2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[expandyourmind]

I am jumping out my skin to accept my top choice... as in, I want to do it today! I am going out to visit again in a few weeks though and feel that it is more responsible to wait until I go out again to basically double check my decision. I already visited once and feel 100% certain but since it was one of my earlier visits, the back of my mind wonders if I remember it better than it is. Everyone around me knows that I want to go there, I have already told everyone at school that I will be accepting their offer. My PI confirmed that it was a good decision. I did an objective ranking system and no other school even came close. My gut says that this is the one. Accept today or wait until I visit again to double check my decision?

 

i felt the same way about uchicago. it was the all around best fit and best program for me. i wanted to accept right away but i made myself wait until i visited again just to be sure! I would wait. i doubt anything will change, but it definitely gives you something to look forward to! which one are you leaning towards?

[bsharpe269]

On 3/11/2015 at 8:45 AM, expandyourmind said:

i felt the same way about uchicago. it was the all around best fit and best program for me. i wanted to accept right away but i made myself wait until i visited again just to be sure! I would wait. i doubt anything will change, but it definitely gives you something to look forward to! which one are you leaning towards?

 

Sigh... ok. I know I should. I'm just so excited. WashU!

[expandyourmind]

On 3/11/2015 at 9:04 AM, bsharpe269 said:

Sigh... ok. I know I should. I'm just so excited. WashU!

 

i'm so happy for you about WashU! it's so good to be so excited!

i know its hard to wait, I also thought it would be weird to ask to come visit again having already committed (even though i was 100%) 

[bsharpe269]

On 3/10/2015 at 7:38 PM, insaneinthemembrane said:

Actually, I know it's a really late point but to offer the opposite viewpoint, my PI actually did the same ranking system and it turned out to be the school that he had less of a gut feeling for (he was deciding between Stanford and UCSF and he wanted to go to UCSF). He actually chose to go to Stanford because it won out on the list, which is a very logical viewpoint and very opposite the emotional response. He hasn't regretted going to Stanford over UCSF but the point of this I feel is that it's very hard to make a wrong decision when you're comparing schools of this caliber essentially. There's a good choice and a better choice but it's a personal decision as to why one school is better, resources or environment or some combination of the two. 

 

 

Thanks for the opinion! I redid rankings yesterday in a more detailed way. The first time I did rankings, it was more of just a pro and con list and totaled the number of positives and negatives. When I redid the rankings and weighted the categories by their importance to me, WashU flew to the top of the list, way above any others. Now WashU wins in rankings and gut feeling... I'm super excited to go there! Turing down their offer and accepting another would leave me feeling pretty upset and I feel that if I accept WashU, Ill be grinning from ear to ear all day. I like your advice that there is no wrong decision at this level... there are many good options that will all result in great career opportunities!

[sackofcrap]

Undergrad Institution: Private Research University In Boston
Major(s): Psychology
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: Not Certain
Overall GPA: 3.26
Position in Class: No Idea
Type of Student: Domestic, Female

Applying For: School Psychology (Masters / Specialist)

GRE Scores:
Q: 149
V: 161
A: 4.5

Research Experience: One semester of research at my college. One semester of interning in London, England at a mental health charity.

Applying to Where: Texas State University, St. John's University

 

Accepted: Texas State University (Very excited)

Interview: St. John's University (Have not had it yet, but have already been contacted to set it up)

Rejected: None...yet

[ballwera]

Finally, got my interview rescheduled for March 26th ( official visit date was 3/6). Kind of concerned, is this just a sympathy interview at this point? It's 2 weeks before the deadline. This is my top choice and was pretty upset I couldn't make the official date!

[Biochemistry]

Does anyone have advice on how to politely cancel a visitation visit? I guess about a month ago I made plans to visit a school that accepted me (no interview), but I feel kind of crappy canceling after they paid for the plane ticket already, which I don't think is refundable. However, it seems even ruder to go and waste their time when I know I almost certainly won't be going there :/ 

[Shamrock_Frog]

Does anyone have advice on how to politely cancel a visitation visit? I guess about a month ago I made plans to visit a school that accepted me (no interview), but I feel kind of crappy canceling after they paid for the plane ticket already, which I don't think is refundable. However, it seems even ruder to go and waste their time when I know I almost certainly won't be going there :/ 

 

I think if they already made plane reservations for you it would be better to go. Even if you are not planning on going there for your phd, what about post doc? I just got back from an interview I agreed to go on before I received my first acceptance (from my top choice) and I went anyway. I still learned a lot. Chatting with professors who may share some valuable information with you is a good idea, and you can always keep them in mind for future opportunities. Instead of treating it as an grad school interview, maybe think of it as a networking opportunity? If you cancel these people may remember you in 5+ years when you are applying for postdoc positions. Also, professors move around all the time, you might end up working with these people at a different institution altogether at some point in the future.

