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2014 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results


Monochrome Spring

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Has anyone encountered a need for formal attire during an interview? It is science after all and I get the sense is that casual dress is the norm, but since I'm coming from abroad for several interviews I'm hoping not to have to pack a suit. 

 

Well, I just came from the USC PIBBS interview and their culture is definitely business formal. The men were all in suits and the ladies in skirt suits or nice slacks/blouse/jacket or nice dress combos. It was a two day thing and the second day everyone seemed to dress down a little but it was only slight. And of course for hanging with the grad students, it was casual.

 

I'd say just do whatever your program tells you to do, erring on the side of looking nice since you can always dress down from formal if you need to. I think it's better to look serious about it all than not. It is like a job interview, after all.

 

I have been told that UUtah and Stanford are both casual, btw.

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Is it appropriate to ask a PI about their mentoring style during an interview? (i.e. how often do they like to talk face to face with students, how they handle the process of paper writing, how available they like to make themselves to students, etc?)

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Is it appropriate to ask a PI about their mentoring style during an interview? (i.e. how often do they like to talk face to face with students, how they handle the process of paper writing, how available they like to make themselves to students, etc?)

 

That is definitely something you can ask, and I don't think it would offend anyone. I might first try to ask related questions instead like: how many grad students are in your lab now, how many post-docs? If the lab seems big, I'd ask how many papers are you typically working on at any one time, that seems like a lot of projects you have going. . . and see what they say.

 

I think its even better to ask a grad student/post-doc in their lab, you might get a more direct answer. Keep in mind that some PIs may present themselves differently in an interview than when you are working in their lab (I think its pretty rare, but I've met a few people that had a PI like this). I'd try to get opinions from multiple people before I made any judgments. Also,be aware that people can be very polarized in their opinions of PIs, so everything heard second-hand should be taken with a grain of salt.

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Did anyone get interview invitation or rejection from Neuroscience program at Baylor College of Medicine? I applied about at the mid December. I know they send interview earlier who apply before 1st December, and later if applied between 1st December and 1st January.

 

The PI, whom I contacted with before application, wrote me two days ago that he was not involved much in the admission decision this year, but he could try to collect some information about my application status in the next few days. I have received no further correspondence though.

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Is it appropriate to ask a PI about their mentoring style during an interview? (i.e. how often do they like to talk face to face with students, how they handle the process of paper writing, how available they like to make themselves to students, etc?)

I never been to a graduate program interview, but i had been working in a major food company for few years now and went through few academic job interviews as well. I would say you need to dress up that question differently. Like, "What are your expectations from your graduate student?"

Mentorship is something it builds up after working together as well; so frame your question more "bucketwise" so that at least you both are on same page. And then hopefully everything will go right.

Thankfully I got a great mentor where I work, wish you good luck on that! I know how important getting right mentor, as that is one of my first priorities too.

Edited by Signal transduction
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Columbia is closed - yay paid vacation!  I assume the other private ones are too.  

 

You would be wrong! Everyone's at work today where I am and we're a private university. :-/ Probably due to the hospital affiliation.

 

Edit: unless you mean NYC specifically. Don't mind me, just bitter that I have to work while many friends are off!

Edited by ss2player
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Just got my invite for UMich EEB! Interview weekend Feb 13-15.

 

They make travel arrangements so no need to worry about reimbursement, etc.

Way to go, microarray! Both schools- UofM and MSU are great schools and have great EEB programs! (I'm from The Mitten myself) :)

Edited by iheartplants
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Way to go, microarray! Both schools- UofM and MSU are great schools and have great EEB programs! (I'm from The Mitten myself) :)

 

Thank you iheartplants! I'm so excited for UM, it's my top choice!

 

I actually applied to the micro program at MSU (more microbial ecologists in that dept). I was surprised by how much I liked the school and would be super happy there as well.

 

I love how all of you Michiganders show the mitten when you talk about where you're from. Super cute. :D  Can't wait to live there (hopefully!!)

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Thank you iheartplants! I'm so excited for UM, it's my top choice!

 

I actually applied to the micro program at MSU (more microbial ecologists in that dept). I was surprised by how much I liked the school and would be super happy there as well.

 

I love how all of you Michiganders show the mitten when you talk about where you're from. Super cute. :D  Can't wait to live there (hopefully!!)

Haha, the hand is an immensely valuable geographic reference tool. Pretty soon, I'm sure you'll be using your hand-y map too (Delighted that I can drop bad puns on here and no one knows who I am) Enjoy Ann Arbor! Good luck at your interview!

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I'm jealous of all of you who have casual interviews. Spending the day shopping for clothes has been hell. Settled on a long dress, a suit jacket, and nice blouses if I choose to wear pants.

 

It was the worst. I spent hours trying to find a blazer that wasn't too stuffy and didn't make me look like a box. None of my interviews have specified a dress code, so I'm just trying to find some middle ground between my usual cardigan and a business suit.

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Having my first one this coming Thursday-Saturday. I think I am just going to wear khakis pants, dress shirts, a tie, and my navy blazer. Sounds business casual enough? Planning to bring my suit pants, just in case

Edited by nns91
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Did anyone get interview invitation or rejection from Neuroscience program at Baylor College of Medicine? I applied about at the mid December. I know they send interview earlier who apply before 1st December, and later if applied between 1st December and 1st January.

 

The PI, whom I contacted with before application, wrote me two days ago that he was not involved much in the admission decision this year, but he could try to collect some information about my application status in the next few days. I have received no further correspondence though.

 

Yes, I received an interview invite from them on 1/9…. but I'm not sure if they are still inviting.  

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Having my first one this coming Thursday-Saturday. I think I am just going to wear khakis pants, dress shirts, a tie, and my navy blazer. Sounds business casual enough? Planning to bring my suit pants, just in case

This is what I plan on wearing for my interview even though it might be considered "east coast" business casual and I'm interviewing at a western university. 

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