2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[sqxz]

Unless there are others whose research interests you just as much, I recommend meeting with the same professors. Remember that the faculty who interview you will be evaluating you, and their evaluations will determine, in part, whether or not you receive an offer. Personally, I found it was easiest to impress the professors whose research interests were most in line with my own. You also should have plenty of time to interact with other faculty members during the interview's social events.

 

Got my first interview request this morning, although the email shows it was sent Friday... Makes me kind of nervous that another request might just disappear entirely. They asked me to suggest faculty to meet with, and usually I'd have a good idea of who to pick. However, I actually had the opportunity to visit the school a few months ago, and got to meet with several of the faculty I'm most interested in then. Anyone have advice on how to make a list at that point? Should I meet again with the faculty I met with before to strengthen those connections, or try to branch out, or some of both?

[laminator]

Thanks, both of you, I was sort of leaning toward mostly the faculty I had met with already, so I will definitely do that plus one other I was unable to meet before. There are other interesting faculty members, but those ones are definitely the closest aligned.

[Chrissymisha]

Thanks, both of you, I was sort of leaning toward mostly the faculty I had met with already, so I will definitely do that plus one other I was unable to meet before. There are other interesting faculty members, but those ones are definitely the closest aligned.

 

Just to further drive this point. There is usually a period when you join a program (a few weeks typically) where you are supposed to be setting up your rotation schedule. At this point, you'd be able to meet with as many professors as you wish, so you're definitely not losing a chance with them. Right now getting accepted is what's important. 

 

Also good luck to everyone, hopefully we'll all hear some good news this week! I'm going back to refreshing my email every ten minutes.

[NWFreeheel11]

Hi everyone. I'm super new here and I know I'm late to the game, but I thought I'd post my info. If anyone has any idea what my chances at some of these schools might be, I'd really appreciate it, or any other advice for that matter. I feel like I'm just shooting in the dark (that's why I'm applying so many places!). Thank you!!

 

Undergrad Institution: Top 5-10 Liberal Arts college-- strong sciences I think?

Major(s): Math, Biology

Minor(s): Computer Science

GPA in Major: Does this include classes like chem and physics required for the bio major? If so, 3.98 for bio, 4.0 for math. If not, 4.0 for both. 

Overall GPA: 3.95

Position in Class: near the top I think-- was nominated for Phi Beta Kappa

Type of Student: domestic white female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

Q: 165 (90%) kind of embarrassing for a math major but still good I know

V: 166 (96%)

W: 6.0 (99%)

B:

Research Experience: 3 summers of research at my school and some work during the academic years as well including this year (I'm a senior). Worked on 3 different projects, but no publications. Had posters at our school's research symposium twice, but that doesn't mean much. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa, Biology department book award ("outstanding junior bio major"), Dean's list, won some semi-competitive fellowships for summer research at my school (HHMI, etc.)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: none

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: none that I can think of

Special Bonus Points: Female going into a somewhat computational field? Not sure if that counts. Two of my recommenders are pretty successful but I wouldn't say famous... one just won an NSF CAREER grant last year. That's about it though. 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I took one of my math classes Pass/Fail, and I have a "W" on my transcript for withdrawing from Orgo II due to an illness... I didn't explain these though, since I figured they aren't terrible and are kind of self-explanatory, and since the only reason I have the W is that you can't drop a class without special permission after the first few weeks of class at my school. 

Applying to Where:

Applied: 

UC Berkeley- Computational Biology

UC Santa Cruz- Bioinformatics & Computational Biology track of PBSE

U of Washington- Genome Sciences

U of Michigan Ann Arbor- Bioinformatics

Duke- Computational Biology & Bioinformatics

U of Colorado Denver AMC- Computational Biosciences

UPenn- Genomics and Computational Bio

Boston University- Bioinformatics

Cornell- Computational Biology

Stanford- Biomedical Informatics 

UNC BBSP- Bioinformatics & Computational Bio

Yale BBS - Comp Bio & Bioinformatics-- but I submitted this one a couple hours after the deadline, so I don't know if they will consider it or not. It was a spur of the moment type thing. 

