2014 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[MackF]

I've narrowed my choices down to Harvard BBS or MIT biology. I've have great impression of both places; students and faculties are very smart and boston seems to be a fun city. 

Could current interviewees who are also trying to decide between these schools comment on your thought process? It seems that MIT is a smaller program than BBS, so there is more room for community; especially the first year at MIT. BBS seems to be a more flexible program and lots more lab choices. The research is terrific in both places, maybe BBS has an advantage over MIT because of all the hospitals affiliations. I'd like see if others are sharing these impressions and how you decided to go about it. 

 

My current research advisor went to MIT for graduate school (genetics PhD).  He has nothing but good things to say about it and is literally one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met, even compared to other Biology dept. faculty.  I have nothing to compare to because I don't know anyone who went to Harvard, but MIT is an incredible program for sure.

[Orims]

I've narrowed my choices down to Harvard BBS or MIT biology. I've have great impression of both places; students and faculties are very smart and boston seems to be a fun city. 

Could current interviewees who are also trying to decide between these schools comment on your thought process? It seems that MIT is a smaller program than BBS, so there is more room for community; especially the first year at MIT. BBS seems to be a more flexible program and lots more lab choices. The research is terrific in both places, maybe BBS has an advantage over MIT because of all the hospitals affiliations. I'd like see if others are sharing these impressions and how you decided to go about it. 

I did two summers of research at MIT and just interviewed with them and I can tell you that they have an amazing and proactive community there. Not only the graduate students but also the faculty and related departments. If I get into MIT it will be a tough decision for me to choose between Stanford and MIT.

Best of luck!

[MiniMicro]

Got UNC acceptance first thing this morning! Looks like I'm moving to Chapel Hill! Good luck everyone else waiting for them.

 

Not sure if it was you, Eatin'Biscuits who turned down their spot...but just got off the waitlist for UVA.  For those on the waitlist anywhere, don't lose hope!  And for people who have officially declined their spots, thank you for letting the schools know so that people on the waitlist can be accepted

 

Best of luck to everyone waiting to hear back and for those currently making decisions. I'm pretty late in the game to join this convo, but I have enjoyed the optimism and helpfulness of this thread.

[DuongVat]

Got accepted into MSU BMS program. I'm so excited!!! 

Congrats!

[justwow]

Did anyone here interview at Rockefeller either weekend? Did you hear back yet?

[Chimeric Phoenix]

Have finally decided on Johns Hopkins Immunology program. Hard to argue against #1: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/infectious-disease-rankings

[ERR_Alpha]

So I got my official offer letter from UConn : half time TAship, but my stipend only supports me through May! Did anyone else get a nine month stipend offer only? Trying to figure out how common it is.

[TheCubaLibre]

Finally heard back, Yale rejection today. Disappointing but that was the final unknown in my application process. To those still waiting, I wish you patience, it's almost over.

 

In other news excited to be committing to Penn BMB

 

It does feel strange that I won't be compulsively checking this thread from now on, thanks to everyone for their great advice, commiserations and congratulations

Oh hey R*****, I didn't know you had a profile on this forum lol. (If you ignore my profile's picture and listed location, you should be able to figure out who I am.) Congrats on committing to Penn BMB - phenomenal program! I am currently trying to decide between NYU Sackler Mol. Biophysics and Rochester BSCB. If anybody out there has any advice or opinions on these programs, I welcome your comments. 

[No Coffee Plz]

I've narrowed my choices down to Harvard BBS or MIT biology. I've have great impression of both places; students and faculties are very smart and boston seems to be a fun city. 

Could current interviewees who are also trying to decide between these schools comment on your thought process? It seems that MIT is a smaller program than BBS, so there is more room for community; especially the first year at MIT. BBS seems to be a more flexible program and lots more lab choices. The research is terrific in both places, maybe BBS has an advantage over MIT because of all the hospitals affiliations. I'd like see if others are sharing these impressions and how you decided to go about it. 

My current PI did her PhD at MIT Biology as well. Since she said I should apply to MIT, I asked her what she liked the most about it (I was skeptical about applying at first). She said the best thing about MIT was not its research, program, nor the professors (all of which are already stellar), but its peers. They become your friends for life, she said. The strong community at MIT Biology seems like a tradition that has been handed down the years. BTW, I learned yesterday "The Pit" was named by the students around the time my PI was there... the room was originally in a basement with no windows, and hence came the name. After they built 68, it was relocated to the first floor of 68, but the name stuck.

