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CoomassieFingers

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location
    United States
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    Biology/Molecular Biology PhD

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  1. Thanks for taking the time to write this. It's easy to get tunnel vision regarding a career path, but there are indeed many roads to success in science and as long as the journey rewards you with skills or experience that will serve you well, every part of it is worthwhile.
  2. Interview invite from Scripps (email) just a few minutes ago!
  3. Yeah, I'm disappointed- but at the same time, other than my experience, my stats aren't that great, and I know that their admission rate is quite low. A 1st author Science paper?! If that's the bar I don't feel so bad at all. Haha. Regardless, best of luck to you!
  4. Yup, I already emailed them 2x and have not received a reply! Yikes.
  5. Hi all, MIT Biology requires that 2 of 3 letters of recomendation be "academic" recommendations. My question is - is a letter from a research supervisor (i.e. a postdoc I worked under) considered an academic recommendation? I worked under them at an academic research institution, but not my undergraduate institution. I have two former professors that would write letters for me, but I feel my research supervisor would write a letter that much better describes my potential for success in research. Any help from people who have already applied or are applying this season would be so greatly appreciated!
  6. Yup, I am. In my mind I would totally regret not trying to exceed my own expectations of where I could be admitted. Thanks again, and congrats on your own admittance!
  7. I feel the same way; I suppose if they do a GPA cutoff they probably won't read the SoP in the first place!
  8. That's how I feel as well, thanks for your input. As far as a backup plan - I have an unofficial spot at one institution already (verbal offer from a PI with a lot of pull); I think I would be pretty happy at that program so hopefully I will not need to apply a 2nd time. If for whatever reason that didn't work out, I would probably ask admissions what I could do to improve my chances - I imagine different programs would recommend slightly different ways of doing this. I suppose I could take some postbac courses, ace a GRE subject test...but beyond that I'm not sure!
  9. Thanks for your reply! I realize I have mostly reaches. I'm defininitely going to trim it down, mostly depending on my new GRE scores. I have an in at one highly ranked program, so for that reason I figured I might as well go nuts and see what happens. I do have an explanation for my grade trend (1 bad year and an upward trend ending in nearly all As in my most advanced courses). I'm wondering whether or not it would be wise to mention briefly it in any way (without sounding like I'm making an excuse). Any thoughts?
  10. Long time lurker - got tired of freaking myself out comparing my stats to everyone else's, so please have at mine! I am really not sure what my chances are, so any comment or advice would be so greatly appreciated. Undergrad Institution: Large public university, top 5 public for biology Major(s): Biology; Biochemistry/Cell Biology emphasis Minor(s): Music, Cognitive Science GPA in Major: 3.44 (not great, 1 not-so-great year followed by 2 really good ones. Should I even bother explaining?) Overall GPA: 3.32 Position in Class: top 25%? I have no idea. Type of Student: domestic female GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 156 V: 162 W: 3.0 (I have no idea what happened - I'm retaking in a week) B: just took this a couple days ago, practice test was ~85th percentile if i recall correctly Research Experience: Extensive. 3 year internship at a top 10 academic research institute under a big shot PI, 2 years as a tech at the same institution, and 2 years as an RA at a newly founded research institute. 8 publications. 2 2nd author, 2 3rd, 2 4th, 1 7th, 1 9th. 1 of those is a Cell paper, 1 is a Nature paper. Very long and varied list of research skills. Currently in control of 2 independent projects. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: student-elected best TA for a neurobiology course. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 years experience as a tech in an academic research lab, 2 years of experience in early stage biomedical research. Special Bonus Points: haha, female status. Does that even help these days? My PI, who is also the president of the institute I currently work at, is a big name and well connected at a number of schools I am applying to. I am also a co-author of a filed patent. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My LoRs will be glowing, and 1 of them will come from my PI (might hold considerable weight). I also believe my SoP is particularly well written. Applying to Where: This list is WAY too long; can anyone help me toss a couple out?! UC Berkeley - MCB The Scripps Research Institute UCSF- TETRAD MIT - Biology Stanford - Biology UCSD - Biology; CMG track Caltech - Biology Columbia - Biology Yale - BBS Harvard - BBS UCLA - MCDB USC - MCB University of Washington Seattle - MCB University of Arizona - MCB Thanks in advance and congrats to all who are already living the dream!
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