Last Hope for an Interview

[cadilakgrl]

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So after getting a couple rejections and worrying way too much...I'm wondering when I should give up hope for an interview at schools I haven't heard from yet.

From past applicants' experience, when was the latest you heard from schools about an interview? I assume some schools are quicker than others, so any idea which schools are slower?

Sorry, maybe I'm freaking out a little too much and should just take a step back and relax but I know I would feel more secure if I had 5 or 6 interviews lined up.

 

[stherling]

Oh, I'd feel better if I had 5-6 interviews lined up too ;P But then again, I currently have 0. You, on the other hand, have at least 2 (from the Official Interview thread), so count your blessings 🙂 just kidding... i know this process is stressful for everyone. Good luck!

 

[Wertt]

Dudes - I was complete at Northwestern only just over a week ago, and just received an invite TODAY, for their first interview week in November. So don't let the paranoia of SDN get you down, not all schools are full, and in the case of Northwestern it appears they aren't anywhere near to full, and it doesn't matter how early or late you were complete.

 

[cadilakgrl]

Oh, I'd feel better if I had 5-6 interviews lined up too ;P But then again, I currently have 0. You, on the other hand, have at least 2 (from the Official Interview thread), so count your blessings 🙂 just kidding... i know this process is stressful for everyone. Good luck!

I know I should be happy with what I have and hope that one pulls through for me. This whole process is just turning me into an anxious person 🙁

Stherling, just curious, how many schools did you apply to and how many are you still waiting to hear about an interview?

 

[izibo]

Well, I applied to 22 MSTP programs, have had 4 interviews (will know one decision by the end of the week!!!), and two rejections. That means that I havent heard anything from 16 schools... in other words, this is a slow process, and YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE! so keep the faith!

 

[cadilakgrl]

Thanks Izibo, that makes me feel better 😀

 

[Doctorsoontobe]

Oh gosh... none of my application is complete yet. I sent in 9 secondaries but still waiting on one more LOR from my new research advisor... Needless to say I have 0 interview I am really scared... I am not applying to any MD program either, only MD PhD.

 

[stherling]

Stherling, just curious, how many schools did you apply to and how many are you still waiting to hear about an interview?

I submitted secondaries to 5, and just added one more to my AMCAS list (because I'm getting nervous about having applied over my head), late in the process as it is. I haven't heard from any of them. Somedays I'm horribly worried, somedays I figure whatever, it'll all work out. today's a horribly worried day. Anyone in philly and want to commisserate over a couple margaritas? PM me!! ;P

 

[stherling]

Dudes - I was complete at Northwestern only just over a week ago, and just received an invite TODAY, for their first interview week in November. So don't let the paranoia of SDN get you down, not all schools are full, and in the case of Northwestern it appears they aren't anywhere near to full, and it doesn't matter how early or late you were complete.

Wertt -- congrats! How did NWU get in touch with you?

 

[Wertt]

Wertt -- congrats! How did NWU get in touch with you?

Thanks. I Got an email. I know they review files every Monday, so they probably send out their interview decisions each Tuesday or so.

 

[Wertt]

I submitted secondaries to 5, and just added one more to my AMCAS list (because I'm getting nervous about having applied over my head), late in the process as it is. I haven't heard from any of them. Somedays I'm horribly worried, somedays I figure whatever, it'll all work out. today's a horribly worried day. Anyone in philly and want to commisserate over a couple margaritas? PM me!! ;P

I firmly believe it's not late yet. Look at WashU, they have very late deadlines and they wouldn't bother if they always filled all their spots before then.
I think SDN is a good resource but can also set up unrealistic expectations!

 

[JayQuah]

Dudes - I was complete at Northwestern only just over a week ago, and just received an invite TODAY, for their first interview week in November. So don't let the paranoia of SDN get you down, not all schools are full, and in the case of Northwestern it appears they aren't anywhere near to full, and it doesn't matter how early or late you were complete.

Wertt, same here. You gonna be there on Nov 16-18?

 

[izibo]

Thats interesting... I got a snail mail invite 🙂

 

[stherling]

I firmly believe it's not late yet. Look at WashU, they have very late deadlines and they wouldn't bother if they always filled all their spots before then.
I think SDN is a good resource but can also set up unrealistic expectations!

good point.

hey can you guys add your names to the official interview list?

also, wertt, have you heard from dartmouth?

 

[Bluntman]

So after getting a couple rejections and worrying way too much...I'm wondering when I should give up hope for an interview at schools I haven't heard from yet.

From past applicants' experience, when was the latest you heard from schools about an interview? I assume some schools are quicker than others, so any idea which schools are slower?

