2014 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[T.J]

Anybody contacted Mt. Sinai? I have tried and yielded no response (email & call). 

[zebura]

Just got into freak-out mode a little bit.  I found out one of the PI's on my interview itinerary is one of the PI's whose work basically gave birth to my project.  Someone reassure me! 

That's actually a good thing. 

One of the PI's whose work basically gave birth to my project. Prepare to be grilled so please make sure you understand your project and think about possible questions. He has the same research interest as you so when either one presenting the project, both should understand what is going on. He probably thinks that your research project is interesting else why should he spend his time with you? 

 

Time to prepare and wish you good luck

Edited February 5, 2014 by zebura

[BG20]

Anybody contacted Mt. Sinai? I have tried and yielded no response (email & call). 

 

Mt Sinai had (second) interview event Monday-Tuesday. I understand they are going to have 3 more events...

[nns91]

That's much lower than I expected! Do you know what the rates are for Harvard BBS and PENN CAMB?

When was your Penn CAMB interview, user165?

[rat.girl]

Anyone else heading to UTSW tomorrow?  Just got my itinerary--excited!

[MackF]

Really starting to get nervous. I doubt Florida and Pitt are still gonna give out interviews so I've ruled them out in my head, although I haven't gotten an official rejection. Same with the other ones. Notre Dame I am holding out hope for a second round of interview invites. With Loyola and MCW I know they are still considering me, but it's really nerve racking. I thought with an extra year of experience I would get more interviews than last year, not less.

I'm headed to Florida tomorrow. Pitt ibgp I didn't hear from but a lab mate did. Don't count yourself out.

[T.J]

Mt Sinai had (second) interview event Monday-Tuesday. I understand they are going to have 3 more events...

Okay great. Thanks for the info. I got a reply from them saying they are in the process of setting up interviews and the decisions have not been made yet.

[Fun_Cookie]

Sooo will the storms in northeast us ruin air travel this week?

[ERR_Alpha]

Sooo will the storms in northeast us ruin air travel this week?

It's stopped now and it's not supposed to snow again until Sunday. So hopefully they'll clear it up fast!

[user165]

When was your Penn CAMB interview, user165?

Feb. 20-22. Haven't had it yet!

[Science_Nerd]

I just received an acceptance email from Medical College of Wisconsin.

Not many people here seemed to have applied here, but from what I learned at the interview, it seems like a great program.  Funding is 100% guaranteed throughout the duration of my time there.

 

I still have two more interviews coming up, but now I don't have to be so nervous about everything anymore.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Science_Nerd

[Activationenergy]

zebura,

 

In your signature, are you waiting on Brandeis MCB? I dont know what's going on with them. Does anyone!??

[molecularneuro]

Anyone attended UC Irvine CMB Interview weekend end of Jan heard back ?

[Road runner]

I was at UC Irvine's CMB interview and have yet to hear back--been a little stressed!

[RR1]

I just received an acceptance email from Medical College of Wisconsin

Not many people here seemed to have applied here, but from what I learned at the interview, it seems like a great program.  Funding is 100% guaranteed throughout the duration of my time there.

 

I still have two more interviews coming up, but now I don't have to be so nervous about everything anymore.

how was the interview? and how many people were there? and congratulations

Edited February 6, 2014 by RR1

[mini0n01]

Anyone attended UC Irvine CMB Interview weekend end of Jan heard back ?

 

 

I was at UC Irvine's CMB interview and have yet to hear back--been a little stressed!

 

I was there, too, but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully something in the next few days? They did say 7-10 days.

[Science_Nerd]

how was the interview? and how many people were there? and congratulations

 

Thanks!

I think there were about just over 20 interviewees there.

And everyone (students, faculty, committee, and coordinators  all of them) was super nice and friendly. The that the school is in the middle of hospital campus makes it a great environment for biomedical research program.  I loved that Blood Center of Wisconsin is literally right next to the campus.

[zebura]

zebura,

 

In your signature, are you waiting on Brandeis MCB? I dont know what's going on with them. Does anyone!??

