<p>Hixiv21,
You make some good points. There are a limited number of weekends during the interview season, although one school, Sloan-Kettering, has their interviews on a Tuesday thru Thursday, which happens to conflict with the first week of classes at my daughter’s school. So, she is going to contact her profs for next semester to get a feel of how they wold react to her missing the first week of classes.
She did not get an invitation to Harvard, so she does not need to worry about interview conflicts with that school, which is too bad since her undergraduate school is only 30 minutes, so logistics would have been pretty minimal.
Rockefeller would likely be a top-choice for her. I am glad to hear they don’t require an interview. That schools seems to be extremely competitive to get in to, and I see that many of their slots are reserved for foreign students (the school wants diversity in that area) and in last years class a large number of the students they accepted had a MS degree, or several years of research experience after receiving their undergraduate degree, so this program appears to be extremely competitive.
I think the last few schools that my daughter is waiting to hear back on interview possibilities are Mt. Sinai, Einstein, Vanderbilt and Cold Spring Harbor (although she is finding that their strengths might not be lining up well with her research interest).
Does anybody know anything about the quality of student housing in the New York schools she is waiting on: Sloan-Kettering, Einstein, Mt. Sinai and Rockefeller. Since these are 5-6 year programs I am sure that the quality of housing during that time period will impact her view of theses schools.
Thank you!</p>
<p>Hey, what’s wrong with applying to more than 10 graduate schools? I don’t get it.</p>
<p>Hi rivision,
In my daughter’s situation she applied to 15 different schools. Eight of these schools have invited her to interviews and four more schools make decisions in January.</p>
<p>These interviews typically take up three days (including travel) and she still has to take classes at school and complete a major research project. So, eight of these interviews is not practical, and it is possible that 3-5 might more interview requests might be offered in a few weeks.</p>
<p>In her situation, she withdrew from two schools (Baylor and Case Western, although I have no idea why Case was one of them) that were low on her list and conflicted with other interview dates. She might withdraw from one other (Sloan Kettering) that has non-optimal living situations (2 people sharing a studio–she still needs to confirm this) so this will get her down, for now, to five interviews which might be manageable.</p>
<p>You have to to make the hard decision, at some point, to determine which schools you are most interested in. I think she would have been off making such decisions before submitting applications rather than spending the time and money submitting to schools that she might not be serious in.</p>
<p>Each person needs to approach their own way. Keep in mind that if you apply to 15 schools you might have to deal with the ramifications of 12 or more of them offering interviews.</p>
<p>Rockefeller used to accept from applications several years ago, but I believe they changed their policies because I know people who interviewed within the last couple years. Also, I’m sure professors would be more than accommodating, missing for an interview is definitely a legitimate excuse.</p>
<p>Did anyone apply for the Harvard Biological Sciences in Public Health program (BPH)? If so, have you heard anything from the program in terms of interview invites?</p>
<p>Interviews at WUSTL and Minnesota. Still waiting on the rest.</p>
<p>Hi,
I have been having mega trouble successfully enrolling on the GradCafe site. I have able to enroll, but most of the forums are not available to me. If I log out I can view all of the forums & threads,but cannot post. Can someone please let me know what I have been doing wrong? Thank you.</p>
<p>Hi d3runner,
Thank you for the update on Rockefeller. I was looking at posts that were 2 plus years ago. I am sorry to see that they require an interview as well. That program is extremely competitive, so chances of my daughter getting an interview there is probably remote. But, with all of the interview offers she has received in the last 2+ weeks, she will already be flying to interviews every weekend from mid-January to early March, as well as a mid week interview that coincides with her first week of school for the semester (and that is assuming that 3+ interview requests are turned-down and/or not viable because the schools cannot resolve scheduling conflicts.</p>
<p>I think I liked it much better in the old days when one did not have to interview for graduate programs, checking out schools via the Internet was not yet possible, and your first view of the school was when you showed up a few days before classes started to move in. The process was far less anxiety ridden.</p>
<p>Late to join the conversation, but…
[Undergrad. University] Ivy League
[Undergrad. Major(s)] Engineering Science: Biological Sciences
[Undergrad GPA] 3.42
[Years of Research Experience] 2 years in a plant immunology lab with honors thesis. 1 semester (3 months) in a human immunology lab abroad. Scientific review published in University magazine.
