2017 Biology Final Decision Threads!

[blc073]

@biomednyc

I'm really happy for you! I think you will have a great graduate school career, and I know a lot of fantastic scientists at Penn. 

As a Harvard student, I think it behooves me to make a few points: 1) We have over 800 faculty from which to choose, so you will find someone who fits your needs at Harvard, 2) I never feel isolated or like I'm just a number. The BBS office treats every student like it's a program with five students, 3) There is no evidence of high faculty turnover at Harvard. I asked about that when I was choosing a graduate program and I was given data that suggest nearly, if not every, junior faculty member at Harvard gets tenure. To corroborate, see this opinion piece. 4) You can, without doubt, get a place in many Boston cities/neighborhoods (e.g., Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Dorchester, Revere, Medford, Allston, Mission Hill) by yourself on the Harvard stipend. 

Again, this is not aimed toward you to make you feel like you made a bad decision. Simply liking one program over the other is sufficient to make a decision. However, it is important to keep the facts on record straight for future applicants and recruits. Harvard's reputation for being snobby or whatever comes from people perpetuating misinformation. When I told my undergraduate PI of four years that I got into Harvard, he spent thirty minutes trying to convince me to go elsewhere using misinformation like faculty are always leaving, the city is awful, they will look for any reason to kick out a student and save money. None of that is true. 

Anyway, good luck at Penn! For real, I see a lot of good research coming from faculty in CAMB. 

[dresdencodak]

Committed to Cornell BBS! 
Been living on the West Coast my whole life so gotta get used to the colder weather for sure! 

[The Precambrian Rabbit]

Stanford Genetics!

Anyone else going to Stanford?

[chanoschanos]

On 4/6/2017 at 2:40 PM, biomednyc said:

I seem to be one of the only one on this thread crazy enough to say no to Harvard. I'll be attending Penn CAMB in the fall  

Penn State?

[Neuro15]

4 minutes ago, chanoschanos said:

Penn State?

 

Penn CAMB is UPenn. 

[FailedScientist]

Well this thread is quite intimidating. So many Ivy level schools. I'll be heading to Baylor in the fall. Good Luck to everyone!

[aquamarine]

Emory Molecular and Systems Pharmacology!

[CozyEnzymes]

1 hour ago, aquamarine said:

Emory Molecular and Systems Pharmacology!

I interviewed for Emory's BCDB and two of my friends are joining the molecular biology and genetics programs. I was really impressed with the quality of education and research opportunities that students at Emory had access to - I'm really happy for you! Best of luck in the fall!!

[BlueNahlchee]

ECU Biology!

[Zavier Sami]

Great thread. I am doing Bachelor’s Completion Program (BCP) at Southern California School of Health Sciences.

[shikkui]

9 hours ago, Zavier Sami said:

Great thread. I am doing Bachelor’s Completion Program (BCP) at Southern California School of Health Sciences.

Are you just starting or are you currently in it?

[Zavier Sami]

Sorry for late reply. I am currently in it.