PhD Biomedical/Bioengineering/EE Fall 2016 Profiles

[bob311]

So this is not for me directly, rather it's for my brother.

 

If an ivy league sends out an invite to one of those visit days where he assumes he will be interviewed by his POI, what are the chances you actually get in? It is a mere formality where showing up finalizes your acceptance or is more like we have 4 students here interviewing for 2 spots kinda deal?

Edit: the email is basically like we are so excited, we hope you visit to meet the other grad students, to talk one on one with the professor in your area, all travel reimbursed. ( I assume the language is similar elsewhere).

He is curious because the other program he got in so far there wasn't even an interview. His POI called and accepted him with all the funding etc and dates when he should come to visit. But here, it's a visit then what?

Thanks

Edited January 28, 2016 by bob311

[Edotdl]

17 hours ago, bob311 said:

So this is not for me directly, rather it's for my brother.

 

If an ivy league sends out an invite to one of those visit days where he assumes he will be interviewed by his POI, what are the chances you actually get in? It is a mere formality where showing up finalizes your acceptance or is more like we have 4 students here interviewing for 2 spots kinda deal?

Edit: the email is basically like we are so excited, we hope you visit to meet the other grad students, to talk one on one with the professor in your area, all travel reimbursed. ( I assume the language is similar elsewhere).

He is curious because the other program he got in so far there wasn't even an interview. His POI called and accepted him with all the funding etc and dates when he should come to visit. But here, it's a visit then what?

Thanks

It depends on the program. Generally post-interview acceptance rates are high (ie 50-90%), but interviews definitely do not guarantee an acceptance.

[Jelly]

Is UCSD BioE done sending out invitations? My application is still under review on their website but I've noticed that invitations/rejections were sent out earlier this month.

[madbiochemist]

On 1/28/2016 at 4:56 PM, Dr_Patel said:

I'll be interviewing next week! While I know that I should be able to answer questions on my research and future plans, what is your opinion on reading papers. I plan on reading what the professors generally work on (like from their lab webpage), but do you think there is any real value in reading their papers? Being my first interview, I'm not really sure it could help during the interview, but maybe I'm wrong.

I found it helpful to read papers from each PI I was interviewing with, so I could ask them thoughtful (hopefully) questions about their research projects like why they chose to use one polymer over this similar polymer, why they think they had this particular unexpected result, etc. I had questions prepared about their research in case things got awkward. I feel like it might have helped my interviews and helped me get a feel for each PI as a scientist, because the professors all talked to me for about an hour instead of the scheduled 30 minutes. My first interview I was really really nervous, but when I realized I got to ask these awesome scientists questions about their work for an hour, I actually had a great time.

[pterosaur]

11 hours ago, madbiochemist said:

I found it helpful to read papers from each PI I was interviewing with, so I could ask them thoughtful (hopefully) questions about their research projects like why they chose to use one polymer over this similar polymer, why they think they had this particular unexpected result, etc.

I tried this with the first Skype interview I had, then realized I didn't understand anything in the paper and gave up. Interview still went reasonably well, I think. 

[blacknighterrant]

 

GRE: V/Q/A  159/161/4.5 (only took it once, didn't bother taking it again although I did worse than on practice tests)

Domestic/International (TOEFL/IELTS): Domestic

UG GPA: 3.47 in B.S. in applied physics from Emory

Research experience:

none

 

 

University list (I know this is mostly for PhD, but I applied to only masters programs with the exception of Carnegie Mellon and just put this up in case anyone was curious about masters stats all EE programs):

 

 

UCSD (11/11): USC EE, Carnegie Mellon EE, Virginia Tech, UCLA, UCD, UCI, Purdue, Georgia Tech, UC Merced, University of Florida (Based on the UCSD acceptance, I was being overly pessimistic when I applied, probably should have tried MIT masters and some PhD programs instead of Merced or Davis)

Interviews (--/11) || Rejected (--/11) || Accepted (1/11)

[Extra Espresso]

14 hours ago, madbiochemist said:

I found it helpful to read papers from each PI I was interviewing with, so I could ask them thoughtful (hopefully) questions about their research projects like why they chose to use one polymer over this similar polymer, why they think they had this particular unexpected result, etc. I had questions prepared about their research in case things got awkward. 

 

2 hours ago, pterosaur said:

I tried this with the first Skype interview I had, then realized I didn't understand anything in the paper and gave up. Interview still went reasonably well, I think. 

I did this for my Skype interview as well, but the professor wanted to give me an overview of his research for our Skype interview so it didn't end up being necessary. He did invite me to the formal interview weekend at the university and told me to ask to interview with him, so I'm assuming the second time around I'll be able to discuss potential ideas with him more. 