 

Will probably apply (deadlines coming up): 

UC Irvine- Mathematical, Computational, and Systems Bio

UC San Diego- Bioinformatics and Systems Bio

Dartmouth- QBS

USC- Computational Bio and Bioinformatics

Albert Einstein

UCLA - Biomathematics (one of my professors/recommenders/research mentors went here so that should help)

Brown- CCMB (still not sure about this one, but leaning yes. One of my professors/recommenders is friends with one of the core faculty at this program, but I don't know if that will help or not.)

 

I haven't heard about an interview from UNC or UPenn like some of you have. Congrats to those who have though!

 

If I were you, given your nearly perfect profile, I wouldn't worry about applying to more schools. If you have already applied to schools that are doing what you want and you are excited about each one, then I think you are set. Wasting money for school in your second choice bracket because you are nervous is silly. Your profile is as good as you can get and you have applied to a good range of schools. 

 

I would recommend relaxing and taking some time off from thinking of applications and start preparing for interviews. Study the people you want to work with at each school you have applied and know them inside and out. Be prepared to speak intelligently and have a good time with interviews, and you should be all set. 

 

You only need to get into one school, so getting into 15 is silly. You will get in somewhere if you can speak intelligently to your interests and not blow up a lab during interviews of something :-) Enjoy the process!

[CancerImmune]

I just received my first interview invitation!! It's for University of Pennsylvania immunology.

[tito balisimo]

OHSU just sent me an email saying that on Dec 15th there will be an admissions committee get-together and they will send out emails shortly after with their decisions. I am hoping that the professor I reached out to regarding my research remembers me and I get an invite. Its crunch time, people!

[Octopus28]

OHSU just sent me an email saying that on Dec 15th there will be an admissions committee get-together and they will send out emails shortly after with their decisions. I am hoping that the professor I reached out to regarding my research remembers me and I get an invite. Its crunch time, people!

What program did you apply to? I applied for PMCB and haven't gotten that email.

[gliaful]

What program did you apply to? I applied for PMCB and haven't gotten that email.

Neuroscience (NGP). So don't worry!

[gliaful]

OHSU just sent me an email saying that on Dec 15th there will be an admissions committee get-together and they will send out emails shortly after with their decisions. I am hoping that the professor I reached out to regarding my research remembers me and I get an invite. Its crunch time, people!

Woohoo!

[neuronsbeyondneurons2]

did anyone else find the OHSU application to be a pain in the butt? personally i thought mount sinai's was the easiest - most straightforward.

[tito balisimo]

What program did you apply to? I applied for PMCB and haven't gotten that email.

 

 

Neuroscience (NGP). So don't worry!

Yup, the neuro program! Don't worry, almost every school I applied to doesn't even look at applications until next week. You will probably won't hear from then until late December or even until January. It is still early, and I haven't received 1 invite yet.

[insaneinthemembrane]

Mount Sinai's was definitely the easiest. Super straightforward and I think it's the only application that asked for a photo of the applicant. I found Stanford to be the most difficult application from my bunch. 

[Octopus28]

Yup, the neuro program! Don't worry, almost every school I applied to doesn't even look at applications until next week. You will probably won't hear from then until late December or even until January. It is still early, and I haven't received 1 invite yet.

Thanks! On the website, they said invitations for interviews for PMCB will be out by Dec 22. This waiting is so nerve-racking... I just want to know! Haha

[GABA-daba-doo]

UC Denver is also meeting the 15th, I talked with a professor of interest and he said interview invites will be sent out shortly after that. 

[canuck02]

Eh...what the heck, I'll throw my hat in.

 

Undergrad Institution: Top Canadian research university

Major(s): Integrated Biomedical Sciences (Biochem/Cell Bio/Mol bio)
Overall GPA: A
Type of Student: international

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:159 (74%) - shameful I know :S
V:170 (99%)
W: 6 (99%)

Research Experience: 5 years across 4 different fields: stem cells and cancer, molecular mammalian epigenetics, microbial biochemistry/genetic bioinformatics/drug design, and analytical chemical biology.

