2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Infinito]

Back on the topic of graduate school interview attire and fashion.

I wanted to make a few points to all the fleshy bags of anxiety out there, and to use some more examples for the guys since the girls have been dominating.

1. Wear what makes you feel comfortable and clean. Clean being the operative word here. I was told by two program directors to not worry about wearing hiking/snow boots or jeans (as long as they aren't grungy or have holes in them). This emphasizes my point that as long as you look put together, it doesn't matter if you're wearing jeans. Here's a nice example (minus the glasses) of a somewhat business casual look that's office appropriate with jeans and would be fine at an interview. The basic point here is that you look good. Sneakers or a backwards cap would not look good with that ensemble. So just be mindful of the overall appearance. This goes for girls as well. 

2. If you're being judged for what you wear, the program isn't right for you. You're not applying for beauty school. Nobody is interested in your being edgy either. But would you really want to spend the next 5-7 years with grad students and professors that will judge you by your choice of attire? Obviously, this is an extreme case but it should put your anxiety into perspective. Professors and graduate students also don't know where you're coming from. For all they know, you could have been homeless up until college where you received a full ride but didn't have enough money to buy a suit. They are not expecting you to wear a suit. But at the same time, decent people will understand that you are trying to make an effort. This goes back to my first point: looking clean and comfortable will make you look great and will bolster your confidence.  

3. Nobody cares what purse or bag you carry with you. Most places will even have a closet or a place to store your bags before interviews since you don't really need pens or paper, or a C.V., etc. I'm bringing my computer to write down notes after interviews and fill out my all-encompassing spreadsheet that I'll use to rank and compare schools, but not during interviews. Either way, if you need to carry stuff, it doesn't matter what it's carried in since you can also just put it on the floor or behind your chair.

4. If you're going somewhere cold, bring the winter gear. Nobody wants to put up with people shivering from the cold walks outside, You have been warned (especially for girls that want tights/leggings/skirts in lieu of pants). You're also only going for about 2-3 days, so you don't need to bring your whole wardrobe. A few versatile accessories being recycled between days is fine. If you're like me and will only be bringing your carry-ons, I'm just going to use my peacoat in lieu of a suit jacket and just wear that on the plane anyway as I don't have extract space in my carry-on luggage. A puffy winter jacket would be fine as well. And, as I alluded to in the first point, hiking/snow boots are completely fine to wear with slacks/khakis etc.

As for what I'm packing:

Travel clothes: Jeans (Clean/neat), Winter jacket, button down, sneakers (the nice Nice 5.0s that actually go with everything).

Interview clothes: Oxfords, Khakis and Banana Republic Chinos. Button down and a cardigan or sweater. Bringing a blazer just in case for dinner night, but not expecting to use it and my winter jacket can suffice.

Grad school student party/outing: Depending on the vibe (whether it's at somebody's house or at a bar), either the jeans or Chinos again (and matching shoes). Would probably still wear a button down. 

Hope that helps!

 

 

[peachypie]

13 minutes ago, Infinito said:

Back on the topic of graduate school interview attire and fashion.

I wanted to make a few points to all the fleshy bags of anxiety out there, and to use some more examples for the guys since the girls have been dominating.

1. Wear what makes you feel comfortable and clean. Clean being the operative word here. I was told by two program directors to not worry about wearing hiking/snow boots or jeans (as long as they aren't grungy or have holes in them). This emphasizes my point that as long as you look put together, it doesn't matter if you're wearing jeans. Here's a nice example (minus the glasses) of a somewhat business casual look that's office appropriate with jeans and would be fine at an interview. The basic point here is that you look good. Sneakers or a backwards cap would not look good with that ensemble. So just be mindful of the overall appearance. This goes for girls as well. 

2. If you're being judged for what you wear, the program isn't right for you. You're not applying for beauty school. Nobody is interested in your being edgy either. But would you really want to spend the next 5-7 years with grad students and professors that will judge you by your choice of attire? Obviously, this is an extreme case but it should put your anxiety into perspective. Professors and graduate students also don't know where you're coming from. For all they know, you could have been homeless up until college where you received a full ride but didn't have enough money to buy a suit. They are not expecting you to wear a suit. But at the same time, decent people will understand that you are trying to make an effort. This goes back to my first point: looking clean and comfortable will make you look great and will bolster your confidence.  

3. Nobody cares what purse or bag you carry with you. Most places will even have a closet or a place to store your bags before interviews since you don't really need pens or paper, or a C.V., etc. I'm bringing my computer to write down notes after interviews and fill out my all-encompassing spreadsheet that I'll use to rank and compare schools, but not during interviews. Either way, if you need to carry stuff, it doesn't matter what it's carried in since you can also just put it on the floor or behind your chair.

