NWFreeheel11 Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 *sigh* You both are right and I know it. I just hate feeling caged in, having applied to only 6 schools, all of which seem like they may be a long shot. I thought that they seemed reasonable at first, but I'm beginning to doubt myself more and more. My R&D job in industry should qualify as research equivalent to that done in an academic environment, right? I don't think it would be a good idea to look for other jobs in warmer spots because I feel like it would look better to have two years of experience in the same job than a year of experience here and a year of experience there. It just seems to me like two years would look more solid. But this is all assuming that I don't get in somewhere. I'm really, really hoping that I get in somewhere. I'm ready to get this underway, I feel stagnant with just a BS. And I know grad school is supposed to be the next step, but I don't see why it can't also be an escape Grad school can be what ever you want it to be! That's most of the fun :-) I agree, 2 years looks better than 1 & 1, and your R&D job should be as good as you get for professional experience. I know what you mean about ready to get underway. I graduated in 2011 and am ready for this process to roll! Have you considered starting with a Masters to boost your GPA if PhD doesn't work out? It could be a great option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thudson686 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 well you guys all make me even more anxious when I'm waiting for responses but I'll post anyway Undergrad: Small northeast private school Major: Biology Minor: Chemistry GPA: 3.46 Student type: First-generation Female GRE Scores: V: 148 Q: 151 W: 3.5 Research: REU in South Dakota. Looked at the impairments in autophagy seen in neurodegenerative disorders. Poster presentation but no publication Lyme disease research at home institution, promised to be an author but research hasn't published anything yet Awards/Honors: Pesident's and Dean's List Biology Academic Excellence Award Selected for a NSF REU Applied to: ASU (Neuroscience) USC(Neuroscience) UC-Denver (Human Medical Genetics) UVM (Neuroscience) Rutgers (Cell and Developmental Biology) JHU (Neuroscience)-What the heck I'll give it a try SUNY Upstate Medical School (Neuroscience) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuropanic Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I'm in the Master's portion of my combined Neuroscience BA/MS, and I'm applying to Neuroscience PhD programs along with you wonderful people. My school's MS in Neuroscience is basically all research, so I spend much of my day waiting for things to run. I used to spend that time reading or, more recently, working on applications, however yesterday I discovered this thread. Now all I do is wait for y'all to post, hoping that your insight with respect to the ongoing drama of this shared experience will somehow help to abate my crushing anxiety. I think it's helping. Please post more. My school just started offering a combined BA/MS degree! I would apply next semester for it. What did you think of it? Are you glad you did it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SingingInTheColdRoom Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I absolutely love it. Ours is three semesters (starts Senior Spring), and for the first year you spend 100% of your time in lab. During the last semester you write and defend your thesis while taking graduate Neuroscience classes at the med school. Basically, I just nerd out all over the place and they're like, "Here's a degree." I don't really know what kind of an influence that has on grad school admissions, but it has been a profoundly fulfilling experience. Also I haven't taken a real class since 2013, which feels really, really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuro4life Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Did anyone receive an interview invitation email? I saw that two people received invitations from Penn...and I didn't hear back from any of my schools yet, so I am kind of worried now. Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxk055 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Did anyone receive an interview invitation email? I saw that two people received invitations from Penn...and I didn't hear back from any of my schools yet, so I am kind of worried now. Thanks!! Have received invites from 2/10 schools that I have applied to (UTSW and UPENN) and have not heard anything from the rest. I would not worry a bit. Most schools have not even met to decide on interviewees and probably will not do so until after finals. Just hang in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiakian Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Did anyone receive an interview invitation email? I saw that two people received invitations from Penn...and I didn't hear back from any of my schools yet, so I am kind of worried now. Thanks!! I've only heard from UPenn so thats 1/9 for me. I'm pretty sure I remember reading that UPenn started reviewing apps before the final deadline. I turned mine in sometime mid-November so that's probably why I heard back so soon. I bet they'll do a second wave. I wouldn't worry yet.. most deadlines were December 1st and one week is a very short amount of time to review so many apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuropanic Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I absolutely love it. Ours is three semesters (starts Senior Spring), and for the first year you spend 100% of your time in lab. During the last semester you write and defend your thesis while taking graduate Neuroscience classes at the med school. Basically, I just nerd out all over the place and they're like, "Here's a degree." I don't really know what kind of an influence that has on grad school admissions, but it has been a profoundly fulfilling experience. Also I haven't taken a real class since 2013, which feels really, really good. Thanks! I would take grad. classes junior year and start rotations maybe the next semester and choose my PI around then. I'm starting in a participating lab soon, so we'll see. I'm just not sure it will be necessary for what I want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I see a WUSTL Neuroscience interview on the results page...who's the lucky applicant? neuronsbeyondneurons2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Just got my first interview invite...! Iowa, January 29-31. