<p>bionerd1234- I’m pretty sure we won’t be hearing back for a while. I heard that the odd-day interviews for people who missed the two weekends go all the way into March.</p>
<p>
Strongly agreed! You should get into the habit of writing thank-you notes or emails to people who have taken time to help you.</p>
<p>bionerd1234 and ymmit, which programs at Caltech did you apply for? I’m applying for biochemistry/biophysics, and the interview weekend isn’t until 2 week from now, although I’m going this weekend because I already committed to Stanford for two weeks from now.</p>
<p>09Grad- Dept of Biology. :)</p>
<p>Wanting more information to assist me in my choice of graduate programs, I sent emails to labs I was interested in rotating in to see if the professors would be taking students. </p>
<p>One professor asked for my CV in lieu of giving a clear response on this matter (he said he would “check on it”), and this was sent promptly. He then asked me to send him my references. Is this moving too fast? I just wanted to see if he would be accepting students. I wasn’t actually applying to join his lab, which is what it feels like to me. Also, my references already wrote LORs for my application to this program, so I’m not sure what their role would be now, especially since I haven’t even confirmed my choice of this program yet. What should I do?</p>
<p>He wants to know whether his lab is full or whether he can squeeze in one more person. ;)</p>
<p>Giving him your CV and references doesn’t commit you to rotating in or joining his lab. And your letter-writers will not find it unusual to be asked to comment further on you to a prospective mentor.</p>
<p>Ok, sorry to post 3 times in a row (where is everyone at 8AM or earlier? :P) but it figured itself out. For posterity’s sake: I gave him the materials he requested, and gently reminded him in one of my emails that I had not decided on a program yet and was merely trying to gauge availability. He then proceeded in the right direction.</p>
<p>Oh- thanks Mollie!</p>
<p>All, thanks so much for all the great information on here. I would like some advice/input.</p>
<p>I have an interview at Duke Neurobiology this week (tomorrow and Friday) that I’m very excited about. For my schedule I have several lab visits that last as much as an hour with seven 1/2hr interviews. A couple of my lab visit+interview is a whole 2 hrs long. What is the typical structure of these lab visits and why are they so long? Just curious. Am I simply hanging out with a grad student/post doc for an hour or something? I’ve had interviews at other schools that didn’t include these so not sure what to expect. </p>
<p>Thanks a lot for any advice or insight.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard back from UCSF Neuro yet?</p>
<p>Has anyone visited the Tufts Dept. of Biology? I’m visiting in about two weeks and have been accepted already, but I’m curious to know other people’s impressions of the dept/program/facilities/location.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how long is going to take program to make decision after interview? I know one place is going to tell me within one week, but I am waiting the reply for Madison… desperating…</p>
<p>to ymmit: I totally think you should go to a program which fits you better and you feel happier there. for bioscience, without happiness, how could we have good work done and have good publications?
I think people will have great position for postdoc if they have nature, cell , science even they come from Top 50 school.</p>
<p>angelswing1983, </p>
<p>It depends on the program and the department. UMass Medical told us the exact date we’d expect to hear from them, BU told us to expect notice about 2 weeks from the interview weekend, and another school made a quick comment about “within the next month”. Although, it seems like there’s approximately a 2 week turn around time on average for a lot of the programs I’ve heard of. But every school is different, so that’s just an estimate.</p>
<p>to gsfall09, thank you very much！ I think I am just tired of checking emails…should be patient…
Good luck to everybody!</p>
<p>Have any internationals heard back from Duke microbiology department? I’ve emailed the graduate secretary more than once but never received any response.</p>
<p>I also check my email neurotically, I’m just as impatient. :)</p>
<p>brainlab–I returned 02/14 from my Duke Biology interviews and may have some applicable info, however I’m sure each program’s interview weekend organization/scheduling is slightly variable. Prior to my visit, I received a detailed interview schedule (I think each prospective for my program had 6 30 minute interviews) and then some down time in between each (~1-2 hrs free) where our host would take us around to see labs or different Duke facilities we were interested in (I checked out some labs–very informal, just stroll in, check out the facility and chat with whoever’s working at the time–made sure to check out the gym, etc.). Everything is pretty laid back there…each “recruit” was assigned a host (I’m sure it’s the same for you) and our host was literally like an extra appendage…they were with you every second, walking you to your interviews, hanging with you in down time, eating lunches, picking you up from the hotel to take you to dinners, etc. and even waited outside our interviews to interrupt the professor if time goes over, so that you don’t feel awkward notifying them that you have other professors waiting…</p>
<p>Anyway, you’ll have a blast…they do a really nice job showing you how friendly and welcoming the graduate students and faculty are. Some banquets, dinners, night on the town with the students (we went to a bar in Chapel Hill). Get psyched, hope this helps a little and good luck!</p>
<p>UCSF Neuroscience told me via email that they would not be making admission decisions until after the 3/6-3/7 weekend.</p>
<p>Just got an acceptance to Northeastern via postal, but already got into programs I liked better.</p>
<p>accepted at Brandeis via snail mail on Monday</p>