2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Gram Positive]

Just got my first acceptance to the Case BSTP!! These interviews are indeed less stressful than I expected - more discussion about science than grilling. Best of luck to everyone!

[laxgoal100]

First acceptance!!! UW biochemistry! Exhale....

[keviv1692]

After being rejected from WUSTL (MCB) and Penn State Hershey (BMS), and radio silence from other universities that I applied to, I literally had no hopes of making it this fall..But..... Just got an skype interview invite for UIUC (MCB)!!!!!   Feels great.. Pray for me and wish me luck.

To others who have got accepted..Congrats guys!

[ForScience!]

Decided to decline Boston University and Mayo Graduate School's interview offers. I had accepted the offer before I had heard back from Weill Cornell, but thankfully they didn't buy any plane tickets for me yet. At least this way it's a win-win - I save their money and my time, and there might be a small chance that they will extend interview invite to someone else instead.

[abbythespoon]

16 minutes ago, keviv1692 said:

After being rejected from WUSTL (MCB) and Penn State Hershey (BMS), and radio silence from other universities that I applied to, I literally had no hopes of making it this fall..But..... Just got an skype interview invite for UIUC (MCB)!!!!!   Feels great.. Pray for me and wish me luck.

To others who have got accepted..Congrats guys!

Im at UIUC right now for my interview with the ecology,  evolution,  and conservation biology program and it's really great!

[Caffeine Junky]

Just got an interview for USF Cancer Bio! 

[partydon'tstarttillIwalkin]

35 minutes ago, Caffeine Junky said:

Just got an interview for USF Cancer Bio! 

Congrats!!!

Edited February 2, 2016 by partydon'tstarttillIwalkin
misread

[michi1987]

1 hour ago, Caffeine Junky said:

Just got an interview for USF Cancer Bio! 

Me too! For the 11th-12th? If so, see you there!

[bornea]

So glad they gave it to you after that screw up earlier. Congratulations! The people here are awesome and the grad students are some of the nicest people I know. 

[Infinito]

Just received my first official acceptance.
Yay for knowing that I'll be going to graduate school  

[Infinito]

2 hours ago, keviv1692 said:

 

Okay so kindly help on the matter:- I have been offered a 20 min Skype interview with the faculty and I was required to choose 3-5 with whom I'd be interested in doing a rotation with. I submitted by preferences. My questions are:- 

1)Are they going to grill me with some technical stuff, or is it just like an interview for domestic students where they are trying to sell the program to you?

2)Also 20 mins is not much time, since introduction, prev research exp, Why PhD, Why UIUC (MCB), Interests, Future Prospects is going to take 10 mins or so.. So apart from these typical questions what more should I expect.

3)If any prev student who has interviewed at UIUC or anyone currently interviewing there or any student interviewed on Skype could give me their 2 dollars on the above matter, I'd be more than grateful to you.....Since these are the most important 20 mins of my life.

1. Depends on the interviewer, but in 20 minutes they most likely just want to see your background and still try to answer your questions about the program.

2. Even 30 minutes is not long enough. The conversation will probably be organic. Ask about the professor, why they like where they are, collaborations, etc. You might not even get to it, honestly. 

[HopefulPHD14]

I finally got my first rejection.  Is it weird that I am a little bit glad?  Obviously I am not glad to be rejected, I am just glad to know.  It lets me focus on my other programs and interviews. 

Anyways I got my rejection from SCRIPPS La Jolla via email this morning.

[levodopa]

54 minutes ago, Infinito said:

Just received my first official acceptance.
Yay for knowing that I'll be going to graduate school  

Congrats!

[Farafeelo]

after getting rejected everywhere last year, i applied again this year and got accepted into my dream school. So i just wanna say don't lose hope if u didn't get in this year.  figure out the weaknesses in your application and work on them and try again  

[C5aC5b]

2 hours ago, Infinito said:

1. Depends on the interviewer, but in 20 minutes they most likely just want to see your background and still try to answer your questions about the program.

2. Even 30 minutes is not long enough. The conversation will probably be organic. Ask about the professor, why they like where they are, collaborations, etc. You might not even get to it, honestly. 

Very true!  Here are my experiences:

First Interview Weekend (Top 20 Program):

I read 2-4 papers for each of the 5 interviewers.  I   We barely touched on current science, let alone their work. We spent the majority of the 30min talking about my past research (very general except for 1-2 detailed questions) and getting horribly sidetracked.  I ended up talking with one interviewer about the morality and game theory (totally not either of our fields) but a mutual interest.  Overall, I was not asked a single expected question like, "why a PhD?" or "why University of XXX?"  I was accepted about a week later 

Second Interview Weekend (Top 10 Program):

My second interview experience was very similar, i.e. I read 2-4 papers per interviewer.  However, this school only gave you the faculty list when you arrived on campus.  I only got 2/8 chosen faculty so reading the majority of those papers was a waste of time.  A few more pointed questions about my current research but nothing difficult or unfair.  I was asked a few common interview questions like: "Why a PhD?" "Why immunology" "How do you feel about industry or academia?"  Please note that all of these questions were asked by one interviewer.  4/5 did not ask me any related questions.  Again, one interview was spent talking about history & linguistics for 90% of the 30min.  Acceptance pending for this school.

