2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Gram Neutral]

So I've never had a multi-day interview. I have one coming up that's Thursday night dinner with grad students, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday breakfast(not really a part of it). What the heck do I wear? Friday we don't have any interviews, it's all presentations etc. Of course we will be meeting people, but not the physical interviews. Suit both days? Change the tie and shirt? Business casual Thursday for dinner? Suit all 3 days? 

[biosci]

4 minutes ago, Gram Neutral said:

So I've never had a multi-day interview. I have one coming up that's Thursday night dinner with grad students, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday breakfast(not really a part of it). What the heck do I wear? Friday we don't have any interviews, it's all presentations etc. Of course we will be meeting people, but not the physical interviews. Suit both days? Change the tie and shirt? Business casual Thursday for dinner? Suit all 3 days? 

Based on what I have seen at the interviews I have gone too, I would do business casual for Friday and Saturday - I don't think a full suit is necessary even for the interviews.  Maybe just add a tie for Saturday?  I think that casual is fine for Friday and Sunday, but still look presentable.  Again, this is just based on my experiences so far and trying to remember what the boys were wearing.  Good luck and have a great time!

[bdnf_13.1]

17 minutes ago, Gram Neutral said:

So I've never had a multi-day interview. I have one coming up that's Thursday night dinner with grad students, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday breakfast(not really a part of it). What the heck do I wear? Friday we don't have any interviews, it's all presentations etc. Of course we will be meeting people, but not the physical interviews. Suit both days? Change the tie and shirt? Business casual Thursday for dinner? Suit all 3 days? 

You may actually want to ask the program admin. For my first interview, the Thursday dinner was fancy and everyone wore business casual. Then they wore suits for the interview even though we were instructed to wear business casual for that day too. So I followed that for the second one, wearing business casual for the dinner but I was overdressed and knew not to wear a suit the next day. Better to err on the side of overdressing than underdressing, you can always take off a blazer...or wear Khakis instead of suit slacks for Thursday dinner if you want to be on the more casual side of business casual. 

[Infinito]

3 hours ago, bdnf_13.1 said:

 

You may actually want to ask the program admin. For my first interview, the Thursday dinner was fancy and everyone wore business casual. Then they wore suits for the interview even though we were instructed to wear business casual for that day too. So I followed that for the second one, wearing business casual for the dinner but I was overdressed and knew not to wear a suit the next day. Better to err on the side of overdressing than underdressing, you can always take off a blazer...or wear Khakis instead of suit slacks for Thursday dinner if you want to be on the more casual side of business casual. 

Lol, now that I've had two interviews that were multiday, I for sure know not to take the clothing aspect too seriously. As long as you look clean, you're fine. And this also went along with what other candidates were wearing. Like people with really dark jeans were a thing. Flats/boat shoes/hipster boots are a thing. Pea coats over T-shirts are a thing. Everyone that wore a suit knew the next day not to (or for their next interview not to bother). I'll post my standard uniform later but it's pretty much boat shoes, chinos, a button down and a cardigan for interview days, and jeans and hoodie for non-interview sessions. 

[HopefulPHD14]

All of my professors and people I know with PhDs are telling me to wear a suit for the interview day and business casual for the rest of the weekend (maybe jeans and a nice shirt if its just with grad students).  Do you guys really think a suit is too overdressed?  Does it depend on the school/program?  I would rather be overdressed than underdressed, but I also don't want to be way overdressed.  I need some help planning for this weekend.  I guess worst case scenerio I can bring the suit and play it by ear....

[Infinito]

Just now, HopefulPHD14 said:

 

All of my professors and people I know with PhDs are telling me to wear a suit for the interview day and business casual for the rest of the weekend (maybe jeans and a nice shirt if its just with grad students).  Do you guys really think a suit is too overdressed?  Does it depend on the school/program?  I would rather be overdressed than underdressed, but I also don't want to be way overdressed.  I need some help planning for this weekend.  I guess worst case scenerio I can bring the suit and play it by ear....

Honestly, you just answered your own questions. If you don't feel comfortable enough to wear something else or less, then wear the suit. 
Our opinions and insight clearly won't help with the clothing anxiety.

[C5aC5b]

31 minutes ago, Infinito said:

Lol, now that I've had two interviews that were multiday, I for sure know not to take the clothing aspect too seriously. As long as you look clean, you're fine. And this also went along with what other candidates were wearing. Like people with really dark jeans were a thing. Flats/boat shoes/hipster boots are a thing. Pea coats over T-shirts are a thing. Everyone that wore a suit knew the next day not to (or for their next interview not to bother). I'll post my standard uniform later but it's pretty much boat shoes, chinos, a button down and a cardigan for interview days, and jeans and hoodie for non-interview sessions. 

