omoplata

Dang, my official scores finally came in (I'd been relying on my post-test scores), and my Q score actually dropped by a point. My AWA turned out to be a 5. I see that my Q of 163 is now (slightly) below the averages of some programs I'm looking at. Should I be looking at a retake in the future in this case?

@BeakerBreaker -- Very glad to hear that taking time off to work won't be looked down upon. The NIH doles out $79 million in TBI research every year, so there are quite a few professors across the nation researching that. The schools I mentioned were a subset of a list I compiled consisting of places that had faculty receiving NIH money for TBI. @ion_exchanger -- I would like to learn some comp neuroscience in grad school for the sake of being able to model, and was told that my quant score was a scratch too low for people to take that interest seriously. Did you apply after your first year at NIH and in the midst of your second year?

I'm not immediately applying as I am hopefully doing an NIH postbac fellowship first for a couple of years (given that my offer is not rescinded because of sequestration), but by the time I apply, my application will look something like this: -Institution: Northwestern University -Majors: Biology + Film -GPA/Biology Major GPA: 3.63/3.66 -GRE: 164Q/166V (no subject test) -Research Experience: NIH postbac, 1.5 years RA in lab at NU (I tend to discount this because this time was spent inside a psych lab), one summer at NIH as undergraduate intern -Teaching Experience: one summer as intro biology sequence TA, one quarter as TA for a unique and experimental "science education through art" class I've been keeping in touch and intend on maintaining my relationships with my undergrad professors, so I should be okay on LORs. For my SOP, I intend on describing the questions I seek to explore in my pursuit of research in traumatic brain injury. Do you all see any cracks in the app that I should be wary of patching up and addressing to best merit consideration from some of the highly competitive programs that I am looking to apply to for TBI research (which include UCSF, Columbia, and WashU)? I've been advised to retake the GRE, since I went in the first time without studying. However, I believe my time would be far more productively spent elsewhere and have little regard for standardized testing. Additionally, I've been told that the fact that I took a year off after graduating to work a corporate job (I graduated last year) could be a red flag in regards to my dedication to science. Thank you for all your help!

And likewise, many grad school students would not be able to survive in med school. Different strokes for different folks -- I honestly don't see what OP did to deserve such a scathing response, or where he demonstrates that he views the world as "one fancy buffet all reserved for [him]." And doctors are "silly"? Really? From what OP says, he seems to be a decently hardworking guy who's willing to apply himself. He's indicated that he's going to seek more research experience. And if he ends up not liking it, he wouldn't know by not having tried it out.

The positions and fellowships I've applied to and inquired about have all stated explicit 12-months-at-a-time contracts from the outset. Doesn't mean I can't break them, but as I want these PI's to write rec letters, that would not seem wise.

Eventual goal is to apply for neuroscience PhD programs. Before that though, having been out of undergrad for a time now, I need to lab tech/get some more research experience to freshen up my CV. Since my one and two year anniversaries at a new teching job will not coincide with typical academic scheduling, I was wondering whether there were any neuro programs that considered students outside of the typical deadlines. Thank you for your help.

Dapi -- I've taken your advice to heart and have started the transition to lab tech positions. I do have a question about what you mean by "competitive programs' -- my options to tech so far are at labs that are a bit aways from research interests, and although their focuses of study are engaging, I'd prefer to jump to grad school as soon as I can to focus on my specific research interests. As a result, I'm a bit wary about spending a full two years teching.

Dapi, I have a choice between staying in Chicago to tech or doing the NIH postbac IRTA. In your opinion, which will better prepare me for the rigors of grad school? I guess my preference would be to stay in Chicago, so I can not have to deal with the exhaustive hassle of a move and focus on getting work done.

Currently working as an SEO analyst at tech startup -- been getting away with using the rudimentary stats knowledge I have for the time being. With the help of a professor I've kept in touch with, I've been teaching myself more stats and R. I guess I should've mentioned that the two years is more of a concern if I even get accepted for a lab tech position. I've been getting turned down before that phase because of the competitive job market for bio majors. My previous research experience essentially amounts to one summer at NIH, a wet neuro lab course, and a year at an evo psych lab (which I'm hesitant to even count -- I was just doing that for a paycheck, honestly). I might add that another option I have is to apply for neurobiology programs first, and then learn coding and more math when I enter grad school and develop my thesis into something that's more computationally oriented.

Crossposted from College Confidential, since I didn't get that much input over there -- Anyhow, I graduated in the summer of 2012 with a double major in neurobiology and film from Northwestern. Uncertain about the career path I wanted to take (as one can see from my majors), I elected to not invest in grad school for the time being, and instead, entered the workforce. Now, I like my job, and I count myself as lucky to have found this opportunity. Working life has taught me a lot about how to be a better person and has improved my self-reliance, my work ethic, and my focus. But after lots of deliberation, reading, and conversing with my past professors and advisors, I've been able to finally solidify my life goals and future plans and have come to the conclusion that it's time for me to start planning for the next stage. So that I won't bore you guys, I won't get into my life plan, but elements of it involve getting into neural engineering, which compels me to go back to school for a computational neuroscience PhD. As my application will be noticeably weak in some areas because of my unorthodox undergrad, I was wondering what steps I should take to improve my application before December/January deadlines. In my opinion, my prime weaknesses are lack of research experience (only one summer -- and wet lab, at that), math courses (only two quarters of linear algebra, vector calculus, and multivariable calc at the start of Freshman year, when my work ethic was at an all time low), and coding experience (none). GPA was a 3.63, so while unspectacular, I don't think that will be a liability -- my film courses actually provided most of the drag. Also ended up with some teaching experience as a biology TA, though I'm not sure if that's something to trump. Post-bacc is not realistic, since I can't afford to quit my job and inconsistent startup hours prevent me from taking night classes on a regular basis. While being able to leave my job and focus full-time on science would be great, it's unrealistic as I have to continue paying student loans and rent. I have applied to some lab tech jobs to no avail, and a few of those positions want 2 year contracts, which I'm reluctant to take on. Off the top of my head, the best I can do for the time being is to try to volunteer for a lab off-hours with my existing Northwestern connections. What else should I be doing? Is there something obvious that I'm missing? Your help and advice is appreciated.