**On the rotation system:**

Officially you do three rotations in your first year. In practice, almost every successful student here decides on a lab during the recruitment weekend visit and treats the formal rotations as a way to get exposure to techniques they'll never otherwise touch.

If you're being recruited and you have a hard preference, *say so during the visit*. Faculty appreciate the directness and it lets them gauge fit faster. Pretending to keep an open mind when you don't have one is the standard mistake here.