PhD Biomedical/Bioengineering/EE Fall 2016 Profiles

[tuckbro]

25 minutes ago, Jelly said:

It looks updated now, as it shows arrival dates for the day before the interview dates. I'm guessing that we make travel arrangments ourselves, as there is a reimbursement form on the website for after we interview. 

@tuckbroWhen you interviewed, did you arrive the day before the two interview dates? And did you stay for both days or just one? Thanks! Look forward to seeing some of you guys there!  

 

Things were pretty messed up my year and some of us were contacted while Enroute to meet with people on travel day  I barely made mine, some people were in the air and missed them. The intent was for us to travel get settled have dinner with grad students and interview the next day.  It didn't work out that way for some of us! I assumed certain professors suddenly couldn't meet on the scheduled day .  

Yes I did stay for the entire program.

 I only cut one interview program short, Columbia, because I had to fly cross country and left a few hours earlyto make my flight.  

 

[microbiologynerd]

FYI everyone got confirmation from the MIT BE office that they are still in the process of sending out interviews!

[aegis921]

1 hour ago, microbiologynerd said:

FYI everyone got confirmation from the MIT BE office that they are still in the process of sending out interviews!

Ah! I had pretty much resigned to my fate of being rejected from the BE department. I feel better about my applications to other MIT programs, but some closure would be nice! 

[hungerenemy]

Hi everyone, 

Sorry if I am in the wrong forum (this seems to be the only active one) . My bff got into Berkeley ChemE few days back and is awaiting results from MIT and Stanford. Any updates on these ? One of his friend has already got an invitation from Stanford but he hasn't received any notifications from them. Does that sound like a rejection? Thanks for the help.

Edit : He seems to have got an email from Berkeley ChemE that they have recommended him for the admission and he should receive an official letter from Dean soon. I believe this equals to an acceptance or should we be worried? Thanks 

Edited January 15, 2016 by hungerenemy

[tuckbro]

8 hours ago, aegis921 said:

Ah! I had pretty much resigned to my fate of being rejected from the BE department. I feel better about my applications to other MIT programs, but some closure would be nice!

Hmm, that's odd...I guess time will tell.  I hope it is true, but that did not happen my year.

[Extra Espresso]

7 hours ago, hungerenemy said:

Hi everyone, 

Sorry if I am in the wrong forum (this seems to be the only active one) . My bff got into Berkeley ChemE few days back and is awaiting results from MIT and Stanford. Any updates on these ? One of his friend has already got an invitation from Stanford but he hasn't received any notifications from them. Does that sound like a rejection? Thanks for the help.

Edit : He seems to have got an email from Berkeley ChemE that they have recommended him for the admission and he should receive an official letter from Dean soon. I believe this equals to an acceptance or should we be worried? Thanks 

Did he apply to Stanford and MIT ChemE or BioE/BE? From what I can tell about BioE/BE is that MIT has at least begun sending invites but may not be finished and Stanford does not appear to have started sending invites. I can't speak at all for the ChemE programs though. The Grad Café Survey would be a great place to check to get ideas about if those programs have started sending invites! 

[Edotdl]

Just got an interview from Berkeley/UCSF BioE!

[tuckbro]

13 hours ago, microbiologynerd said:

FYI everyone got confirmation from the MIT BE office that they are still in the process of sending out interviews!

You are correct!  Someone just posted on results that they received an invite today.  Good luck!

[MEMP_student]

20 hours ago, Edotdl said:

It's on the bottom of the link that they sent with the list of professors. The dates in the form don't seem to be updated for this year though, last time I checked. 

Guys, I am still so confused. I do not know where this link with the list of professors is!! The attached picture is the email that JHU sent me telling me I got an interview. I replied back both to this email and to Dr. Reza Shadmehr telling them I would go to the first interview weekend on February 4-5. They have not replied back, and there was not a link attached to this original email. Did you guys get a response email back with the list of professors, or was this link in the original email itself? Help!!

[Edotdl]

5 minutes ago, Dr_Patel said:

Guys, I am still so confused. I do not know where this link with the list of professors is!! The attached picture is the email that JHU sent me telling me I got an interview. I replied back both to this email and to Dr. Reza Shadmehr telling them I would go to the first interview weekend on February 4-5. They have not replied back, and there was not a link attached to this original email. Did you guys get a response email back with the list of professors, or was this link in the original email itself? Help!!

You seem to have gotten a different email than us, since it seems your interests are imaging.'

Edit: They also seem to have changed the form again, now it's only listing faculty preferences (nothing about travel arrangements).

