<p>Why wouldn’t you formally decline? It is by far the polite thing to do and should have been done as soon as you knew you were not taking the spot. How hard is it to send an e-mail saying “Thank you for your consideration. After much thought, I have decided to accept another offer.” ? </p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound mean, but honestly. It’s no skin off your back and it lets them know for sure. If you do it today, you may even still allow them to make the offer to someone else (though it’s pushing it).</p>
<p>Technically, you don’t have to formally decline any offer; schools will generally decide that you aren’t coming if they don’t receive notification of your acceptance of their offer by 4/15. Still, though, formally responding to all offers - especially if you can do so before 4/15 - is the polite thing to do.</p>
<p>Grand tally (applied to Pharma or pharm/tox, or general biology/biomedical if no specific pharm/tox):</p>
<p>Accepted / Interview:</p>
<p>University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA
Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD
University of Washington | Seattle, WA
University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA
University of California–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
University of California, Davis | Davis, CA
University of Texas, Austin | Austin, TX
New York University | New York, NY
University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA
Boston University Boston, MA
University of Marylan, Baltimore | Baltimore, MD
Boston College Chestnut | Hill, MA</p>
<p>Rejected:
Stanford University | Palo Alto, CA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA
Harvard University | Boston, MA
California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA
Rockefeller University | New York, NY
University of California, San Francisco | San Francisco, CA
Columbia University | New York, NY</p>
<p>Wow that is pretty intense - Feb-Apr must have been nonstop…</p>
<p>Does anyone have any thoughts about UC Berkeley MCB vs. UC San Diego BMS?</p>
<p>I think both programs are great & I haven’t picked one area of research yet - so it’s more about more good opportunities for me. City living vs. suburb life. My long term bf is in grad school in socal, but my parents are in norcal - family & friends in each place. Just trying to make sure I’ve gone through every possible angle…</p>
<p>I interviewed at Rutgers/UMDNJ a few weeks ago and still have not gotten an admissions decision. There is no decision online either. I have already committed to another school- should I email Rutgers and them and tell them? I would like to email and ask about the status of my application mostly out of curiosity but I feel bad doing that since I know I will turn it down. I know someone who was notified solely via snail mail, so maybe the letter got lost in the mail? If you applied and receive a response was the online system updated?</p>
<p>If you really wanted to, you could send the program an email withdrawing your application. Otherwise, since you didn’t actually receive an offer of admission, there is nothing you need to do at this point.</p>
<p>@jorje
I am going to Einstein. I decided by the following factors:</p>
<p>-good research matches
-I got to meet a few of the faculty I am interested in, and met their grad students (so I also feel comfortable that they are good people too)
-really wanted to be in/around NYC (and the high stipend and subsidized housing makes that doable)
-no teaching requirement
-distance from undergrads. I wanted to feel more like I was going to work instead of going to school.
-being at a medical school everything is extremely medically relevant
-it seems like the program genuinely cares about their grad students</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve already considered most of this but I hope it helps!</p>
<p>Thanks backflip. Indeed the strong pros about the Einstein program are the housing (prices are awesome and everything is guaranteed) and great care the program seems to put in their students. AT USC you’re a lot more on your own, housing is more expensive/harder to find, but I think it fits slightly better with my research interests, and you have the awesome So Cal weather, the beaches…etc. Ugh, so hard to make a choice atm.</p>
<p>OMG!! Today is the last day and this is it! It’s between Weill Cornell and UCSF. I think I will accept at Cornell, I’m from NYC and I don’t know how I feel about leaving my family. UCSF was my favorite by far but how many times could I come home to see my parents and siblings? I got into great schools including stanford and mit, Cornell has a good program but I’m aware the other ones are better…i hope im not making a mistake…</p>
<p>IMHO Weill Cornell, UCSF, Stanford, and MIT are all excellent choices, you can’t really go wrong with any of these. If staying close to family is a top priority then it is true that UCSF and Stanford would be at a disadvantage due to their physical location on the West Coast. However, MIT would be close enough to visit fairly often (and there are lots of economical transportation options between Boston and NYC) so you shouldn’t just rule that out due to location alone. Overall I think it is important to go to the program that offers the best ‘fit’ for you. Not sure if this is helpful as it is 3 AM but if I can be of any help just ask!</p>
<p>Immunology…which MIT does not really have. I’m interested in cancer as well so I guess what I like about cornell is that I can work with anyone at Sloan Kettering.</p>
<p>Hi dagny24! (I’m actually going to Weill Cornell for IMP next year!!! I must’ve met you at the interview weekend!! I wonder if you were my roommate…)</p>
<p>I agree - Stanford and UCSF are definitely regarded as a full tier above Weill Cornell in immunology, AS FAR AS the name game goes. You’re right about MIT too. But as you know there are world class researchers at Weill Cornell and the facility over at Sloan is pretty good.</p>
<p>I guess it all comes down to how much you would miss your friends and family on the east coast. Can you go 6 years with seeing them only 1-2 times a year? It definitely depends on what’s important to you, but it’s not forever and it IS Stanford (or UCSF)…</p>
<p>BEST OF LUCK with your decision and PM me if you are coming to Cornell! Wherever you go you will be great.</p>
<p>dagyn24:you cannot decide on where to go based on the rankings. Some programs/schools are ranked low, yet they have awesome research and facilities and faculty and is just simply a better fit…grad school is going to be a tough and long 5-7 years and you should go where you will have friends/family there to support you, because a major reason people drop out is they are unhappy due to loniliness, etc</p>
<p>I decided to take an offer from top 40 instead of a top 20 (according to the reliable USNews, of course).</p>
<p>My reasons? there are plenty:
some profs in top 30s are actually more productive than top 15/top5/top2
better weather (I went to an undergraduate with a bad weather, and sadly, it affects my mood or even health sometimes)
where I would feel more comfortable. This includes the notoriously tough moment in grad school, which I never experienced in my undergrad career. So family / good social life might be a big factor for some ppl.
seriously, PhD / Post-Doct = your whole 20s / early 30s. Career is important, but it is not the only thing in life. If you only have 5, 10, and 15 yrs left to live in this world, where would you want to spend your PhD at? Again, the better ranked schools may only have more opportunities/facilities, but they don’t necessarily offer superior funding / faculty support in your case specifically
and special for today, the “April 15th”, your intuition or any type of omens may as well be the tie breaker</p>
<p>Thank you guys…you are right. I thought about it for a month and I was never sure. I had mixed thoughts about everything which got me really confused. On the one hand, I wanted to try something different but on the other hand having my family and friends near is important. They will be the ones who will be there for me during the tough times at graduate school. I will do my post doc on the west coast though I hope everything works out.
Good luck to all!</p>
I must’ve met you at the interview weekend!! I wonder if you were my roommate…)</p>