2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[den-of-thieves]

2 hours ago, Sarahjc said:

I've been trying to turn down schools as soon as I know I'm not going there to open the spot for people on the waiting list. I got an official offer letter in the mail from Pitt and I signed it and returned my decline of offer as soon as I got into my second choice. I got an email that they received it February 18th. Last week I got an official rejection letter in the mail from Pitt dated February 18th. I thought it was weird and then yesterday I got an email from Tennessee that the program told the graduate school I withdrew my application after I turned down that offer too. It seems like ethically gray area stuff that schools are doing to improve their acceptance rate. Has anything like this happened to anyone else?

This happened to me too back during the interview process. I got an interview invite from one of my schools (Boston College's behavioral neuro program) and declined the invite for a couple different reasons. Two weeks later I got a rejection letter. I guess it's a little different than this happening after interviews took place because I guess you could say that someone could think that they would get into a program while still declining an interview invite (and therefore a rejection letter would still need to be sent) but it felt a little weird to me too and I definitely was wondering if it was a ploy to improve their acceptance rate.

[firmicutie]

For anyone waiting for Stanford Biosciences microbiology & immunology, first round of offers is coming out now! They were waiting for funding info for international students. They're trying to keep rolling admissions over every week.

Source: phone call from interviewer

Edited March 15, 2016 by firmicutie

[Earl]

3 hours ago, levodopa said:

Have you heard back from BU? O:

i did last week.. i declined though, so hopefully you'll hear from them soon

[biotechie]

21 hours ago, burcet said:

Undergrad Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

accepted into two masters programs in the UK at King's College London and Imperial College London. going to try my luck again after i complete my masters, hopefully with better GRE scores, more experience, better personal statement, maybe publications and a slightly higher undergrad gpa.

I'm an example of a student that got into her top choice school after doing a research-based masters! Even without publications, your application will be stronger than many undergrads with pubs simply due to two years of full-time research experience as a MS student. It is a good time to prove to yourself that you want to do graduate school. It will also set you ahead of some of the other students in both lab and coursework.

Speaking of UIUC, my ug institution used to have a not-so-nice song they sang about them. Being unwilling to retain students for a PhD program is not uncommon, and it IS good for you to expand your horizons and go somewhere new!

[Gram Positive]

Just confirmed Emory MMG (+ fellowship)! Definitely the best fit for my research interests (bacteriology and antibiotic resistance). Good luck to everyone making decisions!

[burcet]

6 hours ago, biotechie said:

I'm an example of a student that got into her top choice school after doing a research-based masters! Even without publications, your application will be stronger than many undergrads with pubs simply due to two years of full-time research experience as a MS student. It is a good time to prove to yourself that you want to do graduate school. It will also set you ahead of some of the other students in both lab and coursework.

Speaking of UIUC, my ug institution used to have a not-so-nice song they sang about them. Being unwilling to retain students for a PhD program is not uncommon, and it IS good for you to expand your horizons and go somewhere new!

yeah, that is why i wanted to do a research based masters. clearly defines my intention to gain more experience and make a stronger application for phd programs. i could also work at a lab but when i wanted to work as a lab tech here or back home, it seems nobody wanted someone who would just work for 1 year and reapply to phd programs. thats why i thought doing a masters would be good. and jumping into a phd degree right after completing your BS(no ms) is more of an american thing. i may also try my luck in renowned institutions in europe afterwards.

[TBDMS]

I'm very excited to be accepted into my top two choices (UTSW and UW Madison), only now I have no clue which I want to attend. I suppose it's a good problem to have though

[Bioenchilada]

33 minutes ago, keviv1692 said:

Okay, so this is dedicated to all future applicants who will be applying to grad schools at some point during my lifetime. Just got accepted today to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's MCB program for which I interviewed via Skype on 2/12. They probably went for a nap since then ..But now on to the main thing....also got rejected from University of Rochester's BMB program post-interview because I just took them very lightly and made some errors which I wanted to share with you guys so that you will not jeopardize your chances of getting into grad school....

The first mistake that I made was to decline a Skype and request for a Phone interview instead...(since I had already had an admission offer so I really didn't want to sit for a Skype)......DO NOT do this !.....always sit for a Skype interview if requested, because that's their only opportunity to meet you in person and who knows who is over the phone.So this really creates a doubt in their minds.

The second mistake that I made was that I was too honest to their questions. When I was asked that to which other grad schools I had applied, I told them and then I was asked have you heard back from them?....To which I answered honestly that I received 2 interview invites and 1 admission offer from UMMS which supposedly back-fired. The reason being that the POI at Rochester was a Post-Doc in the lab of a POI at UMMS......Hilarious!!!!

And he said WOW you got an offer from them and I said yes and the next question was how will you decide that to which school you will be heading to...and I told that URochester's BMB program is Blah Blah Blah...............

And guess what the admissions committee is unable to offer you a spot in this year's BMB program....BAM!

So guys never ever say that you have received offers from this and that. I know some people might beg to differ but certainly it just doesn't go well with them when their competitors are ranked higher than them.....Be diplomatic and say I have only interview offers and I am still waiting to hear from them....