Sorry, maybe I'm freaking out a little too much and should just take a step back and relax but I know I would feel more secure if I had 5 or 6 interviews lined up.

LOL...chiiiiilllllll...I think the SDN syndrome is getting to you girl.

 

[cadilakgrl]

LOL...chiiiiilllllll...I think the SDN syndrome is getting to you girl.

Totally, I decided I'm going to go out drinking this weekend and just CHILL OUT 😀 Too bad I'm not in Philly or I'd take Stherling up on the margarita offer

 

[Bluntman]

Totally, I decided I'm going to go out drinking this weekend and just CHILL OUT 😀 Too bad I'm not in Philly or I'd take Stherling up on the margarita offer

That's what I like to hear! Well then there's an open invitation to all to hop a flight out to Vegas with us to party for Halloween.

Cadilak...are you going to school at Cal or just living up in SF? Oh yea...and come to think of it I've got a question for you...did they mention at the UCSF interview if it was possible to do your phd with a group at Berkeley? I was stoked on UCSF at first cause I thought for sure I could to my reserach in Cal's Bioeng Dept...but looking more closely at their MSTP site, it seems to limit your options to purely the basic/clinical sci depts at UCSF.

 

[lundysd]

I applied to 20+ programs -- so far.... 3 interviews, 1 rejection, nuttin from 16+ programs (I was complete in late Sept). What does this tell me? Either I'm way underqualified, or this process is sloooowwwww. I wouldn't worry yet -- although I'm a little nervous about it, I know (hope?) that most of the schools just haven't reviewed my file and made a decision yet.

 

[oasis786]

That's what I like to hear! Well then there's an open invitation to all to hop a flight out to Vegas with us to party for Halloween.

Cadilak...are you going to school at Cal or just living up in SF? Oh yea...and come to think of it I've got a question for you...did they mention at the UCSF interview if it was possible to do your phd with a group at Berkeley? I was stoked on UCSF at first cause I thought for sure I could to my reserach in Cal's Bioeng Dept...but looking more closely at their MSTP site, it seems to limit your options to purely the basic/clinical sci depts at UCSF.

Short answer to your question is no. But there are a few of us in the program who are thinking about pushing for this option, and it may become possible in a few years. Right now, it is not. A PhD at Cal (e.g. BioE) would have to be carried out sans MSTP (and funding). PM me if you want more info.

Good luck to everyone applying this year! 👍

 

[scooter31]

That's what I like to hear! Well then there's an open invitation to all to hop a flight out to Vegas with us to party for Halloween.

Cadilak...are you going to school at Cal or just living up in SF? Oh yea...and come to think of it I've got a question for you...did they mention at the UCSF interview if it was possible to do your phd with a group at Berkeley? I was stoked on UCSF at first cause I thought for sure I could to my reserach in Cal's Bioeng Dept...but looking more closely at their MSTP site, it seems to limit your options to purely the basic/clinical sci depts at UCSF.

Vegas? Really? When?

I'm from Vegas, and would love to meet more MSTP-to be's (or hopefuls like me-- applying June '06) if you guys are in town when I am next....

/thread jack

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

That's what I like to hear! Well then there's an open invitation to all to hop a flight out to Vegas with us to party for Halloween.

Cadilak...are you going to school at Cal or just living up in SF? Oh yea...and come to think of it I've got a question for you...did they mention at the UCSF interview if it was possible to do your phd with a group at Berkeley? I was stoked on UCSF at first cause I thought for sure I could to my reserach in Cal's Bioeng Dept...but looking more closely at their MSTP site, it seems to limit your options to purely the basic/clinical sci depts at UCSF.

I e-mailed UCSF about the same exact thing, thinking that such a collaboration could trump Harvard-MIT's, but this was the response I got:

Dear mercaptovizadeh: I am sorry to inform you that you must complete your Ph.D. with one of the affilliated Ph.D. programs here at UCSF. There can be no collaborations with other University settings.

The students should really push for one, though.

 

[scooter31]

That really sucks; I know for BioE at some other places (UTSW, Wake come to mind), you can go to other unis with prgrams and complete the PhD there... I wonder why this isnt the case with UCSF/UCB.

