2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Bioenchilada]

3 minutes ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I've released my angst to the great beyond and am trying not to think about it. 

 

Doesn't help that Stanford starts up again next week.  #firstworldproblems

I low-key don't want to go to the west coast, so I don't know how I feel about Stanford hahaha

[biosci]

1 minute ago, Bioenchilada said:

I low-key don't want to go to the west coast, so I don't know how I feel about Stanford hahaha

What's wrong with CA?

[biochemgirl67]

2 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I low-key don't want to go to the west coast, so I don't know how I feel about Stanford hahaha

I just want to see it.  I didn't like LA when I was there for the symposium but... I've heard good things about the bay area.

 

But I'm like 90% sure it won't be an issue.  My current approach with both Stanford and Rockefeller is to expect nothing and therefore not be disappointed.   (although secretly I really hope Rockefeller comes through)

[peachypie]

12 hours ago, Effloresce said:

Hey all, happy holidays.

So I have a bit of a dilemma..so far I've gotten 4 interviews for programs, and I'm waiting for a couple more. But in the meantime, I'm trying to decide if I should attend a recruitment weekend for a school that has like, only 2 PIs that I would be interested in working with..and even then I'm not super excited about it. 

Should I decline (afraid to do this because if I go, then there's a bigger overall chance of admittance somewhere) or go anyway?

Thanks in advance. 

Unless there is a conflict I would encourage you to go.  Some schools can really surprise you when you visit and things can change during/at your interviews.  If you initially had interest and have some interest at this time, I think you should  go.  If you are at the point where if offered admission you would decline already (which is hard for me to believe unless you were never that interested) then go ahead and decline your interview.

[hippyscientist]

Last night I took it upon myself to check the NRC rankings for the programs I applied to and I just realised 3/4 of my schools are top 10 and one is ranked 12th. I have given myself no wiggle room.  Eeep! And only one program has interviews (which thankfully I was offered one) so now it's a waiting game. Aghhh (okay panic over)

[Bioenchilada]

4 hours ago, biosci said:

What's wrong with CA?

There is nothing wrong with California or Stanford. Excellent university in a state that resembles my home the most;however, I just think it's too far away from my family. Visiting wil be a mess and I feel like I would be disconnecting myself in a sense. Don't get me wrong, I'd still interview, if invited, but I feel I have a predisposition to attend an east coast school with a comparable reputation. 

(Unless, of course, I fall in love with the area during the visit lol)

[biosci]

3 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

There is nothing wrong with California or Stanford. Excellent university in a state that resembles my home the most;however, I just think it's too far away from my family. Visiting wil be a mess and I feel like I would be disconnecting myself in a sense. Don't get me wrong, I'd still interview, if invited, but I feel I have a predisposition to attend an east coast school with a comparable reputation. 

(Unless, of course, I fall in love with the area during the visit lol)

  I am kinda in thee reverse situation.  All my family is on the west coast but most of my school's aren't. Thank goodness for Skype

@PersonPeople FYI this is a biology thread.  You would probably have better luck in a different forum.  Good luck!

[Effloresce]

10 hours ago, peachypie said:

Unless there is a conflict I would encourage you to go.  Some schools can really surprise you when you visit and things can change during/at your interviews.  If you initially had interest and have some interest at this time, I think you should  go.  If you are at the point where if offered admission you would decline already (which is hard for me to believe unless you were never that interested) then go ahead and decline your interview.

I decided to go, booked the flights this morning.

I'm excited. Thanks for your help!!

[HopefulPHD14]

14 hours ago, PlanB said:

HopefulPHD14, why are you not hopefulPHD16?

That was my baseball number in high school.... So... I just kinda put it on everything.  

Glad you are doing something productive on this forum.

[peachypie]

9 hours ago, PersonPeople said:

Undergrad Institution: Small "alternative" liberal arts college. Not prestigious (many people have never heard of it) but ranked decently amongst liberal arts schools. 
Major:  Self designed major. (let's just say "interdisciplinary studies")
Overall GPA: I received narrative evaluations rather than grades (although I have taken ~12 classes for grades either as transfer credits or after finishing undergrad and my GPA for those classes is probably around a 3.75?) My narrative evaluations are mostly positive, they detail my interests and academic strengths although they do mention that as an undergrad I had a habit of sometimes missing class and occasionally needing extensions on work. Overall, quite positive narratives though. 
Position in Class: n/a my school did not rank
Type of Student: Female, domestic student. Have been out of undergrad and in the professional workforce for almost 4 years. 

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 155 (60%)
V: 167 (97%)
W: 5 (93%)

Research Experience:  6 months as a research assistant for a NSF funded research project during college (conducted ethnographic interviews, analyzed and presented data, etc). Currently volunteering as a research assistant for a Learning Scientist on a project relevant to my grad interests. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Have worked as a Content Strategist/Editor for several publishing ventures. Not exactly relevant to my field of interest but it can't hurt to have solid professional experience. I have also had several jobs and internships that are relevant to education (after college I worked for 6 months as an educator for a public library, worked for a semester as an assistant K-12 teacher abroad, and I have relevant volunteer experiences and recent educational coursework)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I am close with all of my recommenders. One of them told me that he had ranked me in my letter of rec. as one of the top 3 students he has ever had in over 20 years as a philosophy professor. I expect all of the letters to be pretty glowing.

