2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[bicsy]

Guys I got an email from Emory for a Skype chat (some sort of pre-interview procedure), but they said their recruitment visit date is on the same weekend as an interview to which I already committed.

Do I tell them now that I already have an interview that weekend, and ask if I can visit on another weekend? I'm still very much interested in the program so I'd hate to decline an interview outright. 

[emk9312]

1 minute ago, bicsy said:

Guys I got an email from Emory for a Skype chat (some sort of pre-interview procedure), but they said their recruitment visit date is on the same weekend as an interview to which I already committed.

Do I tell them now that I already have an interview that weekend, and ask if I can visit on another weekend? I'm still very much interested in the program so I'd hate to decline an interview outright. 

Do you mind me asking what program and what weekend?

[Edotdl]

3 minutes ago, bicsy said:

Guys I got an email from Emory for a Skype chat (some sort of pre-interview procedure), but they said their recruitment visit date is on the same weekend as an interview to which I already committed.

Do I tell them now that I already have an interview that weekend, and ask if I can visit on another weekend? I'm still very much interested in the program so I'd hate to decline an interview outright. 

I'd wait until they actually offer you the interview. Might seem a bit hasty to just assume you're getting an interview? Unless they implied that you are.

[bicsy]

Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology, Feb. 25-26 @emk9312

[bicsy]

3 minutes ago, Edotdl said:

I'd wait until they actually offer you the interview. Might seem a bit hasty to just assume you're getting an interview? Unless they implied that you are.

They did say 2/3 of those contacted will be invited for an interview. I just think that if I wait to tell them about the conflict, they will wonder why I strung them along even when I knew the exact date the whole time. 

[ilovelab]

1 hour ago, PlanB said:

You can dance around the grade/test scores issue all you want. The vast majority of people with a 2.9 would get rejected from U of Michigan. B/c at the end of the day we are talking about applying to graduate programs and if you could not handle undergrad classes....   

You don't know why someone has a low GPA. You're assuming their low GPA is due to the fact that they can't handle the coursework. Some people have learning disabilities/depression/shit goes wrong in their lives etc. Obviously if you have a 2.9 you have to make up for it somehow. Research/Pubs/Presentations/Posters

I was accepted to Michigan PIBS with a 3.16 GPA and average GRE scores. I had years of research and strong LOR/SOP to make up for it. Its obviously harder to get into top programs with a lower GPA but not impossible. You don't NEED excellent grades. I would assume that the GPA is skewed for larger programs with international students. Most international students have higher GPA's than domestic students. So the avg domestic student GPA might be lower than what the overall avg is. 

[S.K.P.]

(Updated)

Undergrad Institution: Russell Group University, UK
Major(s): Biological Sciences (Concentration: Cell Biology)
GPA in Major: N/A
Overall GPA: First Class Honours (predicted); 3.84 (while exchange at an US institution)
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores:
Q: 162 (83%)
V: 156 (71%)
W: 4.0 (56%) 
B: N/A

Research Experience: 

1) 2.5 months research in cell biology through a prestigious summer internship programme in Switzerland (yielded a co-author paper)

2) 2 semesters of term-time research in a molecular/cellular neuroscience lab in Hopkins

3) 3 months research in an ageing/Alzheimer's disease lab in Singapore 

4) will be working on a project (for about 7 months) related to gene regulation in the coming academic year (Master's project)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Under a national scholarship that covers my tuition fees and living expenses; the summer research fellowship mentioned above 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

Volunteered as experimental demonstrators in public science events; gave a poster presentation at the end of the aforementioned internship; wrote a scientific paper presenting the results of the term-time research I did 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

One co-authored publication

Special Bonus Points: 

(not sure whether diverse research experience counts)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 

Applying to Where:

Princeton: Molecular Biology

Stanford: Genetics

Brown: MCB (Ageing pathway)

[Microburritology]

3 hours ago, jaesango said:

Serious question: Does hitting a certain number of negative rep get you banned?

