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rscneurozombie

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Everything posted by rscneurozombie

  1. All these comments are great. I would only add this: A graduate student can only get so much money in total (stipend + tuition reimbursement), which is typically set at a certain limit (unless you get an additional fellowship or "moving/signing bonus"). You'll have to find out if those 5th year students have lower tuition or if this "raise" does not apply to incoming students. They are paying for your school and living expenses because you are an employee that will WORK for them after some classes and rotations. You are not getting a "scholarship" based on merit. Start thinking of yourself as an employee and less of a student. Life is not always fair, so don't freak over a couple thousand dollars unless you KNOW they are targeting you only, although more than likely it could be a simple mistake. Ask the program administrator if you are still worried about it. And remember, you may be able to apply for an outside fellowship during your first year, at which point you will make more than those that enter next year! Whether you get 29K or 30K you will be a poor grad student either way. Just hope your stipend is good enough for where you live and the bills you have to pay. Make sure you create a budget BEFORE you start, and make sure to update your expenses every couple of months. Grad school will not make you rich, but you should be able to cover your bills and live slightly better than most undergrads!!!
  2. I agree with beakerbreaker: From my experience, this will mainly hurt you in the initial screening of applications. With funding tight, schools want to bring in students with GRE and GPA levels that will allow them to apply and get fellowships and external funding. They get hundreds to thousands of applications for maybe 5-30 positions in a program (this varies wildly). They have to somehow set the applications in order for review by the committee. They usually do this with GRE score and GPA (one or the other, or in some average/combination). After they rank the apps they start reviewing, and if you are at the bottem they will probably not even look at yours. But this does not mean you can't get into certain programs. Your GRE scores are very competitive. Your GPA continued to rise throughout your undergrad (some apps ask for your Jr/Sr year GPA separate, which will help show your improvement). You have good research experience. It will GREATLY help you to actually have those publications accepted by the time you apply. So in short: this may hurt you. Go ahead and try to apply, as the rest of your app looks good (better make an amazing SOP!!!). If you apply to 10 schools and only get 1 interview, either you are aiming too high or you aren't getting past the initial screening. But remember, you will only be attending 1 program! Be smart in deciding where to apply and don't be afraid to call (NOT EMAIL) the program to ask about cutoffs or other screening practices (and your chances to get past them). Good luck!
  3. Check with your school as to your GPA. A 4.0 scale GPA is, by definition, A = 4.0. An A at your school is also a 4.0. Therefore I would be inclined to list my grade as X.X/4.0. I believe the A+ is a tradeoff for the fact an A- will no longer give you a 4.0. So in total your gpa will most likely balance out the + and - grades. It does give incentive to try a little harder to get to that next level, though! Many schools have transferred to the +/- scale, but previously schools did not differentiate between an A and A- or A+. I would double check with your school, they may have more accurate information than random people (like me) on a website.
  4. Visits were a must, and how visiting programs I ended up not being very interested in helped form my understanding of what I really wanted. They were not necessarily a waste of my time, as they helped me figure out which program was really the right choice for me. And how shitty rankings actually represent a program. They can help you look for and rank programs prior to interviews, but should be one of the last items you consider when making choices. Also, if you didn't get in this time, don't give up. Just make a better, more concerted effort next year!
  5. I understand waiting to make a decision. It is our future, and that can be scary. But you can't really be torn equally between SEVEN programs/offers. If all 7 offers were so great that you really can't decide, eliminate one and roll a die. There must be a few of those that he knew he wouldn't take. It is great to take time and think, but other people are also waiting down the line. Hold on to a few offers and let the others go. Then from the ones you are seriously considering, work towards a decision. If you are waiting to hear from a program, or waiting for a better offer, that is one thing. But waiting on 7 offers while others still wait to hear that magic phrase is rude. Announcing that you are hoarding 7 offers to those on this website still waiting is worse. That is how I read it.
  6. You seriously waited this long to reply to your other 6 offers? Might not want to tout the fact that you hogged 6 offers for weeks or months at the cost of others on the waitlist or hoping to hear from one of those programs before making a decision to attend elsewhere. Take another read over your post and see how conceited it sounds.
