hyped_applicant

Since I'll be receiving a full Fellowship, I'm eligible to apply for either an F-1 (student) or a J-1 (exchange scholar) visa. The major differences between them, as far as I'm concerned, are: - F-1 allows 12 months of "Optional Practical Training" before and/or after graduation; J-1 allows 18 months of "Academic Training" before and/or after graduation - J-1 has a residency requirement, meaning I can't work in the U.S. for 2 years after I graduate (which is not in my plans anyway) Does anyone know any other important differences? I know most people have the F-1. If there's someone out there who has or will be having a J-1, please share your thoughts!

Great site! Too bad they don't break down the rankings in different areas. It's just research. Still it's very valuable information... and free of charge! Thanks!

I didn't say prestige is unimportant for grad schools. What I did say was that the ivy league tag doesn't have the same weight as it does in undergrad school. Take, for instance, Brown. It's ivy, still it ranks quite low in Biology grad programs. In the other hand, you have schools like Caltech, MIT, John Hopkins and UCSF. Not ivy, but still la crème de la crème in biological research. In other words: prestige is important - but ivy league doesn't necessarily equal presigious in grad school. Columbia, contrary to Brown however, is ivy and ranks high in Biology. Still I had plenty of reasons to choose Northwestern. As for the Cornell X NYU rankings, I saw it in a study conducted by the National Academy of Science. It's not as recent as the USNews rankings, but it was free. I'm trying to find the link again so I can post it here (one day I'll start bookmarking pages and that won't happen anymore :whistle: ).

After a lot of thinking, pondering and medidating - and being contacted by yet two more professors from Northwestern, insisting on how much they wanted me there - I decided to accept Northwestern's offer. Now is wait and prepare to freeze my butt off in Chicago!

Congrats! If I'm not mistaken, NYU ranks higher than Cornell. But more important is looking at the faculty which you're interested in working with. Also, consider which place would you enjoy living the most (after all, NYC and Ithaca are VERY different - you'll probably love one and hate the other, depending on your personality). However, I do understand it's hard to turn down an Ivy offer. Believe me, I've been there! Still, after a lot of thinking, I was able to do it (in my case, decline Columbia). Good luck!

To make a long story short, you have to file Federal Income Taxes if you received any income (TA, RA, fellowship, campus employment, etc) from a U.S. source. It doesn't matter if you're an international; you still have to file taxes on any income received from U.S. sources. There are some tax treaties between countries though, which exempt you from filing U.S. taxes (provided you're from one of these countries).

Thanks! But even if my other scores weren't so great, I still don't think admission officers would have paid much attention to the AWA ones. Like one professor told me, they're not even sure how to interpret the AWA scores, because it's a very recent thing. Thanks! I hope you're right... :)

