2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Farafeelo]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experience about interviews and asking questions. 

[threading_the_neidl]

 

In my opinion snow boots are awesome if one is actually going to be trudging through snow and/or hanging out on the side of a mountain all day.  Chances of that happening while you are walking around campus/town are slim.

 

The reason I wrote was because I, and everyone else in Boston, have been walking through ~1-2ft of snow all week. On Monday, I was in shin high snow on the "cleared" path to my major research hospital. The accumulation was so rapid and intense that ~50% of our trains are out of service due to weather related damage. There are very few occasions where one truly needs snow boots, but the last week in Boston has provided one. :'(

[Echo_Yang]

Still have 6 universities with nothing reply now. Really lose hope for all the others

[ballwera]

Still have 6 universities with nothing reply now. Really lose hope for all the others

 

4 of my programs are still reviewing applications! It's kind of ridiculous to be honest. Those 4 programs have had my applications since Thanksgiving! 

[Echo_Yang]

4 of my programs are still reviewing applications! It's kind of ridiculous to be honest. Those 4 programs have had my applications since Thanksgiving! 

 

Some programs are almostly disappear after I pay the application fee. Nothing notification even tell me that "your application is under review" or "we receive your reference"

[elkheart]

I'm an international student. I'm wondering if having not received the interview of U. Wash BPSD means Rejection?

I doubt anyone on here knows the real answer to that. But I do know UW has been really on top of this whole process, meaning they sent out a lot of invites back in December. Not hearing from them may well mean you won't be getting an offer, but it is really hard to know what is happening behind the scenes. Hold out hope for at least being waitlisted, if you're the hopeful type

[expandyourmind]

whats the process for being waitlisted? if you haven't officially gotten an interview and haven't heard back from them, does that mean you're waitlisted? would they tell you that you're waitlisted?

 

so confusing 

[gliaful]

I'm an international student. I'm wondering if having not received the interview of U. Wash BPSD means Rejection?

I don't know about BPSD, but I know international UW neuro applicants need a faculty sponsor. Do you have one of these?

[BiochemMom]

Curious as to whether anyone else here will be interviewing at UNC for BBSP next weekend. I'm excited for it!

[kimmibeans]

whats the process for being waitlisted? if you haven't officially gotten an interview and haven't heard back from them, does that mean you're waitlisted? would they tell you that you're waitlisted?

 

so confusing 

If the school does interviews then you are added to waitlist after your interview, depending on how things went. Otherwise its probably a rejection.

[notsaxophones]

Am I gonna see any of you guys at University of Washington this coming week? I'm out there for their Microbiology and MCB programs, just got my interview schedules and am CRAZY excited

[cuiyoutian]

I doubt anyone on here knows the real answer to that. But I do know UW has been really on top of this whole process, meaning they sent out a lot of invites back in December. Not hearing from them may well mean you won't be getting an offer, but it is really hard to know what is happening behind the scenes. Hold out hope for at least being waitlisted, if you're the hopeful type

thanks very much... Just hope..

[cuiyoutian]

I don't know about BPSD, but I know international UW neuro applicants need a faculty sponsor. Do you have one of these?

 I don't see anything about sponsor. BPSD might be different from your program. I guess? I am not sure..

[ozhyna]

Hello!
I applied to 7 schools and got rejection letters from two. Other remain silent no matter how much I tried to contact them. How can I undestant that? 

International. GPA: 4.0, GRE Q-156, V-153

[person5811]

Hello!

I applied to 7 schools and got rejection letters from two. Other remain silent no matter how much I tried to contact them. How can I undestant that? 

International. GPA: 4.0, GRE Q-156, V-153

Well, I think being international makes it really hard to get interviews, because you are competing against a larger pool of applicants (worldwide vs. just US) and they have fewer spots for them (UC Berkeley has 2-3 interview spots for internationals while they interview 80 people total, they told us during the interview).

I don't know where you applied to, but most public schools have no money for internationals (since they pay students' stipends, for the most part, through training grants from the NIH). I think MIT, Harvard, Rockefeller, Stanford, and UT Southwestern (from my school list) are well-known for taking in a good amount of international people, something like 30% of their incoming class is international. I have also heard (from professors) that they get hundreds of applications from internationals with perfect GRE scores, so it makes it harder for people with lower GRE scores to get selected. So, I think that could explain it.

Also, a lot of internationals who get interviews have worked for professors in the US and have them as their letter writers. I don't know how easy it would be for you to get this type of experience, but if you can make it happen I think it will increase your chances of getting into a program in the future.

Another possibility is that one (or more) of your letter writers didn't know you that well or didn't have much to say about you. I've heard it's always better to ask professors writing your letters if they can write a "strong" letter for you. People are fairly honest, they will tell you maybe you should consider someone else to recommend you.

And lastly, you can call (do not email) the program administrator and ask what it is in your application that made you not get selected, sometimes they will let you know.

Knowledge I have acquired over the years.

[Crucial BBQ]

whats the process for being waitlisted? if you haven't officially gotten an interview and haven't heard back from them, does that mean you're waitlisted? would they tell you that you're waitlisted?

 

so confusing 

I was informed of waitlist through an email from the program director. 

[insaneinthemembrane]

Got my first acceptance to UChicago Immunology on Thursday!!! So excited to know that I'm going to grad school next fall!

