2017 EEB Applicant Profiles & Admissions Results

[Gandalf?]

Cornell (EEB) rejections letters went out yesterday, seems a bit overdue. 

[Lycaon pictus]

On 2/12/2017 at 7:32 PM, RELB94 said:

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...

My teeth have been on edge literally since the deadline (2 weeks ago for me). I caved yesterday and emailed my prospective PI to see if he had any updates. Told me the process had just started and would take "~3 weeks or more" but he would keep me posted. FYI, I applied to William & Mary in late Jan, and their deadline was on Feb 1st. 

I know it's super early, but the results page is showing both acceptances and rejections are already trickling in from W&M. (Mostly for humanities, a couple from physics).

Is it too early for me to be reading into things? I've been mulling over whether "3 weeks or more" will be closer to the 3 weeks, or the more all day 

 

[BlueNahlchee]

On 2/16/2017 at 1:56 AM, Lycaon pictus said:

My teeth have been on edge literally since the deadline (2 weeks ago for me). I caved yesterday and emailed my prospective PI to see if he had any updates. Told me the process had just started and would take "~3 weeks or more" but he would keep me posted. FYI, I applied to William & Mary in late Jan, and their deadline was on Feb 1st. 

I know it's super early, but the results page is showing both acceptances and rejections are already trickling in from W&M. (Mostly for humanities, a couple from physics).

Is it too early for me to be reading into things? I've been mulling over whether "3 weeks or more" will be closer to the 3 weeks, or the more all day 

 

Probably a little early - if the deadline was February 1st, they probably won't be reviewing it until at least two weeks later (in case if they are still waiting for applicants' supplemental materials like GRE scores & official hard copy transcripts to arrive, which sometimes arrive after electronic application deadline dates). I applied to some programs that were due on February 1st, but I don't expect to hear back for a while at least (but I am also hoping that these programs' admission committee will go through their review process quickly too...  ).

[RELB94]

On 2/16/2017 at 4:56 AM, Lycaon pictus said:

My teeth have been on edge literally since the deadline (2 weeks ago for me). I caved yesterday and emailed my prospective PI to see if he had any updates. Told me the process had just started and would take "~3 weeks or more" but he would keep me posted. FYI, I applied to William & Mary in late Jan, and their deadline was on Feb 1st. 

I know it's super early, but the results page is showing both acceptances and rejections are already trickling in from W&M. (Mostly for humanities, a couple from physics).

Is it too early for me to be reading into things? I've been mulling over whether "3 weeks or more" will be closer to the 3 weeks, or the more all day 

 

I'm in the same boat - every time an e-mail pops up on my phone my heart stops beating for a second. I would just wait it out - don't contact them again. They usually are pretty spot on when they give you a time range (in the programs I've spoken to) - so take it easy and try to get distracted! Once I hear back from the school I interviewed at, I'm going to contact other schools I haven't heard from just so I can know my options before I make a final decision. Best of luck!!

[jmillar]

Accepted to Emory PBEE!

[BlueNahlchee]

7 hours ago, jmillar said:

Accepted to Emory PBEE!

Congratulations jmillar!!

[Kayle]

On 2/16/2017 at 2:56 AM, Lycaon pictus said:

My teeth have been on edge literally since the deadline (2 weeks ago for me). I caved yesterday and emailed my prospective PI to see if he had any updates. Told me the process had just started and would take "~3 weeks or more" but he would keep me posted. FYI, I applied to William & Mary in late Jan, and their deadline was on Feb 1st. 

I know it's super early, but the results page is showing both acceptances and rejections are already trickling in from W&M. (Mostly for humanities, a couple from physics).

Is it too early for me to be reading into things? I've been mulling over whether "3 weeks or more" will be closer to the 3 weeks, or the more all day 

 

I applied to W&M too, well VIMS to be exact, no word yet. After 2 rejections I am weary to reach out... Good luck! Hopefully its closer to 3 weeks than the more...

[BlueNahlchee]

Two rejections for me this week - let's see how the rest of the week folds out...  

Edited February 28, 2017 by BlueNahlchee

[fieldbióloga]

Rejection letter from Princeton today. Knew it was coming, but it's kind of a relief to hear something official.

[Contig]

Accepted to Duke Biology and U Chicago Ecology and Evolution

Rejected by Princeton Ecology and Evolution

.... still waiting to hear from Harvard


(Oddly enough I felt unsettled about U of C, but thought I had Princeton for sure)

[BlueNahlchee]

On 3/1/2017 at 7:27 AM, Contig said:

Accepted to Duke Biology and U Chicago Ecology and Evolution

Rejected by Princeton Ecology and Evolution

.... still waiting to hear from Harvard


(Oddly enough I felt unsettled about U of C, but thought I had Princeton for sure)

Congrats on Duke and Chicago!

[Forest Owlet]

Got through into UC Berkeley ESPM and Minnesota EEB! Super excited 

[BlueNahlchee]

16 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

Got through into UC Berkeley ESPM and Minnesota EEB! Super excited 

Very nice!! Congrats to you Forest owlet!  Are you going to be studying owls?  

[geoger]

@Forest Owlet Nice Job! Congratulations! I also applied to UC Berkeley's ESPM program, but for a different field of study. I'm curious, did you have a formal interview during the application process? I still have yet to hear back. Thanks!

[Forest Owlet]

12 minutes ago, geoger said:

@Forest Owlet Nice Job! Congratulations! I also applied to UC Berkeley's ESPM program, but for a different field of study. I'm curious, did you have a formal interview during the application process? I still have yet to hear back. Thanks!