Edited January 15, 2016 by Edotdl

[Extra Espresso]

4 hours ago, Dr_Patel said:

Guys, I am still so confused. I do not know where this link with the list of professors is!! The attached picture is the email that JHU sent me telling me I got an interview. I replied back both to this email and to Dr. Reza Shadmehr telling them I would go to the first interview weekend on February 4-5. They have not replied back, and there was not a link attached to this original email. Did you guys get a response email back with the list of professors, or was this link in the original email itself? Help!!

Agreed on that you got a different e-mail than me! My e-mail was basically like you can interview either weekend and here is a list of when professors are available/not available so you can make sure the ones you want to interview with will be there when you interview. They probably didn't send it to you since they wanted you to attend the first weekend!

[Haiqing]

5 hours ago, Edotdl said:

Just got an interview from Berkeley/UCSF BioE!

Congrats! Will they send out all the invitations within one day? Since I haven't received anything from UCB, I assume they reject me...So sad.. My dream school..

[Edotdl]

6 minutes ago, Haiqing said:

Congrats! Will they send out all the invitations within one day? Since I haven't received anything from UCB, I assume they reject me...So sad.. My dream school..

We were asked to RSVP by 1/25, idk if that helps

[madbiochemist]

On 1/13/2016 at 5:45 PM, Tecumseh30 said:

Look forward to meeting you too! I was wondering how important it is to interview with the professor whom you would like to work with because the professor I wanted to meet isn't available one of the dates?

It helps to interview with that person, but it's not necessary for admission. I would suggest emailing them to ask whether you could speak to them over the phone or via skype if you haven't talked to them before. That way you can talk about available projects, fit, the lab environment, etc. We'll match you with people in your general interest group so your interviewer won't be totally out of the blue. Plus, you might find that a professor you've never looked into is doing something really awesome and want to work in their lab or do a collaboration instead! 

On 1/14/2016 at 7:42 PM, Dr_Patel said:

Congratulations to everyone who got interviews at JHU. I received one as well. Potentially a very, very stupid question, but how do the travel arrangements work. Should I buy a plane ticket today, book hotels, etc. right now and then save all the receipts for reimbursements later? Or will JHU take care of things like the hotel on their end?

 

On 1/14/2016 at 0:57 PM, Jelly said:

Hi guys, new to the forum. Also got invited to interview at JHU. Couldn't be more excited!

I second this question. Coming from out-of-state, are we supposed to make travel arrangements are selves and fill out the preferences form? Or will they give us travel arrangements based on what dates we tell them? It was fairly vague with what they sent us. 

No, don't purchase your plane ticket or hotel! An email should be coming your way soon from our travel agent for booking flights and the department will book your hotel. Reimbursement takes a while, be forewarned. Don't be afraid to send multiple emails. Our administrative assistant does the work of 10 people, but sometimes she gets pretty swamped.

On 1/14/2016 at 10:04 PM, Dr_Patel said:

Perhaps you can tell us how important the interview is? As in, do you roughly know the post interview acceptance rate?

It's pretty high (70% is a good estimate), but I think that's indicative of the caliber of students we invite, not whether the interviews are easy or not. Some interviewers do ask incredibly challenging questions, but their main goals are to see how you fit with the program, that you think critically, and you're on your way to becoming a good scientist. Basically, you should prepare to interview with the professors you chose on your form by reading their papers and coming up with some questions, read through your personal statement again and really know your research, and have some questions about the program/Baltimore/Hopkins ready to go. 

If you have any more questions about Hopkins, feel free to message me. I know the pre-interview anxiety was terrible on my nerves/mental health, so I'm willing to help out.

[madbiochemist]

4 hours ago, Dr_Patel said:

Guys, I am still so confused. I do not know where this link with the list of professors is!! The attached picture is the email that JHU sent me telling me I got an interview. I replied back both to this email and to Dr. Reza Shadmehr telling them I would go to the first interview weekend on February 4-5. They have not replied back, and there was not a link attached to this original email. Did you guys get a response email back with the list of professors, or was this link in the original email itself? Help!!

The dates for you are different because a bunch of imaging professors got together and decided they only wanted to do one weekend this year... Sigh...

If you guys just wait a bit, we're sending out an informational email in the next few days to all of the interviewees. Email which day you want to attend, but please wait on booking flights. 

[Jen939708]

Hi everyone, I'm another 1st year BME PhD student at JHU that is part of the team coordinating this year's recruitment. 

