<p>Hi there,
Could anyone tell me about UCLA’s ACCESS acceptance percentage?
I’m going to fly from Thailand to visit the school in March, but I couldn’t find any posts about the interview environment. Is it very serious? Are there other activities? I’ve been quite worried coz I’m an international applicant, and still haven’t received the schedule yet.</p>
<p>One more thing…for someone involved in ACCESS’s interview before, where did you stay at? Which hotel?</p>
<p>Thank you very much</p>
<p>Shoebox360: </p>
<p>I was at Iowa on Feb 5 for Biosciences and I just got an accpetance letter today for Biosciences and Biochemistry, but it came from Biochemistry. I think you should hear pretty soon, though someone from Biosciences said about a month.</p>
<p>@ Last_Raven</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>I was curious as to what people’s opinions are about WashU in St Louis. I loved it when I visited, but my primary concern is whether or not it has as good of a reputation as do some other schools I’m considering, namely Harvard and Rockefeller. Any thoughts/know what others think about WashU?</p>
<p>Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about UWash, but I want to point out that “reputation” doesn’t really mean that much. Do you mean “prestige”? There are a lot of really good universities, but only a few of them are considered prestigious. Whether or not you will have a better time studying there or get a better job after you finish your PhD is a whole other story. The latter especially has much less to do with prestige than most people think. I would pay much closer attention to whether the research done at the universities you are considering is close to your interests and whether you think you’d like living in the city the university is located in than USNews rankings or Ivy status.</p>
<p>@thescientist: Full disclosure, I am a WashU undergrad.
That said, at all of my interviews so far, when I’ve mentioned that I’m from WashU, most faculty seem to perk up. Then they will usually ask if I know Professor X or Y at WashU whom they know. So my guess is that WashU is definitely on the radar when it comes to the life sciences academic world. However, many people who are not in the field still think that WashU is in Seattle or DC.</p>
<p>@AstarothCY: WashU and UWash are two different places 
I do agree with most of what you say. Name is not everything, and I think its more important to pick your grad school based on the quality of education, goodness of fit, amongst other factors. However, I do think that your grad school’s reputation and name recognition does figure into getting a postdoc or job down the line. As much as I hate to admit, there are a lot of people who will pay more attention to a Harvard grad than to a WashU grad, even though both are top tier.</p>
<p>Nissle… see you this weekend in Boston!</p>
<p>@lesstalkmorerock, Will do. I am very excited. Which program did you apply to - the Cell & Mol Bio, Neurobio or MCBB?</p>
<p>Any word on UW Pharmacology?</p>
<p>Anyone know if Wash U in St. Louis is done sending out interview requests? I applied to the Cell and Molecular Biology subgroup in DBBS, and I haven’t heard anything yet. They have an interview weekend on March 6th, so I figure they could still schedule one soon for me to get there, but I’m getting tired of waiting, especially that I’m already admitted at UPenn.</p>
<p>I just want to hear, either way, from Princeton (likely rejection) and WashU so if I’m not in at any of those schools that I can submit my official acceptance letter to UPenn!</p>
<p>@ MCTitans, </p>
<p>I called Princeton Mol Bio this morning. The lady said (and these were pretty much her exact words) that if you haven’t received an invitation already it’s not likely that you will. There is still a small chance that you may be considered, but don’t count on it. However, rejections are not sent out until mid-March.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Nissle1917. I figured as such. It’s about 10 days until their last interview weekend, so that’s not nearly enough time to notify people generally. Wouldn’t matter for me since I’m so close (20 min. away at Rutgers) but still. Looking like UPenn for me more and more every day.</p>
<p>@AsarothCY</p>
<p>Really? I was looking at the biological engineering program at MIT, but that is pretty lame. I based my decision not to look at UC Davis on the fact that I could still have a chance at one of those places closer to home.</p>
<p>Anybody here went to interview at Northwestern IGP last week? Could you share some experience?</p>
<p>@ Nissle - I applied to MCBB</p>
<p>Anyone going to UCSF Neuroscience interviews 2/19-2/22?</p>
<p>Along similar lines as brian_aging, anyone heading to the UPenn Neuro Group interviews tomorrow or thursday? Also, for people who already interviewed, what were your thoughts and comments, if any?</p>
<p>I’m headed out to the UPenn Neuro interviews tomorrow, and I’m just wondering what the atmosphere is going to be like. They keep stressing casual in the their emails, but I don’t know in what range of the casual spectrum they want us to be</p>
<p>My d (not sure if she reads this any these days…) is also heading out to UPenn late tomorrow for the Neuro interviews this weekend. I think she is pretty excited!</p>
<p>NIURO - if there’s any indication of how casual the interview weekend will be, check out the chair’s picture on the Penn Neuro site ([Neuroscience</a> Graduate Group](<a href=“http://www.med.upenn.edu/ins/ngg.html]Neuroscience”>http://www.med.upenn.edu/ins/ngg.html))!!</p>
<p>Seriously, though, I had my weekend there two weekends ago, and it truly was a very relaxed and casual atmosphere. Wear business casual clothes, not a suit. Be strong in your knowledge of your research, but be prepared to also just talk about daily life with your interviewers. And have some fun during the night. If there’s one thing that I learned at the Penn interview, it’s that grad students and professors are alcoholics! Have a couple, but don’t go overboard.</p>
<p>Overall, it’s more of a social experiment than a true interview. For CAMB, 90% of students are accepted. Not sure about Neuro, but probably similar. I felt very welcomed before, during, and after the interview weekend, and that’s why I’ve ultimately decided to attend Penn next year.</p>