 

Papers: 4 confirmed - 1 published first author (mid-tier journal), 1 in review (NAR) (part of a team of co-authors), 2 TBS this month to PNAS (part of a team of co-authors). Two more first author in the pipeline for February.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Couple of research fellowships, scholarship here and there

ECs: one or two unique biggies grad school might find interesting

Achilles Heel: One small (really) bad course grade in 1st year besmirching transcript due to illness, but reference countering it.
 

Applying to Where: 

Harvard SysBio
MIT Bio/Bioeng

Stanford SysBio

Caltech Bio

Rockefeller

John Hopkins Bioeng

UCSD Bioeng

Boston U MCBB

UofT SysBio/Bioeng
 

[rabbitlocks]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School not particularly known for life sciences, but good reputation overall
Major(s): Molecular and Cellular Biology
Minor(s): Psychology
GPA in Major: 3.53
Overall GPA: 3.70
Position in Class: Top 20%. 
Type of Student: domestic female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 158 (doh)
V:170 (I don't even know)
W: 5

Research Experience: 2 summers of research in a systems biology lab while in school, working more or less full time for those summers. >2 years research as a lab technician/manager at a prestigious university after graduation. 1 publication, middle author.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Made Dean's List a few times. Got a recognition award for undergraduate research (not for biology though), and another award from a student organization. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Wrote brief science articles for a non-profit for several months before starting my job. President of a student research organization while in school.

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommenders is very famous in his field

Applying to Where:

Stanford Biosciences

Harvard BBS

MIT Dept of Biology

UC Berkeley MCB

CalTech Biology

Johns Hopkins CMDB

UCSF TETRAD

Yale BBS

Scripps Research Institute

Washington University DBBS

Duke Developmental and Stem Cell Biology

Cornell Biological Sciences

UCSD Biological Sciences

Rockefeller

Columbia Biological Sciences

University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division

University of Washington MCB

UCLA Biosciences

Northwestern Life and Biomedical Sciences, DGP (MPH, PhD program)

UIUC MCB

 

I'm realizing that I've applied to a LOT of schools... Mostly because I want to get into a great program, but feel incredibly miscalibrated on what my chances are at ANY given graduate program, so I really have no idea what to expect. I'm really scared I won't get in now. Vast majority of my apps are submitted, and the anxiety of waiting is really starting to get to me. Does anyone have any input on my list of schools? How did everyone else decide where to apply? 

Edited December 8, 2014 by rabbitlocks

[ghostoverground]

Thank you all very much! 

[blinchik]

@rabbitlocks, you seem like a competitive applicant to me - I understand your rationale for applying to so many schools, but seeing as you already have one interview lined up at a competitive program, I would not apply to more programs unless you really REALLY want to and there are many faculty members at that program whose interests line up with yours. I decided where to apply based on post-PhD placement rates, supervisor/mentor advice, and looking at which institutions consistently do the sort of research that I am interested in. I would recommend using a more research-targeted approach for your remaining program applications if that's not what you have been doing already. 

[insaneinthemembrane]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School not particularly known for life sciences, but good reputation overall

Major(s): Molecular and Cellular Biology

Minor(s): Psychology

GPA in Major: 3.53

Overall GPA: 3.70

Position in Class: Top 20%. 

Type of Student: domestic female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

Q: 158 (doh)

V:170 (I don't even know)

W: 5

Research Experience: 2 summers of research in a systems biology lab while in school, working more or less full time for those summers. >2 years research as a lab technician/manager at a prestigious university after graduation. 1 publication, middle author.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Made Dean's List a few times. Got a recognition award for undergraduate research (not for biology though), and another award from a student organization. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Wrote brief science articles for a non-profit for several months before starting my job. President of a student research organization while in school.