I've asked the program coordinators for dress codes if not explicitly mentioned in the interview email instructions.  This helped a lot!  I think it also depends on geography etc.  

Interview#1 = NYC with no stated dress code.  I emailed the program coord. but didn't get a definite answer.  I saw a range of outfits from slightly-too-casual to full business suit.  I think business casual was expected by the program but nobody wearing a suit looked overdressed/silly.  Granted, this is NYC and dress standards can be higher than elsewhere.  What passes for business casual here may look like formal fashion in another area.  I wore business casual (blazer/chinos/dress boots) Day 1 and a "casual/cocktail" suit to the interviews on Day 2.  

Interview#3 = Midwest with explicitly stated dress code in email.  It says to dress business casual if desired for some occasions but casual at most events.  Jeans were explicitly encouraged for dinners/night events!  I think a suit would look silly here so I'm not packing it for sure.  I'm looking forward to wearing jeans tho!

Overall, I like to remain in business casual/smart casual for the whole process.  Use some fashion sense and dress smartly to make a good impression.  It also makes you more confident during the interview weekend.  

[biochemgirl67]

Let's not freak out over clothing, AGAIN.  Okay guys, business casual is the way to go for your interviews.  This means your most versatile outfit (for either sex) will be a pair of dress pants or trousers, a shirt that is nice and put together (nice dress blouse for a girl, a collared shirt for a guy -- A guy could wear a less dressy collared dress shirt than the ones that go with suits... based on material or patterns), a girl could wear a small dress scarf, a guy could wear a tie.  Both sexes could wear blazers (or sport coats for men) to the interview.  Both should also wear comfortable dress shoes.  Nothing too shiny or fancy, but COMFORTABLE.

Casual days you could wear a dark pair of jeans or knit trouser pants or colored pants with a nice shirt, scarf, and jacket (for a girl).  A guy could wear a pair of colored chinos with a sweater with a collared shirt.  Boot-type shoes or less fancy actual shoes would work.

I'm putting up these descriptions because I know that we all have limited clothing options for carrying and for buying new outfits.  Really, don't stress.  I've included some pictures so people can see what I mean.

EDIT: these are ALL things seen on interviews.  And everyone pretty much matched this code.  It's obvious which are the casual outfits to me, but the last female picture is what seemed to be a "casual" outfit, and the same with the male pictures.

 

Edited February 3, 2016 by biochemgirl67

[mrpoopybutthole]

48 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

All of my professors and people I know with PhDs are telling me to wear a suit for the interview day and business casual for the rest of the weekend (maybe jeans and a nice shirt if its just with grad students).  Do you guys really think a suit is too overdressed?  Does it depend on the school/program?  I would rather be overdressed than underdressed, but I also don't want to be way overdressed.  I need some help planning for this weekend.  I guess worst case scenerio I can bring the suit and play it by ear....

I've been to interviews in Texas and NYC so far and I would say about 1/3 of the people showed up in suits. If you feel comfortable in it then I would for sure wear it. I seriously doubt you'll look out of place. But once you've gotten your first interviews out of the way you'll start to realize that you're stressing way more than necessary about attire haha

[HopefulPHD14]

5 minutes ago, mrpoopybutthole said:

If you feel comfortable in it then I would for sure wear it.

Perfect.  I think that is what I needed to hear.  I won't worry about being overdressed but I will feel weird about not looked dressed up enough.  A suit it is.

[bdnf_13.1]

3 hours ago, Infinito said:

Lol, now that I've had two interviews that were multiday, I for sure know not to take the clothing aspect too seriously. As long as you look clean, you're fine. And this also went along with what other candidates were wearing. Like people with really dark jeans were a thing. Flats/boat shoes/hipster boots are a thing. Pea coats over T-shirts are a thing. Everyone that wore a suit knew the next day not to (or for their next interview not to bother). I'll post my standard uniform later but it's pretty much boat shoes, chinos, a button down and a cardigan for interview days, and jeans and hoodie for non-interview sessions. 

Yep, agreed. I'm a girl and I do basically a suit minus the blazer for the actual interviews, but I saw someone in dark jeans at my last one. For dinners where I'm not sure, black trouser pants and a nice blouse. 

Basically, wear what feels good unless you have directions. One of my roommates said "well it said business casual but I want to dress to impress so I'm going to wear a suit" and that worked well for her, but I get anxious if I'm overdressed, so I didn't wear a blazer that day and I felt great.  

[peachypie]

On 2/1/2016 at 6:03 PM, biochemm said:

Anyone here been to the first BU PiBS weekend? Thoughts on the weekend?

