ltn

The application to Cambridge did not go as it would in the US. Instead of applying to a program, you directly apply to a supervisor that you would like to work with (since there is no courses you need to take, but rather you start with research directly). It is up to them to decide if they want to hire a student. My first choice supervisor declined my application, but another supervisor was interested in me, and offered me the scholarship. The topic I originally wanted to pursue was much more applied science (bioengineering), whereas the project I got offered is medically oriented. Not only do I like the first topic better, but I also think that the skills I would learn there are much easier transferrable to a career in industry, if I ever wish to pursue one. For the second topic, this is very hard to say. I am afraid that the skills I will learn there will only be valuable in a very narrow field within academia, and that even if I wanted to switch topics I would be forced to stay within very limited boundaries. I agree with this. However, a major difference I have seen between graduate students in the US and in Europe is that most graduate students in the US will have started their PhD after their Bachelors degree, whereas PhD students in Europe generally hold a Masters degree (like me). Thus, most students will have had time for two more years of courses and research. I am not sure if I have what it takes to make it all the way in academia. To be safe, I would rather keep my options open and pursue a degree that make me easily marketable. More importantly, I generally enjoy research that has applied aspects to it better than pure fundamental research. I am fairly sure that I will want to return to the US after my PhD. Will it be much harder for me to get an (academic) job in the US after a PhD in the UK?

Thank you all so much for your help so far, especially aberrant. New events have radically changed my position; I have been accepted into a molecular biology program at the University of Cambridge under a fully funded scholarship. I am currently in quite a tough spot, and I have a hard decision to make. The reason why I haven’t accepted the offer yet is two-fold: 1) I would rather do my PhD in the US 2) The project that I will be doing my PhD on isn’t my favorite research topic The second reason is most important to me. However, it has been told to me by US graduate students that it is hard to say if I would get my favorite research topic once I have been accepted into a US graduate program. There are generally maximally only two or three topics (out of ~30) per department that interest me. It is uncertain whether any of these labs will have space for me during my enrollment year, and there could be though competition for a spot with other graduate students that share my interests. A second important aspect to consider is that I can start my PhD at Cambridge this year already, and that the total time to obtain the PhD will not take longer than 4 years. Conversely, if I do my PhD in the US, I will have to wait a full year before I enroll (my application year), and then the PhD will take approximately 6 years. I have really valued your input so far, and I was wondering if you could assist me in my decision, maybe by clarifying aspects that I have not considered above. Regards, ltn

I was wondering if anyone on this forum could tell me what are considered the absolute top institutes in the UK for me to pursue PhD graduate studies in the biological sciences (biochemistry & molecular biology)? Naming specific institutes and departments would be most useful to me. Thank you

Thanks! That is very helpful. So are you saying that if I do not get a high score on the GRE subject test, it would still be worth it for me to apply to all the top tier programs (that recommend the subject test), without submitting my subject test scores? Will this not significantly lower my chances? For the general GRE, I am assuming that for a program like yours (and the ones I will apply to), the quantitative section is the most important. At the US institution that I attended, all my fellow colleagues had either received near-perfect or perfect scores on this section. This might be the hardest task for me so far, since I haven’t practiced any math in almost 5 years. I am currently starting to revise math a little. How long do you think it will take a math-simpleton to reach a level where he can get a (near-)perfect score on the GRE? I think I might not have been clear. All I wanted to convey is that I believe it will be harder for me to get accepted to a top graduate program in my field, than another person with the exact same level of credentials, research experience, recommendation letters, and motivation, but who did his/her undergraduate degree at, let’s say, Harvard.

What should be the cut-off score for me to send in my GRE subject test scores? I have read somewhere else that everything below 85% is not good enough. So what should I do in case I get, let’s say, an 82%? Although many infamous European institutes such as the EMBL, Max Planck, the Pasteur Institute, and the MRC LMB, perform excellent research in this field, they do not offer undergraduate education. I feel like for undergraduate education, university reputation can be quite important, since a lot of the Ivy-plus universities in the US tend to interbreed, even on a graduate level.

