AGradStudentHasNoName

WUSTL: early february Stanford BI: march 1-5 MIT HST: march 2-4 (strange those two overlap as they are 2 of the top comp bio programs) Harvard BIG (I asked and then asked a contact I have and all I could get was late january or early february) University of Washington Genome Sciences: Feb 12-14, Feb 26-28 CMU-Pitt Comp bio: Feb 23-25, March 2-4 UCSF bioinformatics: Feb 9-10, Feb 16-17 Sanger 4-year program: Jan 23rd Cornel Tri Institutional computational biology: Feb 26-27. Sorry I didn't apply to caltech. Hope to see you at some of our overlaps (MIT CSBI, UDub, Harvard BIG, CMU-Pitt, Stanford BI) PM me if you want to obsess over waiting lol. Hoping to hear for Harvard and University of Washington next friday or early the following week. Fingers crossed.

This doesn't sound like a red flag to me. Real Analysis is usually a much harder course than discrete math. Is this stated on your transcript? If it isn't I don't think you have anything to worry about. I think for many schools academic probation is an internal matter and not an external one. For a CS masters at non-top 10 schools (possibly non top 20 schools, or just non funded masters) they really just want to make sure that you aren't going to fail. The math minor gives you points there. If you can also demonstrate that you can write working code (github account, some experience, courses) then you would be very low risk.

You can get a sense of when invitations go out from the gradcafe results search. Unfortunately computational biology seems to be a bit later than most of bio. I don't expect to hear from anywhere until around the 17th. And many don't send out invites until early to mid january.

I take your point. However I have seen some NSF winning SOP's (not the research proposal, the SOP) cite papers so I can't imagine it hurts that much. In fact, writing about a subject without citing the relevant prior work seems disingenuous. And I would like to clarify something. These projects are not "unpublished research", they are industry R&D and are now incorporated into products. Those products have since been used by scientists external to the company to write several nature and science papers. Companies generally only publish as a means of advertisement and do so sparingly because of the time cost.

Here is another question. Several of my projects are unpublished, but I have written what some would call white papers (though I find it a pretentious term so how about technical documents). They include detailed explanations of the project as well as figures and references. I don't really expect anyone to go look at these, but I have them on my website. Is it okay to reference these documents in the personal statement in the same way I would reference a website? I also reference several published papers and patents (either by me or relevant prior work on the subject). Is it super weird to have several references in your personal statement? Currently I have 8 or 9... And in my head I'm not really counting them toward the "length" of the statement except when explicitly given a page limit (such as the NSF GRFP statement). So the length is somewhere 1.5-2 pages and then references. So I guess 2 questions. 1. references in SOP? good? bad? neutral? and 2. references for unpublished work in SOP?

Hey @bcl073, when are all of the interviews? I am planning a trip to south africa and want to avoid these times. I assume they are mid to late January through mid to late February?

Interesting/weird background. I like weird. 2 separate bachelors degrees? Like, you went to college and then you graduated and then you went back to undergrad in a different subject? Pretty strange. I am not one to talk since I have a CS undergrad and MD and am now looking to do a PhD. And the physics thing is also a bit strange. There are going to be PI's in top biology departments that are solid in physics but have a PhD in physics or biophysics or bio or chem or math or cs or engineering or bioengineering (and more)... And then there are going to be PI's in bio departments who have a phd in physics whose research is now unrelated to physics. Or are you just looking for the level of rigor / mathematical know how? Also there are many computational biology/bioinformatics/biomedical informatics/biophysics programs that might fit that better. Like why Harvard systems biology instead of Harvard biophysics if that is what you are interested in? And it should go without saying that you should judge PI's based on their research and not their degrees.

Your research is extensive, but your GPA and GRE are mediocre. For programs that admit people to specific labs you should have no problem if there is a research fit. And the CC to the program director is awesome. I don't know how these things work at most schools, but for the one school I am familiar with a professor can get you admitted barring serious problems with your application or character. I'm guessing that MIT and UW Seattle are committee based and you might get cut before specific research fit PI's see your application. I suggest that you email your POI's 1. when your application is in and 2. a week after the deadline. If they really want you, they will request your application. But for 4-7 it shouldn't be a problem. And for 3 your chances are quite high. 1-2 maybe, who knows how they choose. Feel free to PM me and we can talk specific subfields/PIs if you want. UCSF is lesser in comp bio but very strong bio of course (they just got atul butte though). And given their location and biology expertise, I think they are positioned to become a top tier computational biology institution. And UCSD is very very well regarded in computational biology.

