2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[biotechie]

2 minutes ago, yonglin489 said:

Anybody think after this week it will be all rejection for those you have not heard from??.....

No. I still got invites in February, and my last one was in March. Just be patient. If you haven't heard by mid-March, then I think you can start to assume rejection. You can also sorptive predict based on when schools send out applications/rejections.

[tuckbro]

9 minutes ago, yonglin489 said:

Anybody think after this week it will be all rejection for those you have not heard from??.....

 I suggest looking at the results page and you can see when invites have gone out in the past for your schools. 

Edited January 9, 2016 by tuckbro

[biotechie]

2 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

I hope I start hearing something from those schools soon.  I've been putting off accepting/rejecting an interviews for too long now waiting for my top choices.... At this point I would be happy for a rejection just so that I could accept my 3rd interview without hesitation.  I have the weekend to think about it but I have to make my choice on Monday.  This whole thing is stressful.  

How long have you been sitting on interview invites? You really should let schools know whether you're interviewing within a couple of days of your invite. They have tons of plans they need to make to get you there, and then they also have other students they could invite.

[mythologyking]

Hi all,

In all the chaos and stress that (almost) everyone is going through now (including me haha), I just wanted to express how moved I am to see such a supportive group of people, and I want to thank you all for being a part of my graduate applications journey. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed for other potential invites to come in the next week or so!

And here's to all of us - don't forget to keep your head held high!

[HopefulPHD14]

Just now, biotechie said:

How long have you been sitting on interview invites? You really should let schools know whether you're interviewing within a couple of days of your invite. They have tons of plans they need to make to get you there, and then they also have other students they could invite.

Not very long! Just 2 days.  I want to get back to them by Monday (I think that's a fair amount of time yeah?).  

I was hoping to hear from one of my top 2 schools this week...but....that didnt happen.

I already have 2 interviews in February scheduled to my 3rd and 4th choices (Yayyyy).  My 6th choice offered me an interview two days ago.  They offered me 3 dates, but 2 of the 3 conflict with the interviews I have already scheduled.   Now I am just trying to figure out if its worth it to accept that one to have a third interview scheduled, or if I should let it go and count on my #3/4 while hoping/waiting for my top 2.  I am already leaning toward my $3/4 school over this new school.....but you never know what could happen right?

[HopefulPHD14]

Does anyone have a good resource (other than US News) for ranking/comparing grad schools?

Or even a resource for student reviews?  Like a glassdoors.com for grad students?

I am having a hard time picking which schools are worth waiting for the interview/rejection.

[biotechie]

13 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

Does anyone have a good resource (other than US News) for ranking/comparing grad schools?

Or even a resource for student reviews?  Like a glassdoors.com for grad students?

I am having a hard time picking which schools are worth waiting for the interview/rejection.

I don't have a good resource, but I also hate the ranking system. You should be most focused on the faculty they have and resources you will have available to you. Are there faculty doing things you're interested in that are being productive and are taking students?

You may also find some info in a comment I made here that is helpful: 

 

[Immunolog]

7 hours ago, peachypie said:

I carried a nice tote bag, like a longchamp style one...actually mine was JPK and dark purple in color so a color that worked just fine with interview clothes.  I kept my portfolio in there as well as like pens, my phone and random stuff.  Really nice not to be holding a bunch of stuff when you are meeting people and shaking hands etc. 

Do tell about the contents of your portfolio please. I was thinking  just bringing copies of my cv and having my papers on an iPad just in case they want to see the figures. I'd like to know your opinion/experience on this. Thanks in advance! 

[peachypie]

1 minute ago, Immunolog said:

Do tell about the contents of your portfolio please. I was thinking  just bringing copies of my cv and having my papers on an iPad just in case they want to see the figures. I'd like to know your opinion/experience on this. Thanks in advance! 

I had a few copies of CVs (ps no one asked or needed one) but you always want to have one just in case.  I had copies of my publications as well.  Again no one needed to see anything so you probably won't have to show either but its good to have just in case it does come up.  PIs can misplace a CV or something and it looks good that you are well prepared.  Also a pen and paper for either you to jot a note.  You'll get a paper schedule/itinerary from your school and a folder so that is nice to have easy access to so you know who is coming up.  You don't get a lot of time between interviews so if I read about them before i had a quick reference page that reminded me what this person specialized in (like a sentence or two) just so I could recall what was the next series of people.  You probably won't use any of it, but again always better to be prepared since the off chance someone asks you don't want to say you don't have it.

[Infinito]

42 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

 

 

Does anyone have a good resource (other than US News) for ranking/comparing grad schools?

Or even a resource for student reviews?  Like a glassdoors.com for grad students?

I am having a hard time picking which schools are worth waiting for the interview/rejection.

