2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[peachypie]

11 minutes ago, Earl said:

this school is totally unable/unwilling to accommodate alternate interview dates and not allowing partial attendance of the interview weekend.  i tried, but they are so strict and it seems like they don't care either.  they don't understand that i can't just cancel on my other confirmed interviews.  so frustrating

very sorry to hear this earl. maybe this isn't the best school for you?  I feel like a school that unable to work with a student is going to have a similar patterns in the future regarding their students.  I also hate to say this but what if they were this inflexible and then you cancelled your other program interview to accommodate them and then didn't even get in to this school?  there are no guarantees in this process and it would also suck if you bent over backwards for them and got burned in the process.  How much are you willing to risk/put on the line for this school?

[biosci]

15 minutes ago, Earl said:

this school is totally unable/unwilling to accommodate alternate interview dates and not allowing partial attendance of the interview weekend.  i tried, but they are so strict and it seems like they don't care either.  they don't understand that i can't just cancel on my other confirmed interviews.  so frustrating

I'm sorry.  That really sucks.  Maybe you should take it as a sign that they may not be willing to accommodate your future needs and therefore don't deserve you?

[YouCantBcereus]

I've been lurking this thread for a good month but I think I should probably contribute now!

Undergrad Institution: Large state Public research university (R1). Pretty strong in biology/microbiology

Major(s): Microbiology
GPA in Major: 3.65
Overall GPA: 3.80
Position in Class: Above average/near top? 
Type of Student: Domestic, White Middle Class Female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161 (80%)
V: 165 (94%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
B: N/A

Research Experience: 1.5 years undergrad research assistant in a lab using C. elegans*. Did my honors thesis project here (spent about 30-40 hrs/week over the summer doing benchwork, then doing stats and writing it up all throughout this fall). I'll be first author (of 3) on a paper in the process of being written using the data I obtained. I'll be 2nd author (of 3 or 4) on two more papers currently being written. Presented posters at 2 conferences. Assisted in writing one review article that's submitted for publishing (2nd author out of 3). 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list for several semesters, Member of my university's honors college, Graduated Fall 2015 Magna Cum Laude.

Special Bonus Points: One of my LOR writers is pretty well known in his field. I have a very very strong LOR from my undergrad research lab's PI. 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I took a genomics class and learned how to perform phylogenetic analyses and use relevant software and programs. I also learned how to use some statistics software.

Applying to Where:

UGA - Department of Microbiology

UNC Chapel Hill - BBSP

Vanderbilt - IGP in Biomedical Sciences

UVA - BIMS

Emory - GDBBS

UMich - PIBS

 

*which my computer likes to refer to as C. elegant...

Edited December 22, 2015 by YouCantBcereus

[YouCantBcereus]

I have interviews at Vanderbilt Jan 28th-30th, UGA Feb 4th-7th, and UVA on Feb 18th-20th! Got an email from Vanderbilt on the 14th, UVA on the 16th, and UGA on the 18th! I was out of town and had no internet access the 13th-20th of this month so I was crazy nervous that whole time.

I also got an email yesterday that I was rejected from UMich PIBS. However, I got an email about 4 hours later from one of the professors on the adcomm that's in the MCDB faculty. She really liked my application and suggested to switch it to that department so they can look over it. Which after looking over the program I figured there was no harm in doing it so I'll be reviewed by them now!

[peachypie]

14 minutes ago, Torbjornen said:

I can relate to the scheduling difficulties being expressed. 

I can say that for Duke Immunology I have been offered weekends of February 11-14th and February 25th-28th

And for Washington University in St louis (Immunology) I have been offered jan 21-23 and Feb 4-6.

I hope that helps.

Does anyone know about weekends for Emory Immunology or University of Washington Immunology?   

Emory IMP should be Jan 28-30 (don't quote me on it)

[bicsy]

9 minutes ago, YouCantBcereus said:

Research Experience: 1.5 years undergrad research assistant in a lab using C. elegant.

