Is there an advantage to going on the first interview weekend?

[Kaede]

Hey all,

So I was assigned to the first interview weekend for one of my programs. However it conflicts with another (potential) interview weekend for a program I'm not as excited about but still very interested in. I'm thinking about switching to their second interview weekend if space permits. Plus, assuming I get the interview at the other school, I will have more practice for this one. However before making my choice, I'd like to know if anyone knew of advantages that come with attending the first interview weekend?

[Bioenchilada]

That depends on the program. Some give every candidate equal opportunitu across weekends, others start filling spots. Others might do both since they have enough funding for most of the people they interview in the first place. 

Edited December 21, 2016 by Bioenchilada

[Proteostasis Aficionado]

I am actually very curious about this too. My impression from the posts I have encountered here is that it doesn't matter as long as you are not an international student. I could be wrong tho.

[Bioenchilada]

12 minutes ago, Proteostasis Aficionado said:

I am actually very curious about this too. My impression from the posts I have encountered here is that it doesn't matter as long as you are not an international student. I could be wrong tho.

Well, international students get the same amount of money as domestic applicants, so I assume that the big hurdle is getting an invite, not getting an admission offer. 

[Proteostasis Aficionado]

12 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

Well, international students get the same amount of money as domestic applicants, so I assume that the big hurdle is getting an invite, not getting an admission offer. 

It is true that international students get the same amount of funding once they get in, but funding available for them might be limited in some schools. I will refer to the post made by Orims:

"Applying as an international student was very scary and all I was aiming for was to get into 1 school. Today I cannot believe I was offered 5 interviews and pretty much accepted everywhere I interviewed (MIT wanted to accept me but wait-listed me since I went to their last recruitment week and they had already ran short on international funding). If I could give any advice for people applying within the next few years is to never doubt yourself. I thought that my list was too risky but I was able to get interviews at my 1st and 2nd choice. Also, don't let your GRE scores think that you are not good enough, I scored lower than the average student admitted into most of the schools I applied to but still managed to get acceptances. Finally, if you are an international student try to go to the 1st or 2nd recruitment week you are offered, going to the 3rd recruitment week at MIT was a bad choice given that they had already accepted many international students."

Who knows if this might be true.

[SysEvo]

1 hour ago, Bioenchilada said:

Well, international students get the same amount of money as domestic applicants, so I assume that the big hurdle is getting an invite, not getting an admission offer. 

Actually international students are facing a great disadvantage that they are unqualified for almost any fellowships and program fundings (NIH/NSF etc). I was interviewed at Harvard SysBio 2 years ago but got rejected. And several inside persons told me this is due to funding issue. 

[immuno91]

As has been said previously, it depends on the program. At some schools (example, Vanderbilt), the admissions committee meets after every interview weekend. The grad students said that nearly everyone on the first weekend gets in and then the numbers drop for each subsequent weekend. Other programs will have all of their interview weekends and then will notify people after. It really just depends on what the program does.

[prospectivegrad1]

I would like to know more about this. Does UC Berkeley MCB bias towards students attending the first recruitment weekend? What other schools might do this? Thoughts?

[Ferroportin]

On 12/23/2016 at 8:59 AM, prospectivegrad1 said:

I would like to know more about this. Does UC Berkeley MCB bias towards students attending the first recruitment weekend? What other schools might do this? Thoughts?

I attended the first interview weekend of Berkeley's MCB program last year and got an offer two days after. From what I was told by the current students, the adcom extends offers after the first weekend to students that they are confident about. For the ones that they aren't 100% sure on, the adcom waits until the second interview weekend is over before deciding whether or not to extend an offer.

[Promilla]

On 22/12/2016 at 6:19 PM, Proteostasis Aficionado said:

Finally, if you are an international student try to go to the 1st or 2nd recruitment week you are offered, going to the 3rd recruitment week at MIT was a bad choice given that they had already accepted many international students."

Damn. International going for the last weekend. Visa issues. Seems like I might have some issues there.