I WISH. @fuzzylogician @Eigen please? PLEASE? 

Like my eyes are bleeding from reading posts about the role of GPA in applications. We ALL know people who've gotten in with low stats, and WE ALL know people with a 4.0 rejected from all sorts. If one part of your application lies out, you can definitely state a substantiating reason for that, and make it up with other parts in your application. END OF STORY.

I dont know why we even gave so much importance to the poster who wanted to rant about their statistical skills and pdf reading abilities. If that's what they want to believe, more power to them. Maybe they can also start qualifying the presidential candidates on their chances based off of stats.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Microburritology

[fuzzylogician]

16 minutes ago, Microburritology said:

I WISH. @fuzzylogician @Eigen please? PLEASE? 

Like my eyes are bleeding from reading posts about the role of GPA in applications. We ALL know people who've gotten in with low stats, and WE ALL know people with a 4.0 rejected from all sorts. If one part of your application lies out, you can definitely state a substantiating reason for that, and make it up with other parts in your application. END OF STORY.

I dont know why we even gave so much importance to the poster who wanted to rant about their statistical skills and pdf reading abilities. If that's what they want to believe, more power to them. Maybe they can also start qualifying the presidential candidates on their chances based off of stats.

We don't ban people just because others disagree with them. Even if everyone disagrees with them. If they are trolling, that is something you can bring to our attention and we can see if we agree and if so, do something about it.

The best thing you can do is ignore the person. You do not have to reply, even if you strongly disagree with what they say. If you're not aware of it, there is a "ignore user" functionality that you might want to use. You can get it by hovering over the user's profile. Then you won't see their replies and so they can't upset you.

[Eigen]

29 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

We don't ban people just because others disagree with them. Even if everyone disagrees with them. If they are trolling, that is something you can bring to our attention and we can see if we agree and if so, do something about it.

The best thing you can do is ignore the person. You do not have to reply, even if you strongly disagree with what they say. If you're not aware of it, there is a "ignore user" functionality that you might want to use. You can get it by hovering over the user's profile. Then you won't see their replies and so they can't upset you.

This. Negative rep is there to help other people see how advice is received. Similarly, you can post disagreements. 

And we've had people with reps in the negative several hundred region before. 

Theres a a difference between banable behavior (trolling, abusive call outs) and wrong information or things people just don't like. 

[jaesango]

1 minute ago, Eigen said:

This. Negative rep is there to help other people see how advice is received. Similarly, you can post disagreements. 

And we've had people with reps in the negative several hundred region before. 

Theres a a difference between banable behavior (trolling, abusive call outs) and wrong information or things people just don't like. 

Does wishing someone get rejected from all the programs they applied to count as abusive call outs?

[Eigen]

15 minutes ago, jaesango said:

Does wishing someone get rejected from all the programs they applied to count as abusive call outs?

Not in my opinion. I see disruptive posts of that magnitude from multiple people in this thread, the difference just seems to be if they're directed at people who are general liked vs generally disliked. 

As for keeping this thread clear and free of drama.... I see drama and derailments from multiple people. One person is only as disruptive as the number of people they get to respond to them. 

[biochemgirl67]

On a different topic, does anyone know whether or not it is in bad taste to say to the program after an invite that I would love to attend but cannot front the money for a flight (assuming they do reimbursement) and is there another way to book the travel?  I will have to fly anywhere I applied and I'm poor.  This is my plan moving forward after I asked a couple days ago but I would appreciate any wisdom or opinions.

 

[biochemm]

1 minute ago, biochemgirl67 said:

On a different topic, does anyone know whether or not it is in bad taste to say to the program after an invite that I would love to attend but cannot front the money for a flight (assuming they do reimbursement) and is there another way to book the travel?  I will have to fly anywhere I applied and I'm poor.  This is my plan moving forward after I asked a couple days ago but I would appreciate any wisdom or opinions.

 

I imagine that they will work something out with you, they'll understand. Worst comes to worst throw it on a credit card and hope they have quick reimbursement?

