SydTheKyd

I had similar scores and a lower GPA. I took the GRE twice, but got basically the exact same scores. I feel like I wasted my money - I should have studied a bit harder. I say take it again, but only if you're willing to really work harder next time (I regret asting my money :/). It never hurts to try once more, and you have some time. Not all hope is lost though. Despite my "poor" GRE scores and GPA, I was accepted into a top BME PhD program (I have a BME B.S. as well) thanks to strong letters of rec, strong leadership activities, and a a strong research background. It's not the end of the world. Remember, your application is a package - you can have stellar GRE scores and a perfect GPA, but no one is going to let you in with a sub-par personal statement or resume. Your GRE and GPA will not "doom" you. Yes, some schools "filter" you out initially, based on GRE/GPA alone. Other schools do not. It's truly hard to tell what a school will do - even departments within a school vary differently on how they look through applicants. Some schools "filter", other schools admit you based on whether a professor "likes" you enough, other schools look at everything first, etc etc. It's a real crapshoot. Try again, see what happens, and even if your scores are not what you wanted, don't give up!

I'll be at Rice this Fall! I'm in the BioE PhD program. I applied for the graduate housing, but havent heard back yet.... has anyone got any news on that?

'Excellent' is the best score, then 'very good', good, fair, poor. Their website says "The NSF accords Honorable Mention to meritorious applicants who do not receive Fellowship awards. This is considered a significant national academic achievement and provides access to cyberinfrastructure resources through the XSEDE. Please refer to http://www.xsede.org for more information on cyberinfrastructure resources." I don't know what XSEDE is...?

I got awarded! Holy crap, I'm crying right now, this is unreal.... looking at the reviews, my broader impacts section was very strong! For reference, I am an Bioengineering undergraduate, applying for Bioengineering PhD programs. I guess I'll add the rating system everyone keeps writing: My reviews were: E/E E/E E/E AHHHHHHH! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT AHHHHH PS - I had a "low" GPA too, a 3.3! But they seemed to think it was just fine, one mentioned my "strong academic record" o_O

I know I didn't! All it would do is crank up the anxiety, and if I found a typo/mistake it would have sent me off a cliff....

wabisabi - The cold isn't awful, in my opinion, but I guess it depends on who you ask! I'm originally from MD, so PIttsburgh is about 10 deg colder on average and a lot more snow. If you ask people who are, for example, from California or Florida... they'll give a much different answer! However, I got pretty used to it. I still love the city!

I don't really like giving out details about my life, but this may help someone so... Undergrad Institution: U Pittsburgh Major(s): Bioengineering Minor(s): None GPA in Major: Not sure Overall GPA: 3.33 Length of Degree: 4 yr program + 1 yr co-op rotation = 5 years total Position in Class: No idea - probably average? Type of Student: African American female GRE Scores: Q: 156 V: 153 W: 4 Research Experience: - In total, >1.5 years lab experience with tissue engineering research, which includes biomaterials research for a summer in Germany - In total, 1 year industry experience, which includes 2 semesters co-oping with a highly regarded medical device company in R&D and 1 semester co-oping at research equipment company in R&D - no publications, no big poster talks, etc Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Tau Beta Pi, two corporate scholarships from NSBE, university scholarships (that I had upon entering), Dean's List Pertinent Activities or Jobs: - Heavily involved with National Society of Black Engineers university chapter, including regional level position - Mentored freshmen engineering students as part of diversity program - Engineering school tour guide for 4 yrs (I talk a lot at student recruitment days) - 1 yr volunteer work with mentoring high school students about bioengineering/tissue engineering, and other outreach activities Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I think I had pretty good letters - I never saw them, but I trust my letter writers! One was from a professor I have a good relationship with, one is from a current PI, and one is from an R&D manager at my previous co-op Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: Applying for PhD in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering (regenerative medicine/tissue engineering focus) at: Vanderbilt - Rejected, 1/??/13 U Washington - Rejected, 1/??/13 Carnegie Mellon - Accepted, 2/7/13, full tuition + stipend Rice University - Accepted, 2/26/13, full tuition + stipend U Pittsburgh - in cahoots with high level dean/professor who is "very sure" I'll get in...so I'll take that as an eventual yes? o_O U Michigan - Still waiting Northwestern - Still waiting Regardless of Michigan and Northwestern decisions, probably will end up going to Rice - I'm ready to escape the cold!

Playing the game Plague Inc. on my iPad - something about wiping out humanity as a bacterium is strangely soothing...

I would call the Fastlink user support phone number and ask: 1-800-673-6188 They are probably the ones who have the power over your electronic application, so it may not hurt to give them a ring?

Yes!!!! Same here! Glad to know I'm not the only one! I was ready to submit everything and all of the sudden it's not working! On the webpage, I noticed a message about you'll have to change your password if you created an account before Nov 2nd (or something crazy), but when I refreshed the page, it won't even load anymore! I will definitely be calling in the morning (probably like so many others will be doing :/)

rockbender: that is exactly the situation I am in! People say CV, but all the examples of CVs I've seen aren't from undergraduate students. personearth: Thank you for the link, but that CV example is from a person who was much older and had much more field experience before applying for graduate school. As a student coming straight from undergraduate, I don't have nearly the depth of experience she does. She has so many things to cover that she barely gives descriptions! It does give me a starting point. For those who applied to graduate school straight from undergrad, what worked for you?

Hey all, I'm new here, so I apologize if this topic has been covered already. I couldn't find another post about it, so I'm starting one here. To give some background, I am a bioengineering graduating senior. I am applying for a PhD in biomedical engineering (specifically biomaterials research) and am sprucing up my resume for my application. I've created tons of resumes before, but they have all been for jobs/industrial internships - all of my resumes are one page long and highlight most of my industry work (I've co-oped with biotechnology companies) and leadership experience (president of this and that, etc). I tend to downplay my "academic" awards and undergrad research, and it's worked well in the past. I'm pretty familiar with what goes into a resume when looking for a job, but not quite sure what goes into one for a grad school application. Should it be 1 or 2 pages? I have a lot of things I'd like to include - I've done a lot of relevant internships and research, and I don't want to cut something out... each experience has been meaningful. I hear a lot of different opinions about it, but I'd like to know what you guys think. Do any of you have guidelines on what to put in your resume for a graduate school application? What format did you use when applying? Any help would be greatly appreciated!