  7. Definitely take practice tests and get the score from that. It might not give you the percentile, but you can always match your score to the current percentile listed by ETS on their website. The percentile is a weighted score, and is determined by the scores obtain by your peers. This makes percentiles a "moving" target that can change depending on test questions and how well others do on it. Make sure to read about the scoring and how the test is structured. I know you have been practicing since January, but the suggestions others are posting here will take more time, especially to acquire the vocab and other skills. It may be a long shot, but don't give up until you know what your full scores and percentiles are on the practice tests. I know there are no sources regarding admissions. That is because each program does things differently. This whole admissions thing is a giant black box that only admissions committees know. If you have a few programs you are interested in, contact them! They'll most likely tell you as much as they can.
  8. Are you serious about practicing for this? You cannot take a few practice sections and expect to improve after a week. Seems what you are looking for is a specific skill you can pick up that will make you instantly better. It doesn't exist. I spent months practicing. While I agree that your quant score is the most important, all scores will get to your schools of interest. Many top schools get hundreds of applicants for a few positions. How do they decide the order of applications? Many will use some weighing of the GRE and GPA. I don't think your verbal GRE score will hurt after the initial screening process. Unfortunately they may weed you out of the top applicants. It all depends on the committee and their policy with respect to international students. You can always call the program and explain your concern and see what they say. Don't just assume they won't care about your low verbal score. Also, is your "85-90%" score in quant your percentile or just percent correct out of the section? To prepare, I would say take 4-5 full practice tests. The first is your baseline. Then as you study and practice, take tests on regular intervals to see how your scores improve. Those full tests will give you a much more accurate score. Take your score and match it to the current percentile ranking. Do I think the GRE is a bad test of someone's potential as a grad student? Yes. It may be even worse for international students. But it is still required, so you should take it seriously. You will be competing against many other highly qualified applicants, no matter what school you apply to.
  9. I wanted to quickly give my two cents. First, you are thinking that a tech job in a lab not directly related to your interests is not worth the time. While they might not pay as much as your current job, being in the lab full time for a few years will do wonders. Whatever you learn about neuro, wet lab techniques, experimental design, computational/engineering, etc, will be easily relatable to whatever you do later and will show admissions that you are serious about science. It may also make you more successful during grad school.
  10. Would say only this: Make sure you are serious about research and understand what research really is. Get the experience. It is not the same as med school, which is what the others were trying to say. It is a DIFFERENT beast, harder and easier in many ways. Make sure to spend 1-2 years at least in a lab full time. More would certainly help.
  11. 1. How do I get involved in research with very limited experience? This seems like an uphill battle. This IS an uphill battle. Half the battle is getting into the lab (and hopefully getting paid for it). Labs generally take free labor though, so volunteering works also, and that may be a step to getting a job in a lab. With your low level of research as an undergrad be prepared to spend at least a full year or two in a lab (about full time). DO NOT think that research experience is just "a plus". It is the core of what most admissions look for nowadays. 2. How to I make myself a more marketable candidate? Research, Research, Research. With your low level of "focus" as an undergrad I would make sure you get in a lab and build up a small CV of techniques, posters/abstracts, and if lucky, papers. Having one letter of recommendation from a PI who you worked for a while and knows you very well will look better than letters from professors or labs you spent very little time in. 3. How much is research and previous publications considered for these programs? Obviously these are a plus..but how much so? See #1 above. Publications do not mean that much, as some people can get an authorship after being in a lab for a few months doing only one little thing. Getting some abstracts/pubs looks great though on a CV. What looks better is experience with multiple techniques or projects. 4. Anyone with previous experience applying to this program? What are your experiences? I interviewed with the IGP this year. I applied twice. First time low GRE scores impeded me getting in the large stack for interviews. This time I had much better GRE scores and a more focused/mature SOP. Also finally got my first publication authorship. They have a great program, but I felt after interviewing that they were a "PhD Factory". Their students get great training, many papers, great placement after grad school, but felt a little impersonal. Just my opinion though, as many others probably loved it. I was waitlisted and still haven't heard back this year. Accepted and going to a program where I connected with students and faculty during interviews (and afterwards). A little about my background. 3.4 Undergrad GPA, little undergrad research. 4 years post-bac research experience. 4 Posters, 1 paper, 3 other papers in preparation. A final note: you can get interviews, but will need to show the admissions that you are serious about research. NOT just serious about getting into grad school, but serious about being in a lab, running experiments, learning proper technique, presenting your work, etc. That means having a FOCUSED pre-grad research experience.
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