2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Ash04]

10 minutes ago, bornea said:

Ash04 why is Tufts greyed out in your interview list?

no reason, it was a default color, changed it to black. 

[123hardasABC]

1 hour ago, Ash04 said:

Hi People,

Could anyone give advice on emailing POI after the interview, please?

 

Thanks!!!

Keep it short and cordial. No one has time to read a lengthy email about you gushing over the school. My template was along the lines of "Thank you for taking the time to interview me at [X school]. It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to discuss [insert: general school stuff, specific research stuff, etc.]."

[Earl]

The most consistent/frequent question I had during interviews was:

What other schools are you interviewing at?  

Every faculty asked this!!  

 

[AngryRobot!]

10 hours ago, 123hardasABC said:

Keep it short and cordial. No one has time to read a lengthy email about you gushing over the school. My template was along the lines of "Thank you for taking the time to interview me at [X school]. It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to discuss [insert: general school stuff, specific research stuff, etc.]."

Very good suggestion. So what would be a proper title?

[123hardasABC]

2 hours ago, Earl said:

The most consistent/frequent question I had during interviews was:

What other schools are you interviewing at?  

Every faculty asked this!!  

Yeah. I think they want to gauge what their chances are of recruiting you (i.e. if you're applying to more than one school in the area, you're more likely to live (semi) permanently there; if you're applying to schools outside of their ranking, they'll figure they're just the safety school; etc.) and what other schools they're competing against for cheap research slave labor....ahem, I mean graduate students.

 

2 hours ago, AngryRobot! said:

Very good suggestion. So what would be a proper title?

My titles were just "Thank you". I'm not very creative. 

[AngryRobot!]

2 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:

Yeah. I think they want to gauge what their chances are of recruiting you (i.e. if you're applying to more than one school in the area, you're more likely to live (semi) permanently there; if you're applying to schools outside of their ranking, they'll figure they're just the safety school; etc.) and what other schools they're competing against for cheap research slave labor....ahem, I mean graduate students.

 

My titles were just "Thank you". I'm not very creative. 

How about "Thank You Note"?

[Ash04]

15 hours ago, 123hardasABC said:

Keep it short and cordial. No one has time to read a lengthy email about you gushing over the school. My template was along the lines of "Thank you for taking the time to interview me at [X school]. It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to discuss [insert: general school stuff, specific research stuff, etc.]."

thanks a lot!! @HAR

[Effloresce]

And now my waiting is complete...Vandy interview invite this morning for 03/04! 

[lord_dracarys]

Has anybody heard from any of the following at all? They're the only ones I have yet to hear anything back from.

-Duke (MGM)

-University of Chicago (BSD)

-NYU Sackler

[Infinito]

7 hours ago, Earl said:

 

 

The most consistent/frequent question I had during interviews was:

What other schools are you interviewing at?  

Every faculty asked this!!  

 

Had my first interview and this wasn't asked specifically for me by my interviewing PIs. They all had access to my app (I saw on their computer screens they had the information). They concentrated on recruiting and selling the program to me. Only one director asked me the question, in a way that sounded like "would you really come here?" The obvious answer is a resounding Yes, the program fits me and all, but I'm keeping an open mind as I still have more places at which to interview. From my understanding, the reason they ask this is because they can assume based on your stats that you most likely will interview elsewhere as well.

During dinner and other talks, I would usually answer the question by being more geographical or program specific than naming actual schools. That is, until one chill grad student lovingly told me over drinks to be real so I named them all, and she actually gave me great inside into how her process of ultimately picking the school went down - it was quite helpful.

Either way, I don't think one needs to be nervous about this.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Infinito

[Agent Orange]

1 hour ago, lord_dracarys said:

Has anybody heard from any of the following at all? They're the only ones I have yet to hear anything back from.

-Duke (MGM)

-University of Chicago (BSD)

-NYU Sackler

Received interview invites from DukeMGM 12/11 and Uchicago 12/18

[Yav Friendly]

Any news of joint Computational Biology program CMU-Pitts?

[daniolabtest]

22 hours ago, daniolabtest said:

Shiiit, just checked my alternate email and found out I had an interview invite waiting for 9 days. Ended up responding just now, I have interview conflicts so may not get to go, but if I do does anyone know if this would be detrimental to the decision?

Got it worked out, and I'll be visiting!
If this happens to anyone else, still reply! 

[123hardasABC]

Official email from WashU saying that I'm waitlisted. If one of you suckers aren't gonna take that offer, GIMME!

[adiJ]

5 minutes ago, 123hardasABC said:

Official email from WashU saying that I'm waitlisted. If one of you suckers aren't gonna take that offer, GIMME!

You got a waitlist without the interview?

[123hardasABC]

1 minute ago, adiJ said:

You got a waitlist without the interview?

A preliminary waitlist. If an invite declines his/her offer, then that offer is passed down to one of us poor unfortunate souls. 

