2017 EEB Applicant Profiles & Admissions Results

[RELB94]

Hey everyone! 

I'm really interested in if anyone knows if Columbia EEEB invites prospective students out to interview with them. Also has anyone heard from Georgetown yet?

Undergrad Institution: Binghamton SUNY
Major(s): Biology (concentration in EEB)
Minor(s): Music
GPA in Major: 3.6

Overall GPA: 3.5
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 158
V: 159
W: 5.5
B:

Research Experience: I'm working on my honor's thesis at my school and have had almost two years of experience.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I received an undergraduate research grant to perform my research and I also applied to the NSF GRFP, which I'm sure was attractive for some schools.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I've been a teaching assistant. 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had really great letters of recommendation and I was told my personal statements were impressive. I also established communication with potential advisors before applying, which only helped. 

Applying to Where: Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Georgetown, UMich, UCI, UCSB, Tulane. So far I got a rejection from UCI and UMich and two interviews at Tulane (1/27) and Yale (2/1). Waiting to hear back from Princeton, Columbia, Georgetown, and UCSB. Let me know if you heard anything!

[evobiol]

1 hour ago, RELB94 said:

Hey everyone! 

I'm really interested in if anyone knows if Columbia EEEB invites prospective students out to interview with them.

Hey there. Nope, official interviews are not part of the process at Columbia. I've just heard back unofficially from my future PI at Columbia but no official letter yet. Good luck with your apps!

[fieldbióloga]

On 1/21/2017 at 7:25 AM, RELB94 said:

Hey everyone! 

I'm really interested in if anyone knows if Columbia EEEB invites prospective students out to interview with them. Also has anyone heard from Georgetown yet?

Undergrad Institution: Binghamton SUNY
Major(s): Biology (concentration in EEB)
Minor(s): Music
GPA in Major: 3.6

Overall GPA: 3.5
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 158
V: 159
W: 5.5
B:

Research Experience: I'm working on my honor's thesis at my school and have had almost two years of experience.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I received an undergraduate research grant to perform my research and I also applied to the NSF GRFP, which I'm sure was attractive for some schools.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I've been a teaching assistant. 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had really great letters of recommendation and I was told my personal statements were impressive. I also established communication with potential advisors before applying, which only helped. 

Applying to Where: Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Georgetown, UMich, UCI, UCSB, Tulane. So far I got a rejection from UCI and UMich and two interviews at Tulane (1/27) and Yale (2/1). Waiting to hear back from Princeton, Columbia, Georgetown, and UCSB. Let me know if you heard anything!

Hi! We have a similar background (honors thesis, undergrad grants, grades/scores, good LoRs) and applied to a couple of the same programs. What area of EEB are you hoping to study?

For Tulane, I know that the official deadline wasn't until 1/15 for PhDs...did you send your application in early to find out about your interview? I haven't heard back yet.

Also, Princeton EEB already sent out all their invites. I emailed the coordinator on January 9th to find out.

[RELB94]

23 hours ago, dustonthedash said:

Hi! We have a similar background (honors thesis, undergrad grants, grades/scores, good LoRs) and applied to a couple of the same programs. What area of EEB are you hoping to study?

For Tulane, I know that the official deadline wasn't until 1/15 for PhDs...did you send your application in early to find out about your interview? I haven't heard back yet.

Also, Princeton EEB already sent out all their invites. I emailed the coordinator on January 9th to find out.

hi!! ecological genetics how about you?? Where did you apply? 

I applied to a brand new PI's lab in Tulane so I think she's hoping to get interviews done early. That way she can guarantee she has a PhD student so she can get her lab started there. It's really not an official interview weekend at Tulane. As far as I know, I'll be the only visiting student there that day. I can ask and let you know after my visit (which is on Friday). 

Got it about Princeton, should we be expecting rejections soon then? lol

 

[fieldbióloga]

1 hour ago, RELB94 said:

hi!! ecological genetics how about you?? Where did you apply? 

