A calling to all BME FALL 2008 Applicants:):)

[bme_dude]

BU has been review applications for some time now. they have 2 open houses, one of them is already filled. The graduate coordinator said that the commitee is half way done with the 400+ applications and they are still getting more from the college. good luck to you guys.

[crossedfingers]

hmm.. no committee huh. did not know that. So when u apply, and say ure interested in working for say Dr. Nightingale, is he the only one that sees ure app? Or do all profs doing research in biomechanics dept look at the application of the students interested in biomechanics? I dont think it's really imp now anyway.Seems like they've made their decisions.

[anon2468]

I can't imagine ALL duke professors have made calls yet... I think more people would have posted results or at least would have heard SOMETHING if that was true. I could be wrong, maybe I am just holding out for nothing...

[McNutt]

That response about being reviewed by the committee is probably not the end of the world. It might mean he hasn't gotten any applications yet, hasn't had time to look at any/yours, yours might be in the hands of someone else, etc. Maybe you're his #2 and he's waiting to gauge interest from his #1. Maybe he's waiting to hear about fellowships/grant funding. None of those are reasons that he would want to explain via email, but aren't necessarily terrible.

Or maybe he already threw your application in the trash haha. When you are admitted into the lab, as opposed to the program as a whole, there are a lot more variables that go into it. It also extends the time things take to shake themselves out with funding and spots being taken by others. All you can really do is try not to stress and hang on for the ride. :mrgreen:

[123456789]

Anybody else visiting Northwestern? I'm starting to get the impression that whichever prof. acted as our "advocate" is essentially our presumed research advisor. When you visit they specifically ask you to name the one person you expect to be your research advisor, so you can spend most of your time with them.

I've talked with the guy and he seems nice, but there are other people I am slightly more interested in working with. Does anybody have any experience with this program and how this works?

[crossedfingers]

I can't imagine ALL duke professors have made calls yet... I think more people would have posted results or at least would have heard SOMETHING if that was true.

I like that reasoning~ I think I'll hold on too!!!

I have a question similar to yours 123456789. I am visiting Purdue this weekend and was wondering if it would be ok if you wanted to talk to a couple of other people you are interested in, apart from the person who called u. Would that make him think that you are not really interested in his work and make him move on to a different student? How does it work? I really think I would like to work in a lab verses being a TA. I can't teach for nuts and freshmen classes (?), very likely i'll lose my head.

How did your other visit weekends go? Were there lots of formal interviews?

Most importantly what did you wear : or rather what were the girls wearing

[crossedfingers]

has anyone ever looked at Stanford's list of accepted graduate students for 07-08? Don't do it! It can lead to serious inferiority complex! Afterwards, I went and rechecked my Stanford application to come up with reasons why it should not go straight to the trash can!

Has anyone tried contacting the bioengineering department there? Their website very strictly says they wont entertain calls about the status of your application. I wonder how serious they actually are.

[123456789]

How did your other visit weekends go? Were there lots of formal interviews?

Most importantly what did you wear : or rather what were the girls wearing

If that was for me... my only visit was a place I was already accepted. Lots of discussions with professors, who I guess you are still essentially interviewing with for a spot in their lab. They showed me around their lab, introduced me to their grad students, talked about their philosophy, etc. Some of them asked me to briefly describe my background, or to tell them what my research strengths were, but I certainly was never grilled about anything.

There were only two of us students there, we were both "business casual". Slacks and collared shirt without tie for both me and the girl that was there.

[babaatiit]

Has anyone heard from CASE reagrding biomedical engineering PhD?

[hopingforfunding]

No- I have not heard yet at least. Last year they let people know from mid February past the April 15th deadline from what I hear... I got in to their MTLE dept last week, but BME is slower there. Good luck!

[red_dragone]

rejected from UCSD today, *sigh*

[christina_bme]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone heard back from BU yet? I know the odds are not in my favor but a yes/no answer would be nice...

[bigsid05]

rejected from UCSD today, *sigh*

Email notification?

[123456789]

No word from BU here.

I'm starting to feel like my email is cursed. On Monday I sent emails to the administrative people and some professors at three different schools that accepted me, and so far I have received zero replies. I can understand being annoyed with and non-responsive to "have you decided yet?" emails (of which I've sent a few), but I would have expected a quicker turn-around once I'm in their program.

[crossedfingers]

the only email i received from BU was to tell me that the 'adviser' i was interested in, was on a maternity leave. That is pretty much all the email said. I didn't know what to make of it. I mean i had listed 3 other faculty members and i know the men were definitely not on any mat. leave. I wonder if that was a succinct way of saying, ' sorry ure application is now out of the pool'. they supposedly got 400 apps right- so there has got to be some random weeding out process.