[biochemgirl67]

1 minute ago, biochemm said:

I imagine that they will work something out with you, they'll understand. Worst comes to worst throw it on a credit card and hope they have quick reimbursement?

Yeah, I'm hoping most lean towards the understanding end.  I just didn't know if it would be considered rude.  But I mean they can't really blame me for being a lab slave *cough* researcher and not getting paid, I hope.

[BiochemVitD]

1 minute ago, biochemgirl67 said:

Yeah, I'm hoping most lean towards the understanding end.  I just didn't know if it would be considered rude.  But I mean they can't really blame me for being a lab slave *cough* researcher and not getting paid, I hope.

I can't imagine it being rude to say "help me I'm poor". But no I'm sure if you contact the program they have a way of working things out. This can't be uncommon for graduate school applicants.

[biochemgirl67]

13 minutes ago, BiochemVitD said:

I can't imagine it being rude to say "help me I'm poor". But no I'm sure if you contact the program they have a way of working things out. This can't be uncommon for graduate school applicants.

I thought not.  I just wanted others' opinions so I don't unintentionally embarrass myself.

[Eigen]

I'm going to lock this thread temporarily. 

A a lot of people seem to need time to cool off, and I need time to sort through dozens of reports at a time when I'm not on my smartphone and not using the confocal. 

Take the evening and cool off. 

[fuzzylogician]

Alright everyone, 

This is an official warning, and the only one that you will get. ANYONE who escalates the situation, and this includes in posts on the board or in PMs, will get their posting privileges (temporarily) revoked. We are not going to play the "he said, she said/but they started it" game. You have generated over half a dozen reports in the last hour, and that is going to cost us valuable hours of our time to sort out. We are running out of patience. 

This thread and the other one you started will remain locked at least until tomorrow, and we will reevaluate then. 

[aichan93]

yay it's finally open so we can talk about things that matter...

[Bioenchilada]

It's kind of sad that future applicants will have to go over like 4 pages of rants before getting to relevant things :/

Hopefully this thread doesn't die because of it lol

Edited December 13, 2015 by Bioenchilada

[biochemgirl67]

19 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

It's kind of sad that future applicants will have to go over like 4 pages of rants before getting to relevant things :/

Hopefully this thread doesn't die because of it lol

No, they deleted it!  I'm so nervous for this weeeeeeeeeek

[Extra Espresso]

59 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

Hopefully this thread doesn't die because of it lol

The thread won't die if we don't let it die!  I'm excited to hear about everyone's interview notifications! In the past, none of the programs I applied to have sent anything before January 10th or so (and most of my applications haven't even been due yet), so I'm not expecting anything yet. I just wish that thought could keep me from obsessively checking my email!

[biosci]

May just be being paranoid and reading too much into things, but does it mean anything which interview date they offer you?  If they have 2 interview dates listed on their website but they offer you the second, is that bad?

[Infinito]

9 minutes ago, biosci said:

 

 

May just be being paranoid and reading too much into things, but does it mean anything which interview date they offer you?  If they have 2 interview dates listed on their website but they offer you the second, is that bad?

Don't read too much into it.

There are many reasons for that. You could also, if you have a conflict, say you need the first weekend. 

But, it's usually either due to the following.

a. The department of interest you have (within an umbrella program) puts on you a different weekend;

b. It's set by the graduate school and not the department, so it's to make sure the whole campus isn't flooded one weekend;

c. It's based on rolling admissions (i.e. someone's app was approved first so they designated them to come the first weekend until all slots filled up, then you got bumped to the second weekend);

d. The lowest probability option is that the first weekend interviewees have a higher rank, but this isn't viable in most places because schools don't send invites unless they have too low applicants, or you have a 70% chance of being admitted because they want you. It's not cost effective to make people interview and pay for them to come if the department thinks you aren't already a viable candidate.

So breathe. Don't think about it. Just go with it.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Infinito