Jump to content

DavidBellamy

Members
  • Posts

    2
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    Canada
  • Application Season
    2018 Fall
  • Program
    Population Health Sciences (Epi)

Recent Profile Visitors

788 profile views

DavidBellamy's Achievements

Decaf

Decaf (2/10)

0

Reputation

  1. Fair enough, I probably deserve that. Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that before!
  2. [Apologies for the brutally long post, I just hoped I could provide all the relevant info] Hi everyone, I'm applying this coming fall (2015) for hopeful admission in Sep. 2016. What would help me so much is if anyone with relevant experience/knowledge could comment on my application profile and maybe help me refine my expectations and possibly save me a lot of time, energy, and money. I've been waiting for this application season for 2-3 years now and my nerves are really starting to flare with the anticipation. I'm applying to: Harvard BBS MIT Biology UCSF TETRAD Stanford Biosciences Yale BBS Rockefeller (David Rockefeller PhD) Berkeley MCB Princeton Mol. bio U Penn BGS && Columbia Biological sciences My profile: School & program - Canada's capital university (uOttawa), modest but very research-intensive. Honours BSc in biochemistry Cumulative GPA - ~4.0/4.0 (converted from my school's 10.0 scale) Position in my class: top 1% (possibly the highest academic standing, I'll know when I graduate) General GRE - haven't written just yet but will soon. For the sake of this post let's suppose/hope I manage to kill it and get 90th+ percentile for verbal, quantitative and the AWA (that's what I'm aiming for and will rewrite if necessary) Subject GRE in biochemistry - will write this in October. Maybe leave this out of your consideration for now - too hard to predict. Publications: 1 upper-author publication on a fairly important Nature Med paper (out of 30 authors). 2 others being submitted in the near future to either Nature Med or another similar tier journal (much shorter author lists with me being close to first, if not first author). 1 other from my current lab that should be submitted to a modest mass spec/proteomics journal before applications are due. Personal statement: Very vaguely, I'll be trying to communicate something along the lines of "I was born to do basic science research" - this PhD isn't my plan B, or because I didn't get into med school. I love what I do and I can't see myself doing anything else. My ultimate goal would be to land a faculty position in a top department eventually. Awards: Canada's NIH/NSF equivalent, NSERC - won their undergraduate research award twice (considered quite prestigious, need an A average to even stand a chance) "The best undergraduate researcher" award at my university's hospital research institute. First place in my university's healthcare symposium research poster competition & I hope to win a similar symposium/conference this August. Academic merit scholarships 4 years running for exceptional academic standing in my program Dean's honour list 4 years running A considerable tuition scholarship since I was admitted The J. Armand Bombardier student mobility scholarship for when I went abroad to do research at Harvard Med school Among some others that aren't as important Research experience: I've worked in 4 labs (currently in my 4th) First lab: 4 months full-time and 5 months part-time during my 2nd year in an inorganic chemistry lab (where I held the 1st NSERC award I won) Second: 8 months full-time in what is considered by most the most successful/biggest lab in the city (and potentially beyond). The project I was a part of alone received $1.2 million dollars in funding: http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/03/25/research-dollars-take-aim-at-pancreatic-cancer Third: 4 months full-time (more like 8 months because of 100+ work hour weeks :-D ) in Dr. Yang Shi's lab at Harvard Med school. Met him at a conference and connected, eventually landing a position in his lab. Turns out he is a very prominent prof at Harvard (the post-docs put him among the "titans" of the faculty haha) and has even been involved in grad school admissions for BBS there. He was the one who strongly encouraged I apply to these programs (most especially Harvard's BBS of course) Fourth: 4 months full-time & ongoing (for the next 12 months or so; 4th year research project & thesis) in another very big lab in Ottawa. PI is the chair of the department. Highest salaried and funded prof at the university (besides my past PI). Insane publishing record (mass spec & proteomics). I'm currently holding my second NSERC award here. Letters of recommendation: 4 PI's from all my previous labs (and my current one). Will only use 3 for the schools that request 3, but I think I'll include my 4th PI (the first lab I worked in) for good measure when applying to schools that allow >3. First letter: My current PI. He's a big name but it's hard to say just how strong this letter will be. I've introduced his lab to CRISPR entirely by myself (worked with it in the Harvard Med lab), which he can write about hopefully giving me a unique edge. The post-doc & PI I work with here just don't seem to be super exuberant. Second: Previous PI from Harvard Med. He loves me, called me "the most impressive undergraduate researcher he's ever met" or aka his "wondergrad" haha. This will most likely be my strongest letter. Third: Previous PI from the heavily funded pancreatic cancer project. I accomplished a lot and won several awards working out of his lab during those 8 months so even though he's a very busy guy (I'm not sure how much effort he'll be able to put into it) I think I can rest assured it'll be quite strong. Fourth: Modest but well-established senior prof in the Chemistry Department - he practically writes I can "walk on water" in my letters so this should be a very strong letter too. So...if anyone was bothered to read through all that (!!) - do I have a shot as an international student? Or am I still in risky territory for being rejected from all 10? What are your thoughts? I would be so thankful for any responses - maybe it could calm my nerves! Thanks
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use