[MEMP_student]

17 hours ago, madbiochemist said:

I found it helpful to read papers from each PI I was interviewing with, so I could ask them thoughtful (hopefully) questions about their research projects like why they chose to use one polymer over this similar polymer, why they think they had this particular unexpected result, etc. I had questions prepared about their research in case things got awkward. I feel like it might have helped my interviews and helped me get a feel for each PI as a scientist, because the professors all talked to me for about an hour instead of the scheduled 30 minutes. My first interview I was really really nervous, but when I realized I got to ask these awesome scientists questions about their work for an hour, I actually had a great time.

Sorry to keep spamming you, but can you give me an idea of the type of questions they ask during the interview. Will they want me to explain individual methods and algorithms, or will they be asking why I used one method over the other. For example, while I know what all the algorithms I use do, I am not as familiar with some of the more intricate math (my graduate student helped me a lot). I guess my question is if they will want me to describe the algorithms/methods, or if they just want to make sure why you did something over the other.

An analogous question would be if they ask me how a mass spectrometer works, or just what it does? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks for all your help by the way!

[madbiochemist]

1 hour ago, Dr_Patel said:

Sorry to keep spamming you, but can you give me an idea of the type of questions they ask during the interview. Will they want me to explain individual methods and algorithms, or will they be asking why I used one method over the other. For example, while I know what all the algorithms I use do, I am not as familiar with some of the more intricate math (my graduate student helped me a lot). I guess my question is if they will want me to describe the algorithms/methods, or if they just want to make sure why you did something over the other.

An analogous question would be if they ask me how a mass spectrometer works, or just what it does? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks for all your help by the way!

Er, I that would vary based on who you're interviewing with. Some faculty really like puzzle questions, some people will have you do math, some (majority) just want to know you'll be a hardworking/decent scientist. I can't say for sure that you'll get a certain type of question over another. Keep in mind that interviews are usually 30 minutes. They could ask those really specific questions, but I think people tend to want to know that you can design an experiment to test an interesting hypothesis and then be able to interpret your data. They're not so interested in whether or not you know exactly how mass spec works, but if it's an integral part of your previous work they might ask some basic questions about how it works. Here are some examples that I could see happening:

1. You're an imaging student and you included an MRI-based project in your SOP. You should know how MRI works, its limitations vs other imaging methods, and how MRI helped you with your project.

2. You're a CTE student who was characterizing a population of cells using FACs. You should know the surface markers you used, maybe some other populations that would have been in your sample, and maybe what those surface markers are. You should probably generally know how flow cytometry works. 

Another fun question is if they present you with a hypothesis similar to what they do or what you included in your SOP and ask you how you'd test it. 

For the most part, they'll just want to know what you did, why you did it, why you're going to grad school, and what projects you're interested in being involved with.

Just know your research as well as you can. Practice going though each project in <2 minutes and <5 minutes. Try to learn a bit about their research if you have time. Really, if you're interested in their work and you were interested in your work it'll be fine. I know it's stressful, but really try and take the opportunity to learn about someone else's research!  

[disasterprone]

Hey all, current BioE PhD student at Stanford here. Feel free to post or PM me with questions about interviews or about Stanford/Palo Alto in general. I can also try to answer questions about the other programs I was deciding between. 

[aksiksi]

I got an unofficial admission from Georgia Tech ECE. I had a Skype chat with the coordinator of the subarea I applied to (VLSI), and he mentioned that I also was selected for a 1 year TAship. The official letter should arrive in 2 weeks. Pretty psyched!

I have not heard anything from my other choices however. UMich and UCB specifically have already sent out acceptances and interview notices as far as I can tell, so that's kind of worrying. I applied just before the deadline, so maybe that's what's delaying things?

Anyhow good luck to everyone else

[Extra Espresso]

Well, I am officially going to be attending graduate school next year! I received an admissions offer from Cornell this morning. It is definitely reassuring going into my interviews knowing that whatever happens, I will be able to go to graduate school next year. Plus, I had an awesome research fit with Cornell, so I can't wait to visit there! If I get other offers, I'm going to have a really hard decision in my future.....

[aegis921]

56 minutes ago, Extra Espresso said:

Well, I am officially going to be attending graduate school next year! I received an admissions offer from Cornell this morning. It is definitely reassuring going into my interviews knowing that whatever happens, I will be able to go to graduate school next year. Plus, I had an awesome research fit with Cornell, so I can't wait to visit there! If I get other offers, I'm going to have a really hard decision in my future.....

Congratulations! It's a great feeling

[jjjjjelly]

Interview invite from Columbia!

[Jelly]

45 minutes ago, jjjjjelly said:

Interview invite from Columbia!

Me too! But can't attend :'( Going to try and see if they have an alternative time to visit

[2yuexue]

Anyone know how Columbia handles the date conflict for their interview weekend?  On the email, it says if you do have conflict let them know and they will try to arrange a different date.  But I don't see any where that they have another interview weekend.

[jjjjjelly]

2 hours ago, Jelly said:

Me too! But can't attend :'( Going to try and see if they have an alternative time to visit

 

1 hour ago, 2yuexue said:

Anyone know how Columbia handles the date conflict for their interview weekend?  On the email, it says if you do have conflict let them know and they will try to arrange a different date.  But I don't see any where that they have another interview weekend.