[xzjohn]

Hey, there

I think probably I'm more qualified than others to answer your question, 'cuz I'm an international student doing MS in BME now in America.

First of all, I'm from China, where I got my B.S in Material Sciences and a conjoint B.S in biology. I got admitted to the BME MS program at UAB with fellowship in 2006.

There were two reasons why I applied to MS, rather than PhD.

1) Let's be honest, it's really hard for international students to get into BME PHD program. Seriously, I would have ended up with a bunch of rejections if I applied to PHD programs. Unlike most science and engineering PHD programs, BME does NOT enroll international students quite often. You'll find the majority of grad students in a BME lab are Americans while in labs of other majors, quite often international students dominate. The reason may be complicated but the fact is pretty evident. The odds is against us. Even though not many chinese students apply to BME programs each year, those who do apply typically would submit applications to more than 20 PHD programs. And, in the end, most of them got a pile of rejections only. Those few lucky guys can usually only get one PHD fellowship.

2) For MS program, it's much easier to get into, even though financial aid is typically unavailable, especially at the point when you got the admission. It is quite possible to get a research assistantship in the 2nd semester. If you're qualified, you can even get an assistantship outside BME department, say from mechanical or chemical engineering department.

I think it's better to jump into the pool, if you wanna learn how to swim, rather than practicing in your bed. So, I went ahead with MS applications and got a handful of admissions without financial aid and only one with fellowship ( I withdrew all revolving applications after getting the fellowship).

If financial aid is your top concern, many alternatives are available, such as PHD programs in Mechanical, Materials, Chemical, etc. They are much easier than BME to get in and they carry a full financial aid package for newly admitted PHD students. After getting admitted, you can always choose a research advisor doing BME research.

If you do want to get into BME MS program with full financial aid, based on my homework in 2006, only two programs are for you. The 1st one is John Hopkins' MS program and the 2nd is the one at UAB.

At this point, I'd suggest you contact individual faculty for RA positions. Many BME PHD programs offer fellowships for 1st year students and they have to secure a RA position in the first few semesters. In such a case, technically, you have to have a faculty endorsing your application, who is your "potential" advisor after you get admitted, during the admission process. Otherwise, it's quite possible to get rejected.

To be honest, funding is becoming more and more hard. International students are not eligible to receive funding through federal government. As you know, many research projects are supported by National Institute of Health (NIH) and so we can't take RA if this position is paid from a NIH grant. So, basically, only University/grad school fellowships or faculty's funding from private source can be used to hire us.

Another thing is the economy. About 5 years ago, NIH got a huge amount of money from the appropriation to support biomedical research. Now, the money is up. What's worse, the Whitetake foundation was closed a couple of years ago. The new tenure-track faculties in my department are suffering from these things. If they can't get a grant, we can't get a RA.

i got two letters too. i'll call on monday see what they have to say.

on a different note, I had a question for you 123456789. You said you have done your masters right? Was there a particular reason you chose to only get a MS degree and not go for a full fledged PhD at that time? Now when all the applying bizness is over, I feel like Ive made a huge mistake. I applied to 9 programs. Most of my top choices were MS. My reasoning at that time was based on my friend's experience. She told me it was easier to get into an MS program of your choice (esp for international) students than a PhD. I went with what she said, without realizing that I probably had a stronger profile than her and a better chance of getting into the schools I really wanted to go. Well now with all these MS offers coming in ( with no guaranteed funding) I feel like an idiot! I have always wanted to go the whole nine yards and get that PhD and right now I can't believe i made such a stupid decision, based on someone else's experience. *kicks her self*

anyhow, i was just wondering why you got your MS first? Was it really easier to get in?

[miketakena]

Hey McNutt

If Duke is flying me in from overseas at their expense.. what are my chances?

Can you also comment on xzjohn's post?

yep, at least for domestics.

[McNutt]

Your chances are good. But again, nothing is set in stone b/c it's all up to the professor. One of the girls I interviewed with ended up getting rejected for no obvious reason. So, it does happen. But I would say your chances are very good. :wink:

EDIT: And I don't know jack about the international student stuff, besides the fact that there definitely are a few at duke. i wonder if private schools have it easier than public?

[miketakena]

Hey McNutt.... you interviewed prospective students? how does that work?

Your chances are good. But again, nothing is set in stone b/c it's all up to the professor. One of the girls I interviewed with ended up getting rejected for no obvious reason. So, it does happen. But I would say your chances are very good. :wink:

EDIT: And I don't know jack about the international student stuff, besides the fact that there definitely are a few at duke. i wonder if private schools have it easier than public?

