AGradStudentHasNoName Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Do we know much about post interview acceptance rates for computational biology programs in general? Or does it vary significantly program to program? I asked my friend who just graduated from the Stanford BMI program and she said that they do weed out a bit at interviews, maybe 50%. And I heard the same thing about Sanger from an acquaintance I have in that program. They just sent out an email cc'ing (not bcc'ing) all of the candidates about lodging for the interview so I can see there are 22 but they will also skype interview an unknown number of people. That program is 12-15/year and they will accept more than enroll of course. Anyone know about other comp bio programs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bioinformaticsGirl Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 20 minutes ago, AGradStudentHasNoName said: Do we know much about post interview acceptance rates for computational biology programs in general? Or does it vary significantly program to program? I asked my friend who just graduated from the Stanford BMI program and she said that they do weed out a bit at interviews, maybe 50%. And I heard the same thing about Sanger from an acquaintance I have in that program. They just sent out an email cc'ing (not bcc'ing) all of the candidates about lodging for the interview so I can see there are 22 but they will also skype interview an unknown number of people. That program is 12-15/year and they will accept more than enroll of course. Anyone know about other comp bio programs? I didn't receive that email yet, so maybe that's only the list of people who filled out the invite survey so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGradStudentHasNoName Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 2 minutes ago, bioinformaticsGirl said: I didn't receive that email yet, so maybe that's only the list of people who filled out the invite survey so far. It was an email for the Sanger program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bioinformaticsGirl Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 2 minutes ago, AGradStudentHasNoName said: It was an email for the Sanger program. Oh my bad, didn't read your previous post thoroughly and thought it was for Stanford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epigenetics Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 3 hours ago, AGradStudentHasNoName said: Do we know much about post interview acceptance rates for computational biology programs in general? Or does it vary significantly program to program? I asked my friend who just graduated from the Stanford BMI program and she said that they do weed out a bit at interviews, maybe 50%. And I heard the same thing about Sanger from an acquaintance I have in that program. They just sent out an email cc'ing (not bcc'ing) all of the candidates about lodging for the interview so I can see there are 22 but they will also skype interview an unknown number of people. That program is 12-15/year and they will accept more than enroll of course. Anyone know about other comp bio programs? Lol Stanford Genetics also did that, my PI went to Stanford for her PhD and says they do it on purpose since it's one interview weekend, they want you to network etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user201023 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, AGradStudentHasNoName said: Do we know much about post interview acceptance rates for computational biology programs in general? Or does it vary significantly program to program? I asked my friend who just graduated from the Stanford BMI program and she said that they do weed out a bit at interviews, maybe 50%. And I heard the same thing about Sanger from an acquaintance I have in that program. They just sent out an email cc'ing (not bcc'ing) all of the candidates about lodging for the interview so I can see there are 22 but they will also skype interview an unknown number of people. That program is 12-15/year and they will accept more than enroll of course. Anyone know about other comp bio programs? it varies - Stanford BMI post-interview rate is about 1 in 3 to 1 in 2, but apparently they are taking fewer students this year - heard about 4-5 compared to 9 last year, while still inviting the same number of students to interview. So the rate should be on the lower end this year. At other programs, the % is quite a bit higher - at least 50%, and pushing 70-80% Edited January 17, 2017 by user201023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddich55 Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 21 minutes ago, user201023 said: it varies - Stanford BMI post-interview rate is about 1 in 3 to 1 in 2, but apparently they are taking fewer students this year - heard about 4-5 compared to 9 last year, while still inviting the same number of students to interview. So the rate should be on the lower end this year. At other programs, the % is quite a bit higher - at least 50%, and pushing 70-80% May I ask the source on the fewer students? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epigenetics Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 10 hours ago, user201023 said: it varies - Stanford BMI post-interview rate is about 1 in 3 to 1 in 2, but apparently they are taking fewer students this year - heard about 4-5 compared to 9 last year, while still inviting the same number of students to interview. So the rate should be on the lower end this year. At other programs, the % is quite a bit higher - at least 50%, and pushing 70-80% I wouldn't assume the fact they're planning to have fewer students enroll means they're admitting fewer. Even if they want a class of 4-5, they may have to admit 15 or more to get that number to enroll. Just because it's a big name school doesn't mean it has 100% matriculation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmond.bo Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 On January 13, 2017 at 5:51 PM, desmond.bo 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 Tuesday January 17, 2017. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. 