Same here. I'm guessing many people have this problem since several interviews are that weekend and they notified us pretty late. The coordinator asked me if I was available a different weekend, so it's possible they might coordinate an alternate weekend depending on the our availability?

[2yuexue]

Just now, jjjjjelly said:

 

Same here. I'm guessing many people have this problem since several interviews are that weekend and they notified us pretty late. The coordinator asked me if I was available a different weekend, so it's possible they might coordinate an alternate weekend depending on the our availability?

Did you email or call?  Did the coordinator sound to have another group interview for a different date or just an individual visit?  With Harvard and UCSD still to announce, it is really hard to say which date is available....

[Jelly]

4 minutes ago, jjjjjelly said:

 

Same here. I'm guessing many people have this problem since several interviews are that weekend and they notified us pretty late. The coordinator asked me if I was available a different weekend, so it's possible they might coordinate an alternate weekend depending on the our availability?

Congrats btw! Unfortunately, I am booked during the late week/weekend time until late March so the alternate "weekend" wouldn't work too well. I'm trying to see if I can come in on a Monday because I don't have classes then and I'm only a 5-hour bus ride from the city. It's probably very dependent on when the faculty who showed mutual interest are available though, so we'll see. Visiting to see the fit is key and I would prefer an in-person interview over a skype interview if possible. These are good problems to have though! Congrats again!

[jjjjjelly]

1 hour ago, 2yuexue said:

Did you email or call?  Did the coordinator sound to have another group interview for a different date or just an individual visit?  With Harvard and UCSD still to announce, it is really hard to say which date is available....

I e-mailed! Didn't get a response yet since I e-mailed after business hours. Yeah, I'm still waiting on Harvard and UCSD, but I think their interview dates already passed.

 

1 hour ago, Jelly said:

Congrats btw! Unfortunately, I am booked during the late week/weekend time until late March so the alternate "weekend" wouldn't work too well. I'm trying to see if I can come in on a Monday because I don't have classes then and I'm only a 5-hour bus ride from the city. It's probably very dependent on when the faculty who showed mutual interest are available though, so we'll see. Visiting to see the fit is key and I would prefer an in-person interview over a skype interview if possible. These are good problems to have though! Congrats again!

Congrats to you too! Did you happen to get a specific date of an alternate weekend? My March is pretty booked as well! And yeah, since Columbia is so match based, I imagine the interview is mainly dependent on who wants to speak to you anyway.

[Extra Espresso]

6 hours ago, aegis921 said:

Congratulations! It's a great feeling

Thank you!!  It really is!

5 hours ago, jjjjjelly said:

Interview invite from Columbia!

Same here, hooray!

2 hours ago, 2yuexue said:

Did you email or call?  Did the coordinator sound to have another group interview for a different date or just an individual visit?  With Harvard and UCSD still to announce, it is really hard to say which date is available....

If you are waiting on UCSD BioE, I know they sent a round of interview notifications about three weeks ago for an interview next weekend. I am not sure if they still plan on sending more. 

2 hours ago, pali123 said:

U Washington just released rejections

Wow, I'm really surprised they did rejections and interview notifications in the same day! I'm sorry if you got bad news.  

57 minutes ago, jjjjjelly said:

I e-mailed! Didn't get a response yet since I e-mailed after business hours. Yeah, I'm still waiting on Harvard and UCSD, but I think their interview dates already passed.

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Harvard doesn't do a formal interview weekend but instead just accepts outright? I haven't seen anything in the survey or here except @pterosaur's informal interviews with POIs. For UCSD, as I said above, I know they have an interview next weekend that they have sent all of the invites for, but I do not know if they are done with interviews or not. 

[jjjjjelly]

47 minutes ago, Extra Espresso said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Harvard doesn't do a formal interview weekend but instead just accepts outright? I haven't seen anything in the survey or here except @pterosaur's informal interviews with POIs. For UCSD, as I said above, I know they have an interview next weekend that they have sent all of the invites for, but I do not know if they are done with interviews or not. 

Ahh okay, that's good to know

[Extra Espresso]

1 hour ago, jjjjjelly said:

Ahh okay, that's good to know

I feel like you and @Jelly need to get together so we can have a jjjjjjelly or jjjjjellyJelly.  

[Jelly]

2 minutes ago, Extra Espresso said:

I feel like you and @Jelly need to get together so we can have a jjjjjjelly or jjjjjellyJelly.  

Haha, true! I swear it wasn't intentional, but when I @jjjjjelly's name, I laughed so hard. Now we just need a "peanut butter" somewhere so we can break out into the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song to de-stress before interviews haha 

[jjjjjelly]

45 minutes ago, Jelly said:

Haha, true! I swear it wasn't intentional, but when I @jjjjjelly's name, I laughed so hard. Now we just need a "peanut butter" somewhere so we can break out into the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song to de-stress before interviews haha 

it was fate!