 

About research fit: if you have about 4-5 professors you can see yourself working with, I think you'll be fine at either schools. I am one of those who is inclined towards research that is clinically relevant, so solely based on research interests I might lean towards other schools with more hospital affiliations. However, I do have 5+ faculty at MIT whose research I find very interesting, and that's all that matters to me. Your research career is most determined by your post-doc work anyways. Also, my impression of Harvard was that it is a bit more competitive and less community based than MIT, 1) due to its bigger size and dispersed nature, and 2) its practice of hiring multiple faculty and making them compete for one tenure spot (MIT only hires one faculty per open slot)... but I can be wrong on this so please correct me if I am misguided.

 

I am biased towards MIT, as I only interviewed there and not at Harvard... can someone please speak for BBS please? Well, you did visit both programs, and I guess it's ultimately up to your gut feeling to decide where you'll be happier. Best of luck!

Edited March 14, 2014 by No Coffee Plz

[elanorci]

With regard to BBS: I did not apply and have no idea about the atmosphere of the program, but multiple Harvard professors + current grad students have told me that it's "too big" (for their taste, whatever that means). Interesting comment. 

[nermah1]

My current PI did her PhD at MIT Biology as well. Since she said I should apply to MIT, I asked her what she liked the most about it (I was skeptical about applying at first). She said the best thing about MIT was not its research, program, nor the professors (all of which are already stellar), but its peers. They become your friends for life, she said. The strong community at MIT Biology seems like a tradition that has been handed down the years. BTW, I learned yesterday "The Pit" was named by the students around the time my PI was there... the room was originally in a basement with no windows, and hence came the name. After they built 68, it was relocated to the first floor of 68, but the name stuck.

 

About research fit: if you have about 4-5 professors you can see yourself working with, I think you'll be fine at either schools. I am one of those who is inclined towards research that is clinically relevant, so solely based on research interests I might lean towards other schools with more hospital affiliations. However, I do have 5+ faculty at MIT whose research I find very interesting, and that's all that matters to me. Your research career is most determined by your post-doc work anyways. Also, my impression of Harvard was that it is a bit more competitive and less community based than MIT, 1) due to its bigger size and dispersed nature, and 2) its practice of hiring multiple faculty and making them compete for one tenure spot (MIT only hires one faculty per open slot)... but I can be wrong on this so please correct me if I am misguided.

 

I am biased towards MIT, as I only interviewed there and not at Harvard... can someone please speak for BBS please? Well, you did visit both programs, and I guess it's ultimately up to your gut feeling to decide where you'll be happier. Best of luck!

She said the best thing about MIT was not its research, program, nor the professors (all of which are already stellar), but its peers. They become your friends for life, she said.

 

-----> This is an impressive comment! Actually sometimes I learn more from my peers, too.....lol

[rexzeppelin]

Oh hey R*****, I didn't know you had a profile on this forum lol. (If you ignore my profile's picture and listed location, you should be able to figure out who I am.) Congrats on committing to Penn BMB - phenomenal program! I am currently trying to decide between NYU Sackler Mol. Biophysics and Rochester BSCB. If anybody out there has any advice or opinions on these programs, I welcome your comments. 

 Haha you unmasked me, Mr. B******, thanks for the kind wishes. I hope you can settle on a program soon, it adds a lot more certainty to the equation   I'm afraid I couldn't help you narrowing down between the two beyond superficial criteria like location etc.

[ccarcharias]

Did anyone here interview at Rockefeller either weekend? Did you hear back yet?

 

I received an email from them on Tuesday, and from the Results section it looks like one other person has? I'm not sure if they send all of their decisions at once, or just let them trickle in. 

[ss2player]

Have finally decided on Johns Hopkins Immunology program. Hard to argue against #1: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/infectious-disease-rankings

 

Congrats, dude! I don't put much worth in rankings, but they certainly have the resources there and if you fit with the professors, GIT R' DONE!

[funkydays]

So I got my official offer letter from UConn : half time TAship, but my stipend only supports me through May! Did anyone else get a nine month stipend offer only? Trying to figure out how common it is.

