Applying for Neuroscience/Neurobiology Ph.D. programs for Fall 2015

[Sucre_J]

For those receiving acceptances from UCLA, did you interview on the first or second weekend?

 

Hi, I did Skype interview in Feb 10. So I can say it was in between the two weekends.

[GABA-daba-doo]

For those receiving acceptances from UCLA, did you interview on the first or second weekend?

 

I interviewed the second weekend. No idea if all invites have been sent out. Good luck!

[madmacmaddie2]

Has anyone else not heard anything back from Duke (CNAP or P&N)?

 

I emailed the graduate coordinator back in January, and informed me that I had not been offered admission into CNAP, and wished me luck on the journey into graduate school. 

Edited March 4, 2015 by madmacmaddie2

[_intrigue_]

I emailed the graduate coordinator back in January, and informed me that I had not been offered admission into CNAP, and wished me luck on the journey into graduate school. 

 

Thanks for the info. Did you check the box that allows them to share your application with other departments? Because I applied for the CNAP but checked that box, so I'm wondering if my application is still floating around somewhere.

[EMGagne]

Spoke to admissions director at American University - said I'll definitely get something by next week.  Just an FYI for anyone else who applied to their Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience PhD program. 

[gliaful]

It's certainly been a long 7 months, but now I'm done with interviewing and I have accepted an offer

 

The post-application phase is weird. Life is "back to normal" for now, but knowing that it's only temporary is exciting and scary and a whole lot of other things.

[NeuroMedic]

It's certainly been a long 7 months, but now I'm done with interviewing and I have accepted an offer

 

The post-application phase is weird. Life is "back to normal" for now, but knowing that it's only temporary is exciting and scary and a whole lot of other things.

 

Congrats on being done with this whole process! Looks like you may have had a hard choice.

[gliaful]

Congrats on being done with this whole process! Looks like you may have had a hard choice.

Thank you! It did end up being a hard choice.

Sussing out how much I enjoyed interview weekends versus what programs can actually offer -- without disregarding my gut emotions entirely -- became pretty challenging.

[GABA-daba-doo]

Congrats on making a choice pasteltomato! Must be such a relief to have your decision made.

 

All of my offers are in as of this morning and I have no clue where I will end up next fall. Did you talk to any additional potential PIs before accepting an offer?

[gliaful]

Congrats on making a choice pasteltomato! Must be such a relief to have your decision made.

 

All of my offers are in as of this morning and I have no clue where I will end up next fall. Did you talk to any additional potential PIs before accepting an offer?

I did email a few PIs to verify whether they anticipate taking new students. More so, though, I emailed a bunch of students (some didn't respond) and asked about things I forgot to ask during the interviews. I also became concerned about how stipends are taxed in various states -- like if they count as taxable income, and if so, what is the income tax rate in those states -- and I couldn't figure it out online so I just asked students directly if they faced any unpleasant tax surprises. I didn't like that it came down to cost of living, but it does matter... The students were really forthcoming, though, so you might get more honest responses out of them.

 

I ended up accepting at the place that I liked the most going in to this process -- you know where that is. I'm nervous about posting it online.

 

Congrats on your offers!

[Vene]

I didn't like that it came down to cost of living, but it does matter... The students were really forthcoming, though, so you might get more honest responses out of them.

Well, money isn't everything, but it's always nice to have more of it. When you have several great admits I think it works as well as anything else for making a decision. Keeps you out of debt, at least.

[neurokat]

Has anyone that interviewed at rutgers (neuroscience not behavioral neuroscience)

heard back?

[decaffeinato]

This is reposted from a topic on The Menu.

 

I'm studying in the UK and applying for PhD positions in the US starting next fall. My goal is to get into a computational/theoretical neuroscience program and work in memory/learning/synaptic plasticity. I would appreciate some comments on my profile.

 

Degrees: I have an integrated Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence from a top UK university in computer science (top 12 worldwide according to QS) (upper second class, ~68%). I'm currently doing a 2-year MSc in Mathematics at a top 4 UK university in maths and top 25 worldwide in maths (again according to QS). I will likely get upper second class as well (between 60 and 70).

 

Courses: I took some tough, very rigorous courses in maths but my marks were generally not very good in the first year (I am in my second year of the MSc now).

Here they are:

Measure theory ( D )

Qualitative theory of ODEs ( B )

Ergodic theory ( C )

Fourier Analysis ( C )

Functional Analysis I ( C )

Functional Analysis II ( A )

Relativity and Electrodynamics ( B )

Probability theory ( D ).

 

This year I'm taking (all graduate-level courses):

Stochastic analysis

Dynamical systems

Introduction to topology

Advanced PDEs

Brownian Motion

Advanced real analysis

Introduction to theoretical neuroscience

Mathematical Relativity.

 

At my first university I took all computational neuroscience courses available --- about 6 and I got an A on 4 of them and two B's.

 

Research:

1. Dissertation in computational neuroscience for my Master's degree in AI (Mark: A, 73).

2. First year project in computational biology for my MSc in Mathematcs (Mark: A, 87).

3. Dissertation (second year) in theoretical neuroscience for my MSc in Mathematics (Ongoing). This one is relevant since it is directly on topic (synaptic plasticity).

 

I have no publications. I had to publish my first dissertation as a first author but never got around to do it.

 

Letters of Recommendation: (correspond to the research experience above)

1. My supervisor is a Reader and very enthusiastic about me. Well-known in the field. Has written very good recommendation letters for me at least 5 times and always sends them to me to read.

2. My supervisor is again a Reader, co-director of Systems Biology Centre, very enthusiastic. In a different field. Also wrote a couple of recommendation letters for me and sent them to me.

