<p>My my, I have to say I was at least somewhat confident about my chances at graduate school before a friend of mine called me, to inform me that she had received four interview requests, all of which from universities that I am applying to. I have not received anything thus far. All I ask is your thoughts on what this means--are interview requests sent out simultaneously? She applied to pharmacology versus biology for me, which I assume is a larger department, is that a correct assessment? I had always worried about my low GPA, but it appears (from this board as well as from my friend) that the GPA carried significantly more weight than I had expected.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.3 (private university)
GRE: Q:800 (94%)
V:640 (91%)
W:6.0 (97%)
Research: 4 Years at three labs. 2 published papers. 1 grant, 1 fellowship awarded. </p>
<p>Applied to:
MIT / UCSD / U of W Seattle / Emory / Albert Einstein / UMass Medical School</p>
<p>Any advice you could give would be appreciated.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, your credentials look good enough for all the schools you mentioned.
I would've guessed that the low GPA might be a red flag for some but not all.
Were your recs strong and from people with high qualifications?</p>
<p>My recommendations were from my academic adviser, my senior thesis adviser (who went to MIT and insists I apply there), and a research PI I have worked with for ~4 years, a professor at UMass Medical school. I had hoped the credentials were adequate, but quite a large number of people on this board have received interview requests from my schools.</p>
<p>A lot of the people on this forum applied to biomedical and biological science umbrella programs- only a few to pure biology (as opposed to departments run by med schools). I have no basis for this, but it's highly possible that your programs haven't yet sent out invites. Your stats are impressive, and my advice is to stay calm- you'll be fine.</p>
<p>If you and your friend aren't applying to the same departments, there's no reason the interview invitations should be sent out simultaneously. Each department generally does its admissions independently.</p>
<p>I appreciate the encouragement, and I too thought my stats were impressive, at least until I found this site. I've seen dozens of people thus far with 4.0's, astonishing subject test scores, numerous published papers, etc. It's actually been quite disheartening.</p>
<p>What is your major GPA? I know that for Emory, at least, they expect a B or better average for their applicants. </p>
<p>Take heart, though. It definitely is true that different departments send out interview requests at different times. And also many individual departments then send out invitations in "waves". You are not done yet!</p>
<p>Don't worry, ndufour! Your stats look good and you applied to a good variety of schools. Sit back and try hard to relax while waiting... Also, I went to a state school and have something around your GPA as well - and I have lower GRE scores and less research experience. I applied to immuno programs and have been getting interviews - you will be fine! Try to relax, although I know too well that it's hard... They're on their way.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice PatchesNBrownie... I was thinking about starting a thread where all we do is comfort and encourage each other (hah). Yeah, relaxing is hard (like telling a starving person "just don't be hungry, food might be on it's way")...although it's a bit easier now that I've started getting interviews. Systems biology is difficult from what I've heard, current departments tend to be small and it's got something of a "sexy new field" thing going on right now.</p>