Interview and travel thoughts

Well, I didn't write much about my interview visits, so I'll aggregate them together here. Sure was an interesting, fun and tiresome experience; getting to travel to so many different cities, try different foods, talk to a lot of different people, visit different schools and professors. I even heard someone joke, "if I knew I would be getting this much interviews and getting tours everywhere, I should have applied to some place like Hawaii, just to get a free vacation!" It's not only free travel, but learning a lot about the geographic of the US, how graduate programs are organized, and all the different approaches to research. I also get all sorts of different discussions and advice on my previous research project, and that's my favorite part of it, just a little too bad that I'm not doing that project anymore.

The Demographics

There are more male faculty members then females, yet almost 80% of students and interviewing recruits are girls. So where'd all the female Ph.D. graduates go? Maybe it's a change of trend with time in that more guys go into science back then and now it's the other way around; or do more of the female leave academia later on? I don't get it, but maybe I well in the near future. Also, as stated in a previous post, a lot of the female students/recruits are married, and almost all of them have "Computer Engineer" husbands. What the hell? Are most American guys in IT? I don't think so. Or do female Biomed scientists prefer computer dudes? I have no idea. I like it how a student at U Penn puts it: "I just don't understand why most people in the South get married that early, a lot of them are just college sophomore kids when they get married, and they don't know what they are getting into!" Well most schools I visited are in the south, I guess that partly explains the high engagement rate; yet I have no idea how to explain why they are all IT dudes, and I don't have the slightest idea how to find out why.

What's Great About BioMed Grad Interviews

In our case, it seams that the schools are doing their best to attract the best and brightest minds around, so they treat you very nicely during the visits. They pay for all travel expenses, put you in nice hotels and generally feed you well. Some even take you on tours around the surrounding attractions or give you fancy packets of gifts. I've heard a fellow interview recruit who told me how the med-students who are coming to interview were checking-in right next to him at the counter, and watched with envy as he was handed a big package of gifts. Med students have to pay for their own trip and hotel, only get a packet of information, and have a low rate of admission; while we get all fees covered, a lot of gifts and (in most cases) nearly 95% admission rate for people who get to interview. I am not trying to show off here or piss off med students, but just showing how the schools treated us; after rounds of application rejection and self denial, finally making us feel that we are somewhat important in this world.

Airline Tidbits

Interview visits are organized in many different ways in regards of getting people there. Some program organizers reserve and buy plane tickets for you, most have a contract travel agency where you have to call to make flight arrangements and the agency then bills the school, and then there are the less seen "Al à carte " way of letting you make your own arrangements and then apply for reimbursement. Anyway, since I am applying from the west coast and all of my interviews are either in the south or on the east coast, I flew to all of them, and it was very nice to be just a 20 minute drive from a mid sized airport.

Since the schools that let you do the arrangements are very rare, I almost got to try every major air carrier (so much for trying to collect milage for a free ticket...), many plane types, and many airports. The most frequently took airline is Delta, because it has a hub in Atlanta, most of the schools in the east half of the US go with them. Delta is, well, okay. A relatively old carrier, they do most stuff the traditional, normal way, just everything you'd expect from a normal carrier, such as free drinks and snacks, cramped seats and dirty cabins. Their seats feels like cheep plastic fake leather, in a disgusting, dirty looking deep blue color that you can perfectly imagine people puking on. They used to provide "snack boxes" on coast-to-coast flights, that have enough cookies and cheese to fill in for half a meal, yet stopped providing them sometime this Feburary and started selling sandwiches just as American Airlines do. It's about $8 for a sandwich that look similar to those horrible ones from supermarkets. I guess the days of free airplane meals are long gone in domestic flights. And, as I once read in a travel magazine, "what they once gave for free probably isn't worth paying for". That article was talking about some airlines starting charging extra for checking luggage, but I think it's very appropriate here for the food they are selling. I once saw what they serve in First class for free. Well, except for using real ceramic plates instead of plastic, it's much worse (in looks, amount and smell) then the economy class meals provided by Japan Airlines on a Taiwan-Japan flight, which is much shorter then US coast-to-coast flights.

