2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[neuronerd8 1]

2 minutes ago, pcc2129 said:

I'm on a waitlist for their second interview weekend (feb 25). They offered me the first one but I couldn't make it.

ah ok!

so i guess if i just got a waitlist notice- no  interview thats not a good sign... 

congrats to you though!

Edited February 14, 2016 by neuronerd8

[HopefulPHD14 46]

1 hour ago, neuronerd8 said:

can anyone tell me anything about UCSD's waitlist for BMS.....

its my only hope...

also congrats to everyone out there who has offers! you've worked hard for them

 

1 hour ago, pcc2129 said:

I'm on a waitlist for their second interview weekend (feb 25). They offered me the first one but I couldn't make it.

I got a rejection today from them so you both are better off than me!  Best of luck!

[neuronerd8 1]

1 hour ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

I got a rejection today from them so you both are better off than me!  Best of luck!

Im sorry to hear that but hey at least you have some admits and interviews  all to amazing schools !

[Bioenchilada 306]

Dartmouth MCB acceptance today with a fellowship!!

[biochemgirl67 221]

18 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

Dartmouth MCB acceptance today with a fellowship!!

Congrats!  (I didn't know so many first year, university-specific fellowships existed!)

[ms_green_genes 17]

29 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

Dartmouth MCB acceptance today with a fellowship!!

Congratulations!

[Bioenchilada 306]

21 minutes ago, biochemgirl67 said:

Congrats!  (I didn't know so many first year, university-specific fellowships existed!)

Me neither hahaha

[neuronerd8 1]

I'm sorry to post again but I'm desperate for an idea about my chances of being taken off the waitlisted at UCSD BMS ... is there anyone who has any ideas/ people who have been accepted (congrats   btw) but don't think they're going there lol

 

[lilacs 6]

3 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

Dartmouth MCB acceptance today with a fellowship!!

Me too!!!! Just checked my email and also got a fellowship!

[Bioenchilada 306]

10 minutes ago, lilacs said:

Me too!!!! Just checked my email and also got a fellowship!

Congrats!! <3

Was that your top choice?

[lilacs 6]

3 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

Congrats!! <3

Was that your top choice?

Thanks, congrats to you too! Hmm, it was but now I'm not so sure. The fellowship is pretty appealing though.

[Immunolog 9]

On 2/15/2016 at 2:52 PM, neuronerd8 said:

I'm sorry to post again but I'm desperate for an idea about my chances of being taken off the waitlisted at UCSD BMS ... is there anyone who has any ideas/ people who have been accepted (congrats   btw) but don't think they're going there lol

 

I'm not sure about UCSD specifically, but most schools usually extend acceptances expecting about 50% to acccept. Most interviews end early March, so my guess is that accepted applicants will start making official decisions mid-March. Of course this is all speculation as I have no experience with interviews. 

[laxgoal100 48]

1 hour ago, Immunolog said:

I'm not sure about UCSD specifically, but most schools usually extend acceptances expecting about 50% to acccept. Most interviews end early March, so my guess is that accepted applicants will start making official decisions mid-March. Of course this is all speculation as I have no experience with interviews. 

I think that your speculation of 50% is high. Most programs expect 20-30% to accept.

[biochemgirl67 221]

9 hours ago, Immunolog said:

On 2/15/2016 at 4:52 PM, neuronerd8 said:

I'm sorry to post again but I'm desperate for an idea about my chances of being taken off the waitlisted at UCSD BMS ... is there anyone who has any ideas/ people who have been accepted (congrats   btw) but don't think they're going there lol

 

I'm not sure about UCSD specifically, but most schools usually extend acceptances expecting about 50% to acccept. Most interviews end early March, so my guess is that accepted applicants will start making official decisions mid-March. Of course this is all speculation as I have no experience with interviews. 

For what it's worth, UW Immunology has stated they accept ~2/3 of interviewees (so 20/30 people) and 5-7 matriculate.  I think this is probably pretty standard given how much the schools sell themselves.  At Vanderbilt, they had ~30 people per weekend and in the past have had like 5 interview weekends.  They also pretty much guaranteed to everyone on my (first) weekend that we would get an offer, so I think you can count on a high acceptance on the part of the university but students are much lower.

And @neuronerd8, based on the results survey, it seems like waitlists can be hard to get off.  Not impossible, obviously, but at least at my interviews, there seemed to be a good number of people interested in the program that would be more than enough to fill their numbers.  But again, there's a reason why they have waitlists.  It might be better to expect a rejection than to be desperate and cultivate another option so as to be surprised when/if you do get off the waiting list.

[neuronerd8 1]

1 hour ago, biochemgirl67 said:

For what it's worth, UW Immunology has stated they accept ~2/3 of interviewees (so 20/30 people) and 5-7 matriculate.  I think this is probably pretty standard given how much the schools sell themselves.  At Vanderbilt, they had ~30 people per weekend and in the past have had like 5 interview weekends.  They also pretty much guaranteed to everyone on my (first) weekend that we would get an offer, so I think you can count on a high acceptance on the part of the university but students are much lower.

And @neuronerd8, based on the results survey, it seems like waitlists can be hard to get off.  Not impossible, obviously, but at least at my interviews, there seemed to be a good number of people interested in the program that would be more than enough to fill their numbers.  But again, there's a reason why they have waitlists.  It might be better to expect a rejection than to be desperate and cultivate another option so as to be surprised when/if you do get off the waiting list.

