disasterprone Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Although applications are most likely in for everyone already, perhaps we should have a separate thread for this year's applicants instead of continuing on last year's thread? We could discuss interviews/visits, acceptances, and funding offers relevant to this year's cycle. If we'd rather stick with that one, disregard this post. If not (and we want to post stats/profiles) let's use the following formatting to keep everything streamlined. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Undergrad Institution: Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: x.xx/4.00Overall GPA: x.xx/4.00Demographics/Background: GRE Scores:Q: xxx (xx%)V: xxx (xx%)W: x.x (xx%)LOR: Research Experience: Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Fellowships/Funding: Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: Research Interests: Institutions/Programs: Comments:
disasterprone Posted January 27, 2015 Author Posted January 27, 2015 Undergrad Institution: Large State School (West Coast) Major(s): BioengineeringMinor(s): N/AGPA in Major: 3.68/4.00Overall GPA: 3.73/4.00Demographics/Background: White Male GRE Scores:Q: 168 (95%)V: 166 (96%)W: 5.5 (98%)LOR: Current PI (going on three years) Collaborating PI (known for two+ years) Faculty director of summer research program Research Experience: Three years in tissue-based bioengineering lab (4 distinct projects related to tissue and stem cell work) One year in biomaterials-based bioengineering lab for senior design Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: One 2nd author paper currently in revised submission, one 3rd author paper currently in final preparation, and one 1st author paper in progress Seven conference abstracts ranging from 1st to 3rd author Four undergraduate research presentations Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Amgen Scholar Award for Best Scientific Paper at recent national conference Dean's List (x7) Membership nomination to Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society Fellowships/Funding: Applied for NSF GRFP Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Founding an undergraduate, interdisciplinary research journal for students at undergrad institution Charter member of a committee to oversee funding of student travel for conferences/competitions Charter member of a First-Year Experience course for freshman navigating a large research university Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: ? Research Interests: Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell differentiation, Institutions/Programs: UC San Diego (BioE): UC Berkeley/UCSF (BioE): Received interview invite on 1/22. Interview scheduled for 2/23-2/24. Stanford (BioE): Received interview invite on 1/21. Interview scheduled for 2/26-2/27. U Washington (BioE): Northwestern (BME): Received interview invite on 1/20. Interview scheduled for 2/19-2/20. MIT (BiolE): Johns Hopkins (BME): Received interview invite on 1/26. Interview scheduled for 3/5-3/6. Duke (BME): Received interview invite on 1/13. Attended interview on 1/23. Comments: Is anybody else in the position of interviewing at both Berkeley/SF and Stanford in the same week? And perhaps Northwestern a few days before? A few days in between visits would be nice! I hope that all the travel arrangements will work out alright. I feel like MIT already sent out all their interview invites and that UW and UCSD are simply taking their sweet time...
shp9n0108 Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 I am in the same position! I am attending UCB-UCSF and Stanford interviews in last week of Feb. What's your plan for the ground travel between two schools?
shp9n0108 Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Undergrad Institution: state Univ.(east coast)Major(s): Biomedical EngineeringMinor(s): ChemistryGPA in Major:3.88Overall GPA:3.807(didn't do well in first year and in english)Length of Degree: 4 yearsPosition in Class: graduated with the highest distinctionType of Student: permanent resident non-degree seeking graduate courses after undergrad while working full time: 6 credits(2 courses) GPA: 4.0 GRE Scores:Q: 170V: 162W: 4.0Research Experience: 1 year research for credit: published an undergraduate thesis 2 year full-time research assistant/lab manager in public university(dep of pharmacology&toxicology)-->2 first author, 1 2nd author abstract publications and poster presentations at major conferences (not bme) 6 month full-time research assistant/lab manager in private medical/graduate school(dep of internal medicine)-current position LOR from previous PI, previous post-doc(in government agency now), and current PI Awards/Honors/Recognitions: graduated with the highest distinction dean's lists most semesters honor societies travel fellowship for courses travel fellowship for workshop Pertinent Activities or Jobs: teaching assistant 2 years in undergrad(math & computer) private math tutor(few months) officer in two science&engineering societies in undergrad clinical community services+ many volunteer activities Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:MS: JHU, BME PHD: JHU, BME MIT, BE UPENN, BE UMICH: BE STANFORD: BE DUKE: BME UW: BE RICE: BE UCSD: BE UCB-UCSF: BE
disasterprone Posted January 27, 2015 Author Posted January 27, 2015 Yeah, I called and spoke to one of the program coordinators at Stanford and she said that they were still having discussions with Berkeley/UCSF to figure out the best plan. Apparently, in years past, Berkeley/UCSF has been the week after Stanford so it wasn't as much of an issue. I think they'll just update us whenever they figure something out. If all else fails, I just plan to crash at a friend's house in the bay.
