<p>I’ve written off Northwestern IBiS and Purdue at this point. UIowa is iffy for me, and I still have hope for UIC (they started reviewing apps this week or last week). I submitted my app for Iowa around the same time as Notre Dame and got an invite from ND, so I’m assuming it’s a no from Iowa…</p>
<p>I’m currently focusing on preparing for my upcoming interviews. I’m surprised I got anything at all considering my GRE scores weren’t that great.</p>
<p>UIC’s application system has been having strange hiccups, so I’m wondering if that’s delaying the review process.</p>
<p>Just got waitlisted at University of Maryland… My friend got invited to an interview yesterday, so I wasn’t expecting anything good today.
I called UCLA ACCESS, and the committee is still reviewing applications. Still waiting on Emory (MMG), but I am so not hopeful. (couldn’t call 'em until after 5 their time, so I’ll do it tomorrow). Time to start planning the non-grad school life… :/</p>
<p>Yeah I’m still waiting on ucla access and northwestern ibis. I’m giving myself until the end of month and if I don’t hear back I’ll go back studying and focusing on pumping out some papers. Good to hear that majority of the ppl hear got invites. Good luck!</p>
<p>@ss2player are u sure that over 1000 applied last year? That seems unbelievable considering other top schools in NY like Columbia and Weill had approx a few hundred applicants. I would be surprised if that many people applied. Are u sure that isn’t the statistic for the NYU medical school ? I’m just curious if NYU is really that competitive</p>
<p>I still haven’t heard anything either way from Northwestern, Michigan, Davis or Stony Brook. One invite (UCLA) and one rejection (Duke) so far. Still have one or two applications to put in. All of these are neuro programs btw. One of my labmates didn’t get his interview invite from Northwestern until Feb, so I’m not going to waste too much time worrying about it until it comes down to making a final decision.</p>
<p>@greenerfields and @Leucoceph don’t give up on UCLA ACCESS! Last week people said they were still reviewing applications…and by that point I had assumed a rejection, but I was surprised when they sent me an invite. They are probably reviewing applications to fill out spots that opened up because people cancelled.</p>
<p>@air2147 During my interview weekend at Columbia they said that 1089 people applied this year…they’ll give you a sheet with their admissions stats.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the acceptance rate post-interview for Weill Cornell BCMB? I browsed thegradcafe to get a feel of past years’ statistics, and it seemed close to 100% (but of course just a rough estimation). I only have that one interview. Official rejection from Stanford and Sloan-Kettering. Assumed rejection from Columbia, Berkeley, NYU, and Rockefeller. UCSF too since internationals have close to 0% chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Psh i’ve heard from 1 school and that was a rejection from Iowa Microbiology. I finally got my UIC app sorry out as it was having problems with their new system. So who knows. I was hoping to hear from UIUC this week but I don’t think that will happen anymore, unless they have more than one interview weekend. I should just go find out myself, I have class in the same building as the office haha.</p>
<p>So I’m on my way home from my first interview, and I have to say that it was a lot of fun (the interviews included). I prepared mostly by refreshing my memory of what it was that interested me about this program in the first place. Also, know your research and be able to give an elevator speech on it. I was originally nervous about the interview process, but this one has been truly enjoyable and very relaxed, so I don’t think you guys should stress too much. Just enjoy all the free food and drinks (and all the science)! :)</p>
<p>For people that have been to interviews… What have people been wearing on the 2nd day (the day after the actual interviews)? I am going to wear something nice on the first day… but is the 2nd day totally casual? or business casual? I am just very confused on what is appropriate to wear</p>
<p>So for the night before interviews, when we had orientation, a reception, and dinner with students, I wore khakis and a collared shirt, but others were dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and some wore suits. The night after interviews was a party with faculty (and we had time in between to change) people wore casual (I wore jeans and a collared shirt). The day after interviews (brunch and exploring the city with students), most people were everyday casual.</p>
<p>Also, in the interviews, did they mainly just ask you about your research? Because, previously I had actually interviewed for a masters abroad (didn’t end up doing it bc i decided to go home)… and my interview for that was more like an interrogation where they wanted to gauge my level of knowledge (i.e. explain the how a luciferase assay works, how would you define cancer, and why do you think you can jump into biology when your degree is in math, and asking me question after question of basic biology questions). It was 2 interviewers essentially interrogating me (looking at each other after every response i gave) , and although they accepted me- it felt like they were trying find all my weaknesses and point them out- not in a constructive way. (it could be because the country i was in is more rigid, like you have to major in biology to do a graduate degree in biology for the most part) was just wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this? It was traumatizing…</p>
<p>** just to clarify- the masters i was applying to is similar applying to a Phd here because in that country you have to have a masters degree in bio research before you can begin a phd. so its essentially the same type of program</p>
<p>I interviewed with five faculty members and each interview was very relaxing, conversational, and fun. We talked about our research, as well as more general topics related to graduate school and science. None of them grilled me, but some asked specific questions about my research (out of interest, not to trick me).</p>
<p>Most interviewers will not interrogate you like that, it is rare. From my experience last year, most interviewers would primarily ask you about your previous research and then they will share their own research goals. They will ask you if you have any questions about their research or the school. If you want to prepare by reading one of the more recent papers from an interviewer (or abstracts), that might help but it definitely isn’t mandatory and after the 4th interview weekend I didn’t bother. However, it would be good to have some questions in mind when you go to interview, and it is okay to ask the same questions to more than one person. You will probably get different answers. At some schools, there will be one interviewer (most likely on the admissions committee), who will just want to answer your questions about the school/program or ask about something you wrote in your SOP/LORs. It should be very conversational. As far as clothing, the only day you really need to be business casual is for the day of the interviews. When you are spending time with graduate students or going out at night, unless the itinerary says otherwise, you can definitely go more casual.</p>
<p>How do you know which researchers will interview you? Can you assume that they will be more or less in the same area of research as you? Or do they tell you in advance?</p>
<p>When I was at Columbia’s integrated program last weekend, some people told me they had to do a chalk talk…I didn’t have to do one but I don’t think it’s something to really stress over.</p>