Monochrome Spring

Try to prioritize having in-person interviews with your top choice(s). Use alternate dates and Skype interviews for your secondary choices. As stated before, interview conflicts happen all the time. Just be honest and flexible. Work with the graduate secretaries to find a time that works for everyone, and do this as soon as possible. It will not look bad on you. Only negative I could foresee is having to Skype interview for one program and it becomes apparent that they were not your top choice.

You should email the graduate admissions secretary to see if that is a hard cutoff or a recommended score. It will not set you off on the wrong foot to ask, but it will waste your time and money if you don't ask and find out afterward that it was a hard cutoff.

As someone who entered a PhD program immediately after finishing my BS, I still take the time to review my undergraduate material on a regular basis. This is especially true when I read through papers that are not in my specific sub-field. I also know several other graduate students from various backgrounds who review their undergraduate textbooks when studying for comprehensive exams or when beginning a new project proposal. It's about doing a good job using the resources you have available, not about who remembers the most from their coursework. If you need to review, that's fine.

I hope everyone had a good application season. If anyone has questions from a current (5th-year) PhD student in an ecology/evolutionary-biology program, but does not wish to post them on the main forums, please feel free to PM me.

My current favorites are: The Joe Rogan Experience (perspectives on pop culture and hobbies I may not know much about) Jocko Podcast (focused on war, workouts, and self-discipline; good for motivation) The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast (discussion of social constructs, politics, and personality) I don't listen to any of them on a regular basis. I tend to pick ones that have interviews with people I may already know of or discussions about ideas I'm curious about. They can be abrasive for some people, but I find that it's good to hear perspectives I wouldn't normally get in the softer ivory tower.

What kind of biology field are you going into? More medical and biochemistry-focused subfields tend to do rotations and not need much introduction to potential advisors before you are interviewed/accepted. In ecology and evolution subfields, it is almost expected that you talk with potential advisers before the interview (if not before even applying). Of course, this can be broken down even further and will depend upon your exact program's standards, but those are some general guidelines. When (if) you do reach out to some potential advisers, it's fine to be forward. State that you have applied to their department, and you are interested in their research. Would they have some time to chat with you via phone/skype to discuss their research group? In the meeting, you can discuss your own research ideas, the lab's work atmosphere, funding availability, other opportunities within the department, etc. Remember that you are training to be their colleague someday, so don't feel too intimidated.

There is a results function in the forums just for that. See the tabs at the top of the webpage. You can search through previous years to see when notifications came out, the stats of the applicant, and other notes that they wanted to include.

If it's relevant to your research and could help in your career, I would include it. Make a section for it, like "Non-academic awards and honors". No harm in including them if they are relevant to your field of study in some way.

Ah, I'm sorry sorry for my misunderstanding. If you can still qualify to apply in your second year, and you can only apply one of the two years, I think the second year would be a good option. I still don't think there is a big difference, but if you are in a lab with rotations, you can use this year to practice writing and find someone to oversee your application for next year. I would be the kind of person to apply in my first year, to get it out of the way and look for additional outside funding in my second year, but we also don't have rotations in my department, so I had an established place in my lab group from day one.

Just put in the effort. I don't think that there is a huge difference in the abilities of first and second year students to write a good proposal. Just to clarify, are you asking if you should apply as a second year and this is your first year? I may be a bit confused about what you are asking. My apologies.

I don't think that there is any advantage or disadvantage to applying as a second year applicant. It is simply another cycle. I'm sure someone can find a way to over-analyze it and find strengths and weaknesses, but I would just focus on getting work done instead. Even if you don't have a lot of time and you are finding it difficult, I would advise you to still apply this cycle. It's great experience/practice and you have nothing to lose but a bit of time. Use it as an opportunity; ask a professor in your department if you can write a proposal with them and get to know their research. Best case, you get a major fellowship. Worst case, you got great experience and have a starting block for future funding applications.

Most undergraduates do not have a publication when applying to programs, so I don't think it will hurt your application at all to not have one. If you do have publications, they can only help. Ultimately, a researcher needs to put out publications that show they can move a project from start to finish with results; and having one when applying to grad school will help demonstrate that capability.

I would like to remind everyone that you can filter through the Results tab at the top of this web page to view information like when interviews were released, the stats for users who were accepted into specific programs, etc. You can filter by school, program, year, etc. Several members of the Grad Cafe lurk in the forums and don't post in large threads like this, but will post in the Results section.

If you think you will do better, then retake it. You can use your best scores on your new application this year. But, only spend the money and time if you think you will actually do better. You may need to change up how you study the material, take an online course, etc. Was your GRE your weakest point on your applications last year? If it wasn't the deciding factor, maybe your time would be better spent making other parts of your application stronger. There are a lot of options.

If you are on the fence about it, email the graduate admissions secretaries for the departments to which you are applying. They will know if students generally submit scores for these exams. You can also email prospective professors in the department, and ask if those scores are heavily weighted the admissions process. My rule of thumb for test scores and submitted documents is to email people in the actual program, because only they can give you a definitive answer.