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibimolinero Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Just got my first interview invite...! Iowa, January 29-31. Congrats! gliaful 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Congrats! Thank you!! It's my safety but it's nice to feel like somebody is invested in getting to know me. I really had my doubts. gliaful, stmwap and neuronsbeyondneurons2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SingingInTheColdRoom Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 My parents moved to Iowa City after I went to college. It's a really great town. Congrats! gliaful and stmwap 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurojock Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Just got my first interview invite...! Iowa, January 29-31. Congrats pasteltomato!!! That's great news! When did you submit your application? I think they do somewhat of a rolling invite based on when you submitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Congrats pasteltomato!!! That's great news! When did you submit your application? I think they do somewhat of a rolling invite based on when you submitted. Thanks! I submitted my application on October 30th, and all of my LORs were submitted by 11/5. I got an email from Gloria Lee, who was a prof I mentioned in my SOP. So it might be the case that invitations are to be sent by individual professors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurojock Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Thanks! I submitted my application on October 30th, and all of my LORs were submitted by 11/5. I got an email from Gloria Lee, who was a prof I mentioned in my SOP. So it might be the case that invitations are to be sent by individual professors. Oh wow you submitted your applications early! I didn't submit mine until late November. Well congratulations again and good luck on your interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Oh wow you submitted your applications early! I didn't submit mine until late November. Well congratulations again and good luck on your interview! Thank you! Good luck to you as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethanoleverything Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Public University Major(s): BS - BiologyMinor(s): ChemistryGPA in Major: Undergrad - 2.8 / Graduate Coursework - 3.9 Overall GPA: 3.9Position in Class: Top of Graduate SchoolType of Student: Domestic maleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 159 - 74%V: 157 - 74%W: 4.5 - 80% B:Research Experience: 2.5 years Start-up Synthetic Biology Company - Associate Scientist - now multi-billion dollar company 2 years Lab Manager in a Neuroscience lab - manage post-docs and undergrads 1 manuscript, 2 studies nearing publication Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A few poster awardsPertinent Activities or Jobs: Involved in public outreach scientific education programAny Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Accomplished marathon runner Applying to Where: Duke - Neurobiology UNC - BBSP UVA - BIMS WashU - Neuroscience Princeton - Biology VCU - Neuroscience Yale - Neuroscience Worried about low undergrad GPA, but I hope admissions committees take my extensive experience into consideration for interview invites! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Oh wow you submitted your applications early! I didn't submit mine until late November. Well congratulations again and good luck on your interview! Another thing -- I just checked my application and Iowa does indeed review applications on a rolling basis. Their true deadline isn't until January 1st, so I'd say you are a-okay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurojock Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Another thing -- I just checked my application and Iowa does indeed review applications on a rolling basis. Their true deadline isn't until January 1st, so I'd say you are a-okay! Thank you so much for checking up on that for me, I appreciate it. It's hard to understand all of the different schools admissions process because they all seem to be different. It's really cool that you got an email from your POI, did you mention just one in your SOP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Thank you so much for checking up on that for me, I appreciate it. It's hard to understand all of the different schools admissions process because they all seem to be different. It's really cool that you got an email from your POI, did you mention just one in your SOP? I mentioned three. Also, I just realized my POI is actually director of the admissions committee, so she might just be the person emailing out all of the invites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GABA-daba-doo Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) Welllll guess there's no harm in throwing my info in here Undergrad Institution: Ivy Major(s): BA - BiologyMinor(s): Italian Overall GPA: 3.3Position in Class: Graduated magna cum laude (yes this is real, my school combined your GPA and honors thesis ranking.. was voted one of the top thesis in the department)Type of Student: Domestic femaleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 164 - 88%V: 161 - 87%W: 5.5 - 98% B:Research Experience: 2 years full time lab tech in Nobel Laureate lab after graduation 3 years in undergrad- honors thesis 2 summers in research programs (both summers in same lab) 5 publications, another in preparation, multiple posters and presentations Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honors Program, Honors Fraternity, magna cum laude, lots of leadership in my sorority/fraternity/TA/Bio departmentPertinent Activities or Jobs: Biology Adviser, Lab Tech, TA, done lots of outreach- run a tutoring service for refugeesAny Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: should have excellent letters of rec- all from PIs and one from Nobel Laureate Have talked to professors at every University I applied to and encouraged to apply I dunno... have lots of lab skills very pertinent to what I want to do Applying to Where: UNC - BBSP Vanderbilt - IGP Alabama Birmingham- Neuro U of U- Neuro OHSU- Neuro CU Denver- Neuro UCLA-Neuro UCSF- Neuro Stanford- Neuro UCSD- Neuro and Bio UC Davis- Neuro UW- Neuro Yeah... so low GPA (school notorious for grade deflation which most places I have contacted have mentioned) but from most people I've talked to, my research will hopefully shine through! Lots of reach schools, but only need one Have one interview at this point. Edited December 10, 2014 by GABA-daba-doo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibimolinero Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Just got my first interview offer at Wisconsin! Pumped that at least one school wants to talk to me neuronsbeyondneurons2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliaful Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Just got my first interview offer at Wisconsin! Pumped that at least one school wants to talk to me Congrats! I suspect UW's Neuro program will be sending out invites on Friday (12/12)! The last two years, the program has sent out all invites on the 2nd Friday of the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibimolinero Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Congrats! I suspect UW's Neuro program will be sending out invites on Friday (12/12)! The last two years, the program has sent out all invites on the 2nd Friday of the month. Oh gosh, I don't know if I can handle two days of anticipation. I am not a patient person... GABA-daba-doo and gliaful 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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