<p>@micromacro
LOL, what program? What were the typical questions that the 6 other interviewers asked you? Why did she/he ask you to outline the citric acid cycle? What was your response?</p>
<p>Haha sorry for all the questions. I’ll be posting my interview horror stories as well once I go in a few weeks!</p>
<p>@OopsIdiditAgain: Micro Program, however the interviewer was a geneticist
@funnybounce: Not relevant to mine at all, the interviewer was doing research on two different bacterium which differed in their terminal electron receptors (i.e. one could use sulfur instead of O2) however the actual CAC was in no way seminal to their research
@bingbang:<br>
“what program?” - Don’t want to name names but a top 25 program (i’m sure if you dig a little you can figure it out)</p>
<p>“What were the typical questions that the 6 other interviewers asked you?” - the other six interviews were laid back and other than the standard “explain your research, why this program would benefit you, why you would be a benefit to this program blah blah blah” the only science related questions I was asked were more or less if i knew a certain method used in their research and even if I didn’t (I usually did by just pre-reading their recent publications) they would explain it to me. </p>
<p>"Why did she/he ask you to outline the citric acid cycle? " - After asking some of the current grad students why this interview was so ridiculous I was told that this interviewer was always like this even after being asked by the admissions committee to refrain from quizzing applicants. I was told (by the current students) not to worry about it at all (of course I still am). </p>
<p>“What was your response?” - After fumbling through a response that would be expected of a bright junior high schooler, I immediately explained what the overall goal of the Kreb’s cycle was, what the starting/ending products were, and related it to glycolysis, fermentation and the ETC. I also was sure to remind them that although I got A’s in both my biochem courses from undergrad, I took them 4.5 years ago. (all while trying not to sweat through my undershirt from sheer stress)</p>
<p>I also had to name the enzymes involved in transcription, translation and viral replication and finished with stating every difference I could think of between two specific microbes. </p>
<p>This was in no way representative of any other interview I had the entire weekend, I don’t believe many (if any?) schools use a quizzical approach to their interview process. Don’t let this scare you at all, as the current students attending the program I was interviewing for told me, “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT”… </p>
<p>I just thought it was funny that the whole cliche “It’s not like they’re going to ask you the kreb’s cycle” response when ppl ask about interviews actually happened…</p>
<p>anyone know the acceptance rate for ucsf ipqb after interview? how many are interviewed / accepted?</p>
<p>@mufamuscles, I haven’t heard back from Stanford’s MCP program either. I’ll post if I get anything (thinking it’s a rejection, but notification either way would be better than none at this point, haha…)</p>
<p>@capnbo I was asked by the current students how my interviews went and I told them for the most part they were fine but might have come off unprepared in my last meeting… they asked me who it was with and when I told them they immediately explained the situation as i stated in the earlier post… I would never advise “complaining” about one o your interviewers, regardless of the content you may or may not be asked about… The est advice I can give would be to study your interviewers research bio and when you’re looking at his selected publications take a close look at the year they were published. Some of these prof’s have been in the field a long time and they change what they’re working on constantly. Make sure you read the latest papers you can find so that you can make critical statements and ask pertinent questions about his CURRENT work.</p>
<p>@eeb2012 In case you were wondering about Dr. Novembre, he would be a fantastic advisor. I’m an undergrad at UCLA and he has given me great advice about applying to grad schools and is really easy to talk to.</p>
<p>thanks glacialis - i met him in december and really liked him</p>
<p>I have a question for all of you. I have had 4 different research experiences, all in neuroscience. When asked to talk about my research, which one should I talk about? The current one, the longest one, the one I enjoyed the most…Or should I just give a one sentence description of each and ask the interviewer which one he would like to hear about? Thanks!</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I think you should talk about the one you’re most comfortable with. If the interviewer would rather hear about a specific research experience, I think he or she would ask you to discuss that one.</p>
<p>I’m going to talk about my current research, which I enjoy a lot and feel more comfortable discussing it because it’s a lot more focused than my prior research. But I’m going to be prepared to discuss all of my research because you never know. (e.g. if your interviewer’s research is similar to something you studied, you might want to discuss that one)</p>
<p>@neurogirl4</p>
<p>You should also maybe highlight the research experience that was the most meaningful in terms of experiments you performed. Were they all independent research projects, or did you spend a lot of time following directions from a grad student or post doc? If you can demonstrate original experiments and thinking, that’s much more valuable then being an assistant with little to no individual work and no individual experiment design.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine it affects your chances for an amount like that. Don’t pick the business class $126 shuttle (an option for mine, haha). We were given an envelope and sheet to fill out and attach itemized receipts to on day one of the interview. So you could submit it before even leaving the airport for home.</p>
<p>And micromacro: that’s nuts. The boldest thing an interviewee heard at my first weekend was, starting, “So, tell me about my work.” - might set you aback but the information is also probably more readily available in your mind.</p>
<p>Did he do it in a sly way where you could see he was just sitting back, seeing how you deal with a stressful situation? Or did it seem more like an oldtimer grasping on to how challenging he thinks the interview process really should be?</p>
<p>Just called NYU Sackler. They said they still have 20% of applications to review.</p>
<p>Just heard back from Mt Sinai and they said they are still reviewing apps…there is still hope it seems :)</p>
<p>ok I have a slight situation…</p>
<p>I just received an invite from a certain school and as I was reviewing my application to this school I noticed a big problem… It’s a microbiology program and within the program are specific “areas of interest”… I’m definitely trying to go into biomedical science (microbial pathogenesis specifically). The aoi I wanted to state as my top choice is titled “Molecular Biology and Biomedical Sciences” however I somehow clicked the tab for “Ecology, Conservation and Environmental Sciences”… (a pretty much completely different area of research) </p>
<p>Although both sub disciplines fall under the same program, I’m assuming I was offered the invite based on the idea that I was interested ecology. What do I do???</p>
<p>I recently called UT Southwestern and they’re currently reviewing apps.</p>
<p>@micromacro I actually had a similar problem. A professor at one school contacted me and stated that he thought my interests in X made me a great fit for his lab. I have never done anything with X nor did I express interest in it on my application, so I emailed him back and explained to him that there might have been a mix up. He said he would try to put me in contact with professors that I’m more compatible with haha. I think you should definitely contact your school and clear this up.</p>
<p>On another topic, I was reading a paper and noticed the author is a PI at a school that I was invited to interview whose interests are highly similar to mine. Is it too late to contact the school asking for a chance to interview with him?</p>
<p>@micromacro, I figure you probably talked about being interested in biomedical research in your personal statement, so I don’t think the committee would have put you through if they didn’t think your interests weren’t in line with the program’s. Still, that is disconcerting and I would contact the program.</p>
<p>@lost in elysia, It’s not too late. You should ask the coordinator. You could ask if it’s too late to change the schedule if you could meet with the professor during down time during the recruitment weekend, or even contact the professor directly.</p>
<p>UW Seattle BPSD came through with an interview. :)</p>
<p>And of course, I’m blocked off till March. But I’d reschedule for you, Seattle, I would.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Who are you talking to?</p>
<p>^to the voice inside his head :)</p>