2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Gram Positive]

UIUC MCB!! Unfortunately, it overlaps with another interview...hmm

[biosci]

2 minutes ago, Gram Positive said:

UIUC MCB!! Unfortunately, it overlaps with another interview...hmm

congrats!

[Gram Positive]

Just now, biosci said:

congrats!

Thanks!

[Ferroportin]

7 hours ago, airchina said:

Hey guys, new to GradCafe. Just wanted to provide an update for my application progress:

UW (Seattle): My only invite so far. I received an e-mail on Dec 17 for interview invitation. I'll be heading up for the first session, Feb 2-3 (The other session is Feb 3-4). Does anyone know how many interview invites are sent for UW (Seattle)? And how many acceptances? 

Harvard & UCLA: I noticed in the survey that people received interview invites from Harvard & UCLA. Does anyone know if that will be it for these programs? I think that may be it for Harvard at this point b/c their interviews are in late January, but UCLA?

I applied to 8 total programs and have only received one interview invite so far, so I'm hoping there will be more interview waves coming. Thanks, everyone for your posts so far -- glad other people are in the same boat as me. 

 

For UCLA I think it depends on which home program you applied to. For me, I did the MCIP program and their program admin said that interview invites would go out in late January and the interview date would be late Feb. While I know that people who applied to the Gene Regulation home program have gotten interview invites already. 

[bicsy]

12 minutes ago, biosci said:

Me too!  I come from a small liberal arts school and don't have any publications, so I really had no idea how to gauge my application.  So happy.

Also, just heard from CSHL that I can attend the other weekend

Plus, visit to the optometrist today to get new contacts, so great day  

That's great news! I emailed Harvard about my conflict but I'm not really expecting to hear back until Jan. 4th when their offices reopen. 

[pot8o]

24 minutes ago, Gram Positive said:

UIUC MCB!! Unfortunately, it overlaps with another interview...hmm

Congrats on the interview! UIUC is a hidden gem imo. Great to see someone else on the forum other than myself also apply to that school  

[laxgoal100]

I emailed the tetrad coordinator and he said "we will send out our invites in early january." I guess there is still hope but it sounds like they have already been inviting people!

 

 

[Bourbaki]

1 hour ago, biosci said:

Me too!  I come from a small liberal arts school and don't have any publications, so I really had no idea how to gauge my application.  So happy.

Also, just heard from CSHL that I can attend the other weekend

Plus, visit to the optometrist today to get new contacts, so great day  

Congrats! What date is the other weekend for CSHL?

Edited December 23, 2015 by Bourbaki

[biosci]

5 minutes ago, Bourbaki said:

Congrats! What date is the other weekend for CSHL?

Thanks!  The dates are Jan 20-24 or Feb 3-7

[peachypie]

11 hours ago, Arabella505 said:

Hello everyone. I'm international applicant and wondering whether internationals receive invitations later than domestic applicants. Do you think it's annoying to e-mail them about my application status? I think they did not update it.

 

I would not email them, just wait for them to get back to you.  decisions can occur anytime from right after application deadline all the way up into april.

[Arabella505]

3 hours ago, peachypie said:

I would not email them, just wait for them to get back to you.  decisions can occur anytime from right after application deadline all the way up into april.

I saw posters in the gradcafe website where applicants had already received invitations to the interview from the programs I applied, so I was so nervous so much I e-mailed them before you replied  anyway that was a polite letter, let's see. I don't think they won't consider my application because of this letter, but omg who knows...

 

[ms_green_genes]

3 hours ago, biosci said:

Me too!  I come from a small liberal arts school and don't have any publications, so I really had no idea how to gauge my application.  So happy.

Also, just heard from CSHL that I can attend the other weekend

Plus, visit to the optometrist today to get new contacts, so great day  

Congratulations on 9 out of 13 interviews so far! I have a feeling more are coming your way, too. How many do you think you'll try to attend? And however are you going to choose which interviews to accept from all those great schools?

[runner2016]

Has anyone tried/has success in arranging an alternative date for UCSD BMS interviews?

