Official Biomedical Sciences Interviews/Acceptances 2009

[dd2200]

<p>

btw, if you are accepted by UCSD Bio and not feel like going, please reject the offer as soon as possible, so that the people on waitlist can have a chance! thannnnnnnnnks!

</p>

<p>I just declined my offer of admission to UCSD Bio. Hopefully you hear something soon! It was a tough call, but I finally decided to attend UCSF Tetrad (anyone else here going to Tetrad?).</p>

[phanta]

<p>hi dd2200! I’m going to UCSF Tetrad also and so is roxannecellbio.</p>

[Aceflyer]

<p>

Your career might or might not work out as well. You may not make it through grad school (national attrition rates in the biomedical sciences are about 25%) or you may get through and decide you don’t want to stay in research or science altogether. I wouldn’t be so eager to give up something that is going really well in my life.</p>

<p>On the other hand, NYC and Philly are not that far apart and you are probably going to have to lead separate lives at some point, maybe when your boyfriend starts his residency, maybe when you start your postdoc, or maybe for a position afterwords. Hopefully you can make all those things work out in the same cities, but who knows.

</p>

<p>I agree. I just want to clarify that the first paragraph of my previous post was just based on a summary of bioscientologist’s remarks in her initial post. Personally I wouldn’t be eager at all to give up a great relationship, but that isn’t really the point here.</p>

<p>

You will just have to decide what is more important for you: staying with your BF, or going with the better grad school ‘fit’ for you. If you are not even sure that you want to spend the rest of your life with your BF, I might personally recommend that you go with the better grad school ‘fit’. After all, as you say, your relationship might or might not work out but choosing where to go to grad school is definitely going to affect the rest of your life.

</p>

<p>I recognize that careers, like relationships, might or might not work out. But in any case it is probably fair to say that choosing where to go to grad school is going to have some effect on the rest of one’s life.</p>

<p>I then continued my previous post by explaining why, IMO, choosing Columbia may not necessarily be tantamount to ending the relationship:</p>

<p>

There is also the possibility of taking your relationship long distance. You feel that attending grad school at Columbia is tantamount to “telling the person I am with that they are not worth it for me to stay.” Why is this? In my humble opinion, I’d think that your BF should support you in making the best choice for you, whatever that is. It’s not like you’re choosing between CU and your BF; there doesn’t seem to be any reason why you would necessarily have to break up with your BF if you choose to go to CU. Long-distance relationships are hardly unheard of, after all.

</p>

<p>In summary I agree with belevitt, and apologize if my previous post was unclear in any way. Long-distance relationships obviously aren’t ideal but in this day and age they are sometimes necessary.</p>

[roxannecellbio]

<p>dd2200: UCSF Tetrad, represent!</p>

[danielge]

<p>hi dd2200, thanks so much!</p>

[dd2200]

<p>

hi dd2200! I’m going to UCSF Tetrad also and so is roxannecellbio.

</p>

<p>Sweet! It’ll be interesting to put faces to the forum :-)</p>

[CellBioGal5]

<p>Are people already lining up their rotations for next year? What’s the typical timeline for that sort of stuff?</p>

[ymmit]

<p>I’ve been told that unless you’re trying to get a summer rotation, it’s a little early to be asking about fall rotations. Usually professors are uncertain about the status of their labs that far down the road, as new members are joining and old members are graduating between now and then.</p>

[Aceflyer]

<p>

I’ve been told that unless you’re trying to get a summer rotation, it’s a little early to be asking about fall rotations. Usually professors are uncertain about the status of their labs that far down the road, as new members are joining and old members are graduating between now and then.

</p>

<p>Agreed. Now is probably a good time to start asking, or at least start looking, if you want to get a summer rotation, though.</p>

[belevitt]

<p>I am glad to hear some consensus on this- I had been contacting the individuals I want to rotate with and wasn’t getting a very warm reception from anybody except the PI for the summer rotation.</p>

[Grad_02_02_09]

<p>Hey! so BU rejected me from their bioinformatics program…but have offered me admission to there MS program…do I take it???..oh! yeah no finacial aid!!!(tuition is like 37…total living expenses about 55)…are they trying to take my tuition or do they really want me?</p>

[AstarothCY]

<p>Would spending that much money on getting an MSc pay itself back by way of higher employability and better salaries? Probably not. Get some more research experience and try again.</p>

[molliebatmit]

<p>

I am glad to hear some consensus on this- I had been contacting the individuals I want to rotate with and wasn’t getting a very warm reception from anybody except the PI for the summer rotation.

Oh lord, PIs can’t think that far in advance. You have to treat them like people who have no hippocampi.</p>

[New_User]

<p>Hippocampi is my new favorite plural. Especially after a fun google image search. :)</p>

<p>Seriously though, yes…now is too early for rotations, but keep in mind I was told not to bother asking until I got to campus only to find my first choice for a rotation was filled in early July, leaving me somewhat frantic to find a first rotation. So asking over the summer may not be a bad idea especially in the more popular labs.</p>

[ivy77]

<p>microphage, U Maimi paid 80% of the health insurance, and the rest 20% costs about $200,I think it affordable with the stipend given.</p>

<p>UPitts is overall better than U Maimi~Glad you have better choices~</p>

[belevitt]

<p>Ivy77, are you referring to 80/20? I don’t know the situation specifically at U of Miami but 80/20 insurance policies are common inside of academia and without. It doesn’t mean that the premiums (monthly payments) are charged at a 20 percent rate to you. It means that after you have satisfied your deductible, you only pay 20 percent (called coinsurance) of the cost of any procedures you have done up until a maximum out of pocket amount.</p>

[ivy77]

<p>belevitt ,thanks for your info.</p>

<p>Do you mean that after I paid the taxes ,I have to pay the rest 20% insurance with the money left for me? My stipend is $25500/year, and I heard that the 20% costs about $400(sorry for the wrong number in the last reply). And the life cost in Miami seems quite high,do you think the stipend can totally cover my expense?</p>

[Momwaitingfornew]

<p>Ivy, belevitt means that the 80/20 split is NOT what you pay to have insurance. It’s what you pay when you use it for medical procedures. For example, if you need an MRI, the insurance will pay 80% of the cost, and you’ll have to pay the other 20%. You don’t have to pay anything unless you use the medical insurance.</p>

<p>But like belevitt, I don’t know the specifics of your insurance arrangements. You’ll need to investigate further.</p>

[mtlve]

<p>Celbiogal5-</p>

<p>As others said, dont worry about it until August unless you do a summer rotation.</p>

<p>I would advise you to talk with everyone on your long list when you arrive in aug/sept. I missed one of the labs I was interested in because she committed to others in August. There are a bunch of labs like this at my school.</p>

[ymmit]

<p>I just set up a rotation starting in August! Caltech doesn’t officially begin until Sept 29, so it’s still classified as a summer rotation. It seems like the rotation thing varies by professor. The one that I contacted is very VERY on top of things and likes to plan everything meticulously in advance- so she was glad that I asked early. Talk to current grad students to get a gauge on those who would be more receptive.</p>