mc738 Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Undergrad: Top 10 Engineering School Major: Biological Engineering GPA: 3.76 GRE: Q: 170, V: 157, W: 4.0 Research Interests: Tissue Engineering, Stem Cell Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Biomaterials Schools: Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Pitt, UCB/UCSF, GaTech, Michigan, Northwestern, UCLA, Rutgers, Brown, Maryland Interviews: Hopkins, Pitt, Maryland I was wondering if you guys knew anything about how likely it is that acceptances are offered to student who receive interviews. How much does it vary school to school, etc? Also, to disasterprone, where did you find out the dates for Hopkins' interview? I got invited, but my email did not mention dates and only said I would be contacted by faculty to schedule a time. So it is somewhat unclear as to whether they are talking about an on-campus interview or something else like over the phone or via Skype. Thanks!
braindump Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I don't feel all that comfortable posting all my info, but I'd like to join the thread! Also, I was wondering this too: I was wondering if you guys knew anything about how likely it is that acceptances are offered to student who receive interviews. How much does it vary school to school, etc? I have an interview with Stanford.. was just wondering how much pressure there was. Anyone know the post-interview acceptance rate?
disasterprone Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 Undergrad: Top 10 Engineering School Major: Biological Engineering GPA: 3.76 GRE: Q: 170, V: 157, W: 4.0 Research Interests: Tissue Engineering, Stem Cell Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Biomaterials Schools: Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Pitt, UCB/UCSF, GaTech, Michigan, Northwestern, UCLA, Rutgers, Brown, Maryland Interviews: Hopkins, Pitt, Maryland I was wondering if you guys knew anything about how likely it is that acceptances are offered to student who receive interviews. How much does it vary school to school, etc? Also, to disasterprone, where did you find out the dates for Hopkins' interview? I got invited, but my email did not mention dates and only said I would be contacted by faculty to schedule a time. So it is somewhat unclear as to whether they are talking about an on-campus interview or something else like over the phone or via Skype. Thanks! Hey mc738, I had dates (Feb 19-20 and March 5-6) in my email from Hopkins. I'm at Northwestern on Feb 19-20, so I'll be at the March 5-6 visit. It might be due to geographical location? I'm from the West Coast, so they might need to arrange the dates first and then do closer visitors?
disasterprone Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 I don't feel all that comfortable posting all my info, but I'd like to join the thread! Also, I was wondering this too: I have an interview with Stanford.. was just wondering how much pressure there was. Anyone know the post-interview acceptance rate? Thanks for joining us! Apparently, as heard from a current BioE grad student at Stanford, the post-interview acceptance rate was ~75%. Compare that to other programs such as Berkeley/UCSF with a >90% acceptance rate for interviewees.
mc738 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Thanks, disasterprone! Yes, I would imagine it has something to do with location (I'm on the east coast) or perhaps which subfield you indicated you were interested in within the BME application. Those are some pretty high post-interview acceptance rates for Stanford and UCB/UCSF. Do you know of anything for places like Hopkins? Thanks!
disasterprone Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 No problem! I don't think those acceptance rates are extraordinarily high though. From what I understood, the emphasis was that ~75% at Stanford was low compared to other institutions. I haven't heard anything, but I'd imagine Hopkins is going to be anywhere between like 75-90%.
adam2392 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Undergrad Institution: top undergrad institution for BENG Major(s): Bioengineering and Mathematics (double)Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.72/4.00Overall GPA: 3.58/4.00Demographics/Background: GRE Scores:Q: 167 (xx%)V: 159 (xx%)W: 5.5 (xx%)LOR: 1 PI (1.5 years; oversaw senior design project and research project with clinical doctor) 1 Collaborator PI (1.5 years; oversaw clinical pilot study and $10,000 grant) 1 Previous PI (1.5-2 years Tissue Engineering; 1 summer research project/grant) - Couple of randoms: Director of Bioengineering dept who I've also taken class with Director of Entrepreneurship center who oversaw a NSF funded course Research Experience: 1.5 years in Tissue Engineering Summer Research through Qualcomm Institute 1.5 years in Neural Engineering Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 4 poster presentations no pub :/ Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Deans List Tau Beta Pi Gordon Fellow NSF I-Corps Fellow VentureWell E-Team Fellow California Space Grant NASA awardee Fellowships/Funding: Applied to NSF, NDSEG, DOE CSGF, SMART, HERTZ Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - software engineering at a non profit healthcare - internship at Genentech Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: - VP and President of two different orgs that had notable achievements Research Interests: Computational Neuroscience, Neural Engineering, BCI Institutions/Programs: I applied to JHU, UCSD, Duke, Stanford, UPENN, Columbia, Georgia Tech, MIT, Harvard, Caltech Comments: ********** I have only heard back from JHU for an interview.... I am kind of worried because I heard from a lot of other ppl that they heard back for interview. Are there waves for these kinds of things. Is there anything you can do like follow up? Edited January 28, 2015 by adam2392
bme15Applicant Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) Undergrad Institution: Big Ten University Major(s): Biomedical Engineering Focus: Tissue EngineeringOverall GPA: 3.79/4.00Demographics/Background: Domestic Female GRE Scores:Q: 165 V: 161 W: 5 LOR: 2 PIs and 1 Employer Research Experience: 3 years Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 2 publications, 1conference Fellowships/Funding: Applied for NSF GRFP Research Interests: Mechanotransduction, disease modeling, cell-signaling pathways Institutions/Programs: Mayo Clinic University of Minnesota Northwestern University University of Virginia Georgia Tech Johns Hopkins University Boston University MIT Cornell University Columbia UC San Diego UC Berkeley University of Washington Edited January 28, 2015 by bme15Applicant
mc738 Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Thanks again, disasterprone. Very helpful information!