3 Today is the 17th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SysEvo Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 hour ago, desmond.bo said: Today is the 17th. Just got the rejection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhodesZhang Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 4 minutes ago, SysEvo said: Just got the rejection! Well. Guess mine is on the way. I'm in China, which is 1AM now. Perhaps it will arrive before I go to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhodesZhang Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 24 minutes ago, SysEvo said: Just got the rejection! Got the rejection. I guess I can only count on the cs programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddich55 Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Epigenetics said: I wouldn't assume the fact they're planning to have fewer students enroll means they're admitting fewer. Even if they want a class of 4-5, they may have to admit 15 or more to get that number to enroll. Just because it's a big name school doesn't mean it has 100% matriculation Hmm. I think it is a safe assumption that it isn't much of a problem for Stanford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epigenetics Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, Oddich55 said: Hmm. I think it is a safe assumption that it isn't much of a problem for Stanford. No it's not. I don't know of any PhD program, Harvard included where I currently work and went for undergrad, that has more than a 50% yield. Stanford isn't the only/best bioinformatics program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epigenetics Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 4 minutes ago, NAGradBioInf said: Did anybody hear from Harvard BIG? So far, I didnot receive anything or any rejection letter. I think interview offers were sent out in December. I did not apply to BIG though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc0111 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 31 minutes ago, Epigenetics said: No it's not. I don't know of any PhD program, Harvard included where I currently work and went for undergrad, that has more than a 50% yield. Stanford isn't the only/best bioinformatics program. what would you consider to be some of the best bioinformatics program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epigenetics Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 4 minutes ago, abc0111 said: what would you consider to be some of the best bioinformatics program? I would say any of the six schools listed here are great for it: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/genetics-rankings (Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UWashington, WUSTL, MIT) I also think biomedical informatics as the program was set up had a specific focus, I'm a computational biologist but I applied to genetics because I thought it was a better fit for my brand of genomics research. It varies, PhD programs are all about fit to the program and the professors you want to work with. I don't think any school has such a monopoly on a field that everyone clearly goes there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddich55 Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 46 minutes ago, Epigenetics said: No it's not. I don't know of any PhD program, Harvard included where I currently work and went for undergrad, that has more than a 50% yield. Stanford isn't the only/best bioinformatics program. I agree that Stanford does not have a 100% yield - BUT - on their website for BMI, they advertise "a recent cycle" as "PhD: 135 applied, 7 admitted, 6 enrolled." So very high yield. Not sure from what cycle this is from, nor if this has changed heavily in the time since then nor how typical this is. Just saying it is super competitive and people are lucky to get admitted there, and, according to them, their yield is high. Epigenetics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmond.bo Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 hour ago, RhodesZhang said: Well. Guess mine is on the way. I'm in China, which is 1AM now. Perhaps it will arrive before I go to bed. Hi Mr. China, nice to hear somebody else also comes from China. I'm from Shanghai Jiaoda. Where are ya from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmond.bo Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 hour ago, SysEvo said: Just got the rejection! Waiting heartbreakingly for CSBi, when a formal rejection from MIT Biology came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagb Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Oddich55 said: "PhD: 135 applied, 7 admitted, 6 enrolled." Yikes. I wonder how many they're interviewing. That's a very small program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bioinformaticsGirl Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Epigenetics said: I would say any of the six schools listed here are great for it: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/genetics-rankings (Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UWashington, WUSTL, MIT) I also think biomedical informatics as the program was set up had a specific focus, I'm a computational biologist but I applied to genetics because I thought it was a better fit for my brand of genomics research. It varies, PhD programs are all about fit to the program and the professors you want to work with. I don't think any school has such a monopoly on a field that everyone clearly goes there. I wouldn't go solely by rankings though. Penn and Johns Hopkins have fantastic programs. Cal is good if you want more statistics based labs; however, Lior Pachter (department chair) just left for CalTech so we'll have to see the new direction of the department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epigenetics Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 15 minutes ago, bioinformaticsGirl said: I wouldn't go solely by rankings though. Penn and Johns Hopkins have fantastic programs. Cal is good if you want more statistics based labs; however, Lior Pachter (department chair) just left for CalTech so we'll have to see the new direction of the department. I'm not going solely by rankings, I made a list off the top of my head and it included all of those except WUSTL, I was just including it for reference. Also I included Berkeley in my original list so I don't understand your correction there. Obviously other schools have talented faculty and programs too, but having been to genomics conferences I would strongly argue that Harvard, Stanford, UWashington, MIT, and Berkeley have the greatest concentration of faculty doing cutting-edge work in this field. You can also look at centers for big NIH programs like ENCODE, Roadmap, and TCGA which are largely among those few schools. Again, all of this depends on what you want to work on and who you want to work with, so rankings are largely unimportant for choosing a PhD program, but that is my answer to the above question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGradStudentHasNoName Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Didn't get mit despite a committee member saying she would put in a good word for me. Disappointed. I wish I knew why Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGradBioInf Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 hour ago, AGradStudentHasNoName said: Didn't get mit despite a committee member saying she would put in a good word for me. Disappointed. I wish I knew why Don't get disappointed at all. At least you have received an invitation from Stanford for an interview. That was my target school, but they did not even consider me for an interview although I consider my application strong. I have not received anything yet from Stanford, not even a rejection letter. I assume it is coming soon:( I should be the one who is disappointed:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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