Fall 2016 Genetic Counseling Applicants

[Imores]

I received my schedule in an email from NW. There are 7 half hour slots blocked off that say "interview 1-7" on them.  That's all I know but I figured that means there's 7 interviews.

[weilongli1]

@HettyFan Northwestern sent out a sample itinerary with 7 20 minute interviews spread throughout, with lunch, a wine and cheese reception, and a group activity in there. The whole thing is from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM.

Also: Got a rejection from CSU Stanislaus just now. Bummed, but hoping 5 interviews are enough for one school to like me and take me!

Edited March 7, 2016 by weilongli1

[SuitCase]

Anyone interview at SLC yet? If so how was the interview process?

[SuitCase]

SLC rejects by mail btw

[b5b7]

Has anyone interviewed at WI yet (or in a previous year)? I'm wondering how "informal" this dinner the night before the interview is. Also, what the actual interview looks like? I think I got a schedule but it's a bit vague

[monicad]

On 3/17/2016 at 7:20 PM, b5b7 said:

Has anyone interviewed at WI yet (or in a previous year)? I'm wondering how "informal" this dinner the night before the interview is. Also, what the actual interview looks like? I think I got a schedule but it's a bit vague

Yeah, I interviewed at Wisconsin this past week. The informal dinner was actually informal-just a group info session (ours was entirely Q&A) followed by a casual dinner with a few current students. The interviews were straightforward--one-on-one with a GC or program staff, questions about yourself, resume, personal statement, etc--and everyone was friendly. Not an intimidating setting, at all. Short 20-minute sessions!

[b5b7]

Thanks @monicad! What do you think for the dinner... business casual? Or seriously informal, like jeans?

Edited March 23, 2016 by b5b7

[monicad]

Sure thing @b5b7! Some people dressed business casual, but I felt comfortable in my black cords and a nice-ish shirt.

 

[b5b7]

Only 20 more days, guys!!! I am ready for interviews to be over and done!

[GC19]

17 hours ago, b5b7 said:

Only 20 more days, guys!!! I am ready for interviews to be over and done!

I totally feel you. Everyone keeps asking where I am going to grad school, and I am tired of saying I'll find out on April 25th...I want to know now 

[weilongli1]

14 hours ago, MaeGC said:

I totally feel you. Everyone keeps asking where I am going to grad school, and I am tired of saying I'll find out on April 25th...I want to know now 

All my friends are posting "Got in to grad program at XYZ!" on Facebook and I'm (im)patiently waiting.

[HettyFan]

I received some admissions from other programs, of course not GC...I am struggling...Actually I only received one GC interview from NW...Aww, very unlikely to get into a GC program.

[gcfc1989]

Do you guys have any ideas of how to keep busy the next 10 days?? I finally finished interviews, so it's nice to not have to travel and/or think about how to answer interview questions, but now I'm literally counting down the hours, which just makes it feel even longer!!! What are your favorite tips and tricks for keeping yourself busy? Thanks!!! And good luck to everyone!

[weilongli1]

@gcfc1989 I have a really long reading list to go through, so I'm going to be reading lots! I do envy the people interviewing at Northwestern next Friday, at least they can focus on the interview, while its out of our hands now for the rest of us. It's definitely going to be an excruciating week, but we'll all make it through! Just remember - we all started on this journey way back in the fall, so what's one more week to wait?

[gcfc1989]

Thanks, @weilongli1! And you're totally right, we've waited this long, we can wait 6 more days!

[SuitCase]

Anyone else like WTF about Ohio State's out of state tuition?

[weilongli1]

10 minutes ago, SuitCase said:

Anyone else like WTF about Ohio State's out of state tuition?

Oh wow, I thought some of the schools I applied to (namely Northwestern and UC Irvine) were expensive, but that's a whole 10k more... 

[SuitCase]

@weilongli1 It'll probably scare a lot of applicants away.

 

 

What schools did everyone like best/least?

[b5b7]

@weilongli1 and @SuitCase There were a few schools that seemed affordable until they subtly dropped the "Please don't actually TA, you won't have time" bomb in the interviews  Huge bummer. Wouldn't have interviewed if I were aware of that restriction.

[gcfc1989]

19 hours ago, SuitCase said:

@weilongli1 It'll probably scare a lot of applicants away.

 

 

What schools did everyone like best/least?

I honestly liked all of the schools, though of course not in the same way... they're all so different, so it's hard to compare directly. They all had things I loved and things I wasn't so crazy about. Honestly, I will be happy to be accepted at all! It sounds like most programs had record numbers of applications (CSU had close to 200!), so it's more competitive than ever before! I do NOT want to do this again next year!

[SuitCase]

@gcfc1989 What was Arkansas like?

[weilongli1]

12 hours ago, b5b7 said:

@weilongli1 and @SuitCase There were a few schools that seemed affordable until they subtly dropped the "Please don't actually TA, you won't have time" bomb in the interviews  Huge bummer. Wouldn't have interviewed if I were aware of that restriction.

Oh yeah, I remember schools telling me "Oh, you could TA, but it's usually reserved for PhD students so it's not likely for you." Which sucks, because I have two years of TA experience, and I love doing it.

On 4/19/2016 at 8:08 PM, SuitCase said:

What schools did everyone like best/least?

Like @gcfc1989, I really liked all of the schools, although definitely some more than others. I have a definite list going into Monday, but I have a feeling come Monday morning, the list is going out the window and I'm gonna have to reevaluate schools all over again.

7 hours ago, gcfc1989 said:

Honestly, I will be happy to be accepted at all! It sounds like most programs had record numbers of applications (CSU had close to 200!), so it's more competitive than ever before! I do NOT want to do this again next year!

That's insane. I'm thinking being invited to interviews is already a pretty exclusive club, but it's still a scary prospect. I've been trying to stay positive, but I realize it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, as the closer Monday gets the more I'll think about it! Honestly, I'm glad I have you guys to talk to on the internet about it, because all of my friends have already gotten so tired of my grad school talk.

[gc09621]

As someone who has now gone through the application/interview process for a second time, I can vouch for how painstaking it can be, but not getting during my first try was not as world-ending as I originally thought and I think I'm a much stronger applicant than last year because of it!  Just a little silver-lining thought in preparation for Monday.

 

As we're all trying to distract ourselves until notification day, what were some of the weirdest/most interesting questions you were asked during interviews?

One interviewer asked me how I would describe the color green to a blind person and it definitely stumped me!

[SuitCase]

@gc09621 "how would your worst enemy describe you?" What did you do to better prepare yourself as a re applicant?

 

 

Its scary not knowing if I'm moving across the country or not.

[gc09621]

@SuitCase I've been working full time doing healthcare-related research (recently got my first co-authored publication!), took an extra genetics class online, and got more shadowing experience. Also not being in school has given me more time to read up on what's going on in the field of genetic counseling in general. I think being out of school and just experiencing the real professional world even a little bit has given me good insights about what to expect after grad school, which is something I didn't focus on as much the first time around because I was so stressed about just getting in. 

I do wish I had started re-drafting my personal statement earlier, oh well!