biotechie

Has anyone heard from University of Florida, yet? Did anyone else apply there? Not many posts in the results history, and I know they have interviews at the end of this month. It was one of my favorites...

You guys are making me so hungry... and I'm working in lab. Can't eat for a bit.

Aww! Lucky! Let us know if you hear anything. One of the professors on my thesis committee e-mailed his postdoc advisor that is there about my app. He won't tell me if they've corresponded about the application!

You definitely need to talk more about yourself in this essay. Why are YOU interested? What makes you special? How are the things that make you special and that you are interested going to make an impact? What do you want to do in your life, and how is this program going to help you?

Congrats! Looks like UCSD is the only school we both applied to. And UW.

I think I'm more worried about my boyfriend's mother having that reaction. I think if she had her way, he would work, we would get married, and I would stay home and make babies. I don't have time for any of that, right now! I don't think I will every really want kids, either.

Yes. There is a thread on the Biology Board. I think College Confidential has a larger list.

Oh crap. I applied there, through Dept. of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. It looks like they sent lots of rejections from WashU, today. My e-mails are empty, so far....

Give them a detailed resume and include descriptions of important events. Make sure these are professors you've directly worked with and taken classes from.

You mean for potential news from schools? Based on previous things from the results page, I have to wait until next week for my schools.

Oh no! I'm so sorry!

I'm sure I could find the time to blog periodically. I have my first interview in less than two weeks.

Honey wheat crust with red pepper flaked folded into the dough, garlic alfredo sauce, shredded chicken, a tiny bit of Canadian Bacon, topped with mozzarella, and lots of parmesan. No veggies on my pizza, please! They're welcome everywhere else.

Great question. She should be able to explain why and show her passion through that description.

I use this http://www.mendeley.com It is amazing. It allows you to organize all of your papers, store 2 GB online (to access anywhere), and it will also help your do your citations and inline citations in a document. You can take notes, highlight, add summaries, etc. Everything is within this one program so you don't have to have a bagillion things open everywhere. You can also use it for group projects and share sources. This is like a free and better Endnote. I can't believe I lived without it before!!!

I agree with everyone. There is no reason to mention your parents, their Ivy League schools, or what they do. I'm going into cell biology and immunology. Would it make sense for me to mention that my dad is an electrician? Not at all. I did mention my dad in my SOP, though... to explain my interest in genetics and cancer biology... but this was because he was a cancer patient. THAT is one way I was able to include him and it is relevant to why I want to pursue my goals. You are not your parents. You need to show them that you are an individual, and that you are capable of great things... outside of your parents' nest. Do not brag. At all. Explain how awesome you are with confidence and also remain humble. You really should be able to get your points to them without having to brag. Good writers can put their passion and pride in their accomplishments into their SOP very easily. I was able to show how passionate I was by including the story about my dad, as well as a couple of my friends/family members. I explained the impact it had on me and how it changed how I look at science... and how I grew into the scientist I am today. I included how that previous experience will help the program shape me into the scientist I want to become. It made my PI cry. I always think of admissions committees as gorillas that are easily bored and in need of a cigarette. You want them to read your essay, and you want to pull them in. You want them to hold onto your words, and you want them to feel like you are standing there reading your essay to them. You want to be something they will remember for more than 5 minutes, something that makes them forget about that cigarette, something that reminds them that you are human and so are they. You want to stand out because you are special, and because they see your potential... not because of something your parents did.

Okay, now I'm not so sad about not hearing from other programs.

Do I still count as a "first" if I started a grad degree first but an older cousin started after and finished before? She got into a 1-year social work program after I started my Master's.

Here is my post from the other forum: A couple of nights ago, my dream was that I had to walk to an interview at my dream school in heels through a rainforest with a machete. Then my old marching band director started yelling at the applicants. We would only make it to the next interview if we could adequately isolate mouse cells for fibroblast culture. If we couldn't do it, we got thrown out a window (which was where the incubator is in my current lab). Everyone got thrown out, and I isolated mine correctly, but couldn't find any DNase... so I broke the heel off of my shoe and got DNase for the samples. I got thrown out the window, and then they published some paper from those cells. Apparently I started working at my old school as a janitor because they took away my Master's degree (which I'm trying to finish) and shunned me from science. Weirdest dream ever. I can't figure out why in the world I would hide DNase in my heels, but I very obviously needed it in the dream.