[biosci]

4 minutes ago, AmyShelton said:

Congratulations on 9 out of 13 interviews so far! I have a feeling more are coming your way, too. How many do you think you'll try to attend? And however are you going to choose which interviews to accept from all those great schools?

Thank you!  It sounds like your daughter's doing very well too, so my congrats to her .  I am going to attend as many as I can.  2 are at the same school, so I am trying to combine them (also flying straight from another school to this interview).  Basically have almost every weekend in Jan & Feb booked.  Unfortunately, means a lot of traveling (I'm on the West coast and only 1 of my interviews is...) and a lot of missed class.  My school has a January term (1 class, 2 1/2 hrs a day, 4 days a week) and I am going to miss 9/16 days, so am kinda panicking.  Going to see if I can maybe take pass/fail.  Also going to miss about half of February, so hopefully I can work things out with my professors.  One of the great things about coming from a really small school is that the whole school of science has been incredibly supportive of me, so I am hoping we can figure something out. 

[ms_green_genes]

43 minutes ago, biosci said:

Thank you!  It sounds like your daughter's doing very well too, so my congrats to her .  I am going to attend as many as I can.  2 are at the same school, so I am trying to combine them (also flying straight from another school to this interview).  Basically have almost every weekend in Jan & Feb booked.  Unfortunately, means a lot of traveling (I'm on the West coast and only 1 of my interviews is...) and a lot of missed class.  My school has a January term (1 class, 2 1/2 hrs a day, 4 days a week) and I am going to miss 9/16 days, so am kinda panicking.  Going to see if I can maybe take pass/fail.  Also going to miss about half of February, so hopefully I can work things out with my professors.  One of the great things about coming from a really small school is that the whole school of science has been incredibly supportive of me, so I am hoping we can figure something out. 

Yes, my daughter has 5 invites so far. Waiting until Jan for Rockefeller and Stanford. If she gets those interviews, she'll be traveling 6 weekends in a row. Unfortunately, she's booked for Columbia's two offered weekends and for the alternate they gave her. They told her they'd be willing to fly her in at another time, but it would just be for a day of faculty interviews, and they wouldn't be able to arrange spending time with the current grad students. Although she could probably arrange to meet up with a couple on her own for dinner the day of arrival. She's trying to figure out how to work it into her travel and work schedule. She really wants to see the campus, meet professors, etc.

Do you absolutely need your January class to graduate? If not, could you withdraw, just to ease your stress levels? Maybe you can take even more classes pass/fail. If you have to take the January class, I'd suggest trying to get the syllabus and assignments now, so you can do a lot of prep work during winter break. 

[breaker746]

54 minutes ago, runner2016 said:

Has anyone tried/has success in arranging an alternative date for UCSD BMS interviews?

I need to reschedule mine as well-- person who called about the interview indicated that it was possible to arrange a separate weekend in March or something but I have yet to reschedule until I hear back from one more school. 

[phd-wannabe]

Is Harvard MCO sending out more invites after New Year?

Edited December 23, 2015 by phd-wannabe
Typo

[Gram Neutral]

4 hours ago, Gram Positive said:

UIUC MCB!! Unfortunately, it overlaps with another interview...hmm

What is up with schools releasing invites before their due dates? Seems strange to me. Congrats! Btw is it the first weekend in March? Every year they make it over that weekend and I don't understand why. It's the weekend of one of the biggest parties in the country and the population is at least 2x as big as normal. The school also hates it, so I'm surprised they would want to showcase that. 

Edited December 23, 2015 by Gram Neutral

[Gram Positive]

17 minutes ago, Gram Neutral said:

What is up with schools releasing invites before their due dates? Seems strange to me. Congrats! 