Third Interview Weekend (Top 15 Program):

I'm interviewing again on Friday and will prepare as usual just in case this school is different.  One of the interviewers is a friend of and colleague in the same field as my PI.  That means he will either 1) question me intensely to see if I know my stuff or 2) assume I know my field and spend the 30min talking about baseball or restaurants   I'm still going to read the papers as usual but not as in-depth as my first time.  

Based on my experiences so far I recommend the following:

1 - Know a little about each interviewer if you are given the list in advance.  Don't go crazy with this as it rarely comes up.

2 - Read 1-2 papers and/or abstracts just in case questions arise, which is highly doubtful in my experience.  If not, you can possibly toss out a reference during your discussion for brownie points.

3 - Know the answers to common interview questions just in case you are asked.  You can find good questions by searching "biomedical grad school interview questions" etc. or asking your PIs/professors.  

4 - If you don't know an answer, don't bluff or panic!  Just say that you aren't sure, resort to 1st principles and come up with an answer or quenswer (a quenswer is a word I thought I just invented but I'm wrong).  Quenswers are gold in all aspects of life.  Showing you can do that under pressure will go a long way.  This happened when a very intimidating (on paper he was really warm/friendly in person) PI asked me a question about one of my current projects.  I didn't know the answer because it's not something I work on directly (our core facility does this aspect).  Take a 3-5 second pause and think through the unknown out loud.  Even if you are wrong, coming up with a reasonable answer under pressure is a good sign.  I was also asked if I had any experience with a certain technique.  I don't but spoke about how I'm familiar with it in theory and can learn it quickly in my current position by working with a post-doc for a day or two.  It's OK to be wrong/ignorant if you are proactive and intelligent in your answer.  There is some recent psychology work out there discussing the importance of vulnerability during 1st impressions/interviews.  Regardless of your views on psychology studies, I tend to agree with this idea and think showing some vulnerability is a good thing.

5 - Adjust to the interview based on your gut instinct.  For example, the interview where I discussed history for 90% of the time was awesome but I regretted not learning more about the PI.  He is very famous for some pioneering work but I wasn't able to ask any of the questions I had prepared for him.  However, it didn't feel natural to try and shift the conversation back to science so I just went with it.  I asked my current PIs if it's "bad" to not talk about science during an interview.  They both said it was a good sign.  According to their viewpoints, this shows that the PI/school is not worried about vetting you further and just want to focus on learning more about you.  I'm still worried that my lack of scientific discourse could hurt me but I think this is unfounded.  Who knows?  Maybe these PIs are happier discussing irrelevant topics?  Who wants to spend an entire day fielding the same questions from fawning applicants?  I know I certainly wouldn't enjoy answering the same stock questions 5x/day for multiple interview weekends 

6 - If you are really nervous etc. I find it helps to remember this: you are interviewing them as well.  During the interview, pretend that you are the PI and the interviewer is the applicant.  Trust me that it helps.

7 -  Relax!  This isn't an oral exam (so far let's hope it stays that way for me ha ha ha!).  Be yourself and believe in the stars.

8 - HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM/SCHOOL IF ASKED!!!  This is very important to show you care and are inquisitive.  I tend to ask challenging questions like "what is the biggest weakness of the program?"  or "what do you like most and least about the research environment here?"  I made up another question that I'll try out on Friday.  

Edited February 2, 2016 by C5aC5b

[Infinito]

2 hours ago, keviv1692 said:

 

 

@Infinito Thanks for your input. I just hope whatever it is, at the end of the day I go through. And congrats on your acceptance. The person who started this thread is going to grad school. Yay!

Thank you, thank you. I live for all of you <3

1 hour ago, levodopa said:

Congrats!

Many thanks, bud

[ForScience!]

48 minutes ago, Farafeelo said:

after getting rejected everywhere last year, i applied again this year and got accepted into my dream school. So i just wanna say don't lose hope if u didn't get in this year.  figure out the weaknesses in your application and work on them and try again  

I am in the same boat as you. Applied to 14 schools last year, got a single interview, which resulted in a waitlist that I never made off of.

Decided to work as a research for a year, and things have changed drastically in just one year! I have interviews at almost all of my top choices, and I got an acceptance in hand already. So note to others - don't lose hope  If things don't work out for you this year, just try to fix your shortcomings, and I am sure you will make it next year!

[mrpoopybutthole]

5 hours ago, keviv1692 said:

Okay so kindly help on the matter:- I have been offered a 20 min Skype interview with the faculty and I was required to choose 3-5 with whom I'd be interested in doing a rotation with. I submitted by preferences. My questions are:- 

1)Are they going to grill me with some technical stuff, or is it just like an interview for domestic students where they are trying to sell the program to you?

2)Also 20 mins is not much time, since introduction, prev research exp, Why PhD, Why UIUC (MCB), Interests, Future Prospects is going to take 10 mins or so.. So apart from these typical questions what more should I expect.