American is based in Dallas, so some of my trips to Texas are with them. Another traditional airline, pretty similar to Delta. What I like about them is that they've got adjustable head rests on their seat. They also got the cheep plastic fake leather seats, also in blue, just not the disgusting dark blue. They leave their planes mostly unpainted to save paint and also cut down the weight of the paint for lighter, oil conserving planes; taking advantage of the fact that aluminum forms anti-rust, self-protecting layers of AlO3. Yet, looking at the shinny and round aluminum fuselage of their planes makes me feel like riding in a soda can with the paint scrubbed off. Also, American has the most diverse range of flight attendant ages, other then young and beautiful ones, I've also seen ones that looks older then my grandma (超歐巴桑級), just as my friend joked "makes you feel bad when she tries so hard to serve you drinks with trembling hands..."

Continental Airlines is my favorite. Their safety demonstration video starts with their CEO saying that they are trying their best to provide a safe and clean flight, and with regards with clean, they certainly are not joking. They fly brand new 737-800s, with the cleanest cabin I've ever seen in my life, I mean even down to dust free sparkling clean carpets. Their seats are very comfortable, also clean, and the only US carrier I know of that uses cloth seats, complete with adjustable head rests. The best part: they are also the only one in my knowledge that serves real meals. I had a hot beef&cheese sandwich with a salad and M&Ms for lunch, while breakfast is cereal and a banana. I can really say that their ads slogans are real: "Do you want to be feed excuses or a real meal?"

Southwest, which seems to be a discount carrier, is the worst. They make you line up in the order of your check-in time and then let you on to the plane in that order, fighting for your seat of choice; they also have numerous hubs, making every flight composed of the most number of connections you could imagine. Think of it as buses that stop at way too many stops and the first person to board gets the best seat. The flight attendants in khakis try to be playful and slightly childlike, seems kind of stupid to me. Oh, and they got the same plastic seats as Delta, which they call "high class leather seats", this time in an also disgusting shitty brown. They've got the dirtiest, trashiest cabin of all, because they cut the costs for cleaning crews and just tell the passengers to pickup the litter around the seats for them. And then, they only give 30 minutes between landing and the next flight (unlike Continental which is 20 minutes unloading, 30 minutes cleaning and then 30 minutes boarding), so of course it's just unboard, board, and off the ground again. No wonder it's the dirtiest of all, although they also fly some brand new 737s... Oh, and their pilots are like teenage drivers, every move is rough and abrupt, making you sick, and more airsick passengers contributing to the already disgusting cabin.

Airports

Most airports are similar, so I'll just mention the notable ones. Dallas-Fort Worth (American Airlines hub) is by far the most notable in the US. It's somewhat strange in that each terminal has it's own check-in & safety scan area, and every gate has it's own baggage clam; thus you would have to check the flight's exact gate number before going to the airport for a flight or picking someone up. Also because each terminal is self sufficient, driving around to find the exact gate to goto is very confusing. Yet, once you get in, it's very nice. Since each terminal is separate, going through TSA safety scan is a breeze. Also, the terminals inside is like a sparkling clean mall, with the most adverse variety of stores of US airports. They also have a very nice inter-terminal tram that goes above the terminal level, giving you a great view of the airport. The international terminal (I recall it's concourse D) is the flashiest most beautiful part, with wide spaces, 2 storied shopping areas and glass artwork. I also like how they have restrooms with large counters in each room for you to put your baggage, so you don't have to put it on the restroom floor.

Atlanta's airport (Delta's hub) is also huge, yet I've heard that there's only one entrance for all 6 (or is it 5? I forgot) concourses, so good thing I only had transfers here and didn't need to go through TSA here. The inter-terminal tram here is underground, making it less fun. Most concourses are long straight corridors, with the tram station and food court in the middle. Here, again, the international terminal is the best, arranged in a seastar-like shape, tram station, stores, food court and lounges all in the middle, with corridors stretching out like arms. This is the only sparking clean concourse and the only one with art work decorations. The waiting area even has better carpets and seats then the other domestic concourses. Nice thing that my domestic flight flew out of this international concourse twice.