You will receive emails from myself and our Program Coordinator over the next few weeks that elaborate more on the issues you all brought up (and restate this information), but just to clarify for now:

• Interview invites: Not all of the JHU BME PhD Interview emails have been sent out (apologies, but there are some administrative things things that will delay some emails). Do not worry if you have not heard anything yet. I can't elaborate on exactly what is holding up emails, because it could differ for each person 
• Interview dates: The interview "weekend" dates are set (February 4th/5th and February 18th/19th). I believe one of the focus area groups requested that all of their students come to only one of the two interview weekends dates so you may have received a different email, but many of the details are still being finalized. I'm not sure if this will change.
• Faculty Preference form: We just updated the form on the faculty preference website this morning. Apologies if you tried filling out the previous form. We want to begin coordinating faculty schedules with the interviewees as soon as possible so we cannot wait for you to have your flight information to fill out that form.
• Faculty Preferences: We realize that not all of your preferred professors are on the provided list. If there are other professors you want to meet, list them in the additional comments section and just choose the top 6 otherwise. Make a note in the additional comments section about this. There can be several reasons as to why they are not listed, but this does not mean you cannot meet with them (I wouldn't suggest emailing them directly to ask about this at the current time. Let us see what we can do first. If you get your final faculty interview schedule and they are not listed, feel free to ask then). 
• When will my faculty interviews be set? Potentially not until the week of your interview. Professor schedules are very fluid and we want any information we send to be as accurate as possible.
• Flight/Transportation Information: I'm not sure when, but if you received an email inviting you to interview, you will, a few days after, get an email from a travel agent that will help coordinate your travel. DO NOT book your flights on your own. It makes reimbursements more difficult. 
• Reimbursements (Speaking of...): You will be reimbursed for your flights and some other transportation needs. We are also providing transportation when you arrive in Baltimore, but you likely will not get the details on that part of transportation until the week of your interviews. 
• Interviewee Forms to fill out: If you received an invite, please fill out faculty preferences asap. You will receive another email from myself once the travel agency finalizes your flights that will ask you to fill out flight information, food preferences/allergies, and other details that we will need to make your recruitment schedule a lot of fun (and so we can make sure you're not stranded when you get to Baltimore). 

If you have any other questions, I wouldn't suggest spamming the Program Coordinator (she is currently working on fielding many emails from both interviewees and professors). Keep in mind that many of your questions will be answered in emails to come. We haven't yet emailed all of the details because we want to make sure the most accurate information is provided.  

Message me directly if you have any other concerns/questions and I'll respond with as many details as I can be sure of.

[Extra Espresso]

18 hours ago, Jen939708 said:

Hi everyone, I'm another 1st year BME PhD student at JHU that is part of the team coordinating this year's recruitment. 

You will receive emails from myself and our Program Coordinator over the next few weeks that elaborate more on the issues you all brought up (and restate this information), but just to clarify for now:

• Interview invites: Not all of the JHU BME PhD Interview emails have been sent out (apologies, but there are some administrative things things that will delay some emails). Do not worry if you have not heard anything yet. I can't elaborate on exactly what is holding up emails, because it could differ for each person 
• Interview dates: The interview "weekend" dates are set (February 4th/5th and February 18th/19th). I believe one of the focus area groups requested that all of their students come to only one of the two interview weekends dates so you may have received a different email, but many of the details are still being finalized. I'm not sure if this will change.
• Faculty Preference form: We just updated the form on the faculty preference website this morning. Apologies if you tried filling out the previous form. We want to begin coordinating faculty schedules with the interviewees as soon as possible so we cannot wait for you to have your flight information to fill out that form.
• Faculty Preferences: We realize that not all of your preferred professors are on the provided list. If there are other professors you want to meet, list them in the additional comments section and just choose the top 6 otherwise. Make a note in the additional comments section about this. There can be several reasons as to why they are not listed, but this does not mean you cannot meet with them (I wouldn't suggest emailing them directly to ask about this at the current time. Let us see what we can do first. If you get your final faculty interview schedule and they are not listed, feel free to ask then). 
• When will my faculty interviews be set? Potentially not until the week of your interview. Professor schedules are very fluid and we want any information we send to be as accurate as possible.
• Flight/Transportation Information: I'm not sure when, but if you received an email inviting you to interview, you will, a few days after, get an email from a travel agent that will help coordinate your travel. DO NOT book your flights on your own. It makes reimbursements more difficult. 
• Reimbursements (Speaking of...): You will be reimbursed for your flights and some other transportation needs. We are also providing transportation when you arrive in Baltimore, but you likely will not get the details on that part of transportation until the week of your interviews. 
• Interviewee Forms to fill out: If you received an invite, please fill out faculty preferences asap. You will receive another email from myself once the travel agency finalizes your flights that will ask you to fill out flight information, food preferences/allergies, and other details that we will need to make your recruitment schedule a lot of fun (and so we can make sure you're not stranded when you get to Baltimore). 

If you have any other questions, I wouldn't suggest spamming the Program Coordinator (she is currently working on fielding many emails from both interviewees and professors). Keep in mind that many of your questions will be answered in emails to come. We haven't yet emailed all of the details because we want to make sure the most accurate information is provided.  