3)If any prev student who has interviewed at UIUC or anyone currently interviewing there or any student interviewed on Skype could give me their 2 dollars on the above matter, I'd be more than grateful to you.....Since these are the most important 20 mins of my life.

Definitely know your research but I doubt you'll get asked many super technical details. You only have 20 minutes and I think they'd rather use that time to get to know you as a person rather than quiz you on some obscure techniques. I would read a few abstracts on the faculty you select but I think reading whole papers is a little overkill unless you are really interested and have the time.

In my two interviews so far, every professor has assumed I am new to their research topic and has given me broad overviews of the topic. Unless you're researching the same or very similar things, I don't think they expect you to learn their field in the week or so you get before your interview.

[Ash04]

Has anyone interviewed at SCRIPPS before or know anyone that has interviewed there?

Graduate program coordinator said "I strongly advise that you do your homework on all faculty you meet with"

I wonder how much I should be knowing about the professors. I will be meeting with 6 professors 

[BioChallenger12]

Just curious. If a person doesn't get into any graduate schools, what would that person typically do in preparation for reapplying the following year? I am applying to master's programs in biology. Two years from now I will apply to Ph.D programs in microbio/immunology at various medical schools. My application is definitely not competitive for Ph.D. programs at the moment since I have only been in research for 8 months as a undergrad senior. I will have a paper at the end of this semester for one of my research projects. I really need more research experience and crossing fingers to get into a good masters program. I definitely felt uneasy after getting my first rejection, but I had to remind myself that I still have 6 other grad programs to hear back from. It won't be until April that I know exactly where I end up since all grad schools are busy interviewing Ph.D. applicants this month.

[123hardasABC]

20 minutes ago, SwimmerBio12 said:

Just curious. If a person doesn't get into any graduate schools, what would that person typically do in preparation for reapplying the following year? I am applying to master's programs in biology. Two years from now I will apply to Ph.D programs in microbio/immunology at various medical schools. My application is definitely not competitive for Ph.D. programs at the moment since I have only been in research for 8 months as a undergrad senior. I will have a paper at the end of this semester for one of my research projects. I really need more research experience and crossing fingers to get into a good masters program. I definitely felt uneasy after getting my first rejection, but I had to remind myself that I still have 6 other grad programs to hear back from. It won't be until April that I know exactly where I end up since all grad schools are busy interviewing Ph.D. applicants this month.

There are many things you can do. You can work in the field. That way you can buff your resume with relevant experience for your potential PhD track. If you have poor grades from undergrad, you re-take some classes or pursue a post-bacc or a Masters. If you have time (and money), you can re-take the GRE. Depending on the program, you may have to take a subject test so prepare for that too. 

[Sarahjc]

Emory has a good list of potential questions interviewers may ask.

http://www.biomed.emory.edu/admissions/interviews.html

I had a similar experience as @keviv1692 with my one interview. Just reading their webpages was enough but it is helpful to connect to their research. One thing I looking for in graduate school is connection to the clinic and one person I interviewed with had started a fertility program in the hospital based off of his research. Knowing that helped me make that point. I'm interviewing at another school this weekend and I have a feeling they're going to expect us to be more prepared. They sent a list of abstracts for the graduate student poster session so we can see whose research we find interesting beforehand. 

Edited February 3, 2016 by Sarahjc

[Farafeelo]

2 hours ago, SwimmerBio12 said:

Just curious. If a person doesn't get into any graduate schools, what would that person typically do in preparation for reapplying the following year? I am applying to master's programs in biology. Two years from now I will apply to Ph.D programs in microbio/immunology at various medical schools. My application is definitely not competitive for Ph.D. programs at the moment since I have only been in research for 8 months as a undergrad senior. I will have a paper at the end of this semester for one of my research projects. I really need more research experience and crossing fingers to get into a good masters program. I definitely felt uneasy after getting my first rejection, but I had to remind myself that I still have 6 other grad programs to hear back from. It won't be until April that I know exactly where I end up since all grad schools are busy interviewing Ph.D. applicants this month.

i highly recommend looking at PREP programs (post-bacc) at various schools and at the NIH. almost everyone i know who has participated in these programs has been highly successful 

[thorerges]

I think the most important thing to show is that you know something about their work, ask relevant questions about a future plan for their current projects. If they talk to you about experiments, ask them how they're so sure of the data etc...

[sqxz]

On 1/22/2016 at 4:07 PM, AngryRobot! said:

CMU/Pittsburg joint Computational Biology, one interview entry in the survey. Any insights?

 

On 1/25/2016 at 2:03 PM, Yav Friendly said:

Any news of joint Computational Biology program CMU-Pitts?

 

As of two years ago, applicants were admitted to either CMU or Pitt, not both. Based on their applications (faculty interests, research interests, etc.), all applicants were assigned to either CMU or Pitt. The interviews for the CMU applicants were separate from those of the Pitt applicants, and acceptances for the two schools were sent at different times. Two years ago, the CMU dates were weeks in advance of the Pitt dates. It looks like there are now three entries in the results for this year, two interview invites and one acceptance. I'd say the acceptance is probably for CMU, and the interview invites are probably for Pitt. If you don't hear something soon, I think it's probably safe to assume a rejection.