I once has a connection in Las Vegas. It was under construction and the direction signs and corridors are a mess, I would say it's the most screwed up airport I've seen. Yet, the special part is that the completed areas that are not under construction, are just as flashy as casinos, the carpets soft and heavily decorated, walls glossy black, neon lights here and there, and the lighting ambience also gave a slightly dark feel just as in casinos. Well, surprise surprise, it's not just the corridors that look like casinos, the airport it self is a casino. Check out the photo of slot machines in the terminals, beckoning you to gamble while waiting for that late plane transfer!

Gainesville, Florida is a fun, tiny regional airport that I have to mention. Since the town is only University of Florida (UF) and the supporting economy, it's essentially UF's airport. Even the service vehicles on the tarmac had the Gaters mascot of UF painted on them. I had to get there on ATR72 propeller powered planes, and walk on the tarmac to the terminal. Flights are so rare that there are only 4 gates and the TSA X-ray scanner was only turned on 30 minutes prior to the boarding time of each flight. Yet when I was leaving, the fire alarm went hay wire, and TSA had to evacuate us out of the terminal, and then re-check our bags again after confirming it's a false alarm.

Philly's airport is very convenient in that there's a train to downtown right from the airport. Here again, the domestic part is crap, while the international part is a gorgeous glass and steal structure with shiny floors and ample sunlight. There's even artwork of birds, composed of many tiny birds to form the shape of flying foul with a shadow that looks like a jet. The better restaurants are also, of course, in the international half.

Hotels

I've got to stay in all sorts of hotels, from Best Western & Holiday Inn Express to Hiltons, suites (yes, I once stayed in a 2 room/ 2 bathroom suite with a living room and a kitchen) and even historic resorts. In one case the best school around was fully booked so we were left with cheaper ones, but generally most schools try to get us the best. One school even had the hotel they normally use screw up the reservations, and we end up getting an upgrade to a 5 star business Hotel (Adam's Mark) that was as flashy and humongous as those in Vegas. Overall, expensive hotels does have better looking rooms, and amenities, yet once you are asleep, I don't think it really matters. Heck, I'd sleep in sleeping bags in dusty "rider houses" in Hokkaido, and really, at least you are quite old, I don't think there's that big of a difference after you are a sleep. Yet, the most "high class" hotels charge extra for everything, internet connection for $9.95/day, $7 bottled water in the room, charge by the hour business room computer use, and $17 breakfasts. All of those are free in cheep Best Westerns & Holiday Inn Expresses except for the bottled water. Yet you also get small rooms, cracked and shaky sinks/tubs, and plastic disposable cups. Thus I like the mid range hotels best, they don't charge extra for internet, business room use and drinking water, yet still provide decent rooms. Of the good parts of high end hotels is that you get real nice shampoos and soap (especially Hilton hotels), and front desk clarks are very nice.

One thing I never get is why american hotels always give you too much pillows, such as this Double Tree bed with 5 pillows. Hay, I only need 1! The king of pillows that I could recall is the Hilton Inn at Penn, with 7 pillows taking up half the space of the bed... I believe a bed is meant to accommodate a person, not a pile of pillows. It was such a large pile that we had to push them to the floor to clear out an empty space to lie. And, the maid's job is to put that pile back in your bed every day so you can "fight for a place to sleep" every night. How nice?

More Photos...

Well, what a bunch to type in a day! But aggregating 10 trips into one article, this is still only a little part of the adventures, so here's links to the photos of the visits. I didn't bring my camera on all of the trips though, as sometimes we have a tight school and bringing along a huge camera (my Sony Cybershot H9) on an interview didn't feel reasonable, or sometimes I just don't want to worry about someone breaking into my room and stealing my camera (same reason I never brought my MacBook). So here are the photos of the trips that I did brought my camera:

UAB photos | UMass Med photos | UF photos | UPenn photos | UTMB photos