2017 Computational Biology/Biomedical Informatics PhD Applicants and Admission Results

[desmond.bo]

Thank you for applying to the MIT Computational and Systems Biology PhD Program. The admissions committee has met and had hoped to have all invitations sent out by today Friday January 13th. Due to grant deadlines, the committee in requesting more time.  With this in mind, you should receive an update on the status of your application by Tuesday January 17, 2017. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Saw a red point by the Mail icon and the word "MIT". And then read those words three times to figure out whether it means a rejection. @SysEvoI guess that's no good news for international students. But anyway you have the microbio.

Are you also international? @AGradStudentHasNoName

[AGradStudentHasNoName]

I'm American.

Edited January 13, 2017 by AGradStudentHasNoName

[AGradStudentHasNoName]

37 minutes ago, desmond.bo said:

I saw that before you edited, man. You racist lol

woah woah woah, there was nothing racist in that.

The full post was "I'm American. I'll take any advantage I can get even if it is unfair. This process is cut throat." And when I realized that it was not the most sensitive thing to say, I edited it out. I apologize, but "American" is not a race. We are a melting pot. And it is not me who is doing this biasing.

It is not up to me if there is an american bias at american funded schools or not. I did say that it was unfair.

Edited January 14, 2017 by AGradStudentHasNoName

[desmond.bo]

2 hours ago, AGradStudentHasNoName said:

woah woah woah, there was nothing racist in that.

The full post was "I'm American. I'll take any advantage I can get even if it is unfair. This process is cut throat." And when I realized that it was not the most sensitive thing to say, I edited it out. I apologize, but "American" is not a race. We are a melting pot. And it is not me who is doing this biasing.

It is not up to me if there is an american bias at american funded schools or not. I did say that it was unfair.

 

Easy easy man! I totally get that point. I'm just kidding! If that offends you I apologize.

 I'm just following your joke. Sorry about that!

[AGradStudentHasNoName]

2 hours ago, desmond.bo said:

Easy easy man! I totally get that point. I'm just kidding! If that offends you I apologize.

 I'm just following your joke. Sorry about that!

No problem lol. I just got worried given people didnt see what I wrote before and "racism" being such a serious word. I knew you were joking. But would other people? Thanks for clarifying tho.

[eagb]

18 hours ago, SysEvo said:

"Thank you for applying to the MIT Computational and Systems Biology PhD Program. The admissions committee has met and had hoped to have all invitations sent out by today Friday January 13th. Due to grant deadlines, the committee in requesting more time.  With this in mind, you should receive an update on the status of your application by Jan 17th. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience"

Why not just a rejection...

I was invited to interview and they asked us to reply yes or no by the 17th. That might be why. 

[Oddich55]

2 hours ago, eagb said:

I was invited to interview and they asked us to reply yes or no by the 17th. That might be why. 

That would explain it.

[AGradStudentHasNoName]

42 minutes ago, Oddich55 said:

That would explain it.

Super weird that they would say "everyone will hear by friday" if that was the plan all along? Unless they assumed everyone would accept by friday and they could send out all rejections at that point.

[ruytel]

Anybody heard from Berkeley yet? 

[eagb]

35 minutes ago, ruytel said:

Anybody heard from Berkeley yet? 

I got an invite yesterday. 

How many interviews are you guys planning on attending? 

[Oddich55]

1 hour ago, eagb said:

I got an invite yesterday. 

How many interviews are you guys planning on attending? 

I think I'm going to 9 interviews currently. 2 down, 7 to go, with maybe an additional one coming. 

Although one I already went to was a phone interview for UWashington. 

[Epigenetics]

1 hour ago, Oddich55 said:

I think I'm going to 9 interviews currently. 2 down, 7 to go, with maybe an additional one coming. 

Although one I already went to was a phone interview for UWashington. 

I'm going to six. I applied to six schools, all of which I'm interested in. Also I only have to travel twice, because two are in Boston and three line up, so that's nice.

[Oddich55]

2 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:

I'm going to six. I applied to six schools, all of which I'm interested in. Also I only have to travel twice, because two are in Boston and three line up, so that's nice.

Lucky Ducky.

Next weekend is my last Chicago one (I'm from Chicago), after that, endless flying...

[eagb]

I applied to 11 (?) and got all 11 interviews. Going to probably go to 8, maybe 9? Haven't really decided yet. None of mine are in the same city as my school, so a bit concerned with how much class I'll have to miss...lots of flying...

 

Edited January 15, 2017 by eagb

[ruytel]

Congrats to all of you! Do you guys know what the post-interview acceptance rate is like or how many people the schools admitted in the previous admission cycle?  Thanks!

[Epigenetics]

41 minutes ago, Oddich55 said:

Lucky Ducky.

Next weekend is my last Chicago one (I'm from Chicago), after that, endless flying...

 

39 minutes ago, eagb said:

I applied to 11 (?) and got all 11 interviews. Going to probably go to 8, maybe 9? Haven't really decided yet. None of mine are in the same city as my school, so a bit concerned with how much class I'll have to miss...lots of flying...