[GRE Scores] 161V, 163Q, 4.0
[Prospective Graduate Program] Immunology
[Prospective Graduate Schools]
Harvard
Weill Cornell
UPenn
Yale
Stanford
MIT</p>
<p>Haven’t heard about any interviews yet… but based on this thread it looks like only UPenn has sent out interviews for <em>some</em> programs. Regardless, I’m a little nervous now.</p>
<p>Hi gradapplicant5,
You might want to checkout the GradCafe site. Someone on this thread pointed me in that direction a week or two ago. They have a section where people report when they receive interview offers, and when they are officially accepted or rejected. Looking at the dates they in prior years might give you an idea of what dates they will be doing things this year (unless they changed the process since then).
I have seen interview offers from some of the schools you listed: U Penn, Harvard, Yale, Cornell and possibly MIT. But, it is possible that they are from different program areas in the biological/biomedical science programs. Plus, it is possible that some of these schools might initiate additional interviews at a later day. That just happened with one of the schools my daughter applied to. We saw that applicants to the same program she applied to were offered interviews about 10-12 days ago. However, that school sent her an interview offer this afternoon. So, some of these schools review applications on a flow basis, as they come in, or over a couple of waves. If you are concerned, you can always contact the grad schools you applied to and ask about the status of your application as well as their review and decision process. I suggest calling instead of emailing. Good luck!</p>
<p>@gradapplicant5</p>
<p>You’re right about Penn… Some programs have been sending out interviews but immunology hasn’t sent any yet. I didn’t apply to the other programs so I haven’t paid attention to whether they’ve been sending invites or not.</p>
<p>Also joining in on the waiting game. Posting for my D, who doesn’t do CC.</p>
<p>[Undergrad. University] USC
[Undergrad. Major(s)] Double major: Neuroscience, Psychology
[Undergrad GPA] 3.86
[Grad. Major(s)] MSc Clinical Neuroscience, at UCL London
[Grad GPA] Distinction
[Years of Research Experience] Undergrad…research since freshman year (2 projects and 1 honors thesis project). Grad, 1 year (dissertation). Present, working as a RA in a neuro lab since September when she finished her Masters.
[GRE Scores] 159, 159 (I think), essay I don’t know. She took the GRE cold with no prep, too busy with dissertation work. She hopes the scores are adequate.
[Prospective Graduate Program] PhD Neuroscience
[Prospective Graduate Schools] </p>
<p>Columbia
Brown (3 programs: Neuroscience, Neuro in partnership with NIH, and Cog Neuroscience)
UCSD
Stanford</p>
<p>Interview invitations received to:
Brown/NIH
Columbia
Waiting for the other two (mid January)</p>
<p>Best of luck to all!</p>
<p>Interview invite from MIT Biological Engineering Phd program this morning. My first official word! Didn’t expect to hear anything until the end of the month, so this is a good one!</p>
<p>Also received an email from a PI at UPENN Bioengineering PhD program who wants to discuss a fit in her lab. She says Skype and phone interviews for UPenn BioE will come out “very shortly”.</p>
<p>Hi, has anyone heard back from Neuroscience PhD program at Baylor College? I applied before the deadline (1 January), but after the earlier recommended date (December 1). I had a good communication with a PI before application. I am not sure if I should email him again; any suggestion?</p>
<p>Hi,
My daughter received an interview offer from them several weeks ago and eventually turned it down. She applied to way too many programs and received interview offers from almost all of the them–she is still waiting on Rockefeller University–and has been narrowing her list down to six or so interviews.</p>
<p>I would definitely contact the program. Since the school has multiple deadlines I am sure they are reviewing applications on a flow basis. With dozens of schools sending out invitations each day I think you should definitely follow up with them so that you don’t get lost in the shuffle. You can tell them you are receiving some interview offers and want to make sure that you keep the interview date for Baylor available since that is your top choice.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>[Undergrad. University] University of Western Australia
[Undergrad. Major(s)] Genetics