 

I got an offer letter similar to your situation, but the letter also included information about summer RA-ships which are separate from the stipend.  Apparently they treat summer stipends differently than school year stipends.  

 

I've definitely seen this type of arrangement before, so it's not uncommon for your summer months to be funded by your PI (instead of the program).

[Chimeric Phoenix]

Congrats, dude! I don't put much worth in rankings, but they certainly have the resources there and if you fit with the professors, GIT R' DONE!

 

Thanks, yeah in the end it was between 1 school that had the program with best fit (but terrible climate), 1 school had the campus that I liked the most, and JHU had the culture/city that I liked the most. Everyone had interesting research and great resources.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Chimeric Phoenix

[Der Strudel]

What a process....just posting in case any future peoples with similar interests/target schools wanted to PM me for advice.  Best of luck everyone

[spaceimmunology]

Did anyone here interview at Rockefeller either weekend? Did you hear back yet?

 

Attended the second weekend. Heard back tuesday evening.

[ss2player]

Thanks, yeah in the end it was between 1 school that had the program with best fit (but terrible climate), 1 school had the campus that I liked the most, and JHU had the culture/city that I liked the most. Everyone had interesting research and great resources.

 

Location often becomes a decider in these situations, I hear ya. As a fellow East Coaster, welcome to the Atlantic!

[Monochrome Spring]

Currently passing emails back and forth with my advisor, figuring out summer plans. I'm also Skyping into a house tour tomorrow for a place that I might move into in June. So exciting!

 

Good luck to everyone who hasn't heard yet, and congratulations to those who have.

[spaceimmunology]

I've narrowed my choices down to Harvard BBS or MIT biology. I've have great impression of both places; students and faculties are very smart and boston seems to be a fun city. 

Could current interviewees who are also trying to decide between these schools comment on your thought process? It seems that MIT is a smaller program than BBS, so there is more room for community; especially the first year at MIT. BBS seems to be a more flexible program and lots more lab choices. The research is terrific in both places, maybe BBS has an advantage over MIT because of all the hospitals affiliations. I'd like see if others are sharing these impressions and how you decided to go about it. 

 

Also something I'm trying to decide. I have a number of summer experiences in the Longwood area, and none at MIT, but HMS just gave me a really poor impression when I visited. I really liked the community at MIT, the first year program, and the academic feeling of the campus. BBS is nice in that there are many more lab choices, but Longwood just felt too hospital oriented for me. For me, it felt like MIT really got their PIs involved in trying to recruit, while at Harvard I met with many PIs that not only did I not request, but that were completely unrelated to my research interests. It just felt like Harvard didn't even feel like it needed to try.

 

I talked to a BBS faculty member about it and her response was that the size of BBS makes it a problem when it comes to recruiting. That might be true, but overall, it was worrisome to see and I got the impression that MIT was way more interested in cultivating their graduate students.

[sunpenguin]

Just emailed my POI at my top choice, which has promised to send out its responses within the next week, to find out if he knows my status yet. I would have just waited, except that the programs where I'm accepted want answers soon. I also want things settled so I can withdraw from anywhere I'm not attending and free up the spot for the next person on the list. We'll see if he emails me back!

[bonohamu]

Happy pi day!!

 

Hope you guys (including me) hear back some good news today

[Raerosk]

Just accepted IPiB program in Madison, WI! Exciting, and crazy to finally be done.

[pyrocide]

I've narrowed my choices down to Harvard BBS or MIT biology. I've have great impression of both places; students and faculties are very smart and boston seems to be a fun city. 

Could current interviewees who are also trying to decide between these schools comment on your thought process? It seems that MIT is a smaller program than BBS, so there is more room for community; especially the first year at MIT. BBS seems to be a more flexible program and lots more lab choices. The research is terrific in both places, maybe BBS has an advantage over MIT because of all the hospitals affiliations. I'd like see if others are sharing these impressions and how you decided to go about it. 

I'm probably all sorts of biased by nostalgia and institutional rivalry, but MIT is kind of a really special place. Yeah, it's hell, but you're all in it together, so both people and professors are just wonderfully supportive. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. I can't speak much for a graduate student's perspective, but if any of you new MIT admits want to know more about the Institvte, send me a PM and I'd be glad to help out.