[mademoiselle2308]

Got my first acceptance to UChicago Immunology on Thursday!!! So excited to know that I'm going to grad school next fall!

 

Congratulations, insaneinthemembrane! 

[mallorn]

Hello!

I applied to 7 schools and got rejection letters from two. Other remain silent no matter how much I tried to contact them. How can I undestant that? 

International. GPA: 4.0, GRE Q-156, V-153

 

Fellow international here- Hmm, did you talk with any potential advisers? I've found that they are extremely influential in your admission and are actually the ones who 'endorse' you to your department so to speak. No adviser = no one to fight for you in the grad committee. If you have, you could try sending them an email to see where you are in the process?

 

I'm a lurker who creeped through this thread and forum through application and interview period and I just wanted to sort of thank everyone for their advice and discussion, even though I didn't take active part in it. I just had a really great PhD interview at a school and at the end, my prospective adviser said they'd recommend me for admission! It will still be up to the department since they provide the funding but I'm crossing my fingers that the result is positive. I find out in two weeks!

[future.grad.student]

Got my first acceptance to UChicago Immunology on Thursday!!! So excited to know that I'm going to grad school next fall!

Congrats! I also got my first acceptance from Dartmouth. I have one more interview and a few responses to await, but It feels good to know that I will be a graduate student come this Fall. 

[lzerimar]

I haven't had the chance to update you guys, but last week I got accepted for the Baylor TBMM program and this week I got accepted for Harvard BBS on Wednesday!!! I also received a call from Dr. Susan Dymecki, the head of the Harvard BBS program and my first interviewer, this past Friday letting me know of my acceptance   I still have two more interviews (Rockefeller and Scripps) but at this point it will more than likely be between Harvard and Rockefeller. If you are still waiting to hear on Columbia CMBS or Baylor, I will be declining their offer soon and I really hope those spots go to fellow grad cafers  . 

 

Just some of my input. At Columbia and Harvard the majority of the applicants had already graduated and had been lab technicians for about a year or two, but at Baylor most of the people were still undergrads. It does seem like a major component of these applications is research experience as I didn't have the best GRE scores or anything but I had an amazing research experience so far. When Dr. Dymecki was interviewing me, she appeared very pleased that I had been in research for a long time and that I had experienced the ups and downs of the whole discovery process in science and I still persisted. They definitely want to know that this is really what you want and that you know what you are getting yourself into. Also, as much I as I enjoyed seeing that much snow in Boston (I'm from the desert) winters are definitely going to be rough for me. As some have already mentioned, climate should be something you should definitely take into consideration if you don't want your ass and toes to freeze like mine did. This whole interview process has definitely being a blessing and not something that I expected to be doing just a year ago. Although I would have loved to have applied to more schools and possibly traveled more around the country, I am glad I applied to a few schools, declining offers will definitely be hard after their hospitality. If you guys have any questions about the interview process in general or about the schools and environment feel free to message me and good luck on your applications    

Edited February 9, 2015 by lzerimar

[Ascinflamm]

Hello!

I applied to 7 schools and got rejection letters from two. Other remain silent no matter how much I tried to contact them. How can I undestant that? 

International. GPA: 4.0, GRE Q-156, V-153

 

Fellow international here.  I've been fairly successful this application season, partly because I have the advantage of already attending a US college and doing research there.  I wish I could say this less harshly, but GRE scores of < 160 on both Verbal and (especially) Quantitative sections are not a good sign. If you're going to try again next year, I'd focus on boosting your GRE.  I knew I would get near perfect on quantitative (and I did on first try) but I still took it a second time to improve my verbal score (to 163/170). 

 

[...] I think MIT, Harvard, Rockefeller, Stanford, and UT Southwestern (from my school list) are well-known for taking in a good amount of international people, something like 30% of their incoming class is international. 

Also, a lot of internationals who get interviews have worked for professors in the US and have them as their letter writers. [...] 

 

I agree with everything person5811 said.  Even Stanford Biosciences, Yale BBS and Penn BGS warn on their respective websites that they can only admit a small number of internationals each year. The Harvard DMS program I got accepted into, on the other hand, took 6 internationals this year (out of 15 total admits)--3 of the 6 already have a masters degree, and 5 of us have done research at top research universities in the US. (The 6th is Canadian and has done research at his very well-known Canadian institution). 

 

Edited February 9, 2015 by Ascinflamm

[mademoiselle2308]

Anyone else dying to leave their current jobs? I cannot wait to go to grad school!!!!! I thought getting acceptances would make it better, but instead it has made it harder to focus. I just keep telling myself only a few more months, but it's not working . . .

[mademoiselle2308]

Anyone else dying to leave their current jobs? I cannot wait to go to grad school!!!!! I thought getting acceptances would make it better, but instead it has made it harder to focus. I just keep telling myself only a few more months, but it's not working . . .

 

Oops! Meant to post this elsewhere! Please ignore it. :-)

[ilovelab]

Anyone else dying to leave their current jobs? I cannot wait to go to grad school!!!!! I thought getting acceptances would make it better, but instead it has made it harder to focus. I just keep telling myself only a few more months, but it's not working . . .

I am. Even though I'm applying next cycle I can't wait to leave my current job. Why i signed a multi-year contract I don't know. How did you like Vanderbilt IGP? I've been thinking of applying there next cycle.