<p>Right now? Freezing cold, lots of snow. It’s been really ridiculous this winter. In fact, I need to dig my car out by Tuesday so I can drive my bird to my aunt’s house so he’s taken care of while I go to my first interview. It’s been stuck behind snow from a plow, and the snow pile is getting bigger and more frozen.</p>
<p>Otherwise, the area’s nice! Lots to do, decent public transit, lots of doctors and researchers and students around. Harvard is my top choice; I’d love to do amazing research and not have to leave this area.</p>
<p>my boss is going to kill me! we have yet to hash out the details—advice for not having an awkward environment, or, worse, losing my job? i have to take the equivalent of 4 weeks off.</p>
<p>@digioral. omg my lab has probably had way too much too. i try to find other interesting topics, but usually it comes back to grad school. ALL-CONSUMING.</p>
<p>@bashibazouk. yay camaraderie! we should have a secret handshake or codeword so when we see each other at interviews we’ll know. i know i’m going to be looking around wondering who everyone is (also knowing that half of the other people are lurkers). wear the badge of obsession proudly people</p>
<p>@turkeylurkey awesome! they have soooo many professors at NIH it’s crazy. almost too much selection, since you have all of NIH open to you. I applied to OxCam-NIH as well. I called today and they said to call back Monday b/c the adcom is meeting this weekend. She looked up my file and no rejection yet! No news can be good news? Yeah I know, the waiting game still sucks. </p>
<p>also USC PIBBS invite today. and i had given up hope! </p>
<p>i have the lurking feeling my butt will get owned at these interviews. but right now i’m too tired to worry.</p>
<p>@ender776
I’m not the one to ask – I came to Boston for undergrad and never left. And I married a Boston native, too. But I love it here, both in Boston and at Harvard. Boston is a good place to be a student.</p>
<p>I’m happy, by the way, to answer questions about BBS here or via PM. One of the prospective students on CC a few years ago chose BBS and actually ended up rotating in my lab, which made me happy. (Free answer to FAQ#1: No, Harvard is not as miserable and competitive as everybody not at Harvard says it is.)</p>
<p>i am a california/berkeley girl at heart and only just moved to boston a year ago to do a masters program at BUSM, but this is home to me now. the city is fabulous, the DISTINCT seasons are gorgeous, and there’s great opportunity to meet some amazing people at every corner. academically wise, BUSM has really great and helpful faculty - they really care about the students. I’m also working on my masters thesis at a HMS-MGH lab so i know some Harvard professors as well, and they are also amazing. everything is amazing here. </p>
<p>all in all, i never want to leave!!!</p>
<p>really need to invest in some snow boots with good ankle support though.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Boston University for the Immunology program have an alternate interview date, i was supposed to interview on the 14th, no i just got another interview on the same date, any advice what to do?</p>
<p>The comment on the unhappiness level makes me feel slightly relieved. Although I sort of had the suspicion that it’s always the OTHER school that’s unhappy in the eyes of the students I’m around. And if I have any questions (which I will inevitably have), I’ll be sure to message you. Thanks!</p>
<p>@bashibazouk</p>
<p>Your opinion means a lot coming from the perfect weather of the West coast. I live in Pennsylvania, so I’m used the weather and I absolutely need 4 seasons.</p>
<p>@turkeylurkey @biology123: also got the JHU-GPP interview. I’ll probably interview early since im also local. It’ll help me out a lot since i also got interviews at GWU and GU’s GPPS and they all have the same recruitment days. JHU is probably the best of the 3, but im keeping my options open…</p>
<p>On an entirely different note. Got my first acceptance to USC PIBBS today! Very excited to know im going somewhere next year!</p>
<p>@ender776 Well, I was an undergrad at the other school, and was happy there, too. It was a tough choice for me not to stay at MIT for grad school.</p>
<p>@sunkist, when did you hear from Stanford biophysics? I am waiting to hear back from them as well. </p>
<p>I called Harvard biophysics on Wednesday and they said that decisions will be made by the end of next week. Apparently they had a HUGE budget cut (1 million) and obviously cant admit as many people. Def. sounded upset when telling me about the situation…They said there meeting with the graduate admissions committee at the begging of next week.</p>
<p>Speaking of the Boston weather… I’m looking for some opinions of something. I am supposed to fly out to Berkeley (from Boston) on Wednesday, which is the day we are supposed to get that next huge storm. I really don’t want to risk having the storm make me late for my interview, do you think it is appropriate for me to email the woman at berkeley to ask if I can change my flight to Tuesday (since they bought me my ticket)??</p>
<p>I am prepping for discussing the following questions/topics: current research (I’m a tech), research I did as an undergrad, career plans, strengths & weaknesses… </p>
<p>I have the same issue. I’m supposed to fly out of Boston Wednesday around 5:30 to get to Johns Hopkins. I’m going to call JHU on Monday and see what they think.</p>
<p>Don’t sweat the interview prep too much. As long as you’re familiar with your work and know a reasonable level of background relating to that work, you’ll be fine. I’ve been on three successful interview weekends so far and each meeting with professors has been a friendly science-oriented conversation. They might ask some followup questions relating to individual components of your research, but you’re not expected to know everything. It’s okay to say “I don’t know” or at least offer an educated guess. The most important thing is just to show enthusiasm and to be able to describe your work from a technical perspective (what you did) and a “big picture” perspective (why it’s important).</p>
<p>I have gotten a few questions about my career plans, but not one person has asked me a super-annoying question along the lines of strengths & weaknesses. The only other area I would suggest spending time reviewing is details of the programs themselves so you can be prepared to offer specifics if they ask “So why (insert school here)?” Being able to point to a specific component or feature of the program seems like a good idea for a response.</p>
<p>All in all, don’t worry, just be confident and remember that your two main goals are to sell yourself and to act enthusiastic and interested when they sell the school to you (which most interviewers spend a significant fraction of the meeting doing). They’re already impressed with you if they’ve invited you to the interview, so you just have to reassure them that their opinion is warranted.</p>
<p>The only other point of advice I would offer is to have an intelligent question lined up for when they inevitably ask “So, any questions for me?” This can be something about the school, their work, the interview weekend, the program, or even the city.</p>
But I love it here, both in Boston and at Harvard. Boston is a good place to be a student.</p>