Indeed, I have seen many former applicants on this forum with many years of research experience. At first I was blown away by it, but then I realized they were probably working part-time. In any case, I agree with what you say, although full-time research for me was closer to 60 hours/week. I also noticed that highly qualified US applicants often minimally have two publications (with at least one as first author), in addition to numerous conference visits and poster presentations. This baffles me because I know several people that published twice during their entire PhD! In fact, I believe that the average publication rate for PhD candidates in Europe is under 2.3 publications per PhD. Did these highly qualified applicants I talk about bribe their supervisors or something..? I see that you are currently enrolled in a biophysics program, which means that you probably went through many of the processes I am going through now. Did you decide to take the GRE subject test? If so, what percentage did you get, and did you send in the results with your application? Finally, I have to say that from all the credentials that I have seen and the programs they got accepted to or denied to, I could loosely extrapolate that the reputation of the undergraduate school matters (a lot). Whereas the US has countless top tier institutions for undergraduates (with HYPSM at the top end, and for example UCSD, UCLA, NYU and Un. of Boston at the lower end), Europe only has several universities that can compete. I can almost count them on one hand for the biosciences (Un. Of Oxford, UCL, Un. Of Cambridge, Un. Of Edinburgh, ETH Zurich, and the Karolinska Institutet). Sadly, being from the Netherlands, I never had the opportunity to enroll in one.

Thank you all for your help so far. I am still not so sure how my credentials compare to those of other students applying to similar programs? Aberrant, you mentioned for example that 2 years of full-time research is minimal, whereas in my country it is quite a lot. Since many of the programs I will be applying to recommend the GRE subject test, I am currently looking to register for it (to take it unfortunately I will have to travel abroad). Does highly recommend mean that they will disregard my application if I don’t send the subject scores in? When I register they give me the option to sign up four institutions to receive my test scores for free. Still, would it be smart for me not to sign them up yet, just in case I mess up the test and get a horrible score? I can always send them afterwards, even though I lose a $100 dollars this way. Warm regards.

Dear all, I am a student from the Netherlands and I wish to apply to US graduate programs this year. However, as an international student I do not know how well my academic credentials compete against those of US students, or those of other international students. I was hoping that some people here could help shed light on this matter. I am looking for graduate programs in biochemistry/molecular biology. My aim is to apply to one or more of the following programs: Stanford -biosc, UCSF-tetrad, UC Berkeley-MCB, Harvard-MCB, MIT-bio, Columbia-biochem, Yale-MCDB, Princeton-MB, and The Scripps Institute. My academic credentials: Undergrad Institution: B.Sc. (honors program) + M.Sc., both with the highest possible distinctions, from an average Dutch university. All 15-or-so universities in the Netherlands ranked approximately evenly, and somewhere within the top ~50-100 of the world. Majors: Biomed, Chemistry Overall GPA: minimally 3.85, but more likely somewhere around 3.95 for both my B.Sc. and my M.Sc. I haven’t officially converted my Dutch GPA into a US one, but I’m somwhere in the top 5% grade-range in my country. GRE: I do not have my subject GRE scores or my general GRE scores yet, but I plan to do them later this year. IELTS: 8.5 avg. Research Experience: I have 2 years of fulltime research experience, of which one year has been at a mid-level Ivy university (not Harvard) in the US. I am third author on 1 publication, in a journal with an average-to-good impact factor. Extra: I have been a tutor in biology and chemistry, and later on a chemistry teaching assistant for about a year. I have been awarded 4 competitive Dutch scholarships to study abroad. Assuming that I receive average GRE scores, what do you think my chances are to be admitted to any of these programs, am I aiming to high? I am several years older compared to the average age of US students that are applying since I have already obtained my Masters degree, will this affect or harm my application? Finally, in general, do I inherently have an advantage or disadvantage to apply as an inertnational student (i.e. is the admittance rate generally higher for international students than for US students?) Thank you for your help.