4. If you're going somewhere cold, bring the winter gear. Nobody wants to put up with people shivering from the cold walks outside, You have been warned (especially for girls that want tights/leggings/skirts in lieu of pants). You're also only going for about 2-3 days, so you don't need to bring your whole wardrobe. A few versatile accessories being recycled between days is fine. If you're like me and will only be bringing your carry-ons, I'm just going to use my peacoat in lieu of a suit jacket and just wear that on the plane anyway as I don't have extract space in my carry-on luggage. A puffy winter jacket would be fine as well. And, as I alluded to in the first point, hiking/snow boots are completely fine to wear with slacks/khakis etc.

As for what I'm packing:

Travel clothes: Jeans (Clean/neat), Winter jacket, button down, sneakers (the nice Nice 5.0s that actually go with everything).

Interview clothes: Oxfords, Khakis and Banana Republic Chinos. Button down and a cardigan or sweater. Bringing a blazer just in case for dinner night, but not expecting to use it and my winter jacket can suffice.

Grad school student party/outing: Depending on the vibe (whether it's at somebody's house or at a bar), either the jeans or Chinos again (and matching shoes). Would probably still wear a button down. 

Hope that helps!

 

 

Disclaimer: this is my experience from interviewing and wanted to touch on these points.

1.  Jeans were not considered OK for any of my interviews and no one wear them.  At this point I say: wear at your own risk.  The cost of a nice pair of jeans and a nice pair of regular standard pants is not going to be different if not at times less expensive than the jeans.  No reason you can't for one day not wear jeans. 

2.  The truth is no one is really judging you for your outfit but more about how you act when you are trying to put your best foot forward.  Believe it or not graduate schools take into account more than your scientific persona into question as an applicant.  I have seen very qualified people get rejected from programs due to their personality and how they carry themselves.  Don't seem confident?  Can't look people in the eye when you talk?  Showed up wearing a t-shirt and jeans?  These are all things that may not get you on the reject side but as things add up could make their overall impression of you as less than stellar.  Why risk it?  Judging by this comment if you were to say that its not about what you wear then I challenge you to wear a tshirt with obscenties on it and see if you get admitted or maybe just like a bud light promo shirt?  think that if a grad school rejects you for that its because "its not a school you want to go to anyway" or do you think it is maybe because you look unprofessional?  As philosophically as you want to believe its not about what you are wearing it does have an impact when they are putting together a profile of who you are, often what you wear conveys what you are as a person (sorry thats the real world way).

3.  No one does care what your bag/purse is unless it has something obscene on it.  They however do not have a closet or place for you to stash your stuff.  None of my interviews did.  I had to carry stuff with me, just like I had to carry my coat and all that stuff with me.  Why?  Well because you all move around and you may start the morning having a breakfast and welcome and then leave for some interviews and then come back for a lunch in a totally different area.  No one ever left anything behind because you didn't have a central place to go.  Only bring with you what you are going to carry around.  However you will be able to set these items down in the offices of PIs and on chairs at dinners/lunches.  No one is going to be babysitting your stuff though.  Many schools will provide you with a nice little tote/folder with your important materials upon check-in or at the very start of the visit.  Many people just used that for the remainder of their trip or combined it with their own.  yeah its true, you get swag from your interviews.  I got pens, totes, water bottles, candy, fruit, granola bars, usbs, notepads, leather portfolios etc. 

[Ash04]

Hello People,

I have an interview with a University on 21st January. They have sent me the agenda and told me to take a survey for room preference and POI but have not mentioned anything about the flight tickets. What is a polite way to ask? Its going to be too expensive fr me to book  since the date was confirmed only yesterday. (Boston to Tucon). Please help!!!

[Infinito]

28 minutes ago, peachypie said:

 

 

Disclaimer: this is my experience from interviewing and wanted to touch on these points.

1.  Jeans were not considered OK for any of my interviews and no one wear them.  At this point I say: wear at your own risk.  The cost of a nice pair of jeans and a nice pair of regular standard pants is not going to be different if not at times less expensive than the jeans.  No reason you can't for one day not wear jeans. 

2.  The truth is no one is really judging you for your outfit but more about how you act when you are trying to put your best foot forward.  Believe it or not graduate schools take into account more than your scientific persona into question as an applicant.  I have seen very qualified people get rejected from programs due to their personality and how they carry themselves.  Don't seem confident?  Can't look people in the eye when you talk?  Showed up wearing a t-shirt and jeans?  These are all things that may not get you on the reject side but as things add up could make their overall impression of you as less than stellar.  Why risk it?  Judging by this comment if you were to say that its not about what you wear then I challenge you to wear a tshirt with obscenties on it and see if you get admitted or maybe just like a bud light promo shirt?  think that if a grad school rejects you for that its because "its not a school you want to go to anyway" or do you think it is maybe because you look unprofessional?  As philosophically as you want to believe its not about what you are wearing it does have an impact when they are putting together a profile of who you are, often what you wear conveys what you are as a person (sorry thats the real world way).

