<p>I just got out of the waitlist in the Baylor MCB program. They sent me the acceptance letter today. And I am international… I hope this can give some hope for some of the guys still waiting for results.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice everyone. It’s still a tough choice to make, but I have a couple more weeks. I know that my BF will be supportive of what I do he’s a scientist too and he understands that sometimes you have to make sacrifices to put yourself in the best position. It’s just hard to leave now that I’m with someone great.</p>
<p>As for setting up rotations, everyone I talked to at the two schools I’m considering have been very receptive and helpful. Some have even tried to entice me by offering fancy computers for joining! 
I think it is a good idea to at least contact PI’s and let them know you are interested especially if you are rotating in smaller labs as money often is a concern when they consider how many people they can take. But if you are going to HHMI and NSF/NIH funded labs then that’s much less of a concern</p>
<p>prfreire, congratulations! hope other guys can get their offer too.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what is a “normal” period of time between a phone interview and a decision? </p>
<p>I had my phone interview (Vermont CMB) just over 2 weeks ago and have not heard back. I’m wondering whether this is normal, or whether I may be waitlisted and therefore shouldn’t expect to hear back before April 15th. They did say at the end of the interview that they were impressed with me and that they don’t give that many interviews, so I should feel encouraged, but they only take on 1-2 international students every year.</p>
<p>So, i know we have until 4/15 to make our decision, but i was just wondering lets say i email School A and said i accept their offer but then i change my mind, can i email them saying I changed my mind and then accept another offer? How does a school make sure that you are actually going to go after you accept their offer? None of the schools that i got accepted to have enrollement deposits or anything…</p>
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<p>You are generally free to change your mind at any point prior to 4/15 - this includes backing out of a written acceptance. I wouldn’t generally recommend doing this as I personally think it’s discourteous to formally accept an offer and then back out unless there is a very compelling and unanticipated reason for doing so. After 4/15 you cannot back out of a written acceptance unless the school chooses to grant you a formal written notice releasing you from your commitment.</p>
<p>First and final update:</p>
<p>Applied to all neuroscience programs: UCSF, UCSD, UCLA, Stanford, UPenn, NYU, Columbia, Duke, Indiana University, University of Washington</p>
<p>Interviews: UCLA, NYU, UPenn, University of Washington (Pharmacology; app was passed on), Indiana University</p>
<p>Accepted: UCLA, UPenn, University of Washington, Indiana University</p>
<p>Decision: UPenn!</p>
<p>Update</p>
<p>Applied to: 18
Interviewed: Stony Brook, Mount Sinai, Rutgers, UConn, UMass Med, USC, Einstein
Accepted: Case Western, Stony Brook, Mount Sinai, UConn, UMass Med</p>
<p>I have narrowed down to 2 schools:</p>
<p>Mount Sinai School of Medicine $29k
Genetics, Stony Brook/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory $26.5k (TAship)</p>
<p>I am still swaying…any suggestion and comments would be appreciated! Thanks</p>
<p>Has anyone heard anything back from Johns Hopkins MMI?</p>
<p>i applied to the following with a chemical engineering background because i am interested in sequencing technology and systems biology:</p>
<p>stanford - biomedical informatics
ucsf - quantitative biology
harvard - systems biology
mit - computational and systems biology
nyu - computation biology
boston university - biomedical engineering
weill cornell - physiology, biophysics and systems biology
ucsd - bioengineering</p>
<p>i was accepted to:
ucsd - bioengineering (25k, TAship)
weill cornell - physiology biophysics and systems biology (33k, no teaching no nothing!)</p>
<p>academically and reputation-wise, which is the better program to choose for a future in biotechnology?</p>
<p>and then, which would you choose?</p>
<p>WC may not require you to teach but it seems to me like the kind of place where you are likely to end up more like a lab tech than a phd student</p>
<p>I don’t know too much about Weill Cornell, but UCSD Bioengineering is very, very highly regarded, and would serve you well in biotech. The stipend difference, though it seems large now, will probably make little difference in the grand scheme if the contrast between the programs is significant. </p>
<p>More importantly than all of that is your own gut feeling about the programs’ fit for yourself- nature of research, professors, work environment (as AstarothCY mentioned), etc.</p>
<p>I visited UCSD for their neurosciences program and everyone there mentioned that there are a lot of biotechs in San Diego area. I am personally not interested in biotech so I did not try to find detailed information but you might want to email the students in your program and see what they have to say.</p>
<p>Keep in mind WC is in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. that stipend will be just about enough. San Diego/La Jolla isn’t the cheapest place in the world but those stipends are not directly comparable. Also I would say you should do some teaching just to have the experience, not just for your CV but also for yourself. Who knows, you might like it enough to decide to do it full time.</p>
<p>i did my BS/MS at UCSD and am at another NYC-area school for my PhD.</p>
<p>the stipends are (sadly) comparable in terms of what you can get for your money, but for me things have boiled down to this:</p>
<p>SD >>>> NYC: weather (winter’s about 6 months long here)
NYC >>> SD: cool things to do and people to meet</p>
<p>I was notified on March 18th. I would like to know if somebody else from this forum has been admitted to the program.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>This is a small thing in terms of San Diego versus NYC, but if we’re getting into details, it could be important.</p>
<p>Do you want a car? Could you afford a car? In San Diego/La Jolla, it’s practically required that you have a car, especially if you want to try to get a reasonable rent. In NYC, it’s basically forbidden.</p>
<p>Also, the TAship could play a factor in your decision, depending on your future goals. If you ever want to be a professor of any kind, it would be good to go to a school where you’ll get to try teaching.</p>
<p>If you just want people’s opinions, I would choose San Diego - Manhattan always makes me feel tired and stressed out, and SD is just gorgeous. Where else could you step out of your lab to go surfing with the seals? And the forested campus! And the Dr. Seuss library! And the free art classes in cottages for grad students! Wearing shorts and flip-flops year-round!</p>
<p>astarothcy, ymmit, theory, astrina and buffkitten: thank you for your prompt replies! i really appreciate all your input.</p>
<p>i should point out that went to college and am currently living in NYC. i really do love it, but i hate the winter!
i am apprehensive about la jolla because i have heard (over and over again) that it’s pretty boring out there. but then again, i’m there to earn a PhD not party right?</p>
<p>it’s so easy for me to stay in NYC and so hard to relocate to san diego… the car issue doesn’t help much either.</p>
<p>basically, weill cornell/NYC is ideal for me BESIDES the academics/research. the location, lifestyle and social life is perfect in NYC. but i should still go to UCSD for the academics/research… right?</p>
<p>Hey, has any international heard from Northwestern IGP, Vanderbilt IGP and Dartmouth MCB in the past 25 - 30 days?
Positive/Negative Response, doesnt matter.</p>
<p>I don’t see how La Jolla could be boring at all… then again I don’t see how any place could be boring. I think people are boring, not places. As for academics and research, yes, I would go with UCSD, I think you will receive a more complete and useful graduate training experience there.</p>