I applied to a brand new PI's lab in Tulane so I think she's hoping to get interviews done early. That way she can guarantee she has a PhD student so she can get her lab started there. It's really not an official interview weekend at Tulane. As far as I know, I'll be the only visiting student there that day. I can ask and let you know after my visit (which is on Friday). 

Got it about Princeton, should we be expecting rejections soon then? lol

 

Nice! My research interests have some overlap between behavioral/evolutionary ecology, i.e. sexual selection and drivers of speciation. You and I both applied to Tulane and Princeton, and I have apps out at 5 other programs as well (UMN, CU Boulder, U of A, FSU, Ole Miss.)

It's my understanding, as well, that professors at Tulane typically invite students out individually because the smaller size of the program. I applied with a professor who's been there for a handful of years (and I believe she's at a conference right now), so I'll just have to wait and see. Congrats on your interview and have fun at your visit!

And yes, I'd say we should expect rejections from Princeton. They'll make official decisions in mid-February, but considering they only admit ~8 students to EEB each year I don't feel too bad about it.

[RELB94]

15 minutes ago, dustonthedash said:

Nice! My research interests have some overlap between behavioral/evolutionary ecology, i.e. sexual selection and drivers of speciation. You and I both applied to Tulane and Princeton, and I have apps out at 5 other programs as well (UMN, CU Boulder, U of A, FSU, Ole Miss.)

It's my understanding, as well, that professors at Tulane typically invite students out individually because the smaller size of the program. I applied with a professor who's been there for a handful of years (and I believe she's at a conference right now), so I'll just have to wait and see. Congrats on your interview and have fun at your visit!

And yes, I'd say we should expect rejections from Princeton. They'll make official decisions in mid-February, but considering they only admit ~8 students to EEB each year I don't feel too bad about it.

That's awesome! Best of luck! Let me know if you hear back from Tulane - would be awesome if we wound up in the same program 

[Egret]

Has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Riverside, or Cornell yet?

[fieldbióloga]

18 hours ago, Egret said:

Has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Riverside, or Cornell yet?

Cornell EEB sent their interview invites around mid-December. They'll start rolling out rejections in the first two weeks of February (I applied last year).

[XYZ1234]

I have not heard back from any programs yet. I'm assuming I did not get an interview for the applications that were due in December. I'm wondering if I should contact the the potential advisor/ POI to check in on the status of my application. Do people typically do this or is it more appropriate to contact the graduate application coordinator?

[fieldbióloga]

14 minutes ago, BSB825 said:

I have not heard back from any programs yet. I'm assuming I did not get an interview for the applications that were due in December. I'm wondering if I should contact the the potential advisor/ POI to check in on the status of my application. Do people typically do this or is it more appropriate to contact the graduate application coordinator?

I would definitely contact the graduate coordinator. That's how I found out about a couple of mine.

[beetle_lover]

On 1/25/2017 at 0:09 AM, Egret said:

Has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Riverside, or Cornell yet?

Yeah, I emailed my PI there and Cornell is already done for the year

[Egret]

On 1/25/2017 at 4:00 PM, dustonthedash said:

Cornell EEB sent their interview invites around mid-December. They'll start rolling out rejections in the first two weeks of February (I applied last year).

 

4 hours ago, alexzebra said:

Yeah, I emailed my PI there and Cornell is already done for the year

Thanks guys! Ahh, well. here's to hoping for the other two!

[Forest Owlet]

On 1/11/2017 at 0:47 AM, dustonthedash said:

Program coordinator just confirmed that all interview invites have been sent, and interviews are the 26th through 29th. Kinda bummed.  Who knows though, maybe I'll get waitlisted again like last time so there's still hope.

Ok, so this is not as straightforward as you might think. I emailed the coordinator and my POI, and was informed that I have a strong application and am definitely still in contention, although I was not invited for the interview weekend. They said that another bunch of interview calls might go out around mid-Feb.

There's still hope!