For masters programs you should be good to go. I think you would have a decent shot at top 10's for masters. 164 is not red flag territory. One question I would ask is do you need to spend the money on a masters if your goal is moving into software engineering? You could get a job at a biotech in software and build up your resume and then move into software from there. If you can pass a coding interview that should be fine. Or you might be able to make the jump directly esp if you are in the bay area or another tech hub. There are resources on coding interviews. There are books as well as coursera courses on algorithms. But I also respect the desire to take more formal classes. If the funding isn't a big issue for you, a masters could be a good option. And short of a masters there are the coding boot camps which are generally much cheaper than a masters. I know people coming out of those boot camps having previously majored in english or philosophy now getting jobs at good companies.

You are, of course, largely correct. If I had known that I did not want to practice medicine, I would not have gone to medical school. It is a professional school. I am where I am now and am looking to maximize my chances of doing what I know I enjoy long term.

I'd rather spend 5 years in a PhD than 3 in residency + 2 fellowship and/or 2 in a post doc. What you learn in residency has very little to do with what I want to do in my career. You might be able to get a fellowship in which you do 80% research / 20% clinical. But residency is Hospitalist training mostly. I have talked to mentors and potential advisors about this stuff. They think it is very reasonable. @Data-Analysis My two papers are not first author. @blc-073 MD+Residency+Research Fellowship == PhD + Post-Doc. Maybe if you somehow get 3 papers during residency while pulling 60-80 hour clinical work (you might be able to get 1 month research rotation a year, 2 months the last year) then maybe the fellowship wouldn't be necessary.

I think you can answer this for yourself. If I have an MD, why go back and do a PhD at all? The only answers I can come up with are "to get a faculty position" and "for shits and giggles". If I really want a faculty position, let alone a good faculty position, I need a better publication history. I *might*, fingers crossed, be able to get into a good/top phd program, but I don't have the publication history to get a post doc position at a top lab.

Now I'll do my own. Applying in computational biology/bioinformatics/ some CS programs with comp bio within them. Undergrad Institution: IvyMajor(s): Computational biology/CSMinor(s): NoneGPA in Major: 3.8Overall GPA: 3.4Position in Class: Not sureType of Student: Male / White Other Institution: I actually went to medical school. Ivy. After getting my MD I decided I preferred computational biology.Major(s): ... MedicineGPA in Major: N/A (we didn't have gpa's)Overall GPA: N/A GRE Scores:Q: 167V: 164W: 4.5 Research Experience: 5 years algorithmic research and development in genomics industry. 3 startups, one of which is well known in the genomics industry. 2 first/coauthor patents. 2 non first author papers in good journals. And I did some computational research in undergrad and some wet lab genetics research in the summers in undergrad and med school. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: not really Pertinent Activities or Jobs: see research experience. But I guess those industry jobs involve a lot of software development which is also quite valuable. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: One of my projects is used by a fair number of people. Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) One of my writers is famous in the field. Readers will know him or know of him. Also I've already been contacting potential advisors and have gotten very high response rate and many meetings set up. Not sure if they can do anything for me, but at least it's positive feedback. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My github is pretty good. It's clear that I spend most of my time programming. Applying to Where: My list is long and embarrassingly high end. But if I don't get in anywhere, I have a good career in industry already. Some labs that I am applying to send their students to work at my company (at the same level I'm at now). All the same, give me your critique. Harvard (BIG, HST, possibly CS) MIT (CSBi, CS, HST) Stanford (biomedical informatics) UWashington (genome sciences, CS) Berkeley (comp bio) CMU (comp bio) Princeton (CS) UCSD (comp bio) Columbia (comp bio, possibly CS)

I agree that these are very competitive programs, but 3 years of research and 4 papers with some of them first author is quite good. If they are in top journals, you are probably set. If one of your mentors is connected to one of these programs or is well known by them, then I wouldn't rule any of them out. But you probably need a safety or two and just a few more to increase your overall chances. I don't know anything about the programs planB mentions, but given your research history I suspect you can do a bit better. And your biology major in bioinformatics might be a slight downside actually. I might be wrong, but I think the best bioinformatics programs put a lot of weight on technical abilities. Focus a bit on your projects and technical abilities in your PS and CV and put that gitlab link at the top of your CV assuming it is good.