I'm scheduled for the second session (ie. this friday) but they put me down for meetings with three profs that I didn't specify (I put down three that I'm interested in and another three that are somewhat related to my interests and they scheduled me with an entirely different set of three maybe 25% related to my field). Obviously I'll keep an open mind but I found it kind of weird since the likelihood that I would want to work with these guys is pretty low (ie they work in transcription and cell bio when I'm in metabolism).

I'm assuming that since I was emailed the schedule a week after the first weekend, I get whatever is left in the nutrition appointments but who knows.

doesn't really work like that.  you aren't interviewing to work with specific people, you are interviewing to enter the graduate school.  Many people do not get all of their interviews with people in their field as often faculty on admissions committee need to interview students.  Also it is a matter of availability of faculty those days, not all faculty are around or free.  This has come up time and time again in this sub and people need to stop acting like an interview at a school is all about finding their next advisor, that is not the point of this.  Its great if you get to meet with someone you are interested in but by NO means should your interview schedule give you an idea of where you'll work or what dibs you or some other students got. 

[peachypie]

7 hours ago, Gram Neutral said:

So I've never had a multi-day interview. I have one coming up that's Thursday night dinner with grad students, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday breakfast(not really a part of it). What the heck do I wear? Friday we don't have any interviews, it's all presentations etc. Of course we will be meeting people, but not the physical interviews. Suit both days? Change the tie and shirt? Business casual Thursday for dinner? Suit all 3 days? 

Thursday night: casual (sweater/nice shirt and either khakis or like even nice jeans) 

interview day/any day you are meeting or around faculty: business casual.  NO JEANS.

Saturday/Sunday: any time with just grad students can be more comfortable and should reflect what you are doing?  Walking campus tour? Casual/comfortable, going out to bars or going to a sporting event/music can be casual.  Just be reasonable.

[biochemm]

26 minutes ago, peachypie said:

doesn't really work like that.  you aren't interviewing to work with specific people, you are interviewing to enter the graduate school.  Many people do not get all of their interviews with people in their field as often faculty on admissions committee need to interview students.  Also it is a matter of availability of faculty those days, not all faculty are around or free.  This has come up time and time again in this sub and people need to stop acting like an interview at a school is all about finding their next advisor, that is not the point of this.  Its great if you get to meet with someone you are interested in but by NO means should your interview schedule give you an idea of where you'll work or what dibs you or some other students got. 

Given that my other interviews thus far, and my future interviews have all been scheduled with potential PIs I'm finding it odd that they do it this way. I guess it's just because BU runs the umbrella program, whereas the others are all specific programs right off the bat. Still seems weird that I'm expected to want to go to a school in which I haven't met someone under whom I would actually work. Alternatively, maybe its a sign I should be getting in contact with the other PIs there on my own. Who knows

Edited February 3, 2016 by biochemm

[peachypie]

11 minutes ago, biochemm said:

Given that my other interviews thus far, and my future interviews have all been scheduled with potential PIs I'm finding it odd that they do it this way. I guess it's just because BU runs the umbrella program, whereas the others are all specific programs right off the bat. Still seems weird that I'm expected to want to go to a school in which I haven't met someone under whom I would actually work. Alternatively, maybe its a sign I should be getting in contact with the other PIs there on my own. Who knows

So all of your other interviews have 100% of your interviews with potential POIs? is that what I'm hearing.  so like you have 4-8 POIs at each university and you've managed to get scheduled with all of them? 
They do their absolute best but things come up.  Umbrella programs most certainly may operate differently than smaller,individual program interviews.  If this is throwing you off of BU then I'd suggest you don't interview with them.  I have said it before, and will now say it again.  Do not go to a school with the intent on working with one specific person.  This often doesn't work out.  Things happen: faculty move, faculty lose funding, faculty take 2 students the year  before you instead of one.  It sets you up for failure.  What you should do at an interview is look at the personality of the students and faculty and general feel to make sure its a good fit for you as a person.  Are you a type A person but everyone around is you super passive?  Probably not going to be a good fit.  Also people rotate through their previous POI and realize they would hate working for them.  Finding a good fit in a lab to be successful is way more about the relationship and personality of your lab and you and a lot less about the research being "interesting" or "your favorite".  We say this every year to grad students and they come in thinking that its all about the research.  Well its not.  So you never know what your potential profs will be like once you work with them.

Try to be a bit more open-minded and see the bigger picture here.  If you feel that BU has screwed up in this regard: cancel it and move on.

[Gram Neutral]

I got my first acceptance. This is my 3rd time applying. I've worked really hard to get myself into this position, and I'm really excited to finally have the opportunity. Oh man... 

[123hardasABC]

1 hour ago, Gram Neutral said:

I got my first acceptance. This is my 3rd time applying. I've worked really hard to get myself into this position, and I'm really excited to finally have the opportunity. Oh man... 