This may be a complete joke but I  sincerely hope that this may help someone in the future......Ciao!

I think it depends on the school's reputation, its ego, and the personality of the chair of admissions. I have a friend that straight out told the UChicago chair of admissions during their interview that they had gotten into Harvard. They still got in lol

[HopefulPHD14]

4 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I think it depends on the school's reputation, its ego, and the personality of the chair of admissions. I have a friend that straight out told the UChicago chair of admissions during their interview that they had gotten into Harvard. They still got in lol

Every school I went to asked me which schools I had applied to, who I had interviews with, and who had already accepted me.  I was always honest with them because... well why not.  Also I wanted the schools I was interviewing with to be honest about my chances so I figured I should be honest with them about their chances.  I still got in at every school I interviewed at.  I think it may have even helped me that I was upfront and honest.

Anyways, I told one of my schools I was interviewing at that I had an acceptance from another school.  It was actually during my interview with the program director.  He  even made a comment that I am going to have tough decisions to make (big vs small school, traditional university vs institute, location....).  It actually turned into a very good conversation about what is important to me in a grad school and what I want in life.  He was able to tell me the areas that his school was a good fit and the areas that the other schools were a good fit and was really upfront and honest with me.  

Then, they pulled me aside later that day (while I was still at the interview) to tell me that I got in and that they really wanted me and that they hoped I would pick them for reasons a, b, and c.  They said they knew I had a tough decision but they really thought I was a good fit for the program.  They told me since they know I have a tough decision to make they wanted to let me know ASAP that they were interested in me so that I had ample time to make my decision.  I was encouraged to think it through and call them if I had any additional questions or concerns.

[lilacs]

2 hours ago, keviv1692 said:

Okay, so this is dedicated to all future applicants who will be applying to grad schools at some point during my lifetime. Just got accepted today to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's MCB program for which I interviewed via Skype on 2/12. They probably went for a nap since then 

I just got back from their second interview weekend on Saturday and heard back today as well. I think they just wanted to interview all the recruits before they sent out decisions.

[Microburritology]

1 hour ago, Bioenchilada said:

I think it depends on the school's reputation, its ego, and the personality of the chair of admissions. I have a friend that straight out told the UChicago chair of admissions during their interview that they had gotten into Harvard. They still got in lol

Agree with @Bioenchilada. I actually talked about my status (interviews, acceptances, etc.) in all my interviews - and one of them jokingly said, "well we oughta grab you from them then". So yeah it depends, but in my case, definitely worked in my favor.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Microburritology

[pcc2129]

On March 15, 2016 at 0:58 PM, firmicutie said:

For anyone waiting for Stanford Biosciences microbiology & immunology, first round of offers is coming out now! They were waiting for funding info for international students. They're trying to keep rolling admissions over every week.

Source: phone call from interviewer

Any idea how many offers they sent out? Still haven't hear anything from them. Did your status on your application change?

[Jgran24]

Has anyone heard from Stanford Biophysics? Im not sure how long they are going to wait. Thanks!

[biotechie]

6 hours ago, keviv1692 said:

When I was asked that to which other grad schools I had applied, I told them and then I was asked have you heard back from them?....To which I answered honestly that I received 2 interview invites and 1 admission offer from UMMS which supposedly back-fired. The reason being that the POI at Rochester was a Post-Doc in the lab of a POI at UMMS......Hilarious!!!!

And he said WOW you got an offer from them and I said yes and the next question was how will you decide that to which school you will be heading to...and I told that URochester's BMB program is Blah Blah Blah...............

And guess what the admissions committee is unable to offer you a spot in this year's BMB program....BAM!

So guys never ever say that you have received offers from this and that. I know some people might beg to differ but certainly it just doesn't go well with them when their competitors are ranked higher than them.....Be diplomatic and say I have only interview offers and I am still waiting to hear from them...

I disagree! If you are asked, tell them! Yes there are some programs that will assume you won't come or that you'll be less interested in them if you have an offer at a more prestigious school, but in my case, that's not what happened.

At my second interview, I was asked where I'd applied, where I was interviewing, and if I'd gotten any offers. When I told one of my interviewers where I'd gotten an offer from, he told me, "Oh. You definitely need to go there as they are a better school for what you want to do, but if you like it here, you can come." Another professor at the same school told me, "We might not be able to compete with everything that that school can offer you, but we would love to have you attend here." They expedited my acceptance to the second school; I actually had an offer when I stepped off of my flight 2 hours later heading home!

If you take the interviews at each school seriously, it isn't likely to bite you in the butt unless you're on the lower half of their ranked interviewees from the start.

Edited March 16, 2016 by biotechie

[StupidVivian]

Have any international students heard from UCLA bioinformatics program?

[firmicutie]

On 3/16/2016 at 4:03 PM, pcc2129 said:

Any idea how many offers they sent out? Still haven't hear anything from them. Did your status on your application change?

They only said they sent the same number of offers as their desired size of incoming class. My application status hasn't ever changed since "submitted" lol.

