<p>Hi guys.. Haven't been on the forum for a while.. Good to see so many of you getting invites. Congratulations!! </p>
<p>I wanted to ask (sorry if its already been asked a million times)- When do international students, who are not in the US, hear from the adcoms?</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>That is the question. I check my email for 10 times a day, but still haven't heard anything.</p>
<p>Hey Penicillin. I'm beginning to get very worried but not entirely there yet.. Most of my friends who applied last yr didn't hear from anyone before April!! But people here have already got invites as early as December.. I'd be glad if previously tortured souls would share the experience and unburden us slightly!!</p>
<p>I'd say dont fret too much before March. A friend of mine heard from a school in March about a phone interview, after they had finished the domestic interviews.She got an offer in April off the waitlist.</p>
<p>Another international student here. Applied to 9 schools, haven't heard back from any yet. :(</p>
<p>sideserver,</p>
<p>what schools do you apply to? did you do your undergrads in US?</p>
<p>Are you sure that international students hear about an admissions decision at a different time than domestic? There may be a different deadline for applications, but does this mean that an admissions decision would therefore be offered at a different time too?</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry because even domestic students haven't heard much regarding their admissions fate. Most probably won't hear until early March.</p>
<p>I believe we won't hear before March. If anybody has applied to Yale BBS, i've found this at the FAQ: "Invitations to attend our recruiting weekends will be made by phone or email beginning in early January. International applicants who are considered for admission will be interviewed by phone in February and March". I actually find it interesting that for the domestic applicants it is an "invitiation" and "recruiting", while for internationals, it is "considered" and "interviewed" :)</p>
<p>I applied to Stanford, UCSD, UCI, USC, BU, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern and 2 other state universities as safeties. </p>
<p>In hindsight, I might have overreached a bit. :( </p>
<p>Yeah, I did do my B.S and M.S in in the States.</p>
<p>Hey guys! What will you do with visa to attend the interviews in the schools which don't offer phone interviews? Will you apply for B2? Have anybody here changed his visa status from 'perspective student' B2 to F1 - how long did it take and what is the probability of positive outcome? I am really worried about such visa issues. </p>
<p>I have applied to:</p>
<p>Stanford U. - Cancer bio
MIT - Biology
Rockefeller U.
Harvard U. - BBS
Cornell U./Sloan Kettering
Washington U. in St. Louis - MCB
Columbia U. - CMB
U. Penn - CMB
BCM - CMB
JHU - BCMB
Yale U - Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development
UCSF - BMS
Princeton U. - Mol bio</p>
<p>Haven't heard anything yet. I didn't do my degree in US.</p>
<p>Penicillin,</p>
<p>It is quite simply to get a B1/B2, as long as you are a student. If not, just tell them you need B1/B2 for travelling. It will be more complicated if you talk about interviews, I guess they would ask you to provide a formal invitation letter or something like that. Some immigrant officers are notoriously picky and may cause unnecessary delay.</p>
<p>Also, you do not have an I-20 and cannot apply for F1. They will only issue you a B1/B2.</p>
<p>Leukemia,</p>
<p>Yes, I know that B2/B1 is easy to get, so now I am mostly worried about the complications associated with the visa status change. I have heard that it is difficult to change the status from B2 (which you will hold after visiting the country for interviews) to F1. It takes a very long time and often ends with denial. :(</p>
<p>Penicillin,</p>
<p>I have never heard anyone with a B1/B2 faced the problem to get a F1 after admission. Many students here have been to US with a B1/B2 prior to their academic study there. Once you get an I-20, then everything's done.</p>
<p>I dont know how it works if you apply for status change from within the US but after the interviews if you go back home and apply for F1 visa with I-20 and other necessary documentation, I cannot imagine any reason why you will not get an F1 visa on account of having a tourist visa previously.</p>
<p>1 phone interview so far</p>
<p>The usual notification date is around April 1. At some point near the end of January or so you might get a message informing you that your application is complete, but that's about as much as you will hear from most of the colleges you apply to. </p>
<p>Penicillin, the term "changing status" has a very specific meaning in immigration law. Changing status from B-1 to F-1 would mean that you want to change your visa status while you are in the US without leaving the country. You are right that that's very hard if not impossible because an F-1 visa usually requires an interview at an embassy abroad. But as others have pointed out, it should not be a problem to get an F-1 visa once you are back in your home country.</p>
<p>Oops. Please ignore the comment on the notification date. I completely forgot that I was in the graduate school forum :)</p>
<p>so got a reject from UWash MCB.. n an email from UMich about the application being complete.. will get to hear from them in March.. anybody else got any news??</p>
<p>Got invite from Weill Cornell - Sloan Kettering (Feb 19-21) and reject from UCSF BMS (It was quite predictable - 1 international student per program is not that much). </p>
<p>Stats: 4.00 GPA (Russia's top3 school)
GRE Gen: V600(85%) Q800(94%) A 4.0 (37%)
GRE Subj Bio: 920 (99%)
4 years research exp.
6 months teaching exp.
2 first-author papers (local and international)
3 personal student research grants</p>
<p>b@r!um, Leukemia, theory:
Guys, thanks a lot for your explanations regarding visas - these were very helpful!</p>
<p>I applied to 18 programs. No news at all. :(</p>