2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

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International students residing outside USA?? Got any emails or invites??

[biochemgirl67]

It's Rockefeller week, so I'm going to ask that anyone who hears back from them post either on here or on the results survey, please, for the sanity of all the others.    (Just a side note, it is so nice that they promise ALL notifications this week, unlike other schools that leave rejections up in the air!)

[Neuro PolarBear]

1 hour ago, biosci said:

weird question, but as I am preparing for interviews, I am trying to read a couple of my POIs' papers, but my school does not have access to them.  Would it be appropriate to email the POI and ask for a copy? Or would that be seen as annoying? 

That definitely won't be seen as annoying! PIs are pretty much always happy to share and talk about their work.

Also, my school might have access. If you don't hear back feel free to PM me.

Or try the #icanhazpaper hashtag on twitter.

[ms_green_genes]

2 minutes ago, Micecroscopy said:

Or try the #icanhazpaper hashtag on twitter.

Oh, that hashtag makes me cringe!

[HopefulPHD14]

13 hours ago, Edotdl said:

Alright, I know this has been talked about before, but now with more interview invites coming out, is anyone one else becoming worried about missing too many classes? I know grades aren't really *that* critical anymore, but still...

I am not in school right now, but I sure am worried about missing work!  My job is going to start getting upset and suspicious with me missing all of these weekends.  So much so that I am considering only going to my top 2-3 interviews even if I continue to get more....

[HopefulPHD14]

1 hour ago, biosci said:

weird question, but as I am preparing for interviews, I am trying to read a couple of my POIs' papers, but my school does not have access to them.  Would it be appropriate to email the POI and ask for a copy? Or would that be seen as annoying? 

That might even look good.  I would be flattered if anyone ever emailed me requesting one of my papers.

[Gram Neutral]

So I applied to a program and got an email that my application was complete cause I was missing a letter of rec, which I knew. He submitted the letter before the deadline and it says it was submitted, so everything was fine. The email said when they receive the missing stuff they will email me saying my application is complete, or they will email me saying I am still missing stuff, and not to email them about the status of my application. However, the deadline was Dec 30, and I still haven't gotten an email saying it's complete. Could they still be processing the applications? Do you think I should call and ask? 

[Gram Neutral]

28 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

I am not in school right now, but I sure am worried about missing work!  My job is going to start getting upset and suspicious with me missing all of these weekends.  So much so that I am considering only going to my top 2-3 interviews even if I continue to get more....

Ah that stinks. My work is supportive of me going after my PhD. They wrote me a super awesome letter of rec. Still, gotta save up that PTO. 

[HopefulPHD14]

1 minute ago, Gram Neutral said:

Ah that stinks. My work is supportive of me going after my PhD. They wrote me a super awesome letter of rec. Still, gotta save up that PTO. 

My boss (who oversees what I do in the lab) is super supportive and wrote me a letter of rec and is totally okay with me going back to school.  In fact most of the R&D team at my work knows and is encouraging.  It is upper management that is not, and will not be, excited about me leaving.  

And that's my problem.  I have already taken my PTO down to 1 day....and I have 5 schools yet to hear from.  Also I have a fun vacation planned in June and I have to save up PTO for that.... My work lets me go negative in vacation, but I calculated it and in order to quit my job around the time I want to, I can only go negative 1 day, which means accepting only one more interview (or suddenly getting sick for a weekend)

[Gram Neutral]

24 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

My boss (who oversees what I do in the lab) is super supportive and wrote me a letter of rec and is totally okay with me going back to school.  In fact most of the R&D team at my work knows and is encouraging.  It is upper management that is not, and will not be, excited about me leaving.  

And that's my problem.  I have already taken my PTO down to 1 day....and I have 5 schools yet to hear from.  Also I have a fun vacation planned in June and I have to save up PTO for that.... My work lets me go negative in vacation, but I calculated it and in order to quit my job around the time I want to, I can only go negative 1 day, which means accepting only one more interview (or suddenly getting sick for a weekend)

Ouch... I have been saving knowing that I might need them for interviews. If I don't need them then I guess I'll go on a vacation to drown my sorrows Haha. 

[risk_unfold]

2 hours ago, lindydhr19 said:

MIT micro what took you so long :'(

2 hours ago, b@cteria said:

did you hear back?

Yeah, seriously, I'm super interested in whether anyone has heard back from MIT Microbiology... in the past it's always been on the same days as MIT Bio so I've pretty much given up hope, but nobody's reported anything in the survey...

 

 

[HopefulPHD14]

14 minutes ago, Gram Neutral said:

Ouch... I have been saving knowing that I might need them for interviews. If I don't need them then I guess I'll go on a vacation to drown my sorrows Haha. 

Haha that is one way to handle it!