3. Just starting out so I don't expect a great recommendation. He is also a Reader and a very well-known researcher.

 

GRE:

Q: 163

V: 163

A: 4.5

 

Programming: I did AI and Computer Science so I'm comfortable with many languages (Matlab, Mathematica, python etc.). Have worked with frameworks popular in computational neuroscience.

 

Extra:

- I attended several big summer schools in computational neuroscience with the majority of accepted students being PhD students. I attended one of the top summer schools in learning and memory with many top researchers as lecturers and the school itself was fully funded (accommodation plus food plus trips minus travel to Asia). I got a travel grant from INCF. There was also a small research project that I can talk about in my statement of purpose.

- I attended another fully funded top summer school on memory but from a broader perspective including philosophy (this time travel expenses were covered).

- I presented two posters on two separate summer schools.

- I sat on the Board of Studies at my first university.

 

Programs I applied to:

1. MIT

2. NYU

3. UCSD

4. Columbia

 

Questions:

1. Do you think my profile would be good enough for the universities I have chosen?

2. Do you think my marks and my GRE would significantly hurt my chances?

3. What other programs would you suggest are suitable for my profile?

 

I am a bit worried about my grades and GRE. These could be corrected if I wait another year but what do you make of the rest of the profile?

Hi, Did you hear from NYU? 

[hippocamper]

I did email a few PIs to verify whether they anticipate taking new students. More so, though, I emailed a bunch of students (some didn't respond) and asked about things I forgot to ask during the interviews. I also became concerned about how stipends are taxed in various states -- like if they count as taxable income, and if so, what is the income tax rate in those states -- and I couldn't figure it out online so I just asked students directly if they faced any unpleasant tax surprises. I didn't like that it came down to cost of living, but it does matter... The students were really forthcoming, though, so you might get more honest responses out of them.

 

I ended up accepting at the place that I liked the most going in to this process -- you know where that is. I'm nervous about posting it online.

 

Pasteltomato - I just wanted to congratulate you on making a decision! I think you will love it there. I have heard nothing but good things about the program and location. 

 

Does anyone else have any advice on what to ask PI's or students before making a decision? I plan to ask about the tax situation and medical coverage. Beyond that, however, I have no idea what I need to know before making the leap!

[gliaful]

Pasteltomato - I just wanted to congratulate you on making a decision! I think you will love it there. I have heard nothing but good things about the program and location. 

 

Does anyone else have any advice on what to ask PI's or students before making a decision? I plan to ask about the tax situation and medical coverage. Beyond that, however, I have no idea what I need to know before making the leap!

Thanks hippocamper

 

I asked about the tax info because a lot of my options (yours too) are in big, expensive cities, and I wanted to know what my "net" stipend would actually be when thinking about cost of living.

 

I asked about other things that I wanted out of the experience, so this is really up to you. I asked stuff like:

 

-are the people I want to work with actually available?

---if so, I then emailed students in these labs and asked about the mentoring/environment/emphasis on getting pubs out/graduating in a timely manner

-ask a 5th or 6th year what they are planning to do next/ if their committee members tried to connect them with possible postdoc opportunities at other universities. Get a feel for who knows who.

-ask students if they feel like the program changes (hopefully improves) in response to student concerns or ideas. I didn't want a program that had a "we've been doing it this way for 20 years!" mentality. Structure is great and important but it shouldn't be timeless.

-do the faculty believe academia is the only way to go with a PhD? 2/5 schools I interviewed with rejected this outdated sentiment, while 3/5 didn't mention preparing students for jobs outside of academia. I asked those 3/5 about opportunities.

-how close-knit is the student body? do you guys do anything together besides the annual recruitment?

-how much does the structure of the campus impact collaborations? In spread out campuses, do you only collaborate with your neighbors?

-is there a mentor/oversight of some sort during the first year?

-coursework (in case it wasn't addressed during the interview!): is most of this finished after the first year? Are the courses lumped into a portion of the day (eg, all in the morning or afternoon) or do students basically run back and forth between classes and their rotation lab throughout the day?

-teaching/TAships: if you want to teach, can you? If you want to teach and a TAship is required for some amount of time, how much teaching do you actually get to do during that TAship?

-if I don't finish after my 5th year, will my tuiition waiver/funding still be guaranteed (until then it's paid by your lab but only by program mandate) for a 6th year? (I got some NO's in response to this question so DO ASK. Some places said I'd have to teach my 6th year to get a tuition waiver!)

 

-also financial: ask about fees. Some programs only partially cover them and the amount you have to pay is kinda steep for fees (see UW's neuro handbook for an example of high quarterly fees; it's on their webpage).

-Actually, it's worth it to look at all of the program handbooks - request them if they aren't posted online - and those might lend themselves to some good questions.

 

Sorry, the above questions got kind of sloppy. I hope they make sense.

Edited March 11, 2015 by pasteltomato

[NeuroMedic]

Well, decision has been made. UCLA, here I come!

[hippocamper]

Congrats NeuroMedic!!

 

After weeks of biting my nails and debating the options, I have also made a decision! It was great to meet many of you at interviews. Hope everything works out for everyone!

[Faipang]

Hello, I'm just wondering if anyone heard from UC Irvine? I have yet to hear anything regarding the status of my application. I see that there's been a couple acceptance and rejections posted back in early Feb. 

Would anyone advise against me emailing the POI about my application? 

[PeterPanComplex]

Hello, I'm just wondering if anyone heard from UC Irvine? I have yet to hear anything regarding the status of my application. I see that there's been a couple acceptance and rejections posted back in early Feb. 

Would anyone advise against me emailing the POI about my application? 

It's only 2 weeks before the deadline. If I were you I would email right away! Good luck!