notJustin

I'm in the same boat...I was so excited by all of the interview offers I accepted all of them. I am also feeling the heat now and it is a struggle to keep up with all of my classwork. But everyone I have spoken to has also insisted that not attending would be extremely rude. And people in the academic community have very good memory...so it could likely come back to bite you.

I'm torn between the two...does anybody know the pros & cons of these schools? Molecular Biology at Princeton Biological & Biomedical Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you so much for the advice!!!!

How much does your GPA or GRE scores matter after a school has invited you to interview for their program? Is everyone more or less on an even playing field, or is there still a preference towards excepting people with better stats?

I appreciate the honesty. My last 70 hours are a 3.7 (80% of which are courses in my major); I got my stuff together....but my overall is still a 3.2. I scored in the 93rd percentile on the Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology Subject test, my Q + V GRE is a 330, but those first two years of college are still dragging me down.

Do you think a score above the 90th percentile could offset a low GPA (like a 3.2), for those top 10 programs?

What percentiles are good for the biology or biochem subject tests? What do you think the average students accepted to top 10 programs score? - (for those of them who take the test)

See, my research experience is weird. I transferred around quite a bit, and am now and a well-respected state school (though not quite as high as somewhere like UNC Chapel Hill). I have worked in 4 labs since January, and am still working in two. My first lab resulted in me submitting a publication as the first of four authors, an independent project in another lab, and I took over the main project of a PhD student who left in another lab (I'm hoping to finish it and get it submitted the Journal of Virology before I graduate in the spring)...I have been doing good work, but everything good about my application has been so recent, so I'm doubtful a top-notch place will take me.

I have good GRE scores. with 166 V, 164 Q, and 4.5 A. I have good Biochem Subject Test scores....93% overall. I think I am getting really good letters and have some pretty good research experience. However, my overall GPA is a 3.2 .... my last 66 hours is a 3.7, with straight A's last semester. What is a reasonable school to apply to for a PhD in Molecular Biology or the Biomedical Sciences? (I have already applied, I'm just trying to gauge what my chances may be).