I isolate primary fibroblasts directly from tissue, so in the process of mincing the tissue and then trypsinizing to break up some remaining chunks, there is a lot of cell death and lots of DNA gets released... so we incubate with a little DNase before we spin down. If we don't, the majority of the live cells get trapped in this nasty "snot" glob of DNA and cell debris. The DNase breaks up the DNA so I'm able to spin the good cells down, remove the buffer, add new media, and then plate them. I've gotten some great results. I have a feeling that the reason the dream was so specific was that I had literally isolated more cells and completed my applications the same day... but what gets me is why in the world I would have DNase hidden in the heel of my shoe! I'm waiting on three schools, but based on previous years, I should hear about the time I leave for the Baylor interview.

You're not the only one having nightmares. A couple of nights ago, mine was that I had to walk to an interview at my dream school in heels through a rainforest with a machete. Then my old marching band director started yelling at the applicants. We would only make it to the next interview if we could adequately isolate mouse cells for fibroblast culture. If we couldn't do it, we got thrown out a window (which was where the incubator is in my current lab). Everyone got thrown out, and I isolated mine correctly, but couldn't find any DNase... so I broke the heel off of my shoe and got DNase for the samples. I got thrown out the window, and then they published some paper from those cells. Apparently I started working at my old school as a janitor because they took away my Master's degree (which I'm trying to finish) and shunned me from science. Weirdest dream ever.

That's sortof what I did when I wrote my essay. Even if the school didn't have a place where I could list my professors (one did not), I was still able to demonstrate that professors there shared my interests by going into detail on the interests we shared... which match those of more than one professor.

Columbia (Pathobiology & Molecular Medicine): 2/15-2/17 Emory University (Neuro): 1/31-2/2 & 2/14-2/16 Stanford (Biology): 2/27-3/3 UCSF BMS: 1/24-1/26 OR 2/7-2/9 UCSC PBSE/BME: 1/24-1/26 UF (IDP): 1/27-29 and 2/24-26 U Mass Med (Biomedical/Neuroscience): 1/31-2/2 and 2/14-2/16 U Chicago (Biomedical): 2/21-2/23 Washington University in St. Louis (Biochem): 1/25, 2/8 WashU (Devo, Stem Bio): 2/8, 2/22 WashU (Evo, Eco, Pop): 2/22 WashU (Human Gen): 1/11, 2/8 WashU (Immunology): 1/18, 1/22 WashU (MCB): 1/11, 2/1, 2/15 WashU (Neuro): 1/18, 2/1 WUSTL (Plant): 2/1, 2/15

It depends on your field. For the biological sciences (medical based is where I am), so far, recruitment weekends have been those you go to voluntarily. You are invited, but your travel is not paid for, and it doesn't mean you will get admitted. An interview is paid for by the school, after reviewing your application, and they are limited to selected applicants. You may have better than a 50% chance of getting into the school when you get invited, but more often it seems to be about 1:5. I would do a little research on anything you are invited to. Anything that they cover travel for, I would consider a positive reflection of your application. If they're willing to pay the costs for you to visit their campus, they may really want you there.

The way I avoid that is that I name each one "Draft 1 Personal Statement," etc every time I make a major change (like adding or subtracting a whole paragraph). When I get it done, I name it "Personal Statement Final" and then make a PDF of it named "My Name Personal Statement School.Initials" so that I know which copy goes to which school. Each school also has its own folder where I've put my list of professors, some papers they wrote that I downloaded, and other info specific to that program. Obviously if I have written the wrong school in one of the statements in an essay I'm not going to know it from the title alone, but I will at least know which one is my final draft. Hopefully I catch stuff like that in my final read throughs for future writings. The people who proofed it didn't catch it, either.