3.  No one does care what your bag/purse is unless it has something obscene on it.  They however do not have a closet or place for you to stash your stuff.  None of my interviews did.  I had to carry stuff with me, just like I had to carry my coat and all that stuff with me.  Why?  Well because you all move around and you may start the morning having a breakfast and welcome and then leave for some interviews and then come back for a lunch in a totally different area.  No one ever left anything behind because you didn't have a central place to go.  Only bring with you what you are going to carry around.  However you will be able to set these items down in the offices of PIs and on chairs at dinners/lunches.  No one is going to be babysitting your stuff though.  Many schools will provide you with a nice little tote/folder with your important materials upon check-in or at the very start of the visit.  Many people just used that for the remainder of their trip or combined it with their own.  yeah its true, you get swag from your interviews.  I got pens, totes, water bottles, candy, fruit, granola bars, usbs, notepads, leather portfolios etc. 

Of course I appreciate your comments from your experience. I'll re-emphasize my points which I think were missed.

1. I don't know how you get a "are not considered OK" vibe unless explicitly told so. I think this more has to do with people just not wanting to do it anyway. My point was simply if you don't have a pair of suit pants or khakis, etc, don't kill yourself over it. If you can afford it (try a thrift store if your budget is tight), go ahead and get fancier pants and relieve yourself of worries. There is no reason why you can't bring a pair of jeans for the non-interview days. And if that's all you have, and especially it's cold and snowing outside, a nice pair of jeans (according to my Northeast school program admins) will be fine. But, obviously, if you can't wear them well (with a nice pair of shoes and shirt, maybe sweater), or you don't feel comfortable doing so, then don't bother.

2. I'm not against your point but I think you misunderstood mine. As I emphasized in point 1, look clean. So obviously no profanity, stupid t-shirts with tribal tattoos. I'm not here to baby people, but people are asking really ridiculous questions. It's as if they didn't get 4 years of college to at least practice and learn what presentable attire looks like. My point about not being judged for what you wear is at the level of having passed a decent level of attire for an interview. In other words, if you're looking clean and presentable, and someone is looking down on you for not having heels or a full suit, etc., it's not the place you wanna go. I'm not talking about people feeling entitled while wearing ripped jeans, dirty sneakers, and a tank top. It's not very hard to look professional and clean, but clearly people's anxiety over this suggests otherwise. 

3. Agreed about the obscenity, which, like point 2, I had implied. Two of my schools (that gave us the itinerary and rooms already) stated that we can leave our things in the department office during interviews since interviews will all be in one spot (not moving outside the building). Even if you are moving, don't worry about which tote or backpack you will bring. And, as you said, you might just get swag to carry it all in anyway. 

13 minutes ago, Ash04 said:

 

 

Hello People,

I have an interview with a University on 21st January. They have sent me the agenda and told me to take a survey for room preference and POI but have not mentioned anything about the flight tickets. What is a polite way to ask? Its going to be too expensive fr me to book  since the date was confirmed only yesterday. (Boston to Tucon). Please help!!!

What's the problem here? There isn't one. Just ask. It's next week. If they're reimbursing you or they have a cap on how much they will pay, they will want to get it to you ASAP. They should have given you an idea about whether they expect you to buy it, or if they will coordinate it. Either way, just e-mail them asking about flight info (like if it had gone out or if you're supposed to buy it).

Edited January 13, 2016 by Infinito

[123hardasABC]

Well. My weather app says it's supposed to snow in Saint Louis next Friday. They can't judge me for wearing booties to my interview now!

[peachypie]

9 minutes ago, Ash04 said:

Hello People,

I have an interview with a University on 21st January. They have sent me the agenda and told me to take a survey for room preference and POI but have not mentioned anything about the flight tickets. What is a polite way to ask? Its going to be too expensive fr me to book  since the date was confirmed only yesterday. (Boston to Tucon). Please help!!!

"I look forward to visiting your school/program in January.  I was wondering how travel will be arranged for the visit prior to completing my survey."  or something like that.

The options for most places are: they book for you and you give them your information and they confirm before booking that these times/places work.  OR that you book on your own and they reimburse you, in which case you may want to verify if there is a reimbursement limit since it is a big flight and it may exceed.  I had only one program that I bought the ticket and then got reimbursed so before I purchased my ticket I verified if the prices I was seeing with an average dollar amount were ok.  I have heard of some places capping it at 500 for airfare but that will be entirely dependent on the program. 

If they aren't paying for your travel at all I would strongly suggest debating if this program is of that much interest to you.  It also doesn't sound good if they don't have the money to pay for applicants...could raise some eyebrows for potential applicants as to the health of the program and funding.

