Hey habari tri-I is a great institution and only few can rival the opportunities available there. I am wondering, did you have a hard decision to make when you decided to attend? What schools were you considering in the end and why did you decide on tri-I? Thanks......
i did have a couple decisions to make, as do many at the end of the season, and chose the tri-I for a number of reasons - though it's mostly a matter of taste and style at the end, rather than finally figuring out which of ones choices is the 'best'. it seems
almost silly in retrospect [this isn't meant to trvialize, because it does certainly loom large on ones personal radar at the time], because though i was right about focusing on some things, others factors i thought about at great length seem trivial, and many others that i never thought about are much more important. for example, though i have sought it out, i didn't invision the magnitude of influence nyc itself would have on my social life, and eduction - both in school and out.
i should also mention that my applications, impressions and decisions were based strongly on my interest in pursuing a neuroscience phd. about one month after joining a program, i realized that i had a stronger interest in infectious diseases, and have pursued that ever since. quite a change, considering the lens through which i viewed the research at different schools.
to answer your question more directly - i was certain i was attending about 5 or 6 different schools for stretches of time before i went to the triI revisit and realized it was the place for me. some schools that come to mind are ucsf, ucla(caltech), washU, columbia and yale - there were others i can't quite remeber. my most difficult final decision came down to ucsf and here, but i ended up coming here for a number of reasons. it may seem odd that i chose triI over ucsf, or columbia, for instance, considering my interest in neuroscience at the time of my decision. i suppose that speaks to personal idiosyncracies, and that purely objective factors don't always take precedence. a good friend of mine, and classmate intially thought i was foolish for turning down ucsf, and others in my class thought him foolish for turning down harvard mstp. on the other hand, triI was many of our top choices. of course, there are many people at other schools who chose not to attend triI.
i've become a poor cheerleader for triI vs OtherSchool, for a number of reasons: 1) i think despite the confusion of the end-decisions, most people have a sense for what they want 2) what people are looking for in programs, and what they want out of a program can differ a great deal and 3) i think the idea of vigorously convincing someone to attend the same institution that you do smacks of insecurity. i still feel strongly about triI, and don't mind speaking about my likes and dislikes - but perhaps i'll save that for another thread or a pm, if someone wants.
for me, the decision making process faded very quickly, as i suspect it does for most. finding labs, dealing with med school and enjoying the city/friends quickly take precedence.
but i'll let this get back to the thread topic. there are a number of harvard mdphd people who occasionally check this site- they are the best source of info about the way their program does admission notifications.
Also, anyone has some info about Harvard's program?? I've heard their program was on probation for this matter(taking too long). They argue things have changed since they made improvements, but they were relatively recent, so there hasn't been a class to show the results. Specially to current students, how has the experience been?
