intl2015

I've been living in Memphis for ~2 years. I would say "cooper-young" is the best place for young people to live. You can find affordable places and duplexes to rent and it's a safe neighborhood esp within the area of s barksdale, central, s cox and walker. There are lots of good bars and restaurants within walking distance and I see people walking dogs, running all the time. Mud island is a safe area and there are many apartment complexes but they're pretty expensive (1 bedroom apartment is usually $1000 or more). But Mississippi river is right there so it's a nice place to jog/walk dog etc.

I agree. Unless application fee is a tight access, I would say there is no harm in applying to any programs. How about UPenn CAMB? You might have already looked into it but I heard that they also take a lot of international students. Not sure if they have faculty research that would align your interest though. Worth looking nonetheless. I can't tell for sure if a gap year will 'significantly' improve your chance. It will depend on your work and publication quality you get. As far as I know, students usually take 2 gap years but that is just based on people I know so I could be wrong. I believe it can definitely improve your resume. Based on my experience, most of my application deadlines are on Dec 1st/2nd and I got all interview invitations no later than Jan 15th. So you can apply to the programs in your senior year fall semester and if you are unsatisfied with your interview invites, then you can still apply to tech position in Feb? This is solely based on my experience so other people can chime in on this. But as I've mentioned before, you do have a good stat and seems to have great research experience so you do have a good shot at this! Good luck!

I am also an international student who has the bachelor degree in the US. I apply for Phd in biology/molecular bio for fall 2015 and following advice is solely based on my application process this year. UCSD has a preliminary application for non-US citizens and only a couple of students are selected out of the pre-app to fill out the general application. So it is very competitive for international students even to get to the actual application opposed to the applicants who are citizens. But the plus side of the pre-app is that it is free so at least you don't spend about a hundred dollars to apply just to get rejected. I guess schools in UC-university system are competitive for international students in general but I do know an international student who gets interview from both UCLA and UCSD. What program are you applying for UW-Madison? I would recommend CMB program at Madison. It does not have a set number of international students that are accepted each year and it has plant biology under the program. Also if you get accepted at CMB, you can basically rotate in any lab even if your PI is not a part of CMB. Have you also looked into UPenn biology program? It also does not have a quota on international students acceptance. I am sure there are more schools that have similar policy. Generally, graduate schools that have NSF training grant as a main source of funding do not accept international students since the grant can only be used to fund the citizens and usually, they are operating under the school of medicine. Based on your stat, you have a good chance of getting into good schools right after your undergrad. If you want to improve your chances, I'd encourage you to look into getting a research tech position in a relevant lab rather than a master degree. Good luck!!

Thank you @velli and @chubberubber! I will be living on campus and relying mostly on bike/public transportation so hopefully high gas prices won't affect me that much. Yeah I have seen downtown Palo Alto during my interview weekend. Not much going on. What kind of fun things stanford students do on weekends?

How easy is it to keep a car at Stanford (insurance, gas, parking)? I'm thinking about living on campus but I don't wanna sell my car and wanna keep it around even though I might not drive it much.

I'm also waiting as well. Hopefully, we'll know by tomorrow since the survey for the interview visit is due today? Good luck!

Hi guys, I am an international students going to Phd program in biosciences coming fall. I would like to apply to pre-doctoral/graduate fellowships during my studies. Does anyone know the fellowships that non-US citizens can apply for? Does anyone have experiences applying for those? I know there is an HHMI graduate fellowship for non citizens but it's only for third and fourth years. Thanks!

Anyone heard back about UPenn Phd bio phone/skype interview yet?

Thank you!

What are the interview weekend date options for Vanderbilt IGP and Princeton Mol bio? I haven't heard back from them yet and getting anxious about accepting other school's interviews.