 

[oasis786]

The primary reason is nobody is willing to cut through the red tape to get this done. UCB is a big school. On top of that, the BioE dept. is unorganized (getting better though, I was a BioE undergrad there). There are also isn't enough of a driving force to get this done (maybe it would be different if 10 MSTPs wanted to do this as opposed to 1 or 2). From an administrator's point of view, with the QB3 building coming up at Mission Bay, the hopes are that BioE faculty will be recruited to UCSF and a BioE dept. formed here, although this is likely be more computational rather than materials, nano, etc. And there are probably additional departmental politics at play here that are beyond the scope of the discussion. As much as I love my school and as much of a research powerhouse it is, UCSF is really really behind on the BioE train. And as such, lacking in the ability to recruit strong engineering students to its MSTP.
I think our director is concerned that if students were to do their PhD with UCB BioE, they'd get lost in the beaureaucratic bumblings, and their experience wouldn't be as streamlined. With the pressure on MSTPs to graduate students in a timely fashion and program ratings partly determined by their ability to do so, you can see how this would be bad for the program, and bad for the first few individuals to try it. I do wish it were possible, but coming from UCB I can understand both perspectives.

 

[Bluntman]

Oasis...thanks for the great responses - it's always best to hear information straight from the horse's mouth! 🙂 I too find it peculiar that such a research powerhouse as UCSF has neither formed a bioeng dept of their own nor opened up to allow for collaborative opportunities in this area with an institution that does, like UCB.

 

[Bluntman]

Vegas? Really? When?

I'm from Vegas, and would love to meet more MSTP-to be's (or hopefuls like me-- applying June '06) if you guys are in town when I am next....

/thread jack

We're driving out there from San Diego as soon as I can ditch out of work this morning. 😉

 

[OddNath]

From past applicants' experience, when was the latest you heard from schools about an interview? I assume some schools are quicker than others, so any idea which schools are slower?

I had 2 waves of interview invites-- one in mid-October, the next in like early January.

So the game is NOT over. Best of luck!

 

[fyli260]

Oasis...thanks for the great responses - it's always best to hear information straight from the horse's mouth! 🙂 I too find it peculiar that such a research powerhouse as UCSF has neither formed a bioeng dept of their own nor opened up to allow for collaborative opportunities in this area with an institution that does, like UCB.

Actually there is a bioengineering graduate collaboration with Berkeley at UCSF:
http://bioeng.berkeley.edu/graduate/
http://www.bioengineering.ucsf.edu/index.html

It's just that the program is not currently part of the MSTP here. I know some students are currently pushing for it though 🙂

 

[microTAS]

hey fyli260,

i ended up not applying to ucsf b/c the mstp didn't team up w/ the bioengineering program. But I'm wondering whether you can work w/ a bioengineering professor and join a non-bioengineering department for the coursework. Bioengineering is typically collaborative so you can probably engage in the less engineering side of things.

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also having the medical and engineering campus next to each other was important to me. Of the schools that I checked out only Baylor/Rice (a little less so), Stanford, and Upenn met this criteria. on the other hand, it's UCSF (drool)

edit: I forgot Case Western

 

[cadilakgrl]

Cadilak...are you going to school at Cal or just living up in SF? Oh yea...and come to think of it I've got a question for you...did they mention at the UCSF interview if it was possible to do your phd with a group at Berkeley? I was stoked on UCSF at first cause I thought for sure I could to my reserach in Cal's Bioeng Dept...but looking more closely at their MSTP site, it seems to limit your options to purely the basic/clinical sci depts at UCSF.

I graduated from Cal about 3 years ago and I'm living in SF now. Sounds like the other people know way more about the BioE than me. I haven't heard of anybody doing the PhD at Berkeley.

 

[fyli260]

hey fyli260,

i ended up not applying to ucsf b/c the mstp didn't team up w/ the bioengineering program. But I'm wondering whether you can work w/ a bioengineering professor and join a non-bioengineering department for the coursework. Bioengineering is typically collaborative so you can probably engage in the less engineering side of things.

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also having the medical and engineering campus next to each other was important to me. Of the schools that I checked out only Baylor/Rice (a little less so), Stanford, and Upenn met this criteria. on the other hand, it's UCSF (drool)

From what heard from another MSTP student here, you can do your thesis research with a bioengineering professor who has another affiliation with one of the graduate programs associated with the MSTP here (which just about every professor at ucsf does). But if you want to work with a bioE prof. at Berkeley, it's a bit harder and risky (less control on graduation times). But you could do it by working for a prof. at ucsf who has a collaboration with that prof. in Berkeley.

 

[45408]

in the case of Northwestern it appears they aren't anywhere near to full, and it doesn't matter how early or late you were complete.

Northwestern is only semi-rolling. They accept a small portion of the class at the end of November, and the rest of the decisions aren't made/released until the end of February. That's what they told us at our interview anyways. Good luck there though! It was a fun but tiring day.

 

[Wertt]

Northwestern is only semi-rolling. They accept a small portion of the class at the end of November, and the rest of the decisions aren't made/released until the end of February. That's what they told us at our interview anyways. Good luck there though! It was a fun but tiring day.

Thanks for the info - is that the policy for MSTP and MD? Which program were you interviewing for?