[h8thewinter]

Hi all,

I thought all interviews were notified by email and was out of the country from dec. 7 to jan. 17... I applied to bme or bioE Phds for duke, mit, jhu, upenn, gtech, columbia, caltech, harvard bbs, wustl and stanford. Any of you guys know if you guys received calls for interviews for these programs? I would really appreciate your help.

[Extra Espresso]

I can confirm that MIT and JHU sent email notifications about interviews in the last two weeks. Stanford has been calling people over the last four days for interviews, but they did not start until Friday. UPenn appears to have already sent out their invites. Columbia and Harvard SEAS have not begun to send to invites/acceptances as far as I can tell. The rest aren't programs I applied for, so I am not sure. We have a thread if you want to join us!

 

[ms_green_genes]

11 hours ago, Infinito said:

During dinner and other talks, I would usually answer the question by being more geographical or program specific than naming actual schools. That is, until one chill grad student lovingly told me over drinks to be real so I named them all, and she actually gave me great inside into how her process of ultimately picking the school went down - it was quite helpful.

Any chance you can summarize what this grad student shared with you about her process for choosing which offer to accept?

[zamtheuniman]

Just contacted Columbia Pharmacology-- seems like all their interviews were already given out.

[biochemgirl67]

10 hours ago, ms_green_genes said:

Any chance you can summarize what this grad student shared with you about her process for choosing which offer to accept?

I don't know about Infinito, but the grad students at Vandy were very open and helpful so I have some knowledge I accrued about how to decide.

Obviously you look at the science.  Core facilities, funding, type of research.  Then the grad students said that for them, the attitude of the program was important.  Did the professors, grad students, and admin seem excited to talk to you?  Did they believe in the program?  And finally, they all told me that it becomes obvious after you interview everywhere.  That you have to see yourself in the community and the university.  One girl said that interviewing students seem confused because they have like 7 - 10 interviews, but that if you are honest with yourself about the type of person you are, the right offer will feel like a fit.  

[Microburritology]

On 1/25/2016 at 2:49 PM, adiJ said:

You got a waitlist without the interview?

 

On 1/25/2016 at 2:53 PM, 123hardasABC said:

A preliminary waitlist. If an invite declines his/her offer, then that offer is passed down to one of us poor unfortunate souls. 

Lol that's exactly what I was thinking. I didnt even know there was an interview waitlist  @123hardasABC I think you should be okay.

[Crucial BBQ]

1 hour ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I don't know about Infinito, but the grad students at Vandy were very open and helpful so I have some knowledge I accrued about how to decide.

Obviously you look at the science.  Core facilities, funding, type of research.  Then the grad students said that for them, the attitude of the program was important.  Did the professors, grad students, and admin seem excited to talk to you?  Did they believe in the program?  And finally, they all told me that it becomes obvious after you interview everywhere.  That you have to see yourself in the community and the university.  One girl said that interviewing students seem confused because they have like 7 - 10 interviews, but that if you are honest with yourself about the type of person you are, the right offer will feel like a fit.  

Wow.  Last time I checked this thread we at like page 13.  I was wondering when it would explode.  

 

The above is pretty much correct.  If you are honest with yourself you will be drawn to that one program over and over again.  

[Infinito]

1 hour ago, biochemgirl67 said:

 

I don't know about Infinito, but the grad students at Vandy were very open and helpful so I have some knowledge I accrued about how to decide.

Obviously you look at the science.  Core facilities, funding, type of research.  Then the grad students said that for them, the attitude of the program was important.  Did the professors, grad students, and admin seem excited to talk to you?  Did they believe in the program?  And finally, they all told me that it becomes obvious after you interview everywhere.  That you have to see yourself in the community and the university.  One girl said that interviewing students seem confused because they have like 7 - 10 interviews, but that if you are honest with yourself about the type of person you are, the right offer will feel like a fit.  

 

12 hours ago, ms_green_genes said:

Any chance you can summarize what this grad student shared with you about her process for choosing which offer to accept?

What @biochemgirl67 said was pretty much the basic answer, and obviously it's really hard to get a sense for all the schools until you see them all. That being said, gut reactions are really important. My grad interview buddy stressed the "fit" aspect, how just because one program might be higher ranked doesn't mean it's better for you, for what you want to do, and for your mental health for the next 5-6 years. That allowed her to cut some choices off her list after interviewing, leaving her to two gut-wrenching decisions. She then literally had to flip a coin at that point, and she's really happy to be where she is now.

[Neuro PolarBear]

13 minutes ago, Infinito said:

 

What @biochemgirl67 said was pretty much the basic answer, and obviously it's really hard to get a sense for all the schools until you see them all. That being said, gut reactions are really important. My grad interview buddy stressed the "fit" aspect, how just because one program might be higher ranked doesn't mean it's better for you, for what you want to do, and for your mental health for the next 5-6 years. That allowed her to cut some choices off her list after interviewing, leaving her to two gut-wrenching decisions. She then literally had to flip a coin at that point, and she's really happy to be where she is now.

I've heard that flipping a coin can actually be quite helpful for making decisions like that. If you flip a coin and afterwards find yourself happy/disappointed with how it lands, then you know where to go!