 

edit: typo

Edited March 11, 2015 by Shamrock_Frog

[mademoiselle2308]

Undergrad Institution: Private Research University In Boston

Major(s): Psychology

Minor(s): None

GPA in Major: Not Certain

Overall GPA: 3.26

Position in Class: No Idea

Type of Student: Domestic, Female

Applying For: School Psychology (Masters / Specialist)

GRE Scores:

Q: 149

V: 161

A: 4.5

Research Experience: One semester of research at my college. One semester of interning in London, England at a mental health charity.

Applying to Where: Texas State University, St. John's University

 

Accepted: Texas State University (Very excited)

Interview: St. John's University (Have not had it yet, but have already been contacted to set it up)

Rejected: None...yet

You might want to consider finding the psychology forum to post this. http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/8-psychology/  .This forum is for biomedical sciences. Best of luck to you!

Edited March 11, 2015 by mademoiselle2308

[Vene]

I am jumping out my skin to accept my top choice... as in, I want to do it today! I am going out to visit again in a few weeks though and feel that it is more responsible to wait until I go out again to basically double check my decision. I already visited once and feel 100% certain but since it was one of my earlier visits, the back of my mind wonders if I remember it better than it is. Everyone around me knows that I want to go there, I have already told everyone at school that I will be accepting their offer. My PI confirmed that it was a good decision. I did an objective ranking system and no other school even came close. My gut says that this is the one. Accept today or wait until I visit again to double check my decision?

In some ways, I feel like the smart move is to wait until after the visit.

 

But, on the other hand, I can't say I'd follow such advice and would be very likely to just commit so everything can be made official. I think that the longer I'd sit and wait the more likely it is for doubt to creep into the back of my mind when I already know where I'd want to go. It is so easy to overthink decisions like this.

[insaneinthemembrane]

Thanks for the opinion! I redid rankings yesterday in a more detailed way. The first time I did rankings, it was more of just a pro and con list and totaled the number of positives and negatives. When I redid the rankings and weighted the categories by their importance to me, Wash U flew to the top of the list, way above any others. Now Wash U wins in rankings and gut feeling... I'm super excited to go there! Turing down their offer and accepting another would leave me feeling pretty upset and I feel that if I accept Wash U, Ill be grinning from ear to ear all day. I like your advice that there is no wrong decision at this level... there are many good options that will all result in great career opportunities!

Yea, I'm sure the criteria I'm using for selecting my schools are probably different than yours because we care about different things so you should always make it personal in terms of what you care about most. I also have a category for my gut feeling indicating how I feel when I think about myself in that school because to some extent, it does factor in during the decision

[Biochemistry]

 

I think if they already made plane reservations for you it would be better to go. Even if you are not planning on going there for your phd, what about post doc? I just got back from an interview I agreed to go on before I received my first acceptance (from my top choice) and I went anyway. I still learned a lot. Chatting with professors who may share some valuable information with you is a good idea, and you can always keep them in mind for future opportunities. Instead of treating it as an grad school interview, maybe think of it as a networking opportunity? If you cancel these people may remember you in 5+ years when you are applying for postdoc positions. Also, professors move around all the time, you might end up working with these people at a different institution altogether at some point in the future.

 

edit: typo

 

I had debated going for these reasons (and you suggested more good reasons too that I hadn't thought of!). But there are 3 main reasons why I would like to cancel: I've missed so much class already, I've been traveling for 6 weeks straight, and I don't want to waste any more of their money/time when I know I'm not going. I would love to go visit and network, but I'm honestly tired of traveling and school is kicking my butt, so the less classed missed the better. 

Edited March 11, 2015 by Biochemistry

[velli]

 

 

 

I had debated going for these reasons (and you suggested more good reasons too that I hadn't thought of!). But there are 3 main reasons why I would like to cancel: I've missed so much class already, I've been traveling for 6 weeks straight, and I don't want to waste any more of their money/time when I know I'm not going. I would love to go visit and network, but I'm honestly tired of traveling and school is kicking my butt, so the less classed missed the better. 