[Forest Owlet]

Has anybody heard from Berkeley ESPM, after their interview day on 23rd?

[fieldbióloga]

3 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

Ok, so this is not as straightforward as you might think. I emailed the coordinator and my POI, and was informed that I have a strong application and am definitely still in contention, although I was not invited for the interview weekend. They said that another bunch of interview calls might go out around mid-Feb.

There's still hope!

Thanks for the info, this is really encouraging

[fieldbióloga]

Rejected from CU Boulder today, my top choice.  POI sent me a really nice email, though, and I can't believe how many people applied to her lab alone....30! I wonder if it's that competitive for my other applications...

[XYZ1234]

Rejected from MSU Integrative Biology program after inquiring by email. Faculty member did not sponsor my application. 

[ramennoodlecats]

Has anyone heard from KU or Marquette?

[BlueNahlchee]

On 1/9/2017 at 8:10 PM, Kayle said:

I got a rejection right away from UC Irvine. From the graduate admissions it seems, kinda cruel that the EEB dept has sent me an email AND catalog in mail, saying they are still reviewing applicants. Even though I have already been rejected, like salt in the wound...

 

I too got a generic rejection from UC Irvine - they responded super quickly (only 19 days after their deadline - seems almost unheard of for EEB programs!). But apparently the UCI grad school didn't know that their EEB dept. already made admission rejection decisions for a bunch of applicants and kept sending us emails (their Ayala school email, which arrived after the rejection email from the EEB dept, read "thank you for applying! The department will be in touch with you shortly.") & hard-copy catalog about how great their grad school is, etc (they even put a memo in the catalog saying "while you wait for your admission decision, here are the reasons why you should attend Ayala school!"). Salt in the wound indeed! Oh well, at least it's better than keep us waiting for months and then rejecting us... 

[BlueNahlchee]

On 2/1/2017 at 10:08 AM, dustonthedash said:

Rejected from CU Boulder today, my top choice.  POI sent me a really nice email, though, and I can't believe how many people applied to her lab alone....30! I wonder if it's that competitive for my other applications...

Ah bummer  that's crazy! 30 applicants for one lab opening... I guess your POI must have been overwhelmed too on deciding which applicant out of so many to choose from (I'm guessing many of them were very well qualified, including you as well). I'm not surprised about the competition... from what I hear often these days, PhD programs in our field are becoming fiercely competitive, much more so than ever before. Still looks like you got an interview though! Fingers crossed!

Edited February 5, 2017 by BlueNalchi

[BlueNahlchee]

On 1/24/2017 at 9:09 PM, Egret said:

Has anyone heard back from UCLA, UC Riverside, or Cornell yet?

I applied to UCLA & UCR too - haven't heard a peep from them yet. It appears that there haven't been any results posted on survey about interview offers from them so far. 

Has anyone else applied to UC Davis Graduate Group in Ecology? It seems like they have been sending out interview weekend invites last week

 

Edited February 5, 2017 by BlueNalchi

[fieldbióloga]

First official acceptance and first official rejection both within the last week, and still not a peep from my other 5 applications. Waiting is hard but at least I know I'll be going to grad school somewhere in the fall.

Best of luck to all of you!

[BlueNahlchee]

25 minutes ago, dustonthedash said:

First official acceptance and first official rejection both within the last week, and still not a peep from my other 5 applications. Waiting is hard but at least I know I'll be going to grad school somewhere in the fall.

Best of luck to all of you!

A huge congratulations to you!!! That's awesome - Ole Miss will be great!

[RELB94]

When do you think you guys will be reaching out to school's you haven't heard back from? I'm trying to figure out an appropriate timeline...

[Egret]

Got an intreview offer from UCR last Friday! Still waiting on UCLA. I've been tempted to call them, but it's nerve-wracking. :/

From a grad student that I've talk to in the lab I'm in right now, mid-February seems to be a popular time for the last wave of interview requests.

Best of luck the everyone!