[Undergrad GPA] 6.92/7 (Australian system)
[Grad. Major(s)] N/A
[Grad GPA] N/A
[Years of Research Experience] - full-time equivalent - about 1 yr
[GRE Scores] V 170/170, Q 170/170, A 5.0/6.0
[Prospective Graduate Program] Developmental/ Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics
[Prospective Graduate Schools]</p>
<ul>
<li>Duke, NC</li>
<li>University of North Carolina</li>
<li>Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK</li>
<li>Gurdon Institute, Cambridge, UK</li>
<li>University of Western Australia</li>
<li>Oxford University</li>
<li>Liverpool University, UK</li>
</ul>
<p>Results so far:</p>
<p>No reply by interview shortlist date, therefore probably rejected:
- Sanger, Gurdon</p>
<p>Others - no decision, no interviews yet</p>
<p>I am not familiar with GRE scores required as they are rarely used outside the US. Sanger says they are “significant” in deciding who gets short listed, so should I be surprised at not making the cut, given my scores? Nothing I can do about it anyway.</p>
<p>@ScaggsvilleScott: Rockefeller does indeed conduct interviews, however, last year they accepted the large majority of interviewees. Admissions is very competitive, but they do not reserve spots for international students. Rather, they accept students based on the merit of their application alone, without considering citizenship, as their large endowment (the largest per capita out of any school) allows the university to fund graduate students without government funding. The housing at Rockefeller is probably the best that I have seen (I interviewed at UChicago, Harvard, MIT, Yale, UCSF, CSHL, and RU). There are a range of options, from one bedroom apartments (without roommates, unless if you want to move someone into your apartment like a significant other) to three bedroom apartments (with two roommates). Rents range from $585-815, which for the UES of Manhattan, is absurdly cheap (and that price includes internet, utilities, and furniture!). PM me if you have any questions about Rockefeller (or any other school that I interviewed at), I’d be more than happy to help! :)</p>
<p>My son has some BME PHD interviews coming up. Does anyone know the interview acceptance rates at MIT and JHU?</p>
<p>After some intensive research this week, Rockefeller has just shot up to the top of the schools my D is considering. She’ll be applying this fall.</p>
<p>Quick question everybody. I’m in a bit of a dilemma. So my undergraduate GPA is a 2.57. I have a degree in Psychology and Biology. I got my Psych degree Spring 2013 and my Biology degree just a week ago. In undergrad as a freshman I started off in Biology and did terribly due to immaturity and after Spring 2011 having to deal with what many families had to deal with that had family members living in Syria and Egypt. I was already on slippery slope with a 2.67, but when my GPA fell even further due to everything that was going on, I struggled to bring it up. I did significantly well when I switched to Psychology with 2 As, mostly B’s and a couple C+'s in my Psychology classes. When I came to my second university, I began to significantly improve in my upper level biology courses. My last two semesters ended up with a much better performance in upper level biology grades. Keep in mind, my performance in the past was absolutely terrible with a few F’s in those semesters when the civil wars broke out. However, from Fall 2010 and before, I can only blame myself.</p>
<p>Cell Biology- C+ (over the summer)
Fall 2013 (2.96 GPA):
Microbiology- B
Vertebrate Physiology- B
Pharmacology- C
Virology- A-</p>
<p>Spring 2014 (3.0 GPA):
Evolution- B
Developmental Biology- B
Neurobiology- C
Medical Terminology- A</p>
<p>I took my GREs and came out with a 155 V and 156 Q with a 4 on the Writing. I’ve been doing research at the University with my professors and I’m also going to start doing research at St. Jude Children’s and at a medical school nearby for the next year. Thus by next May, I’ll have 2 years of research experience at major institutions along with being a tutor/teacher and volunteer at many youth programs. What’s scaring me at this point are my 2 C’s and that one C+, especially with my background. I’ll be retaking my organic chemistry, basic biology, and physics since those can be replaced with a performance under my more mature self. Do I have a chance at entering biomedical sciences programs at all? I feel like this is not enough.</p>