If you get a good quantitative score on the day of test, that's what matters most. Especially if you wanna go into Bioinformatics. Don't sweat about your verbal, though. It doesn't matter... Now, if you really wanna get a good verbal score, build your vocab. It's the only way. Guru wordlist is a good software for that. Google it and you should find the download. If you wanna know my vocab building strategy, I can share it in the appropriate GRE forum. I had 3 abstracts from scientific meetings. No journal publications though. And no research experience in the US, either. You're in a very good position, then. As for which area to go, it depends on your interests. There's a lot of Biotechnology Master's programs. As for the financial aid scene, you only have to worry about it if you're applying for a Master's program. Almost every PhD program in the life sciences (exceptions include Ecology, Zoology and Botany) offers full support to all admitted students (tution waiver, health insurance and stipend for living). Like I said before, it depends on your interests. I don't know much about CS, except that their programs are the most competitive ones. In the other hand, something like Bioinformatics would require you to study some Biology stuff. But nothing hardcore. I think you just have to get a good introductory Bioinformatics book, read a little, and ask yourself: would I enjoy working with this? That should help you decide. Do you mean during or after grad school? I don't know much about the job scene outside of academia for those finishing graduate school. Now, if you're asking about a decent salary in graduate school, you can forget about it. I mean, a PhD stipend is enough to support oneself, but you can't support a family with it. And it requires full-time commitment. A Master's program doesn't have to be full-time, so you could get a part-time job and earn a more decent wage. I know... Their name is having a great impact on me. But the Ivy League status does not hold the same value in grad school as it does in undergrad school - it's a different game. Besides, after I visited Columbia during the open house, I was somewhat disappointed. You're probably wondering why. Well, one of the reasons is kind of personal, so I would rather not post it here. The others are: - The campus is not located in a good area of NYC (don't be fooled by internet pictures, everything looks pretty in them; believe me, it's different when you see it in real life). - The labs I was most interested in are located in the Health Sciences Center, which is even further uptown (meaning an even worse neighborhood. I have a professor who worked there in the past - she said the place was depressing). Also, some current students told me that the labs in the HSC tend not to let grad students be first authors in papers; the first author is usually a post-doc who works with the grad student. - NYC has a lot of things to do, but everything is so expensive that the options are kind of limited for someone living off a grad stipend. Still, like you said, it's Columbia... Hard to ignore that. As for Northwestern, I agree their program isn't ranked as high as Columbia's. But I've been talking to my professors, and they said that it's not which school you go to that matters most. Rather, it's the lab you end up in, and whether the people there are doing a good work and publishing in good journals. They said that it's better to get your Ph.D. from a not so stellar school but still have good publications rather than graduate from a Yale and not have a good publications in your baggage. And, as I checked through PubMed, both schools have profs publishing in Science, Nature and the like, as well as profs who haven't published anything at all in the past years. Choosing your advisor can make or break you in grad school. Aside from that, here's what's been drawing me to Northwestern: - They REALLY seem to be interested in me there. I mean, of course all schools that accepted me are interested, but nothing compares to the way NU's been treating me. They really seem to be coming after me. - The campus is very attractive, and it's located on a charming town in the suburbs of Chicago - meaning you get to live in less hectic place, but still have a great city within easy reach (you can quickly reach downtown Chicago riding the EL, which is Chicago's "subway"). - The cost of living there is so much lower than in Manhattan. I'm almost sure I'll end up choosing Northwestern. I just have to grow some balls so I can decline an Ivy League offer.

Thanks! Weakest point: Low score on the GRE analytical writing section: 4.0 (32%) This score was a total shock to me. I had read the sample essays provided by ETS, and I was confident I could get at least 5.0. I still don't understand what happened - especially because the topics I encountered on the test day were all familiar, and I was on fire that day. Also, I had gotten a 6.0 on the TOEFL essay, so a 4.0 on the GRE was really a surprise. Anyway, I tried to overcome it by writing a good Statement of Purpose, so they wouldn't have doubts about my ability to put together a decent essay. Then, a professor from Columbia told me they don't even pay much attention to the analytical writing score. Strongest point: Probably research experience I used to think good GRE scores were important, especially for international applicants like myself. After all, it's the only way to really level all those applicants coming from so many different countries. In fact, a professor from UW-Madison told me, before I applied, that admission officers look for high GRE scores. Then, that professor from Columbia said that the one score that really matters (in our field, at least) is the quantitative score. He said that even the subject test isn't so important. At all the interviews my GRE scores were never commented on, neither were my recommendation letters. One school did compliment me on my academic records, but that was it. The one thing that was common to all schools was their interest on my previous research experience. They were all eager to hear about it, and they all seemed to value it a lot. Standardized tests TOEFL: 300 GRE General Test Quantitative: 790 (89%) Verbal: 730 (98%) Analytical Writing: 4.0 (32%) GRE Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology: 730 (98%) Academic background Graduated in December 2004 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), in Brazil, receiving a Bachelor's in Biological Sciences GPA: 3.83 in a 4.0 scale Research experience Worked 1.5 years in a Molecular Biology lab (arachnid toxins); worked 2 years in a Molecular Biology/Immunology lab (infectious diseases). Programs accepted into U. Wisc-Madison: Cellular and Molecular Biology (CMB) Columbia: Biological Sciences Northwestern: Interdepartamental Program in Biological Sciences (IBiS) U. Conn: Biomedical Sciences Program What a coincidence! I'm deciding between Columbia and Northwestern, too. I'm guessing you're probably from Brazil, too - maybe Portugal. I say that because of the Portuguese saying next to your user id.