Phds.org
It has sub divisions and aggregates data from a bunch of different places, allowing you to filter by what you find most important. It goes, however, have an overall score, and statistics so ranks are placed in context.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Infinito

[bdnf_13.1]

 

6 hours ago, Effloresce said:

yeah i was wondering the same thing in regards to yale. in my case, it was a rejection but it was a bit of a reach for me anyway!

 

6 hours ago, Effloresce said:

yeah, there was a link at the bottom of the page for me for the decision

 

6 hours ago, StemCellBio said:

The website updated my status with a link at the bottom. 

 

6 hours ago, partydon'tstarttillIwalkin said:

I also got a decision email - rejection. good to know early, tho! 

People who have been rejected from Yale, I hate to ask but which BBS tracks did you apply to?

[bdnf_13.1]

11 minutes ago, bdnf_13.1 said:

 

 

 

 

People who have been rejected from Yale, I hate to ask but which BBS tracks did you apply to?

People who have been rejected from Yale, I'm sorry to ask but which BBS tracks did you apply to?

[StemCellBio]

17 minutes ago, bdnf_13.1 said:

People who have been rejected from Yale, I'm sorry to ask but which BBS tracks did you apply to?

MCDB

[bdnf_13.1]

9 minutes ago, StemCellBio said:

MCDB

I really appreciate the response, I have nothing on my page and I have gotten a conflicting invite for the weekend of my track's interview so I'm trying to figure out when I will hear back for Neuro 

[AgingBio123]

Well I just noticed that someone posted their interview response for Stanford biosciences biochemistry on the survey if it's anyone here could you say when you received it? It says Jan. 9 so was it at midnight? I emailed the coordinator for the program at around 8pm eastern time Jan.8 and he stated no decision had been made for my application in particular but maybe interviews are trickling in slowly?....

[shovonreza]

I just received a personalized email for an interview at  Johns Hopkins BCMB. They offered an on campus in person interview. Since I am an international student living outside the USA it is difficult to make all arrangements including Visa within February. Does anyone know if they can arrange Skype interview? Do you guys think it would be rude of me to email and ask the coordinator who sent me the invite? Thanks

[partydon'tstarttillIwalkin]

9 hours ago, bdnf_13.1 said:

 

 

 

 

People who have been rejected from Yale, I hate to ask but which BBS tracks did you apply to?

It was MCDB. 

[ruckaround]

I just want to put this out there..

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing in the excitement, anxiety, tension and every other bit of this process. I think it's invaluable to have access to this community, and I've definitely benefited from it!

I think we're all fortunate to have this resource as we continue with the process. From waiting to hear back about interviews, to interviewing, to more waiting to hear back, to what school to choose, to backup plans and other next steps.

[Caffeine Junky]

Is anyone waiting on University of Miami PIBS?

[Microburritology]

21 hours ago, mike35 said:

So they were all sent out already?

Yup. Towards the end of the call when I asked again he said you might recieve an invite by next week if you haven't already, but highly unlikely. That was clear rejection for me.

Anyways, focusing on the things in hand.

[Edotdl]

Has anyone else gotten an official interview invite that hasn't asked them to respond with whether or not you accept the invitation? They said details/travel arrangements will be sent in a separate email (didn't get it yet) and there is only one interview date. I guess it can't hurt for me to respond, just in case, right. 

[miky]

11 hours ago, shovonreza said:

I just received a personalized email for an interview at  Johns Hopkins BCMB. They offered an on campus in person interview. Since I am an international student living outside the USA it is difficult to make all arrangements including Visa within February. Does anyone know if they can arrange Skype interview? Do you guys think it would be rude of me to email and ask the coordinator who sent me the invite? Thanks

This is not rude. Coordinators should understand the challenges of arranging travel on somewhat short notice for international applicants. An actual visit to the campus and in-person interviews are invaluable, but if it is not feasible they should accommodate you. 

Edited January 9, 2016 by miky

[shovonreza]

46 minutes ago, miky said:

This is not rude. Coordinators should understand the challenges of arranging travel on somewhat short notice for international applicants. An actual visit to the campus and in-person interviews are invaluable, but if it is not feasible they should accommodate you. 

Thanks a lot for your reply. Actually they have offered lodging and a travel fund of 500$. Apart from the fact that 500$ is not enough, it is not possible to get a US visa within a month from where I live. I have sent an email asking for a Skype interview, fingers crossed!

[biosci]

31 minutes ago, shovonreza said:

Thanks a lot for your reply. Actually they have offered lodging and a travel fund of 500$. Apart from the fact that 500$ is not enough, it is not possible to get a US visa within a month from where I live. I have sent an email asking for a Skype interview, fingers crossed!

Wow, $500 isn't enough for me for some of my flights, and I'm domestic!  Good luck!

[shovonreza]

11 hours ago, biosci said:

Wow, $500 isn't enough for me for some of my flights, and I'm domestic!  Good luck!

Thanks.