SLU?

[Gram Neutral]

2 hours ago, 123hardasABC said:

SLU?

Yup! 

[BioChallenger12]

On 2/3/2016 at 8:39 PM, Farafeelo said:

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 

Thanks for your input! I just looked into these PREP programs. I didn't know that they exist. I found some PREP programs at my top choice schools where I am considering doing my Ph.D two years from now. This is definitely something I will strongly look into especially since I want to enhance my credentials and research before applying to Ph.D. programs. These are the types of programs that I am looking for. Right timing too since many of these deadlines are in March - April. Thanks again! 

[cephnerd]

6 hours ago, Gram Neutral said:

I got my first acceptance. This is my 3rd time applying. I've worked really hard to get myself into this position, and I'm really excited to finally have the opportunity. Oh man... 

Congratulations!!!!! I can't imagine the excitement you must be feeling

 

[Yav Friendly]

On 2/3/2016 at 1:23 PM, sqxz said:

 

 

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.

So I actually got an skype interview invitation from Pitts just now.

[Bioenchilada]

OMG! I WAS JUST ADMITTED INTO MY TOP CHOICE. I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!!

[levodopa]

58 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

OMG! I WAS JUST ADMITTED INTO MY TOP CHOICE. I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!!

Congrats!

[biochemm]

1 hour ago, Bioenchilada said:

OMG! I WAS JUST ADMITTED INTO MY TOP CHOICE. I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!!

Congrats! 

EDIT: sorry for the wall of text guys

17 hours ago, peachypie said:

So all of your other interviews have 100% of your interviews with potential POIs? is that what I'm hearing.  so like you have 4-8 POIs at each university and you've managed to get scheduled with all of them? 

Yes, although it was the one dude at UT, 5 at UNC and 6 arranged at UW madison

17 hours ago, peachypie said:

Finding a good fit in a lab to be successful is way more about the relationship and personality of your lab and you and a lot less about the research being "interesting"

 I guess we have different priorities here? Never mind the fact that I wouldn't be able to determine the fit of any of the 6+ labs I might actually care about before signing on, because I'm not interviewing with any of the people directly in my field.

17 hours ago, peachypie said:

Try to be a bit more open-minded and see the bigger picture here.  If you feel that BU has screwed up in this regard: cancel it and move on

Already said that I am keeping an open mind in the initial post, I'm still going to the interview because A. its paid for and B. it could turn out that these guys have interesting projects AND be a good fit. I was disappointed because I've already determined that many labs already qualified for the first part. 

It seems like you're being antagonistic for no real reason. I posted asking for experiences in the interviewing weekend since one had already happened, which could have told me about extra time to meet relevant profs or things to note while I was there.

Edited February 4, 2016 by biochemm

[peachypie]

10 minutes ago, biochemm said:

Yes, although it was the one dude at UT, 5 at UNC and 6 arranged at UW madison

 I guess we have different priorities here? Never mind the fact that I wouldn't be able to determine the fit of any of the 6+ labs I might actually care about before signing on, because I'm not interviewing with any of the people directly in my field.

Already said that I am keeping an open mind in the initial post, I'm still going to the interview because A. its paid for and B. it could turn out that these guys have interesting projects AND be a good fit. I was disappointed because I've already determined that many labs already qualified for the first part. 

It seems like you're being antagonistic for no real reason. I posted asking for experiences in the interviewing weekend since one had already happened, which could have told me about extra time to meet relevant profs or things to note while I was there.

You would never be able to determine the fit of a lab from a 30-45 minute interview.  PIs and labs are much more complex than that.  That is your naivete showing.

I'm not being antagonistic but this same exact question has come up a multitude of times in this thread alone.  I'm surprised we are still getting posts about it, just kind of like the clothes stuff.  All of that is just evidence that people are focusing on the wrong things when going through this process.

You are a grown adult and you are about to be a graduate student.  You clearly are smart enough to figure out how to talk to your POIs, you actually had the answer all along by saying...meeting/talking with profs during your visit.  Maybe during a social or poster session, lunches and dinners or happy hours is your time to go and introduce yourself.  Instead you said that this scheduling was possibly due to "getting the leftovers".  You had a negative approach about it, regardless of what you say now.  

Again, I will emphasize....interviews should be about what school/program is best for you.  Not individual PIs.  Do not fall into the *very frequent* trap that you go to a school to work with someone you have in mind.  It VERY frequently doesn't work out the way you anticipate.  When or IF that were to happen you will have wanted to pick a program that even if a PI or lab does not work out will still give you very good training and is a school and program you feel supports you and fits your lifestyle as well as your academic approach.  Again and again and again....do not pick a school based on a lab.  That is putting the cart before the horse.