[crossedfingers]

hey xzjohn. Thanks for the post. I did not really know that BME international student acceptance rate was lower than the others. I mean I know its hard-er, your're not only competing against the brightest in the United States, you're up against the best brains in the whole world. But really that low?

When u said you got into a MS program, were u able to get a teaching assistantship during your first semester? The last thing I want to do, is pay to go to graduate school. Appreciate your comments. thanks for sharing

[crossedfingers]

Hey McNutt

If Duke is flying me in from overseas at their expense.. what are my chances?

ure kidding me?!!! flying u from overseas? Is this overseas= canada? I would be freaking jumping up and down! They've got to be serious if there gonna pay that kinda money for an interview!

congrats !!!

[xzjohn]

I'm glad it's helpful to you. As for your chance of getting financial aid, I'd like to start with how the program works.

As far as I know, many BME PHD program is structured as below:

1) You get admitted to the PHD program with a fellowship for the 1st (academic) year. But, you're considered as MS candidate (thesis option).

2) By the end of the 1st/2nd semester, you have to choose an advisor.

3) Your advisor will provide you a RA position after the first year, when you fellowship ends, till your PHD graduation.

4) Within two years, you get your MS degree

5) After your MS degree, you can proceed to the PHD. A qualifying exam may be replaced by the MS degree defense. It depends on individual program.

6) Get your PHD in 3~4 years beyond your MS.

Some don't have such a MS-PHD structure but the financial transition is the same. Like what I said before, most grad programs use fellowship to finance 1st year students and we, international students, are highly restricted to get fellowships. NIH, NSF, DOD, etc offer a number of fellowships or permit the grant recipient to use a portion of the funding to offer fellowships. But, only domestic students (sometimes, it's even more restricted, only US citizens) are eligible.

So, if you wanna a RA, you have to compete with those students holding fellowships. Typically, they'll start working in his advisor's lab since the 2nd semester. The point here is they are NOT paid from his advisor's grant till his fellowship ends. Of course, they have an edge over you for this reason from the advisor's standpoint.

As for TA, it's really rarely in BME grad programs 'cuz BME usually is a small department compared against EE/CS and not many undergrads register BME courses. Those who do BME courses are quite possible pre-meds. Maybe they're smart enough and don't need a TA. As far as I know, Northwestern and Upenn do offer TA to BME PHD students in their 2nd or 3rd year, if any slots are available. But, you can always find TA/RA outside BME. One of my friends is holding a RA in a cell biology lab while she is doing a MS in Biostatistics.

For me, I was fortunate to get the fellowship at the very beginning of my MS program and found a RA after the 1st year.

When the grad program admits you with full financial aid, that means it has secured enough funding to cover your entire grad study.

If you wanna get loans to finance your education, probably you have to get it from financial institutions in your home country. If you plan to get one from American source, I think you have to be in a top university, like MIT, Yale, etc. They offer institutional loans. Commercial loans from US banks requires a credit-worthy U.S citizen as co-signer.

Good luck with your education.

hey xzjohn. Thanks for the post. I did not really know that BME international student acceptance rate was lower than the others. I mean I know its hard-er, your're not only competing against the brightest in the United States, you're up against the best brains in the whole world. But really that low?

When u said you got into a MS program, were u able to get a teaching assistantship during your first semester? The last thing I want to do, is pay to go to graduate school. Appreciate your comments. thanks for sharing

[ahug030]

If Duke is flying me in from overseas at their expense.. what are my chances?

Just wondering how you managed this, i.e. how did you go about asking? I'm flying in from New Zealand to Berkeley, Duke and hopefully others. The prof I've been talking to mentioned the cost would be shared or something... not sure if I should push for more. Btw when are you going? Maybe we'll see each other there... Im leaning towards Duke now just because their demeanor seems much more personal - plus the campus looks amazing.

Unlike most science and engineering PHD programs, BME does NOT enroll international students quite often.

If anyone wants evidence of this, check out Stanford's intake for 2007-2007, I think there are two students from international schools vs. ~ 20 from U.S. ones. I can see the difficulty - the number of Indian and Chinese students out there that could embarass me on the academic front is surely in the thousands (if not hundreds of thousands). Thankfully I'm a U.S. citizen and my having spent time overseas is more likely to be seen as a plus.

[miketakena]

Hey Hugs, maybe its shared cost.. I am not sure .. how did Duke write you?

[ahug030]

I have just been communicating casually with the prof - no formal emails or letters...