Thanks! Quite strange indeed. I submitted my application in early November so maybe they reviewed it early. In fact, I just got an email yesterday from UIUC verifying my application was complete (hmmmm...lol). They made the interview weekend Feb 25-26 - now I know why  

Edited December 23, 2015 by Gram Positive

[airchina]

4 hours ago, Ferroportin said:

For UCLA I think it depends on which home program you applied to. For me, I did the MCIP program and their program admin said that interview invites would go out in late January and the interview date would be late Feb. While I know that people who applied to the Gene Regulation home program have gotten interview invites already. 

Thanks -- meant to say that I'm applying to Neuroscience programs (for UCLA it's the NSIDP). 

[phd-wannabe]

33 minutes ago, phd-wannabe said:

Is Harvard MCO sending out more invites after New Year?

I just called them to ask if they are done sending out interview invites, but the lady told me I would know before she does... lol not helpful at all

[novicescientist]

Hi guys!! 

I am a 1st time applicant (like many of you) full of anxiety about the application process. I have applied to 16 schools, below is the list of the schools where I have submitted my PhD candidacy and I have taken the liberty to add my application portfolio. Can you all let me know if you have heard from the schools in my list? thanks!!! 

Undergraduate: Unkown small school (Graduated in 2012)

   Study Abroad: Trinity College Dublin (2011)

Cummlative GPA: 3.331

GRE: Q: 160, V: 148, W: 4.0

Publications:  1 - Nature Communications, 1 - Nature Medicine, 1 - Life Science and Molecular Biology, 1 - Immunologic Research (all 2nd authors)

Abstracts: 5

Scientific Awards: 1 - Best abstract award, 1 - Poster of Distinction, 1 - Small seed grant (which I recieved two days ago - it was not in my CV for when I applied) 

Awards: Benjamin Gilman Scholar, DAAD-RISE Germany Scholar, and National Society of Leadership and Success.

Scientific Presentation: Undergraduate senior year project, University of Griefswald Germany, Trinity College Dublin,and Stanford University 

Current employment: Stanford University (2013-present)

Universtities where I have applied and their responses:

    University of Alabama Birmingham - Interview invite Feb 18-20th (PhD Immunology)

    University of Michigan - Rejected on December 22nd (PhD Immunology)

    Duke University - Rejected on December 17th (PhD Immunology)

    UCSD - PhD Immunology

    UC-Davis - PhD Immunology

    Penn State - PhD Immunology

   Thomas Jefferson Universtiy - PhD Immunology

   UPenn - PhD Immunology

   NYU - PhD Immunology

   Stanford University - PhD Immunology

   UCSF -  Rejected on December 23rd (I called) PhD Immunology

   Washington Universtiy - St. Louis - PhD Immunology

   UT-Southwestern - PhD Immunology

   University of Virginia - PhD Immunology 

   Georgia Tech - PhD Biomedical Engineering (Concentration in Immunotherapy) 

   Boston University - PhD Immunology

Edited December 23, 2015 by novicescientist
updating the comment

[partydon'tstarttillIwalkin]

As someone else in this forum already did, I emailed UCSF BMS admissions. they told me that all the interview invitations were sent out. I knew UCSF was a reach school for me, but the research fit and the tissue/organ specialization were so attractive. one school crossed off. 

Edited December 23, 2015 by partydon'tstarttillIwalkin
typo

[ms_green_genes]

1 hour ago, Gram Neutral said:

What is up with schools releasing invites before their due dates? Seems strange to me. Congrats! Btw is it the first weekend in March? Every year they make it over that weekend and I don't understand why. It's the weekend of one of the biggest parties in the country and the population is at least 2x as big as normal. The school also hates it, so I'm surprised they would want to showcase that. 

Many schools have a rolling policy, often with a priority deadline. They'll rank the apps received as of that date, issue the first round of invites, then release more invites as new apps are received up to the final deadline. It's possible that some people who meet the priority deadline may never get an invite, while some who submit on the final deadline do.

Some schools also have rolling acceptances, such as Vandy and UNC-Chapel Hill. They'll offer some acceptances right after each interview date, and may release more from the earlier dates after the last date has taken place. 

[novicescientist]

@partydon'tstarttillIwalkin Thanks, I just called and they said the same thing.. DANG!!!