Thank you for the honest answer. I have been leaning towards not counting this as an option but I didn't want to make any decisions that would rule out the possibility in case a miracle happens. I guess I'll move on but with still cling to the hope that maybe just maybe it'll work out. If anyone has any further info it's helpful to know what's going on behind those closed doors (or at least imagine something  )

[cytok 0]

4 hours ago, biochemgirl67 said:

For what it's worth, UW Immunology has stated they accept ~2/3 of interviewees (so 20/30 people) and 5-7 matriculate.  I think this is probably pretty standard given how much the schools sell themselves.  At Vanderbilt, they had ~30 people per weekend and in the past have had like 5 interview weekends.  They also pretty much guaranteed to everyone on my (first) weekend that we would get an offer, so I think you can count on a high acceptance on the part of the university but students are much lower.

And @neuronerd8, based on the results survey, it seems like waitlists can be hard to get off.  Not impossible, obviously, but at least at my interviews, there seemed to be a good number of people interested in the program that would be more than enough to fill their numbers.  But again, there's a reason why they have waitlists.  It might be better to expect a rejection than to be desperate and cultivate another option so as to be surprised when/if you do get off the waiting list.

I was just at the UW immunology first weekend. It is one of my top choices (along with Wash U) and sounded like most of the people I talked to would accept an invitation there. The current students seemed to imply that they're interviewing about 10 more students than they usually do and said it will be more difficult to get an acceptance this year than in the past.

[Dank 6]

Hi everyone, sorry if this is out of place, but I'm going to be applying next round for fall 2017. I have read through most of this thread and I am having trouble pinpointing where I should apply and how to figure out which schools may be safe for me to apply to and which ones are completely out of reach. It seems like you all are incredibly knowledgeable about these things at this point, so I would greatly appreciate any advice!

Undergrad Institution: ~60th ranked private liberal arts college
Major(s):  Biology
Minor(s):  none
GPA in Major:  unsure, but probably around 3.5, definitely higher than overall
Overall GPA:  3.35
Position in Class: no ranking
Type of Student: Domestic, LGBT white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 154
V:  158
W:  4.0
B:  Not going to take 

-I am going to retake the GRE, I am a terrible standardized test taker, so hopefully I can do a lot better. 

Research Experience:

Worked in a Biomechanics lab for half junior year and all of senior year at undergrad. I presented a poster of our research at a conference.

I'm currently working as a tech in an immunology lab studying HCV infection and HIV/HCV coinfection at a Harvard affiliated hospital and getting experience with flow cytometry, qpcr, allospot and other lab techniques. I hope to have my name on at least one paper by the end of my 2nd year here or slightly thereafter (working here from 2015-2017). 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

University Dean's List for 4 semesters 

Member of beta beta beta biological honors society senior year of college

Pertinent Activities or Jobs

RA during senior year or college

Special Bonus Points: 

I should be able to get some really strong letters of recommendation from current employer and professor I worked for during undergrad who know me well and want to see me succeed. I should also be able to get a letter from one of the post docs here in the lab who I am working closely with on a project and can attest to my abilities.
Applying to Where: 

• BU
  •  Biomedical Sciences
• Rockefeller,  either
  • Medical Sciences, Systems Physiology and Human Genetics
  • immunology virology and microbiology
• NYU Sackler
  • Biomedical sciences
• Mt Sinai
  • Biomedical sciences
• Weill Cornell
  • Immunology & Microbiology pathogenesis
• Einstein
• UCSF 
  • Tetrad
• UCSD 
  • Biomed
• University of Miami
  • Cancer Bio
• Scripps (Florida)
• Baylor college of medicine
• UVM

I'll appreciate any feedback I can get.

Thanks!

 

 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Dank

[glow_gene 70]

@Dank Why don't you start a "2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results" thread? No harm in getting it started early. I think there would be a lot of people willing to give feedback if it didn't derail the current topic and application cycle. 

[Agent Orange 10]

Nothing better than getting a phone call acceptance from your top choice 10 minutes before a test!

All I need to do now is graduate and I'll be a grad student this fall!

 

Edit: and second acceptance email 1 hour later... Today is a good day (well aside from probably bombing that test)

Edited February 17, 2016 by Agent Orange

[levodopa 9]

3 minutes ago, Agent Orange said:

Nothing better than getting a phone call acceptance from your top choice 10 minutes before a test!

All I need to do now is graduate and I'll be a grad student this fall!

Congrats!

And good luck on your test!

[Dank 6]

@glow_gene Just put the thread up, sorry for derailing. 

 

 

[glow_gene 70]

38 minutes ago, Agent Orange said:

Nothing better than getting a phone call acceptance from your top choice 10 minutes before a test!

All I need to do now is graduate and I'll be a grad student this fall!

 

Edit: and second acceptance email 1 hour later... Today is a good day (well aside from probably bombing that test)

Congrats! Especially on that WashU acceptance!

[biochemgirl67 221]

2 hours ago, cytok said:

I was just at the UW immunology first weekend. It is one of my top choices (along with Wash U) and sounded like most of the people I talked to would accept an invitation there. The current students seemed to imply that they're interviewing about 10 more students than they usually do and said it will be more difficult to get an acceptance this year than in the past.

Oh no!  I wish I hadn't had a conflict and could have gone last weekend.  I was going off what they said in their email a while back but certainly the percents will change.  I really really hope that everything turns out okay.

[Immunolog 9]

On February 17, 2016 at 8:09 PM, laxgoal100 said:

I think that your speculation of 50% is high. Most programs expect 20-30% to accept.

Yes sorry. I meant they offer 50% acceptances expecting 2/3 of those students to actually matriculate. 

[PASD693 5]

A few people received offers from Columbia systems bio today- did anyone else receive one/know if they are done sending offers?