bioephd15 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Does anyone know if all of the UCB-UCSF invites have already been sent out?
disasterprone Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 I have only heard back from JHU for an interview.... I am kind of worried because I heard from a lot of other ppl that they heard back for interview. Are there waves for these kinds of things. Is there anything you can do like follow up? Pretty sure there are waves for at least some institutions. At Duke, they told us that the January interview was the first of three waves. I wouldn't email to follow up though...I've been told that it can't really do anything for you plus it's totally annoying for the program coordinators/assistants. An exception would be if you just had something major change in your application materials (for example, a submitted paper was accepted or you received one of the fellowships you applied for). In that case, I'd probably send a quick email to the department letting them know...but not in a nagging way. As a side note on the fellowships, at least some (if not all) post the recipients in a public listing. Sometimes institutions scan that list and if your name is on it, they'll know without you bringing it up. In addition to that sometimes being the difference between acceptance/rejection or getting of the waitlist in the first few weeks of April, I've even heard stories of people getting NSF and then receiving random acceptance letters from programs they didn't even apply to!
disasterprone Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 Just heard back from UW! Interview weekend scheduled for mid/late March (20-22).
shp9n0108 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Congrat! I just heard back from UMich. Visit weekend is March 12-14, but I already scheduled an admitted students visit to Rice
Dubblebubble898 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Ahhh, a bit freaking out because all my schools have sent some invite or acceptance, yet I haven't received any since 2 weeks ago.
RowRowRow Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I would like to join the conversation as well! So I applied to both JHU and UMich and I see you guys have already heard back from them for interviews. I haven't heard anything from them yet. Do you guys think that there is still a chance for an interview?
disasterprone Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 Congrat! I just heard back from UMich. Visit weekend is March 12-14, but I already scheduled an admitted students visit to Rice Congrats! Pretty sure for most places, they can bring you out at a different time that works better for you. Granted, you might not get the whole interview/recruitment experience with everybody else, but you can probably still meet with faculty that interest you.
disasterprone Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 Ahhh, a bit freaking out because all my schools have sent some invite or acceptance, yet I haven't received any since 2 weeks ago. I would like to join the conversation as well! So I applied to both JHU and UMich and I see you guys have already heard back from them for interviews. I haven't heard anything from them yet. Do you guys think that there is still a chance for an interview? Does anyone know if all of the UCB-UCSF invites have already been sent out? I can't say for sure (probably nobody trawling though this site can), but I wouldn't put too much worry into it. It's still pretty early on in the season. A grad student in my lab didn't hear anything from our current institution until early April after he got NSF. No formal interview, no rejection. Just was accepted super late.
braindump Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I can't say for sure (probably nobody trawling though this site can), but I wouldn't put too much worry into it. It's still pretty early on in the season. A grad student in my lab didn't hear anything from our current institution until early April after he got NSF. No formal interview, no rejection. Just was accepted super late. Was this at a university that typically interviews? Did they just see he got NSF and decide to accept him unconditionally?
disasterprone Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 Yep, the program definitely interviews. I asked again and apparently he got NSF and then let the program know. At that point, the program decided to accept him on the spot. Of course, this is way uncommon (but apparently not unheard of) and more of an exception than the rule. Just a point that it's not over until its over (and it's still early in the season). This story is fresh in my mind because I was asking him what to wear for my interviews on the west coast vs east and he was like "I have no idea...I never even officially interviewed here" haha
commodork Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Hello everyone, just joining the conversation here as well. How's everyone holding together?
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