Special Bonus Points: I'm white but as a kid I attended a failing school district that was mostly poor and black. I mention this in my SOP as one of the reasons I became interested in educational equity. This might make me stand out as having a different perspective than the typical applicant? 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:  
The big wild card is my lack of GPA and my (perhaps?) hippy-dippy sounding transcript with narrative grades and classes with sometimes funny names. My school was also not big on giving out awards, they didn't have rankings or a deans list, or any kind of academic honors like that. Has anyone else applied/is applying to grad school with narrative-only grades? What do folks think—do I have a shot at getting into top schools or am I setting my sights too high? Will my application be taken seriously or thrown out in the first round?
Applying to Where:

Columbia Teachers College - Philosophy and Education (MA)
Indiana University Bloomington - History and Philosophy of Education (M.S.ED)
UC Santa Barbara- Education - Language, Culture, and Society (M.ED)

Possible also Northwestern SESP and the Sociology of Childhood and Children's Rights MA at the Institute of Education at University College London. 

This is the bio forums I think you may find a more appropriate forum for education elsewhere.  Best of luck though.

[peachypie]

6 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

There is nothing wrong with California or Stanford. Excellent university in a state that resembles my home the most;however, I just think it's too far away from my family. Visiting wil be a mess and I feel like I would be disconnecting myself in a sense. Don't get me wrong, I'd still interview, if invited, but I feel I have a predisposition to attend an east coast school with a comparable reputation. 

(Unless, of course, I fall in love with the area during the visit lol)

As much as people like to say it is all about the school it is really important to like the area you are in and to feel happy there.  Sometimes people like to have family not so far away that they can make it home for a weekend or easily for holidays.  Time is always valuable in graduate school.  Money also makes things prohibitive.  Much easier to drive home or get a regional flight than to do cross country.  Go with your gut, but you'll know.

[StrongTackleBacarySagna]

15 hours ago, PlanB said:

HopefulPHD14, why are you not hopefulPHD16?

Lol does everything this kid posts get downvoted no matter what

[NeuroMetro]

1 hour ago, StrongTackleBacarySagna said:

Lol does everything this kid posts get downvoted no matter what

Ha! Not true. I gave PlanB positive rep in another thread for a rather helpful post... Though PB and this thread definitely do not seem to mix 

[123hardasABC]

2 hours ago, StrongTackleBacarySagna said:

Lol does everything this kid posts get downvoted no matter what

Where you here during The Great GPA Debate?

[StrongTackleBacarySagna]

8 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:

Where you here during The Great GPA Debate?

No. I was too busy serving my community, studying hard, and fishing with my dad to build family memories

[Edotdl]

16 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:

Where you here during The Great GPA Debate?

Even then, it's no reason to downvote legitimate comments. Anyways, we should all just move on.

[Tanids]

Got an interview invite to the Mayo Clinic!!! YAY!!! Does anyone know how travel arrangements for flight/hotel work for them? Do we make our own plans or go through them? 

 

Sooo excited!!!

[biosci]

11 minutes ago, Tanids said:

Got an interview invite to the Mayo Clinic!!! YAY!!! Does anyone know how travel arrangements for flight/hotel work for them? Do we make our own plans or go through them? 

 

Sooo excited!!!

Congrats!

[TWitt]

I know this thread is mostly molec and cell thread so on an ecology evolution note I recently got invites to University of Washington and University of Virginia interview weekends. Huge relief as I thought these and University of Michigan were my low chance reach schools, waiting for the rest much more comfortably now. 

[lncRNAdude]

Hi all,

Long time lurker here. Would like to know if anyone has heard back from / knows anything about the following programs...

UW-Seattle Biochemistry

UCLA - Biochemistry, Structural & Molecular Biology

UCSF - BMS (although I think I read this is donezo  )

UC-Berkeley - Comparative Biochemistry

Columbia GSAS - Biological Sciences 

 

Thanks!

[nu1116]

1 hour ago, lncRNAdude said:

Hi all,

Long time lurker here. Would like to know if anyone has heard back from / knows anything about the following programs...

UW-Seattle Biochemistry

UCLA - Biochemistry, Structural & Molecular Biology

UCSF - BMS (although I think I read this is donezo  )

UC-Berkeley - Comparative Biochemistry

Columbia GSAS - Biological Sciences 

 

Thanks!

I got an invite from Columbia Biological Sciences on 12/14...

From the email it seems like they send out invites in two waves. The first wave will invite a small group of applicants who can choose between two interview dates, while the second wave will invite a larger group to their early March interview. There is hope!

[lncRNAdude]

24 minutes ago, nu1116 said:

I got an invite from Columbia Biological Sciences on 12/14...

From the email it seems like they send out invites in two waves. The first wave will invite a small group of applicants who can choose between two interview dates, while the second wave will invite a larger group to their early March interview. There is hope!

Thanks for the heads up!

[Ash04]

Hi Guys,

Do you mention in detail about the scientific discussion during the interview in the thank you email. I had an intense 90 minutes interview. I was wondering if I should say thank you for sharing your discoveries and ideas. He said he has a rotation student now and won't take any extra students if he does not get new funding. 

Thank you!!!

[biosci]

3 hours ago, lncRNAdude said:

Hi all,

Long time lurker here. Would like to know if anyone has heard back from / knows anything about the following programs...

UW-Seattle Biochemistry

UCLA - Biochemistry, Structural & Molecular Biology

UCSF - BMS (although I think I read this is donezo  )

UC-Berkeley - Comparative Biochemistry

Columbia GSAS - Biological Sciences 

 

Thanks!

This link might help.  You can search for the name of the program http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php

 

Good luck!

[Ash04]

57 minutes ago, keviv1692 said:

I guess just a thank you stating the summary of your conversation would be fine. BTW how did your interview go? and would you please share some of the questions that were asked...

Thanks and Good Luck!

Thank you! It was mostly about the research that I have done, not many general questions. He asked me what kind of project I would want to work on