mrmolecularbiology
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Posts posted by mrmolecularbiology
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Unless you have already signed the paperwork, I think it is fine to go to other interviews for a few reasons. It gives you a forum to practice talking about science and with interviewing in general. It will also help you make sure you have made the right decision by seeing what else is out there.
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Having pubs as an undergrad is incredibly helpful. It certainly helped me stand out.
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Yes. A few adcoms looked at my social media sites. Linkedin outed them though.
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Did you bring anything to your interviews?
I'm thinking of bringing a nice folder that has a notepad in it in case I want to jot something down. I might bring a copy of my poster presentation (with permission from my PI of course) and probably notes about the interviewers.
I brought a notepad. I used it twice over five interview weekends. You could bring notes I suppose, but are you going to look at them while you're talking to an interviewer? Copy of your poster is not a bad idea it will make talking about your research easier.
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I no longer interact with "normal people". I go to lab and then I hang out with people in my program. We talk about science 24/7. That in itself is not a problem (I'm having a blast) but I think I have now drastically limited the pool of people I can look for a mate in. Oh well
- mop and mrmolecularbiology
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Sorry if this has been asked before, but how do I prepare for these interviews and what kind of questions/atmosphere/structure can I expect?
Currently I'm just looking forward to them and have prepared a binder with tabs for each school. I've printed out the summary of the program from their websites as well as the research interests of each professor I listed as a potential interviewer. Should I bother with reading their papers?
Will they be asking me about every detail of my research? Some things like mouse strains and the details of manipulating their genetic expression is a bit over my head..
For one school, I was told there would be an admission committee interview, while other schools I would interview one on one with professors of interest. Tips on either of these interview structures?
You don't need to know every detail of the research you have been doing, but you should be able to talk about it intelligently. The structure of most interviews is several (5 or so) one on one interviews, where half the time they talk about their research and half you talk about yours. I don't know why you have a summary from the program website that will not help you in anyway. As for reading papers: skim them so you are able to ask intelligent questions when you are interviewing, but the questions need to be pertinent to what the interviewer has been talking about. Memorizing something and then spouting it randomly is not impressive.
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Do you remember when about you heard from Cornell? I applied to BBSB and got rejected and sent to biophysics (my second choice.) Apparently they won't email me another rejection though so I was wondering when interviews are normally sent.
I got my invitation the 13th of december last year.
And in case you wanted to know Invite for Hopkins biophysics was received on january 8th.
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I meant to check this forum more frequently, so I could offer advise and encouragement to this year's applicant pool, as many grad students did for me last year. If anyone has any questions about UTSW (interviews etc) or grad school in general I'd be glad to answer them.
I also interviewed at UCSF IPQB (accepted) Duke SSB (accepted) Cornell biophysics (accepted) and Johns Hopkins Molecular biophysics (rejected post interview). And can comment somewhat on what to do (and not do haha) when interviewing and what it is like.
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It's preference. I'm funds limited this cycle, and my top choice in which I was almost waitlisted last year (UCSD BMS) is my main target. Then UCSD allows another application for free and TSRI is free. It's the best I can do this year. If I'm still here next cycle I plan to expand throughout CA.
Also, I just took the GRE yesterday and managed to improve the bare minimum to exceed the cutoff! Not bad for one week of studying!! My verbal stayed the same at 162 (89%).
That's awesome! I bet being persistent in addition to exceeding the cutoff will make you a strong candidate in this cycle. Good luck!
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So I am trying to specifically narrow down my school list now !!!! I have this one big problem. I know for sure I am interested into microbiology/immunology (slightly more with immunology). However, I don't know how to narrow down my specific interest in the specific field. For example, I find that I am interested in way too many different subfields within immunology (pretty much all of them). I know that I am not a big fan of transplantation immunology. Other than that, I like pretty much anything else: innate immunity, adaptive immunity, immune response to infection (esp viral infection).
With these broad ranges of interest, what can I do to narrow down to search specifically for schools? Do you guys have any tip?
Consider adding University of texas southwestern medical center to your list of schools. 40% of my incoming class is international students.
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I wasn't planning on re-taking the GRE, but now my top choice (that I was almost waitlisted for last year) now has a cutoff for GRE scores and my math is one percentage point lower than the cutoff. I'm so depressed over this. This is my third cycle and I'm just not excited about it this time around. Self-preservation?
Is there anything keeping you in San Diego or is that just a preference?
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UPDAAAAAAATE. Consider these relatively solid but I am retaking the GRE.
Undergrad Institution: Public, mid-sized
Major(s): Biology
GPA in Major: 3.72
Overall GPA: 3.72
Position in Class: Top 15%. Not quite top 10%, as Phi Beta Kappa hasn't sent me an invitation.
Type of Student: US citizen, female
GRE Scores (revised/old version): Will update these scores as soon as I have results
Q: 158
V: 167 (what?!)