I think you have a fairly good chance at some PhD programs. The ones you list are fairly selective and might be reach schools or a good fit depending on the rest of your application. UCSD is particularly selective/strong in Bioinformatics with San Diego being the biggest center for biotech in the US and Pavel Pevzner among other greats on faculty. UCSD bioinformatics is a reach for all but the top candidates. I'm not saying don't apply. Just be aware. Columbia and UCSD are also on my list. You should forget about your extra curricular mostly. I think it's great that you like theater. Most professors won't care. Focus on research in your personal statement. Get technical and detailed but also show you understand the why of what you did. Have your letter writers focus on research as well. Also focus on skills. If you have a github account with anything serious, include it at the top of your CV. If you have serious programming chops, let them know by telling about projects, listing multiple modern programming languages, etc. Have you contacted any professors yet? Set up meetings? Get on that. And I will do the same...

I think that you should be able to spin that pretty well. And with your pedigree (matters tremendously in CS) and very reasonable scores I doubt you will have to to get a top MS program. I think you would be a reasonable candidate for very good if not top PhD programs if you spin it well enough. I have some friends who are exactly in your same position. I told them not to get a Law degree. But to be fair, my CS friends told me not to get an MD lol. They were right. And now I am back doing computational biology in industry and will be applying to top PhD programs in cs/comp bio. I applied last year to top schools and got into 2 top 20 schools but none of the top 10. I turned both of them down because one I didn't like my potential advisors and the other was my undergrad and MD alma mater. I need a change. So I will re apply this coming fall doing much more preparation, reading papers, contacting profs, etc. So you need to figure out how to spin it. I will give you one of my gems that is generalized enough for you to use too. I say "I went to undergrad with the plan of going to medical school but majored in computer science/computational biology because it is what I found fun and interesting. Turns out maybe what I find fun and interesting is what I should have always done. But since most people don't figure that out until after they retire, I figure I am ahead of the game." Peaple eat that up. It works better in interviews than a personal statement, but it might be converted properly. Also, you say that you want to get back into computer science, but you don't say what you want to do with it. If you don't want to do research and you went to a top 20 cs school, then you should do the following. 1. Really bone up on your coding skills. Probably take a few coursera courses etc. Also look into codility.com and try to be able to solve a few of those problems (some are easy but some are quite hard). Also get a book on coding interviews and read it. 2. Contact your old department and ask them if they can put you in contact with software company recruiters (most likely the companies pay the dept for the privilege of recruiting there and this will immediately get you interviews). Also contact your friends working in cs industry for leads. 3. Interview and get a job.

I was definitely waaay better off when I didn't know about this website lol.

Right. Seriously. We need to get over this. It is over for this year. I don't understand their reasons for not uploading at least 90% of the rejections but that is the way they operate it seems.

I agree. But I only heard Feb 15th quoted by someone on this website. From previous years I don't see rejections from the website until Feb 25th.

I agree with most people here. Let go of the idea that you are not good at programming. You may be less experienced than others or less talented. And I understand how divergent skill levels in programming can be. The distribution is hugely broad. I know people who are 10x more productive than I am. And I know very productive ppl who are 1/10x as productive as I am. But fear of it is the worst barrier to getting better. Try, fail, fail, fail, and then you will be much better. But also cs theorists are marketable at some places (microsoft research, google, biotech). And a CS phd pretty much guarantees a job in industry though you might meet expectations after a year or so if you do not code well enough.

I have news from brown people. I am somewhat of an insider. From what I have heard, I believe news should go out sometime this coming week. (my potential prof said he wanted to talk to me before he got back from his trip to california tomorrow and we talked last night).

We will most likely all get the rejections via the website at the same time. But I understand your frustration.

I have one acceptance but have decided that staying in my current job and reapplying is a better option. I have several that I'm still waiting on with one somewhat good possibility that I would definitely take. But after 4 rejections I decided that I should have applied to more computational biology specific programs instead of mostly pure cs. I sell much better as computational biology (have an MD). So I started planning on which programs to apply to next round. This time I have 11 on the list and might add one or two lol. Seemed like a decent way to waste some time. Gives me the feeling of some sort of control over my situation.

There are some rejections in january and then silence. Anyone else applying to this program? Sorry for the inane topic. But this is basically what I am waiting for to decide whether I will work for another year or go to school.

So maybe that means the decisions are done and we might hear soon? Tomorrow?! Or they could wait until march...