Jump to content

tottenham

Members
  • Posts

    9
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    United States
  • Application Season
    2017 Fall

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

tottenham's Achievements

Decaf

Decaf (2/10)

2

Reputation

  1. How much time have you had to pursue your hobbies while being in grad school? Not much at all or plenty enough on weekends?
  2. I have recently been fortunate enough to have been accepted into Emory University's Cancer Biology Program. I wanted to hear what thoughts/opinions all of you had regarding Emory's program, particularly if you had the chance to interview at Emory or if you have heard anything about the program. I would be particularly interested to hear from those who have interviewed but have decided NOT to attend. Thoughts/opinions can be regarding the research quality/impact, research environment, competitiveness, living in Atlanta, etc. I want to have an idea about the strengths and weaknesses that the program has, told in many ways from people who don't necessarily go to Emory since of course, an inherent bias is hard to avoid when current Emory students talk about Emory.
  3. What is the best way to ask a program if they can wait for my response regarding whether or not I can go to their interview weekend or not? I don't want to just wait it out without giving them a response. I have several programs I'm hoping to hear back from and I am unsure yet as to when their interview dates will be. I don't want to commit to one program and not have the chance to go to another. I also don't want to seem as if the program that has already invited me is not important to me..
  4. Got an email invite from Emory! I am out of the country for the next several weeks so I wonder if they gave calls out prior to the email..
  5. I will be interviewing at UVA BIMS on January 5th! Anyone know whether or not UVA has a relatively high post-interview acceptance rate?
  6. As of currently, I do not have a preliminary list of schools. I am currently in the process of looking through as many programs around the country as possible and seeing what research projects or research environments (e.g. near hospitals) appeal to me most. It is definitely a time-consuming process but I would rather find a few "gems" out of a huge lot rather than just look at a few reputable programs and decide from there. I will, however, be taking the advice both of you have offered and only apply to large public universities and private universities largely to increase my chances of admission. Also, thank you very much for offering to look through my SOP! I will definitely be reaching out to you if I need another eye on it! Thank you for your response -- thank you for clarifying and pointing out the advantages with performing a long term project. Unfortunately, I would not say that I have intentionally discussed research ideas with my other two faculty recommenders. They do, however, know about my research and have seen me in the lab albeit not being directly involved with any of my projects. Of course, both have had me in class and particularly for Biochemistry, my professor and I have discussed worksheets that he would give us as homework assignments which often encouraged creativity in thinking and solving each problem. It is unfortunate that both cannot give direct insight into performing formal research but frankly I am left with no choice. I am certain, however, that they would be willing to write me good letters regardless.
  7. Thanks for your response! That is definitely an advantage applicants with multiple research experiences do have in regards to having more to write about in their SOP. I plan on having my Biochemistry professor write one for me as I have had him in class for 2 semesters (Biochemistry I and II) and am currently a TA for his Biochemistry I course. The other will be coming from a Molecular Biology professor who has also taught me Immunology. I expect both to be good recommendation letters despite the fact that neither has ever been my PI. My main PI, however, has significant insight into my research capabilities since I will have worked with him for 2 years by graduation, but I do understand the advantage in having 3 PI's with different insights and perspectives. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do about that -- and quite frankly, I am very satisfied with the research experience I have had and do not have many regrets.
  8. Thank you both for doing this -- really does help us out a lot! A few questions as a prospective international graduate student who is currently attending a small, liberal arts US college. 1) I understand that adcoms prefer applicants with a breadth of research experience in different fields, perhaps even with various PI's. I am aware that this is why having 3 recommendation letters from 3 research PI's is ideal for an application. I myself, have been involved in one cancer project under 1 PI by myself in 2 years (4 total semesters by graduation and 1 8-week summer at home college) and will be fortunately seeing an end to the project. Is this a disadvantage for my application when describing my research experience or is that not the case? Is this a quality of my research experience that I should highlight as a strength in my SOP or would that be risky? 2) I would not consider myself an amazing applicant, but I would say I am moderately strong (3.9 GPA, hoping to get at least a 320 on the GRE's). I am, however, also a male Asian international student, which does limit my chances in many public universities largely due to a lack of funding in many programs for international students. Keeping this in mind and the fact that application fees are expensive, should I even consider applying to public universities for the best chance of getting accepted to a program? I just really want to narrow my list of programs and I was wondering if public vs. private is a criterion I should consider as an international student. Looking forward to your responses! Again, thank you for doing this.
  9. Hi everyone, first time posting here! I will be applying this coming fall to matriculate in the fall of 2017. I am currently trying to determine which graduate programs I should consider applying to. Let me know if you can suggest any programs I should look into that I may have a chance of getting admitted into. Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts collegeMajor(s): Molecular BiologyMinor(s): NoneGPA in Major: 3.86Overall GPA: 3.89Position in Class: No idea (probably near top)Type of Student: International maleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q:V:W:B: Haven't taken it yet! Will take it this upcoming fall.TOEFL Total: 111Research Experience: I have spent this past year performing cancer research. I am currently in an REU summer program at my home college continuing the research project I had worked on during the last academic year. After the summer, I will further continue the same research project during my summer year as a Departmental Honors project. What is great about my research experience so far is the fact that I really have done most of the work in regards to designing the project, performing the procedures and obtaining results. My PI has helped quite a bit with guiding me in the design of my experiments and analysis of results. Unfortunately, however, I do not have a huge amount of research experience and also do not have a variety of experience either. I have focused my attention in one project and will have worked on it for 2 years now after my senior year. I am unsure if this is something that will go against me in my application, particularly as I will only have 1 PI recommendation letter. No publications and no presentations outside of my home college as of yet. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Nothing major. Recipient of home college research scholarship (nothing major but only a few students at my college get it). Dean's List for the last 6 semesters. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Lecture TA for upper-class Biochemistry course, Lab TA in a Biology and Organic Chemistry lab AP Biology/Chemistry tutor for international high school students Not sure how pertinent these are to research per say but I invested a significant amount of time into them: Resident Assistant for 2 years (will be continuing next year). This experience really helped me to collaborate and cooperate with others on my staff, which I know is invaluable in a lab setting and in academic research as a whole. Club president for our college's International Student Association (have been involved for 1 year already and will be president next year). Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I will be going on a short-term medical missions trip this summer and thus had the chance of fundraising for the first time to be fully supported. I may mention it somewhere in my application.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use