 

Honest question: can you see yourself going to any of those 8/9 schools you all are interviewing at? Maybe it's because I honed my list pretty well, but I'm going to six interviews and honestly I only think I'm really deciding between three, with three that I'm open to surprising me. Genuinely curious on this one.

[eagb]

6 minutes ago, Epigenetics said:

 

Honest question: can you see yourself going to any of those 8/9 schools you all are interviewing at? Maybe it's because I honed my list pretty well, but I'm going to six interviews and honestly I only think I'm really deciding between three, with three that I'm open to surprising me. Genuinely curious on this one.

For me at least, I definitely over-applied because I didn't really have any idea how competitive I'd be, as I didn't know anyone else who'd gone through this process, at least in this field. So looking back, I wouldn't have applied to 11. Also, the plan was that the interview invites would narrow down my choices a bit...didn't happen. But yes, I can say with confidence that of those 8 interviews (7 schools...applied to 2 departments at one of them) I would be very happy attending 5 of them. The other 2, I would like to visit because I'm not sure. I also think going on the visits might help me decide (I think I know my top school, but what if I visit and realize I don't like the environment, etc). Additionally, once I realized how many invites I was going to receive, I intentionally put off booking flights for these programs, so I wouldn't cost them any money. That's how I've been reasoning through this, at least.

[Oddich55]

59 minutes ago, eagb said:

For me at least, I definitely over-applied because I didn't really have any idea how competitive I'd be, as I didn't know anyone else who'd gone through this process, at least in this field. So looking back, I wouldn't have applied to 11. Also, the plan was that the interview invites would narrow down my choices a bit...didn't happen. But yes, I can say with confidence that of those 8 interviews (7 schools...applied to 2 departments at one of them) I would be very happy attending 5 of them. The other 2, I would like to visit because I'm not sure. I also think going on the visits might help me decide (I think I know my top school, but what if I visit and realize I don't like the environment, etc). Additionally, once I realized how many invites I was going to receive, I intentionally put off booking flights for these programs, so I wouldn't cost them any money. That's how I've been reasoning through this, at least.

I'm in the same boat. I had no idea where I would be competitive, so I applied to a whole range of schools...

I think, for me, as well, I want to see the differences between the schools and figure out where I would be the best fit and where I should go... I want to let my experiences at the school help me decide where I want to go- talking to professors and interviewing. Obviously, I definitely have a ranking list, but I think it is rather fluid. So yeah :P. 

[bioinformaticsGirl]

6 hours ago, eagb said:

I got an invite yesterday. 

How many interviews are you guys planning on attending? 

I applied to 5 schools and have 6 interviews. I was extremely under-confident when applying so I went for several departments at 2 of the schools, which now means I have to fly across the country multiple times. To those going to 8+ interviews, good luck! I'm stressed even thinking about 6. Wish Boston schools lumped their interviews together like Bay Area schools...

Edited January 15, 2017 by bioinformaticsGirl

[RhodesZhang]

On 2017/1/14 at 6:32 AM, SysEvo said:

"Thank you for applying to the MIT Computational and Systems Biology PhD Program. The admissions committee has met and had hoped to have all invitations sent out by today Friday January 13th. Due to grant deadlines, the committee in requesting more time.  With this in mind, you should receive an update on the status of your application by Jan 17th. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience"

Why not just a rejection...

I got this too. I'm a international student. Is it like a rejection? Or a 'almost rejection'?

[SysEvo]

14 minutes ago, RhodesZhang said:

I got this too. I'm a international student. Is it like a rejection? Or a 'almost rejection'?

I take it as the rejection, given international students are not quite welcomed in that program

[BigThomason51]

Man, you guys are crazy smart in this thread!  I'm applying to 6 BMI programs - all are smaller programs, but still nervous because my stats aren't the greatest (very low uGPA, however, solid Masters GPA in BMI and lots of research. )

And also, AGradStudentHasNoName, is that really true about domestic students having an edge due to the high amount of international apps?  Likewise, I could use any edge I can get.  But anyway, I just want ONE acceptance. 

Edited January 16, 2017 by BigThomason51

[bioinformaticsGirl]

1 hour ago, BigThomason51 said:

Man, you guys are crazy smart in this thread!  I'm applying to 6 BMI programs - all are smaller programs, but still nervous because my stats aren't the greatest (very low uGPA, however, solid Masters GPA in BMI and lots of research. )

And also, AGradStudentHasNoName, is that really true about domestic students having an edge due to the high amount of international apps?  Likewise, I could use any edge I can get.  But anyway, I just want ONE acceptance. 

Domestic students have an edge not because of a high amount of international apps, but because most funding (NIH, NSF, etc.) apply for only domestic students. Therefore, it's far more competitive for international students because of limited non-government grants.

[RhodesZhang]

4 hours ago, SysEvo said:

I take it as the rejection, given international students are not quite welcomed in that program

Well, always love MIT. I applied for CSBi and EECS. Since EECS is even more competitive, I guess the dream is not gonna happen. 

[BigThomason51]

• 10 hours ago, bioinformaticsGirl said:

  Domestic students have an edge not because of a high amount of international apps, but because most funding (NIH, NSF, etc.) apply for only domestic students. Therefore, it's far more competitive for international students because of limited non-government grants.

   

  Thanks for the reply.  I did not know this.