[cephnerd]

Just saw that the application deadline for Duke's PhD program in biology has been extended...by a month and a half... Not enough decent applicants by the original Dec. 1 deadline, or am I reading too far into this?

[biosci]

Thanks @miky @GeneWeaver @Micecroscopy @HopefulPHD14!  I went ahead and emailed it so hopefully I will get the papers

[Infinito]

5 minutes ago, cephnerd said:

 

 

Just saw that the application deadline for Duke's PhD program in biology has been extended...by a month and a half... Not enough decent applicants by the original Dec. 1 deadline, or am I reading too far into this?

Probably reading too much into this.

If I remember correctly, they once sent out an e-mail to all applicants of all programs about upcoming deadlines, and their deadline was supposedly in February, then they e-mailed and said that was a typo and was still due in December. So possibly it wasn't a typo, but it was misleading and confusing, so they decided to either extend it, or keep it the original date which wasn't December 1st.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Infinito

[immuno91]

Out of curiosity, has anyone here been in a position where, of the four faculty interviewers you've been assigned, none of them are people you've requested and only one of them is even remotely involved in research in your field of interest (even then it's a stretch - bacteria and inflammation is their field and my field of interest is virology)? I'm not really sure how to go about preparing for this. However, I'm also concerned that I'm going to get a very negative impression of the program because I won't be meeting with anyone whose research interests me. Has anyone that has gone through the process had to deal with this and, if so, how did you handle it? Or is this a situation where you just have to grin and bear it?

[Torbjornen]

1 hour ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

My boss (who oversees what I do in the lab) is super supportive and wrote me a letter of rec and is totally okay with me going back to school.  In fact most of the R&D team at my work knows and is encouraging.  It is upper management that is not, and will not be, excited about me leaving.  

And that's my problem.  I have already taken my PTO down to 1 day....and I have 5 schools yet to hear from.  Also I have a fun vacation planned in June and I have to save up PTO for that.... My work lets me go negative in vacation, but I calculated it and in order to quit my job around the time I want to, I can only go negative 1 day, which means accepting only one more interview (or suddenly getting sick for a weekend)

I am in a similar position, where I am working and having to balance time off and job requirements. There are a couple holidays coming up (MLK and Presidents) and my work is typically off for those days. I have been talking with my boss about working those days and taking off others. He is very open to the idea. 

You could try and swing something like that. Volunteering to work holidays or weekends  is typically seen by management as a plus, even if it means talking off other days were there is staff available to cover your assignments. 

[shadenitro]

Repost:

 

Has anyone heard back from the Columbia Biological Sciences PhD or Cornell BMCB?

 

Danke!

[Yav Friendly]

16 minutes ago, shadenitro said:

Repost:

 

Has anyone heard back from the Columbia Biological Sciences PhD or Cornell BMCB?

 

Danke!

I think I saw a few interview and rejection of Cornell BMCB on the survey already.

[Earl]

Will we know the list of our faculty interviewers a few days BEFORE traveling/arriving to the school?  Or do they give you the schedule right when you land?  I really hope it is the former!

[Yav Friendly]

Just now, Earl said:

Will we know the list of our faculty interviewers a few days BEFORE traveling/arriving to the school?  Or do they give you the schedule right when you land?  I really hope it is the former!

Which University are you referring to?

[HopefulPHD14]

1 minute ago, Earl said:

Will we know the list of our faculty interviewers a few days BEFORE traveling/arriving to the school?  Or do they give you the schedule right when you land?  I really hope it is the former!

My understanding is that it typically is the former.  I would think that they would want you to be as prepared as possible.  

[Earl]

8 minutes ago, Yav Friendly said:

Which University are you referring to?

Oh, I was just asking in general terms.

 

7 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

My understanding is that it typically is the former.  I would think that they would want you to be as prepared as possible.  

Okay, I hope so too.  Thanks!

[Edotdl]

31 minutes ago, Earl said:

Will we know the list of our faculty interviewers a few days BEFORE traveling/arriving to the school?  Or do they give you the schedule right when you land?  I really hope it is the former!

The email I got for one school said it was the former. Since they have to arrange the schedule beforehand, they should know who you will be interviewing with ahead of time and I don't really see why they wouldn't tell you.

[Infinito]

21 minutes ago, Earl said:

 

Oh, I was just asking in general terms.

 

Okay, I hope so too.  Thanks!

Every school appears to be different. Some tell you they will give it to you X units of time ahead of the interview. Others specifically and explicitly state you will get it at check-in. 
Either way, I recommend keeping an excel spreadsheet with the professors you ranked for the interviews (if you had a choice to choose either after being invited, or when you originally applied), and make like a quick summary of what their research specialty is, and maybe an abstract of a recent paper.