<p>@gradschoolVA </p>
<p>A lot of programs let you do a summer rotation if you want to start early. You should check with your schools. It seems like the better option if you want to work during summer.</p>
<p>
So my advisor sits on the admissions committee for his program. They invite about 28-30 people to interview each year, with the intent of accepting ~20. At the time they make the interview invitations, they rank the interviewees from 1-30. He says that every year, when they meet after the interview weekend, they rank the interviewees again, and inevitably people move up and down the list on the basis of their interview performance. Number 30 is probably never going to become #1, but #21 might become #19, or #17 might become #22.</p>
<p>In my program (Stanford), we invite around 20 and accept 10-12.</p>
<p>@TWOJumbo2007</p>
<p>What is your Home program if you don’t mind me asking?</p>
<p>Random question…</p>
<p>How many extra points (for lack of a better expression) do you get on your application for being a middle author in a Cell paper? Even though you are not the first author, you still contributed a major and essential figure in the paper. PI reinforced this in his letter of rec.</p>
<p>How much of a bump would an app get from something like this during admissions?</p>
<p>Another question…</p>
<p>Are the acceptance rates post interview for international students different than for domestic students? It’s harder to get an interview as an international. Would that mean that schools invite less internationals for recruitment and so our chances for acceptance are better post interview?</p>
<p>@Shush33 I think it depends on the school. For some of them yeah it will definitely be easier but for others the battle is not over yet. Do your best, be nice, smart and social and I’m sure you will find the right place. Also, don’t over think the cell paper. The comittees already saw what you are capable of doing and that’s why they did/didn’t offer you an interview. Now they want to know the real you not the one in papers. Even though they will ask questions about your research, what they are actually testing is your level of maturity, problem solving and understanding of the scientific field that you are pursuing</p>
<p>@Stemcell7 the interviews are meant to see if you will a good fit for the department. So sometimes it’s not just how you answered the questions on the interview, but it’s also a matter of personality. If your personality doesn’t fit that department then you would not enjoy your time there. And if you are miserable during grad school then you are not gonna do good science</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s necessarily true that people are already a good match for a program if they get an interview. I think it would be plausible to get an interview at a program that’s very low on your list in terms of research fit, due to good stats alone. Since most applicants are pretty savvy about tailoring their application to match a program’s research strengths, I can imagine that interviews are often useful in teasing out an applicant’s true interests and intentions. It’s also possible that you’ll find out in the course of an interview that the program isn’t a good fit for whatever reason, even if you thought it was when you applied.</p>
<p>It’s also hard to judge an applicant based on their research experience on paper, because the ratio of real research to beaker washing and playing fetch might be very low. Some R1 universities churn out a lot of research, and getting authorship on a paper might not entail knowing about it, in some cases. You may have been in the right place at the right time. So I’m sure they check to see that your research experiences were semi-meaningful and prepared you for grad-level projects.</p>
<p>This is just speculation…but it makes sense, right?</p>
<p>UT Southwestern! Finally :)</p>
<p>Any body got a call from Cornell Biophysics? </p>
<p>not the Weill Cornell but simple Cornell Biophysics ?</p>
<p>@ jayeyesee: micro and immuno</p>
<p>Has anybody heard from UCLA’s Molecular and Medical Pharmacology program (Not ACCESS)? I’m primarily waiting on that notice, but the application site says they’re still reviewing apps. I have a POI that wrote a hard copy letter of rec to the department and already has said he has the money for my tuition/stipend, but I’m still waiting anxiously to see if anybody has heard back from this program? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>So I’ve creeped all over and seen no signs of anybody getting interviews to UCSD neuro yet. Anybody have any idea when they’re planning to send out interview invites or know if they already have and I just missed it?</p>
<p>Does anyone know about post interview acceptance rates for internationals?
Also, does anyone have stats on UPenn neuroscience in particular?</p>
<p>Just found out about this thread!</p>
<p>So far I’ve gotten interviews from UPenn BMB, UChicago Biophysics, and Yale BBSB. Still waiting on Harvard biophysics, Stanford biophysics and UCSD. Anybody heard from these schools yet?</p>
<p>Stanford biophysics program director said invites had been sent.</p>
<p>@ksong9</p>
<p>When did you hear back from UChicago Biophysics? When is the interview weekend?</p>
<p>@ksong9</p>
<p>I got an invite from UCSD Chemistry + Biochemistry (molecular biophysics track) on December 15th–but I know that they do rolling invites/admissions.</p>
<p>@TWOJumbo2007 </p>
<p>Have emails been sent to all micro and immuno candidates already? I haven’t seen any micro and immuno posts on grad cafe yet. I was wondering if you knew the situation</p>