grad101

Does anyone know if UCSD and UCSF has finished sending out interview invites?? Thanks for the input!

Heres my Profile! Programs applied to: Biomedical Sciences (General Track); specific interests in Cancer Bio/Immunology GPA: 3.5/4.0; Graduated May 2008 GRE: 740Q; 600V; 4.5AW No Subject GREs Citizenship: US Research Experience: 1.5 years in Academia/Government (NIH); 1.5 year in Industry(more like non-profit vaccine foundation) LORs: 1 from my previous professor from undergrad, 1 from my previous NIH Mentor, 1 from my current research supervisor Publications/Presentations: Posters at National conferences/Symposiums, no pubs in journal Past Fellowships: HHMI Schools Applied to for Fall 2010: UVA UMD-Baltimore Johns Hopkins UT-Southwestern Mt. Sinai U Penn WashU Northwestern Michigan UCSD Stanford UCSF Weill Cornell

I was thinking of taking subject GRE's but almost all of the programs I am applying says that they don't require it. Good stats tepidtenacity...you should have a chance at those schools.

4.5 AW isn't too bad. I got that too. If you look at the interpretation of those scores on the back of your score report, you will see that its evaluation is pretty good (not the best--but still good).

Hey Serric! Thanks for your first post. I saw that you are also applying to U Mich Ann Arbor PIBS program. I was wondering if you are going to their open house program in october?? I was thinking of going.

Hello everyone! I took my GREs yesterday-- Here are my stats GREs: 600V 740Q AW: X (not sure yet). GPA: 3.5 from state school (top 20 public) Citizenship: US I am applying to biomedical sciences programs for fall 2010 to schools below: UVA UMD-Baltimore Johns Hopkins UT-Southwestern Mt. Sinai U Penn WashU Northwestern Michigan UCSD Stanford UCSF Weill Cornell I am applying to a long list of top programs -- should I retake my GRE's to improve my scores(I feel like they are not competitive enough), or should I channel my energy towards other parts of my application (SOP, LORs, etc.) Thanks for your advice!

Thanks for the replies. I am actually not a foreign student. I finished my undergrad in US, I guess I just have to memorize more words and keep practicing for the verbal. And I think my math is not too good either, since the averages for that section are also pretty high for the programs I am looking into. I am going to retake it again with more practice. Thanks for the advice.

I just recently took GRE and got scores of 700Q/480V. I still don't know my analytical score yet. I am planning to apply to biomedical sciences PhD programs in the coming fall. My undegrad GPA is around 3.5 and have 1.5yrs of research experience (no pubs though). Should I retake my GREs -- I know my verbal is very low(strange because I was getting around 600 on my practice test just the day before I took my exam--dont know what happened!) Thanks a lot for your input!

Thanks for your input guys!! I graduated last year, but I am still in contact with one of the professors who will write a good letter for me. My NIH mentor also agreed to write me one. As for my current job, its a non-profit foundation, but it works like industry and I am not sure if their LoR will be of much value, since it is not from the academia. I will be ask our group head if she would be willing to write me a good LoR. Do schools even consider industry letters as valuable? I am taking my GRE's in July, and my subject test (probably in biology or biochemistry) in october(since thats the first of the late months in which they offer it). Should I start contacting potential faculty from various schools whose research area I might be interested in pursuing? Thanks a lot!!

Dear Gradcafe readers, First of all, thanks for reading my post and for all the greatful advice you provide. I recently found this forum and I feel its a very helpful resource for graduate school prospective applicants. Like everyone else, I have few questions regarding the process and it would be great to know people's opinion. I graduated from top 20 public university last year (May 2008) with a BS in Biology (specifically, Neurobiology/Physiology). I have few years of research experience. I worked one summer at NIH, also worked for a year in a faculty molecular biology lab working on finding the role of a specific protein in the cellular machinery. I am currently employed as a research associate in an immunology lab where I work to test the TB vaccines on animal samples. I am looking into applying for PhD programs either in Immunology or Molecular Biology for fall 2010. I have a fairly average GPA (3.5). I have yet to give my GRE's. What are the score ranges I should be targeting at if I wanted to apply to good programs/schools (U Mich, Northwestern, Weill, WUSTL, UCSF, etc.). My diagnostic test score was around 1200. So, I am looking to raise at least 200 more points with learning extensive vocab for the verbal section and doing as much practice on math section. Math is pretty learnable. Its the verbal I am having hard time with. Are there any tips or strategies I can use to increase my verbal score? Do you guys think I have a realistic chance at these schools? Or is my GPA on the low side to be even considered? What should I do to increase my application credentials? Thanks a lot in advance for your advice.