W: 4.0 (also what)
B: N/A
Research Experience: 2 summers elsewhere (Smithsonian, Woods Hole MBL), 1 semester home institution, 1 publication pending
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Departmental honors curriculum
Applying to Where:
This list is going to shrink by at least two.
Harvard BBS
Princeton Molecular Bio
Columbia Neuroscience
UCSD Neuroscience
Baylor College of Medicine Neuroscience
U of Miami Neuroscience
USC Neuroscience
U of Arizona Neuroscience
U of Oregon Neuroscience
Texas A&M Biology (may hack this off)
You know, I'm thinking of reconfiguring some of these. The only ones I'm definitely applying to are the Ivies, UCSD, BCM, and Arizona. The other ones I'm not sure.
Consider University of Texas southwestern medical center over Texas A&M. I think it's a better program. (although I'm biased because I go there
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Ok, I know the place for this post is in the decision forum, but I wanted some advice from people who know biology:
I am deciding between UCSF's DSCB program vs. UCSD's BMS.
UCSF is very prestigious, but I got the overwhelming feeling of an elitist environment. I could tell speaking to the grad students that the place is very rigorous, and I can't help but feel that I'll be extra-stressed there.
On the other hand, UCSD was very laid back, and the first thing all the grad students brought up was how happy they were. There's great research going on too, but I worry that the name-recognition won't be quite as good.
I am equally interested in the research at both places.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
I had to make a decision between similar choices for similar reasons
I turned down UCSF to go to UTSW, for one additional reason ( knew I wouldn't be very "mentored" by PI's at UCSF at least in my subfield).
The fact that students (as well as faculty) seemed super happy and enthusiastic at UTSW was a super plus for me. The faculty and students were super welcoming, and faculty had projects that they wanted me to come work on. At UCSF it was like, you could rotate/join my lab but I don't personally care if you do kind of vibe.I guess it really depends on what you think you want/need. I did not get the "competitive" vibe from students while I was at UCSF but that was my experience. I just didn't think the large labs were a place I would flourish.
Do you think you would do just as well in both places? For me I knew I could survive UCSF, but I would be less productive overall because they seem to demand more independence that I'm just not up for yet.
- mabraham, ion_exchanger and floridabio
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Well good news is you already sound like a politician.
- Cookie, mrmolecularbiology, pears and 4 others
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Rejected from Johns Hopkins program in molecular biophysics. Have officially heard back from every school.
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Berkeley all the way.
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I turned down a top 5 institution for a top 20 I liked better. Did I just make a horrible Career limiting move?
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Acceptances : UCSF (unexpected), UTSW (expected), Cornell (expected), Duke (expected)
Rejected: Stanford (totally expected) UC Berkeley (thought I had a shot)
I expected to be rejected from UCSF but thought I had a shot at UCB. I have a former lab mate at UTSW and I have "better" credentials then he did so I assumed I would get in. I have another lab mate at JHU, same deal but have still not heard back from them post-interview (presumed rejection).
Also pre-interview I was totally planning to go to UCSF but I felt like UTSW was a better fit for me.
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Finally rejected by UC berkeley. LOL
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The best way to become a better writer is through reading and writing in the style/genre (try to emulate good writing). A masters in writing would be more of a self development (as opposed to an instructed style of learning) I'd go with A and learn publishing skills but then again This is beyond my realm of knowledge.
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Phone Home
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At many of my interviews I got comments about how positive my LORs were and I want to get a small gift for each of my recommenders. (even if I had not been told my letters were positive I would still want to give some kind of thank you).
So Anyone who has given a gift, what type of gift is appropriate?
One of my LOR writers is a coffee enthusiast, so If anyone knows a place to get speciality coffee blends that would be cool I think.
Another writer really likes classical music and science literature, but I'm afraid whatever I pick he will already have.
My boss is the third writer and I'll probably just get him a bottle of scotch before I head off to grad school.
Thoughts on these ideas?
Anyone else giving a small token of their appreciation?
or is this a bad idea altogether?
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I know there is still 3/4ths of a year, but the sooner I can figure out my LORs the better. I am wondering if my undergraduate advisor is an appropriate person to ask for an LOR. This person knows my grades and has vouched for me on several occasions in order to get me into various classes. My other option would be a professor in an entirely unrelated field that I have had for two semesters. Is one better than the other?
My three LORs were from a) THe PI I did research for
My academic advisor (he is familiar with my research and work ethic though) c) A professor I had 1 class with ( I set up multiple meetings and presented my research and just had conversations so he could get to know me as a person)Whoever you pick to write your letters, try to find people who are willing to meet with you so you they can get to know your aspirations, your accomplishments and who you are as a person.
2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results
in Biology
Posted
Anyone interested in learning more information about UTSW or particular PIs here message me and I'll give you an honest answer.