Message me directly if you have any other concerns/questions and I'll respond with as many details as I can be sure of.

Thank you for the extremely informative post!

[Jelly]

On 1/15/2016 at 3:13 PM, Jen939708 said:

Hi everyone, I'm another 1st year BME PhD student at JHU that is part of the team coordinating this year's recruitment. 

You will receive emails from myself and our Program Coordinator over the next few weeks that elaborate more on the issues you all brought up (and restate this information), but just to clarify for now:

• Interview invites: Not all of the JHU BME PhD Interview emails have been sent out (apologies, but there are some administrative things things that will delay some emails). Do not worry if you have not heard anything yet. I can't elaborate on exactly what is holding up emails, because it could differ for each person 
• Interview dates: The interview "weekend" dates are set (February 4th/5th and February 18th/19th). I believe one of the focus area groups requested that all of their students come to only one of the two interview weekends dates so you may have received a different email, but many of the details are still being finalized. I'm not sure if this will change.
• Faculty Preference form: We just updated the form on the faculty preference website this morning. Apologies if you tried filling out the previous form. We want to begin coordinating faculty schedules with the interviewees as soon as possible so we cannot wait for you to have your flight information to fill out that form.
• Faculty Preferences: We realize that not all of your preferred professors are on the provided list. If there are other professors you want to meet, list them in the additional comments section and just choose the top 6 otherwise. Make a note in the additional comments section about this. There can be several reasons as to why they are not listed, but this does not mean you cannot meet with them (I wouldn't suggest emailing them directly to ask about this at the current time. Let us see what we can do first. If you get your final faculty interview schedule and they are not listed, feel free to ask then). 
• When will my faculty interviews be set? Potentially not until the week of your interview. Professor schedules are very fluid and we want any information we send to be as accurate as possible.
• Flight/Transportation Information: I'm not sure when, but if you received an email inviting you to interview, you will, a few days after, get an email from a travel agent that will help coordinate your travel. DO NOT book your flights on your own. It makes reimbursements more difficult. 
• Reimbursements (Speaking of...): You will be reimbursed for your flights and some other transportation needs. We are also providing transportation when you arrive in Baltimore, but you likely will not get the details on that part of transportation until the week of your interviews. 
• Interviewee Forms to fill out: If you received an invite, please fill out faculty preferences asap. You will receive another email from myself once the travel agency finalizes your flights that will ask you to fill out flight information, food preferences/allergies, and other details that we will need to make your recruitment schedule a lot of fun (and so we can make sure you're not stranded when you get to Baltimore). 

If you have any other questions, I wouldn't suggest spamming the Program Coordinator (she is currently working on fielding many emails from both interviewees and professors). Keep in mind that many of your questions will be answered in emails to come. We haven't yet emailed all of the details because we want to make sure the most accurate information is provided.  

Message me directly if you have any other concerns/questions and I'll respond with as many details as I can be sure of.

Very helpful! Thank you!

[Anushka Gupta]

Hello all!
I am new to the grad cafe forum so please spare my stupidity! Got an interview invite from UCB/UCSF joint BioE PhD program. Any ideas on how formal/informal the interview is? Also, what are the chances of getting rejected from here on  

Being an international applicant, it's considerably expensive for me to visit San Francisco for campus visit. Would it diminish my chances of getting admitted if I ask them to schedule the interview over Skype? Thanks! 

[hjp932]

11 hours ago, Anushka Gupta said:

Hello all!
I am new to the grad cafe forum so please spare my stupidity! Got an interview invite from UCB/UCSF joint BioE PhD program. Any ideas on how formal/informal the interview is? Also, what are the chances of getting rejected from here on  

Being an international applicant, it's considerably expensive for me to visit San Francisco for campus visit. Would it diminish my chances of getting admitted if I ask them to schedule the interview over Skype? Thanks! 

If you got an interview from them that means there's a very high chance you'd get admitted, so scheduling an interview over Skype shouldn't hurt. It's especially understandable if you're an international student.

[pterosaur]

For an international student, I don't think it will hugely hurt your chances of admissions to do a Skype interview. (They'll understand the cost issue.) What you will lose out on is the chance to see how the fit is. I think there is a lot you learn from the informal parts of the process, like seeing what current students think of the advisors, the program, the support, etc.

[Nallapar]

For applicants waiting for UCB/UCSF BioE, I have asked the graduate student advisor Kristen Olson, she said all the invites have already been sent.

Edited January 19, 2016 by nallapar

[aksiksi]

@nallapar Does that include EE?

[Nallapar]

Just now, aksiksi said:

@nallapar Does that include EE?

Sorry for not being clear it's only for Bioengineering (check edit). Not for EE. Best of luck.

[aksiksi]

@nallapar Phew.. I guess there still is a small chance then. I wish you luck as well!