In the phone call it sounded like their waitlist is set, and they're just waiting for admits to reject offers. Maybe you could ask where you are on it?

Good luck! I hope you hear back soon

[YouCantBcereus]

I emailed the rest of the school I interviewed at back on Wednesday. Got an reply from Vandy saying they'll tell me on Monday. Also got a rejection from U Michigan. Still waiting on any sort of reply from UVA. I hate waiting so long

Oh and I got my official rejection from Emory this week too. 

[Bioenchilada]

I think I got my first two rotations figured out!

[biotechie]

23 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I think I got my first two rotations figured out!

Congratulations! Don't schedule them all before you get there, though! It is a good idea to schedule just the first, maybe the second, and then wait until you get there to learn what the environments will be before you pick the rest. We had to do four rotations, and they told us to only schedule the first before we got there, and I was very happy that I didn't schedule more as I found awesome faculty I hadn't even known about before I got there.

This is personal preference, but it has also served myself and others I know well: Don't pick the lab you think you want to join for your very first rotation. This is because your first term/semester/rotation, you're adjusting to your new school and life. At least for me, it meant that I wasn't as efficient or able to participate as much as I normally would, resulting in a less than optimal impression in my opinion. I could have ultimately joined that lab, but I was really happy that the lab I ultimately joined was one of my later rotations as I had everything figured out, organized, and was able to devote the right amount of effort to lab to get my project started and make what I felt was a true impression of how I work in lab!

[Bioenchilada]

2 hours ago, biotechie said:

Congratulations! Don't schedule them all before you get there, though! It is a good idea to schedule just the first, maybe the second, and then wait until you get there to learn what the environments will be before you pick the rest. We had to do four rotations, and they told us to only schedule the first before we got there, and I was very happy that I didn't schedule more as I found awesome faculty I hadn't even known about before I got there.

This is personal preference, but it has also served myself and others I know well: Don't pick the lab you think you want to join for your very first rotation. This is because your first term/semester/rotation, you're adjusting to your new school and life. At least for me, it meant that I wasn't as efficient or able to participate as much as I normally would, resulting in a less than optimal impression in my opinion. I could have ultimately joined that lab, but I was really happy that the lab I ultimately joined was one of my later rotations as I had everything figured out, organized, and was able to devote the right amount of effort to lab to get my project started and make what I felt was a true impression of how I work in lab!

I just came back from an official revisit and had meetings with the people I wanted to work with. My first rotation is basically official. I'm starting in June, so I can do science without having to worry about coursework.

[gyrase]

I've ghosted this forum due to being busy - despite being fairly active at first - but I just wanted to swoop back in and say congratulations to everyone on the very busy past two months (and to those who are still interviewing also... I'm pretty sure there are a few??) I met so many amazing people on interviews, no doubt some who have been helpful and active in this thread; it is honestly such an interesting experience! The next month is going to be difficult to make decisions, but I know regardless of that by April 15 we'll all be heading amazing places. 

Good luck to all and many happy wishes! Hope to see you all at conferences / in the news down the line

[Effloresce]

I was at Vandy this weekend, and @biochemgirl67, I can see why you fell in love with it!!! Although I will admit, I could tell that everyone was exhausted from interview season, especially since I was on the last interview weekend.

I know their turn around is really quick, so I'm suuuuper nervous to hear back (hopefully) today.

[biochemgirl67]

6 minutes ago, Effloresce said:

I was at Vandy this weekend, and @biochemgirl67, I can see why you fell in love with it!!! Although I will admit, I could tell that everyone was exhausted from interview season, especially since I was on the last interview weekend.

I know their turn around is really quick, so I'm suuuuper nervous to hear back (hopefully) today.

I'm so happy you liked it!  I'm over the moon about moving to Nashville and going to Vandy.  Every time I would go on another interview, no other program felt like it fit me as well as Vandy IGP did.  I hope you hear back today!  (I heard back on MLK Jr Day, so I think they are definitely at least committed to the cause of sending out notifications.)

[Effloresce]

2 hours ago, biochemgirl67 said:

I'm so happy you liked it!  I'm over the moon about moving to Nashville and going to Vandy.  Every time I would go on another interview, no other program felt like it fit me as well as Vandy IGP did.  I hope you hear back today!  (I heard back on MLK Jr Day, so I think they are definitely at least committed to the cause of sending out notifications.)

just got an offer, 98% sure i'm going to go!!!!

[YouCantBcereus]

Got a reply from UVA saying they won't be extending anymore offers. Also got a reply from Vanderbilt saying they still haven't made a final decision but are "highly suggesting" I accept an offer elsewhere, which I'm taking as a rejection. It's a little bit disheartening that I got rejected from 3/4 schools I interviewed at, especially since I really liked all of them. 

That being said, tomorrow I'm going to officially accept UGA's offer and I'm so excited! Honestly, even if I got accepted everywhere else It's very likely I would've decided to attend UGA anyways. I'm in love with their Micro program, I was nominated for & selected to receive a graduate assistantship, I go to Athens a lot and have family friends there so I'm really comfortable with the city, and it all just feels right