Undergrad Institution: Big State, Top 30 Major(s): Biochemistry Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.5 Overall GPA: 3.6 Position in Class: Eh Type of Student: White female GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 163 V: 164 W: 5.5 B: Research Experience: 1 year ecology research, 1.5 yrs in immunology, all at home institution, no publications or anything spectacular except undergrad symposium and honors thesis Awards/Honors/Recognitions: haha nope Pertinent Activities or Jobs: random stuff Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Probably not Special Bonus Points: No Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Death in the immediate family in the middle of college, figured I would let my recommendations address this. One LOR from research mentor, one from a religion professor and another from a microbio professor, all are glowing but I'm worried because only my research mentor has done research with me so...perhaps that is a negative. Applying to Where:
All immunology programs
Emory
WashU
UC Davis
U Minnesota
UVA
UNC
Johns Hopkins
Yale
U Chicago
Tufts
U Wisconsin Madison
I think I may have realistic chances at Emory, Tufts, Minnesota, and UVA. The others I have no idea and figured why not. I think I would be happy at any of these schools, have specific enough interests to help schools make sense of me but flexible enough to work into new areas. My professors say I have a creative edge and a talent for expressing scientific ideas in writing and presentation. They have also noted my exceptional curiosity, resilience, and potential. Wish I had more research experience in my intended area of study, but family death etc.
Also, I will not have a recommendation from my ecology research because my professor has some health problems and retired (he was pretty old when I did research with him and I was just a freshman) so I'm worried that will look funny. And my PI is a new professor and so maybe doesn't have a good frame of reference to evaluate me, and our new lab hasn't had time to publish and slap undergrad names on there.
This forum is a great resource, any thoughts on my app?