Can't tell if typo or if you just really love nematodes

[GeneWeaver]

16 minutes ago, Torbjornen said:

Does anyone know about weekends for Emory Immunology or University of Washington Immunology?   

For University of Washington Immunology I was offered the weekends of Feb 11-13 or Feb 18-20, hope that helps.

[YouCantBcereus]

3 minutes ago, bicsy said:

Can't tell if typo or if you just really love nematodes

It may or may not be the latter 

[Torbjornen]

Thanks Peachypie and GeneWeaver, that does help. Thank you!

[bicsy]

@YouCantBcereus HA I knew it. C. elegant would make a great profile picture for your gradcafe account  

[allthebaconandeggs]

18 minutes ago, peachypie said:

Emory IMP should be Jan 28-30 (don't quote me on it)

Emory IMP is actually Jan 21-23 with an optional date of Feb 16-17.  At least that's what I was offered.

[apple93]

Do you guys know if Columbia CMBS is willing to schedule a separate interview? I have conflicts on both interview dates.. I asked them but they haven't responded yet. They're my top choice so it would be really sad if I can't schedule a separate interview

[peachypie]

3 minutes ago, allthebaconandeggs said:

Emory IMP is actually Jan 21-23 with an optional date of Feb 16-17.  At least that's what I was offered.

You know it better than I do!  I was going off of last year's schedule.  Sorry for any confusion and thanks @allthebaconandeggs for clearing it up!

[biosci]

stupid question, but what does POI stand for?

[bicsy]

4 minutes ago, biosci said:

stupid question, but what does POI stand for?

Person/professor of interest. Not a stupid question at all!

[biosci]

Just now, bicsy said:

Person/professor of interest. Not a stupid question at all!

thanks.  that's what I figured, just checking

[Nero_Mustbethefeeling]

I got an official rejection from the University of Washington Genome Sciences program. 

No worries though it just means Seattle is not in my future. Ill definitely check out the city though at some point, never been there 

[gyrase]

I just called UW MCB and UCSF Tetrad. Both programs aren't done sending out interview invites yet, but UW is interviewing from 1/27-1/30 and from 2/10-2/13... and UCSF is interviewing on 1/29 and 2/25 (no date ranges given)! Hope this helps anyone who is still twiddling their thumbs

[NeuroMetro]

4 minutes ago, bicsy said:

Person/professor of interest. Not a stupid question at all!

Wait, you mean that when everyone here is talking about POI, that they aren't referring to traditional Hawaiian cuisine?!

[YouCantBcereus]

34 minutes ago, bicsy said:

@YouCantBcereus HA I knew it. C. elegant would make a great profile picture for your gradcafe account  

Done! Took me a while to figure out how to do it, It's been a good 7-8 years since I've used forums like this one. 

[RaganSmash]

Have any of you (lurkers included) been rejected from UW Immunology or know of anyone who has?

[Dro133]

19 minutes ago, Nero_Mustbethefeeling said:

I got an official rejection from the University of Washington Genome Sciences program. 

No worries though it just means Seattle is not in my future. Ill definitely check out the city though at some point, never been there 

Ditto -- and this one hurts a bit, because I've lived in the PNW for the past year and would have liked to continue living up here. But, at least they sent out an actual rejection instead of making us wonder.

You have a couple of interviews at great programs -- you'll end up somewhere great!

[jordy_protein]

15 hours ago, gyrase said:

UC Irvine CMB response today - interview weekends are Jan 21-22 and Feb 4-5! 

I got the invite as well! But both interview sessions conflict with other interviews I have

[Ferroportin]

8 minutes ago, jordy_protein said:

I got the invite as well! But both interview sessions conflict with other interviews I have

In the same boat. I emailed the program coordinator and she said that they keep a running list of students interested in Skype interviews. She'll contact everyone on the list if/when the adcom decides to allow for Skype interviews. So here's to hoping there's enough of us with scheduling conflicts! 

[goliath]

Cornell Biochemistry gave me a call today!  Has anyone else heard from them?