Waiting and Interview Panics

[biofreak]

I applied to 7 schools for the PhD program in cell molecular biology-

WashU, Columbia, Cornell (Weill Cornell as well), Sloan Kettering, NYU and U Penn..

So far I have heard only from WashU and interview is next week..

What are the chances of being accepted after being invited for interviews.. and did anyone get any replies from other schools that I mentioned above? Don't you think it's time to hear

from them? When should I give up hope?

I was not very motivated on this grad school ordeal first and thus applied to few schools. Now I have started realizing that I should have applied to more schools and safe schools..

I really appreciate the responses from experienced folks out there.

Thanks

[microman]

On 1/11/2010 at 8:25 PM, biofreak said:

I applied to 7 schools for the PhD program in cell molecular biology-

WashU, Columbia, Cornell (Weill Cornell as well), Sloan Kettering, NYU and U Penn..

So far I have heard only from WashU and interview is next week..

What are the chances of being accepted after being invited for interviews.. and did anyone get any replies from other schools that I mentioned above? Don't you think it's time to hear

from them? When should I give up hope?

I was not very motivated on this grad school ordeal first and thus applied to few schools. Now I have started realizing that I should have applied to more schools and safe schools..

I really appreciate the responses from experienced folks out there.

Thanks

Your chances of getting accepted after interviews depends a lot on the school, and how much weight they put on the interview. Some do it strictly as a personality check, while others put quite a bit of weight on it. I would personally not worry about it too much, just ask questions and learn a bit. After all, you are interviewing them as well.

I got a reply from Columbia on Friday (12/8), so they should be putting out emails for the time being.

This is my second year trying to get into grad school. I only applied to 5 programs last year, most of which were out of reach or did not go well with my program. I also procrastinated a lot last year as well (My SOP was written in 1 day, counting editing and proofreading). I got thrown out for being late with a couple of apps.

I would not give up hope just yet, its still kinda early.

[biofreak]

Thanks microman for sharing your insights.. So were you invited for any interview before being thrown out last year? What did you do during the gap year (work or research?) Care to share your experience?

Thanks

Your chances of getting accepted after interviews depends a lot on the school, and how much weight they put on the interview. Some do it strictly as a personality check, while others put quite a bit of weight on it. I would personally not worry about it too much, just ask questions and learn a bit. After all, you are interviewing them as well.

I got a reply from Columbia on Friday (12/8), so they should be putting out emails for the time being.

This is my second year trying to get into grad school. I only applied to 5 programs last year, most of which were out of reach or did not go well with my program. I also procrastinated a lot last year as well (My SOP was written in 1 day, counting editing and proofreading). I got thrown out for being late with a couple of apps.

I would not give up hope just yet, its still kinda early.

[microman]

Thanks microman for sharing your insights.. So were you invited for any interview before being thrown out last year? What did you do during the gap year (work or research?) Care to share your experience?

Thanks

You're welcome.

I got one interview: UCSD. The interview itself was interesting to say the least. I did not prepare well for it, but it did not involve a lot of questions, mostly discussions about my work or their work, as well as some student presentations. As for the gap year, I'm doing both. I work for a biotech company as a technician.

[Espoir]

Hi,

I have applied for a PhD in Environmental Engg with a fairly strong resume/Reco's... A professor from UIUC has written to me asking for a telephonic interview 'to know about my goals , intrests and prospects'..how should I be preparing for it?? The professor...truly speaking is a lecturer there...no PhD's have been awarded under her yet..has 2-3 students working towards it though..

You're welcome.

I got one interview: UCSD. The interview itself was interesting to say the least. I did not prepare well for it, but it did not involve a lot of questions, mostly discussions about my work or their work, as well as some student presentations. As for the gap year, I'm doing both. I work for a biotech company as a technician.