursement...I still haven't decided what I will do.

 

That really sucks, but if it's high on your list then you should consider it an investment towards a very large reward... especially if you think that not going could hurt/eliminate your chances of getting in.  It would be a shame to have worked so hard getting to this point of the process and look back on this sometime in the future and think you didn't get there because of $800.

 

I don't know if you have more than one interview request but if so, maybe you can talk to the department about arranging a date that might coincide with your other interviews so that travel might be cheaper overall?  

[Vincenzo]

Hey Vincenzo have you heard back from any programs yet?  I'm applying to Computational Biology and Bioinformatics programs.  So far I have been offered interviews at Baylor and UC Denver, and rejected from UCSF.

 

Hey! I apologize for not seeing this sooner. I haven't heard from any programs yet, but I actually split my applications between two fields (Cog Sci and Comp Bio), so there aren't many to hear from. For Comp Bio (Bioinformatics / Biomedical Informatics / etc etc / [insert twelve more names for the same type of program here]) I applied to Stanford, UCSD, Duke, and UNC Chapel Hill (for what it's worth, all of my applications were submitted with respect to translational bioinformatics areas - aka biomedical rather than structural, systems, or purely genetic). Stanford doesn't let me see anything I'd consider useful, and the Duke/UNC apps are annoying to login to, so the only one I constantly hammer is UCSD. I applied to both Cognitive Science and Biomedical Informatics there and both applications keep taunting me with: "Under Review." (Though, the UCSD Cog Sci program says it normally doesn't notify until first week of February and Bionformatics & Sys Bio has a final deadline - though initially hidden - of 1/31, so I don't expect anything from there till February either.)

[TakeruK]

Ugh I know...it's just a ticket there would cost me around $1000 and they're only promising around 100-200 bucks reimbursement...I still haven't decided what I will do.

 

You can also let them know that you can't afford the trip out but would like to interview via Skype, etc.