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommenders is very famous in his field

Applying to Where:

Stanford Biosciences

Harvard BBS

MIT Dept of Biology

UC Berkeley MCB

CalTech Biology

Johns Hopkins CMDB

UCSF TETRAD

Yale BBS

Scripps Research Institute

Washington University DBBS

Duke Developmental and Stem Cell Biology

Cornell Biological Sciences

UCSD Biological Sciences

Rockefeller

Columbia Biological Sciences

University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division

University of Washington MCB

UCLA Biosciences

Northwestern Life and Biomedical Sciences, DGP (MPH, PhD program)

UIUC MCB

 

I'm realizing that I've applied to a LOT of schools... Mostly because I want to get into a great program, but feel incredibly miscalibrated on what my chances are at ANY given graduate program, so I really have no idea what to expect. I'm really scared I won't get in now. Vast majority of my apps are submitted, and the anxiety of waiting is really starting to get to me. Does anyone have any input on my list of schools? How did everyone else decide where to apply? 

 

I think you have a pretty decent shot at getting into a top program. My stats aren't nearly as impressive as yours and I was able to get an interview at UChicago for Immunology so you should have a pretty decent shot at getting at lest 7-8 out of the 15 you applied to, maybe even more. It'll really help if you have a good letter of recommendation from a famous scientist. I agree with @blinchik in that you should select whatever school you end up going to based on the research being done there and your interests and what their post-PhD statistics are. I think you have most big names on your application profile so wherever you earn your PhD from, you should be set in terms of job prospects. 

[notsaxophones]

@rabbitlocks I'm applying to University of Washington MCB as well, heard that we will likely hear back from them sometime next week. (Based on forums, and that I think their decision gets made by the 15th so that any of the secondary applications they are forwarding get there by the deadline)

[lilbert5]

Has anyone ever compiled a list of programs and the most likely time period that they will give notice about interviews (based on previous years)?

 

I have sifted a little through last year's forum and found that NYU Sackler gave notice around December 20th. If anyone else has info about other programs it would be great to put it on here so we at least know more or less when to expect them!

[insaneinthemembrane]

Has anyone ever compiled a list of programs and the most likely time period that they will give notice about interviews (based on previous years)?

 

I have sifted a little through last year's forum and found that NYU Sackler gave notice around December 20th. If anyone else has info about other programs it would be great to put it on here so we at least know more or less when to expect them!

 

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

 

This site has all of the people who have documented when they received admissions/interviews/rejection notifications from programs. It might be easier than going through last year's thread to find the schools you applied for. 

[abluefox]

Better late then never, decided to stop lurking and join in the fun

 

Undergrad Institution: Large Public Research University (Top 20 in Biology)
Major(s): General Biology
Minor(s): None
Science GPA: 3.69
Overall GPA: 3.72
Position in Class: Top 14%
Type of Student: Domestic, Asian Female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 159 (74%)
V: 162 (89%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
B: Didn't take


Research Experience: 1 year in a large neuroscience/stem cell/developmental biology lab and 1 year in a different lab working in similar field under a postdoc in both labs. Also participated in the international genetically engineered machine (iGEM) undergraduate competition for one summer. Co-authored a poster presented at a conference, but my postdoc presented it, not me. One submitted publication to a good journal as a middle co-author.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Cum laude latin honors in my school, also Phi Beta Kappa Society

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for one quarter for an upper-division biology course. Job as a lab assistant for about two years, not doing research.

Special Bonus Points: All my recommendors are full professors. One is very well known in my field and another is relatively well-known, both from the labs I did research in. Third recommendation is from professor at my workplace. The letters from the research labs should be strong while the work lab should be decent.

Applying to Where:

 

Stanford Biosciences - Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
UCSF - Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
USC- PIBBS

UC Irvine- CMB -Developmental and Stem Cell Biology

UCLA Bioscience- CDB Home Area

UC Berkeley- MCB

UC Davis- BMCDB

[lilbert5]

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

 

This site has all of the people who have documented when they received admissions/interviews/rejection notifications from programs. It might be easier than going through last year's thread to find the schools you applied for. 

 

I think you're only allowed to look at the past month. Has anyone been able to use this to look at the 2014 applicant pool?

[gliaful]

I think you're only allowed to look at the past month. Has anyone been able to use this to look at the 2014 applicant pool?

You can look at all of the results ever recorded by searching for a specific program in the search box. For instance, type in "University of Miami Biomedical" and see what happens. I did this for each of my schools to gauge when I might hear back.