 

 

I've canceled two interviews -- one with the same school at which I was accepted to another program (for which I'd met with the same faculty anyway) and one due to fatigue and having already accepted an offer. In the latter case, I emailed the director of the program and he told me that I made the correct professional decision in choosing not to attend an interview if I no longer had interest in the program. They've already paid for your flight, but they're not on the hook for your hotel reservations and your meals if you choose to cancel. The funds spent on your flight were only going to be used for recruiting, so it's the same financially to the program whether you decline before the visit or after the visit.

[Biochemistry]

 

I've canceled two interviews -- one with the same school at which I was accepted to another program (for which I'd met with the same faculty anyway) and one due to fatigue and having already accepted an offer. In the latter case, I emailed the director of the program and he told me that I made the correct professional decision in choosing not to attend an interview if I no longer had interest in the program. They've already paid for your flight, but they're not on the hook for your hotel reservations and your meals if you choose to cancel. The funds spent on your flight were only going to be used for recruiting, so it's the same financially to the program whether you decline before the visit or after the visit.

This helps a lot. Hopefully they'll understand. 

 

 

Thanks velli, shamrock! I appreciate the advice from you guys.

[nutellarain]

Just accepted to UCSD BMS! Most likely will end up there  , anyone else thinking of attending?

 

I also just heard back from another school that they plan to notify all applicants by April 11th...I really don't want to wait that long. 

Edited March 11, 2015 by nutellarain

[bearhat]

Just accepted to UCSD BMS! Most likely will end up there  , anyone else thinking of attending?

 

I also just heard back from another school that they plan to notify all applicants by April 11th...I really don't want to wait that long. 

 

Which school was that? That is terrible to make people wait until 3 days before the deadline. 

[nutellarain]

Which school was that? That is terrible to make people wait until 3 days before the deadline. 

UCLA. It looks like they have already notified a few people (someone posted earlier that they were waitlisted), but I think they are doing admissions on a rolling basis. I assume I'm also waitlisted since I have to wait to hear, I just wish they would give me some sort of an idea so I can get on with picking my school

[biopro]

Does anyone know when Stanford Biology home program will send out notifications? It's my last school of the season and I'm ready to be done with the graduate school application process 

[intl2015]

Does anyone know when Stanford Biology home program will send out notifications? It's my last school of the season and I'm ready to be done with the graduate school application process 

I'm also waiting as well. Hopefully, we'll know by tomorrow since the survey for the interview visit is due today? Good luck! 

[sdufhdsuibf]

UCLA. It looks like they have already notified a few people (someone posted earlier that they were waitlisted), but I think they are doing admissions on a rolling basis. I assume I'm also waitlisted since I have to wait to hear, I just wish they would give me some sort of an idea so I can get on with picking my school

Which area were you? The director of ours said he'd try to let us know in "two or three weeks." It was a smaller one, though. Ugh, I just want to be done with this already.

[nutellarain]

Which area were you? The director of ours said he'd try to let us know in "two or three weeks." It was a smaller one, though. Ugh, I just want to be done with this already.

IMMP, you? Yeah me too, I've narrowed it down to three schools (including UCLA) and just want to pick already. I feel bad sitting on other offers so long when I know there are people on the waitlist. 

[JML]

IMMP, you? Yeah me too, I've narrowed it down to three schools (including UCLA) and just want to pick already. I feel bad sitting on other offers so long when I know there are people on the waitlist. 

 

Was it just me or did UCLA seem super disorganized, bordering on chaotic? I interviewed IMMP second weekend and there weren't any immunologists to interview with. Not a single person from my list of requested faculty. The IMMP home area director was super blunt about everything as well, asking specifically what schools I interviewed at and which ones I had offers from. I got the impression he wanted to see all my cards on the table, but keep his close to his vest. 

[Vene]

Which school was that? That is terrible to make people wait until 3 days before the deadline.

I want to believe that will be the final decision for everybody. So, that's when people will be taken off of a waitlist, official or unofficial, but they've already extended a round of acceptances.

Again, that's what I want to believe, not necessarily what they're doing.

[sdufhdsuibf]

IMMP, you? Yeah me too, I've narrowed it down to three schools (including UCLA) and just want to pick already. I feel bad sitting on other offers so long when I know there are people on the waitlist. 

 

BBSB. Two for me (with UCLA). Which could make this pretty easy, I guess.

[insaneinthemembrane]

I got an offer today from Stanford Immunology!!! Super excited!!!