This is really dumb, but I was just curious to hear everyone's experience. Ok, here's the thing. We all hear that if you get admitted somewhere, you'll receive a big package in the mail. In the other hand, finding a small envelope in your mailbox means you're dinged. The first notification I received was consonant with this theory: it was a small envelope and, indeed, a reject letter was to be found inside. :( Then, the second school completely broke the mold: it was a just as small envelope as the first school, but instead it contained an offer of admission! :eek: Then, the other 4 schools notified me through e-mail, so I wasn't able to further test the theory. :rolleyes: Out of these four schools that e-mailed me (3 admits and 1 reject), two said I would receive the official paper work in the mail. Now I can't wait to see those envelopes! :hmm: What about the rest of you guys?

Phew! After taking all those standardized tests, writing all those SOPs and going after profs to get LORs, this day finally came. The day when the tables are turned, and we choose which school to accept and which school to decline. Below's my final list of admits and rejects. Suggestions/opinions/advice are all more than welcome! Making this decision is turning out to be really tough, and any feedback from members of this board will be appreciated. Rejects: Yale Rockefeller Admits: Northwestern Columbia U. Wisc-Madison U. Conn To all Biological/Biomedical Sciences applicants out there: As you have probably noticed, most of the members of this forum are either CS or Engineering. Sometimes we search these threads for information specific to our field, and find nothing. I know how frustrating that can be, and I just wanna say that if you need any tips (test prepping, SOP writing, studying for subject tests, and so forth), I am more than willing to help in any way I can. To all members of the board: Even though I only started posting recently, I have been visiting this board for almost a year. Whether it be the experiences shared by other applicants or the advice given by the moderators, I've really benefitted from this forum, and I thought a big THANKS to you all would be appropriate. Good luck to newcomers! As for the ones that have been around a while, keep up the good work! (Once again, if any one has anything to say about the schools above, I'll appreciate it)

It sure is. This, among other things, is making me think twice about going there. They're offering me a 12-month stipend of $25,750, in the form of a fellowship. But that's the Biological Sciences department - I couldn't tell about Engineering.

I'm not saying I would act like a 5-year-old and tell my advisor "I will take as much time off as I want and there's nothing you can do about it!" But "you can't take Thanksgiving off because you're an international" is a little too much (unless he was, in fact, joking). Going to grad school in the US and getting my PhD there is an important goal in my life, that's true. But I won't bend down and "do all it takes" to get it. I believe in quality of life, and if I find out I can't have that in grad school, I'm walking out. I see a lot of foreigners sacrifice everything they have just to "make it" in the U.S., but I know better. Now, of course, I agree that talking to your advisor first is the best thing to do. What I'm saying is, should you and your advisor reach an impasse, don't sell yourself short ;). Once again, my advice to avoid even having such problems, is being very careful when choosing your lab. Then you'll have no bad surprises later in the game. As schengen75 put it, communicating expectations is key.

They gave you an I-20 before you accepted their offer? Anyway, I suggest you write a short yet polite notification to the schools you're declining. Something like... I am much flattered by your offer of admission. However, I cannot accept this offer for I decided to pursue my graduate studies at another institution. Sincerely, Mr. Something-something

Just got one more admit: Northwestern University. Still waiting to hear from Columbia, it's the only one I haven't heard from. Really? Which campus? My program is at Farmington, which is a really small town. But it's still located in the suburbs of Hartford, which is a mid-size city. And Hartford is less than 3 hours from NYC by train, so you can always go there on weekends if you're too bored.