Thank you! I am an international applicant, so the process was a bit different for me. I have had detailed discussions with my POIs, but haven't had a formal interview. I think the best way to find out is to get in touch with your POI to check what the status is.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Forest Owlet

[Forest Owlet]

17 hours ago, BlueNahlchee said:

Very nice!! Congrats to you Forest owlet!  Are you going to be studying owls?  

Thank you  Nopes, not planning to do anything with owls 

[Contig]

What are people thinking? How are you contemplating between your offers, etc? 
I have been accepted to both Duke and Harvard, and I am unsure which to choose. 

I really enjoyed the community at Duke, and I know there I will get the training I need to be a successful academic researcher. Plus the work there is in a system I am familiar with. However, I also feel like Harvard is ... Harvard, and it is going to open a lot of doors just by sake of its silly prestige. Any advice (especially from people who were accepted to these schools too)?

[jmillar]

1 hour ago, Contig said:

What are people thinking? How are you contemplating between your offers, etc? 
I have been accepted to both Duke and Harvard, and I am unsure which to choose. 

I really enjoyed the community at Duke, and I know there I will get the training I need to be a successful academic researcher. Plus the work there is in a system I am familiar with. However, I also feel like Harvard is ... Harvard, and it is going to open a lot of doors just by sake of its silly prestige. Any advice (especially from people who were accepted to these schools too)?

In the end, I ended up choosing UMich based on program fit, research fit, and feel of the campus. It felt very weird to turn down Emory and Berkeley...

[absolute_historicism]

Anybody in this thread accepted into and highly likely to join UMich's EEB program. 

[jmillar]

2 hours ago, absolute_historicism said:

Anybody in this thread accepted into and highly likely to join UMich's EEB program. 

I will have a UMich EEB advisor, but will technically be in Bioinformatics. Some of the classes/seminars will overlap.

[phylogenious]

On 10/27/2016 at 0:51 PM, beetle_lover said:

Undergrad Institution: UH-Manoa
Major(s): Marine biology
Minor(s): Anthropology
GPA in Major: Not sure
Overall GPA: 3.17
Position in Class: Probably average
Type of Student: Domestic, Male
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 162
V: 157
W: 3.5
B: Didn't take

Research Experience: After graduating, I worked for three years in my undergraduate lab. I had one first author publication in a field-specific journal, and two oral conference presentations (SICB). I also took the larval biology summer course at FHL (highly recommend it to anyone interested in larval biology).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Awarded an undergraduate research grant during my junior year. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Three years as a research assistant.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not that I can think of

Special Bonus Points: During the course of my research, I was fortunate to have had extremely good mentors that helped me develop as a researcher. I imagine they all had positive things to say about me in their LORs. Other than that I don't think I had many other "bonus points" to add to my application? Perhaps being older (26) helped me during the application process?

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

I applied to four schools and they were with people that I had previously skyped with prior to applying. I developed extremely good contact with a new prof at one of the schools I was applying to. My research interests almost completely overlapped with theirs. I got really lucky, because had I not gotten into grad school I was thinking about switching to a completely new field entirely (barista or I don't even know). As a somewhat older student its nice going into grad school knowing that I don't have to do this as a career choice. I'm primarily motivated by my interest in the field of study, and not by making a career out of it -- although that is my goal currently, but its not a necessity.

Applying to Where:

Brown - EEB - Phylogeny of marine organisms (Rejected)
UCSB - EEMB - Chiton vision and development (Likely rejected)
UCSD - SIO - Biomineralization in marine organisms (Accepted)
Harvard - OEB - Regeneration in animals (Interview, but rejected)

I hope this helps other prospective applicants. I know that I have trawled these forums for information about applying to particular schools... so ya that's my story

 

[absolute_historicism]

18 hours ago, jmillar said:

I will have a UMich EEB advisor, but will technically be in Bioinformatics. Some of the classes/seminars will overlap.

Could you share some of your reasons for choosing UMich? I am trying to decide (leaning towards UMich, but in the phase where I am trying to evaluate the pros and cons) and would really like to hear why people choose UMich. 

[jmillar]

1 minute ago, absolute_historicism said:

Could you share some of your reasons for choosing UMich? I am trying to decide (leaning towards UMich, but in the phase where I am trying to evaluate the pros and cons) and would really like to hear why people choose UMich. 

It was many reasons. I wanted to stay in evolutionary biology, but work from a more math/stat perspective. I was able to find a great advisor that got his PhD in Math, but is now a professor in EEB. I was wary at first when UMich said they were so interdisciplinary (everyone says that), but when I got there they really did make an effort to expand ties to many departments. I also wanted to expand my skills in Bioinformatics, and the department is a bit decentralized, so people from many departments work together (every person I interviewed with was in a different department!). They will even allow me to get a masters on the side in epidemiology (and pay for it), so I can bridge my work with public health. I will have great access to data from the medical school to expand disease evolution work. I was also impressed by the support for their students and all the resources available. Placement after school is excellent for both my program and my advisor.

Ann Arbor is also interesting as a city in and of itself. It is a college town, but a large one of intellectuals and a lot of the city appears interconnected with the school. Before I visited, I really thought I did not want to go to Michigan. After my visit, where I grilled everyone there about why they came here, and hung out with the previous year's cohort in the city, I got the feeling my problem would be I wouldn't want to leave once my program was finished.

[BlueNahlchee]

Just got admitted to my top choice!!!

[Hr. Gore]

 

11 hours ago, BlueNahlchee said:

Just got admitted to my top choice!!!

Congrats!!!