[Ash04]

@peachypie @Infinito Thank you guys!

[biosci]

2 hours ago, charles14 said:

Is Rockefeller today? Seems like it from past years' dates...

Yes

[biochemgirl67]

I JUST GOT AN INVITE TO ROCKEFELLER

[ballwera]

For interviews I wore slacks, shirt, tie and sweater. For everything else I wore quarterzips and either jeans or chinos.

[cephnerd]

17 hours ago, ctenophora said:

Weird.  Did you apply, too?  Do you think this means we should be anticipating later notifications?

I did apply, and I was invited to interview this morning (eep!). The PI with whom I have been communicating said that they extended the deadline, but hadn't received many additional applications after the original Dec. 1 deadline. Who knows? Recruitment events are the weekends of February 6th and 19th. Good luck!

[cephnerd]

Has anybody been invited to a recruitment weekend that does not include interviews? I've been invited to attend a grad student symposium/recruitment event at UCSB -- other activities include banquet attendance, lab tours and tide-pooling, but no formal interviews. Thoughts?

[aichan93]

29 minutes ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I JUST GOT AN INVITE TO ROCKEFELLER

Congrats!

[biochemgirl67]

2 minutes ago, aichan93 said:

Congrats!

I'm so excited!  I'm pretty sure their FedEx box with all the info in it will show up when I'm in Nashville, but AAAAAAH

[aichan93]

I haven't heard back yet. But it seems they send out rejections after acceptances. Oh wells XD

[Gram Positive]

1 hour ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I JUST GOT AN INVITE TO ROCKEFELLER

CONGRATS!! Me too

[uabiochem]

On 1/9/2016 at 1:37 PM, Caffeine Junky said:

Is anyone waiting on University of Miami PIBS?

I got an invitation for a Skype interview on the 8th, and had the interview on the 12th.

[123hardasABC]

This is kinda off-topic, but can anyone share their past interviewing experiences? Seeing as how I likely only got one shot at it this application cycle, I'm a bit nervous.  

[ms_green_genes]

1 hour ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I JUST GOT AN INVITE TO ROCKEFELLER

 

8 minutes ago, Gram Positive said:

CONGRATS!! Me too

Congratulations to both of you!

[Infinito]

8 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:

 

This is kinda off-topic, but can anyone share their past interviewing experiences? Seeing as how I likely only got one shot at it this application cycle, I'm a bit nervous.  

Make a new topic / search the forum. There are a few topics already. Also http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=9809&bhcp=1

14 minutes ago, Gram Positive said:

CONGRATS!! Me too

Damn, looks like you got all your interview acceptances. Nice!

53 minutes ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I'm so excited!  I'm pretty sure their FedEx box with all the info in it will show up when I'm in Nashville, but AAAAAAH

Grats. And they use snail mail?

I'm just waiting from my rejection letter from them. *Yawn*

Edited January 13, 2016 by Infinito

[aichan93]

7 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:

This is kinda off-topic, but can anyone share their past interviewing experiences? Seeing as how I likely only got one shot at it this application cycle, I'm a bit nervous.  

I've only been to one at Mt Sinai. But the format is standard for faculty interviews - usually one to one, sometimes a few students to one prof. You meet with the profs you are interested in back to back and talk to them. Each prof has a different style, some like to talk about their research, some will ask you about your research, why you want come to the school, where else you applied, your career goals. There are also social events to interact with graduate students, alumni etc. It's as much about you getting to know the school as them getting to know you. During the whole process, you are kinda being observed. Well, not in a big brother 1984 sorta way, but just don't do something stupid like get completely drunk, say something inappropriate etc. 

[biochemgirl67]

23 minutes ago, Gram Positive said:

CONGRATS!! Me too

AHHHHHH I can't wait to see you there!  Hopefully they'll get back quickly with the weekend assignments so I can book the flights.

[biochemgirl67]

11 minutes ago, Infinito said:

Make a new topic / search the forum. There are a few topics already. Also http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=9809&bhcp=1

Damn, looks like you got all your interview acceptances. Nice!

Grats. And they use snail mail?

I'm just waiting from my rejection letter from them. *Yawn*

So I got an email letting me know with a questionnaire I'm currently working on.  They are sending a FedEx box with more details "in a few days."  Yeah, this kind of rounds out all my programs.  And hey, a 50% interview rate isn't bad.

[daniolabtest]

1 hour ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I JUST GOT AN INVITE TO ROCKEFELLER

 

30 minutes ago, Gram Positive said:

CONGRATS!! Me too

Me three!!! 
What research areas are you guys looking at?

[Gram Positive]

1 minute ago, daniolabtest said:

 

Me three!!! 
What research areas are you guys looking at?

Microbiology (especially bacteriology). How about you? Developmental biology, I presume?