Same.............so let's just wait or call them later

[ERR_Alpha]

Freaking out about what to pack to wear... Email from Dartmouth said the event is "casual" and stressed not to wear dress shoes or business suits! Ugh. Any advice??

[elanorci]

Freaking out about what to pack to wear... Email from Dartmouth said the event is "casual" and stressed not to wear dress shoes or business suits! Ugh. Any advice??

 

In terms of shoes, I've found that, especially at cold places (like Darthmouth, I assume?) boots work really well. They can often fit into outfits so as to look either formal or casual, and they're excellent for buffering the cold! That's what I've done at both of my interviews. 

 

At one of my chillier interviews, I wore boots, black pants, and a white collared shirt with a sweater on top of it. I think this was a good combination -- it didn't look super formal because of the boots and sweater, but it obviously isn't casual. 

 

Just my two cents. Outfit worries are stressful :/ Good luck!! 

[elanorci]

Also, on an unrelated note... 

 

I just cancelled my Stanford Genetics interview. It felt super strange and tbh somehow kind of scary, since I was lusting after all of these invitations for so long, but it was the right thing to do, as I no longer had any intention of going there, and I don't want to potentially take a spot from someone who fits there better. 

 

Best of luck to all of you for whom it's a good fit

Edited February 6, 2014 by elanorci

[ERR_Alpha]

In terms of shoes, I've found that, especially at cold places (like Darthmouth, I assume?) boots work really well. They can often fit into outfits so as to look either formal or casual, and they're excellent for buffering the cold! That's what I've done at both of my interviews.

At one of my chillier interviews, I wore boots, black pants, and a white collared shirt with a sweater on top of it. I think this was a good combination -- it didn't look super formal because of the boots and sweater, but it obviously isn't casual.

Just my two cents. Outfit worries are stressful :/ Good luck!!

The problem I'm having is my dress pants are really flared and all my boots are high black boots. I may be running to target tomorrow to get lower profile black boots... I bought a dress, but I'm afraid it'll be too formal for a "casual" interview. The other idea I had was wearing my crappy boots and changing into flats there, except then I'd have to carry boots around all day. Decisions!

[ashcanpete]

Just got an invite to skype interview with Syracuse.  They aren't my first choice, but that's off topic.  Does anyone know why they'd elect for a 20-30 min skype interview as opposed to an in person visit?  I've never heard of skype interviews for domestic applicants before.  Additionally, a lab mate of mine received the same email to skype interview with them, so its not just me.  Any thoughts?

 

 

Penn Biology has skype interviews for the first round and on-campus interview afterwards. It might have to do with budget. Do they have any follow-up interview though?

 

I don't think it is a budget constraint for the Penn Biology interviws. Most US schools typically accept about 80% of the domestic interviewees (there are expections, e.g. Columbia). In other words, most schools already invite close to the minimum number of students the they can for on-campus interviews (probably because of budget constraints). As such, these interview weekends are largely there for recruitment purposes. If they're going to do a pre-screening round on Skype, then that would actually add to the expenditures of the interview process (taking up several professors time is expensive). My guess is they really wanted to interview more people at least at a basic level before essentially admitting them by inviting them to the on-campus interview, so they added in this "first round" of Skype interviews.

 

If they do some Skype interviews as the only round (like it sounds like they are doing at Syracuse), of course that would save some money. In that case I don't know what fraction of people would be accepted afterwards. They could keep the ratio similar to the on-campus numbers, but it could also be a more selective process because of the lesser cost per interview. Very weird that would give out 2 different types of invites to domestic applicants. Are you located really far from Syracuse, MackF?

 

Edit: Nevermind just saw you listed PA in your sig. Strange about this, maybe its up to the professors that are doing the interviews. Could be you just happened to get matched to some PIs that prefer Skype interviews.

Edited February 6, 2014 by ashcanpete

[sunpenguin]

zebura,

 

In your signature, are you waiting on Brandeis MCB? I dont know what's going on with them. Does anyone!??

I still haven't heard anything from them either.

[molecularneuro]

I was there, too, but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully something in the next few days? They did say 7-10 days.

 

Unusually long compared to last year. Next interview weekend starts tomorrow. I emailed the admin - i'll post what she says.