if you get an interview..

[antibody89]

If you get an interview can you assume that the school thinks your application is good enough...I'm asking this because I don't think the school knows about my leadership or TA experiences since their application doesn't have a space to list extracurricular activities and work experience...in my SOP I mostly talked about my research..I'm not sure if I should try to send a CV or something else that tells them all the things I've done if I already got an interview

 

thanks

[username1824]

If I understand your question, yes if they offer you an interview, they believe your application is potentially good enough to earn acceptance to their program. If they didn't think your application was good enough, they wouldn't spend money flying you out and paying for your meals.

[antibody89]

If I understand your question, yes if they offer you an interview, they believe your application is potentially good enough to earn acceptance to their program. If they didn't think your application was good enough, they wouldn't spend money flying you out and paying for your meals.

 

Wait...so the schools will pay the students to fly out????  Yeah I just think its a waste that the school doesn't know about any of my extracurricular activities 

[Orims]

Most graduate programs in biology do not care about extra curricular activities unless they are related to research, even TAing is not even taken into account that much (or so I've heard). In my opinion, and based on what I've gathered talking with PhD students and faculty, extracurricular activities are rarely considered for admissions, much less for interviews. However, during interviews they might ask you about what you do outside of research of academics.

[antibody89]

Most graduate programs in biology do not care about extra curricular activities unless they are related to research, even TAing is not even taken into account that much (or so I've heard). In my opinion, and based on what I've gathered talking with PhD students and faculty, extracurricular activities are rarely considered for admissions, much less for interviews. However, during interviews they might ask you about what you do outside of research of academics.

 

Thanks for the response ...that is good to know...do they care how long you worked in research? I talked about my research in my SOP but I didn't say for how long I've been working and I only mentioned what journal my publication is in but I didn't give the title of the paper...do you think they will take into account being a TA for a microbiology lab

[biotechie]

If you get an interview can you assume that the school thinks your application is good enough...I'm asking this because I don't think the school knows about my leadership or TA experiences since their application doesn't have a space to list extracurricular activities and work experience...in my SOP I mostly talked about my research..I'm not sure if I should try to send a CV or something else that tells them all the things I've done if I already got an interview

 

thanks

 

Yes, they think your application is "good enough" if they invite you to interview. The interview is where they finalize a measure of how well you fit into the program and make sure that you're not insane. They need to make sure that they think you can be a successful student and will represent the program, well.

Most programs do pay to fly you out, but not always if you drive. My research experience is probably one of the biggest reasons I got accepted, and I made sure to mention it in my SOP. No worries, though. I'm sure if you mentioned your experience, they'll ask you about it at the interview, and they'll also ask about some extracurriculars.

[ERR_Alpha]

If you get an interview can you assume that the school thinks your application is good enough...I'm asking this because I don't think the school knows about my leadership or TA experiences since their application doesn't have a space to list extracurricular activities and work experience...in my SOP I mostly talked about my research..I'm not sure if I should try to send a CV or something else that tells them all the things I've done if I already got an interview

 

thanks

I've heard that it depends on the program. Apparently for a lot of top tier schools they'll still cut an amount of people after the interview (they have the money to do so) but for the lower tiers often an interview is pretty much a guaranteed in unless you totally mess it up. Guess there's no way to be sure.

[ion_exchanger]

It really does depend on the school. I interviewed at two places where the interview was more of a formality, and reassurance that you matched your application. The program I chose was a competitive interview; everyone's application was good enough, but they needed to narrow the field down to a few. From talking to my fellow interviewees, Johns Hopkins was notorious for inviting way more people than they were going to take.

[Molecular_Virology]

Ion,

 

Was that interaction with students at GPP/JHU interview?

[Neuro_Guy]

It really does depend on the school. I interviewed at two places where the interview was more of a formality, and reassurance that you matched your application. The program I chose was a competitive interview; everyone's application was good enough, but they needed to narrow the field down to a few. From talking to my fellow interviewees, Johns Hopkins was notorious for inviting way more people than they were going to take.

 

Do you remember if Johns Hopkins' reputation for inviting a surplus of people was specific for your field (biochem/phys) or across the board for the biomedical sciences?

[ion_exchanger]

Sorry for replying so late, just seeing this message. Yes it was just for my field, I don't know about the other departments.

[Neuro_Guy]

Sorry for replying so late, just seeing this message. Yes it was just for my field, I don't know about the other departments.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll just play it safe and panic regardless...