lipward

Congratulations ! What is your research interest? I love that UChicago program has an setup with two mentors to carry out interdisciplinary research with a combination of experimental, computational, and theoretical work.

I heard from Yale and Stanford today. Rejections!

The coordinator from Rice told me to check the portal to see any updates.

Do you guys know whether Calecth sends out emails with rejections?

Thank you! Yes, that and I am still considered as an international student. Most of the top Biophysics programs use NIH training grants to cover funding for students, which are limited to citizens and residents. I cannot complain as the selection of international students are a privilege. Hopefully, I get my Greencard by the next cycle. My lawyer told me that I have enough citations to file. Most probably, I would see you guys at future Biophysical Society meetings!

Thank you for the update. I have had not that much luck with biophysics programs. I made up my mind to reapply if I have to.

I was doing analytical chemistry research and now applying for labs doing biophysics/physical/chemical biology. I like interdisciplinary work. I do not think your track plays a big role. However, you have to convince them that you would not do the same again. There is this baggage.

Thank you and congrats! Another former Ph.D. student here. I mastered out as I had to teach, do research, take classes, do my missed seminar and candidacy exam all at once. I got sick in my first year and missed a semester. As an international student, I was alone and got exhausted.

Thank you! I contacted most of the programs yesterday as I am stressed out. In addition to graduate schools, I am trying to get my green card as my visa ends by the end of this year. Thus, I am spending my time here and checking my google scholar profile every day to count my citation numbers UWM: PI I am in communication with told me to wait till March as they had already sent all the offers when I applied in January. So he can only give me an answer based on the rate of acceptance. Stanford: PI told me that I should hear soon about admissions MIT: I heard from the primary PI I am interested in working with that she had not yet gotten my file. I will wait a bit. Rice: I have not heard from the coordinator NW: I have not heard from the coordinator, but they were not that responsive to me even when I asked them to accept my application late. Even though they eventually accepted it, I do not have high hope there. Yale, Columbia, Cornell: Told me to be patience Caltech: I contacted four PIs, all of them replied to me. Two of them told me that they like to supervise me and like to discuss their project if I get an invitation to visitation. I do not know wherever this is positive or negative. I will wait a bit here too.

I heard about toxic environment at Berkeley and Harvard from a graduate student at the MIT who mentored me recently ( was a UG at Berkeley). I also think this also related to specific PIs and labs, not so much to a specific program. Healthy and toxic labs have some tell-tale signs. I would consider a lab with a diverse student body as a sign of a healthy lab. I would be skeptical about a chemistry lab at a major University that has all male students, all-female students, no minority students, no international students, no domestic students, no ethnic diversity, no healthy numbers of undergrad, graduate, and postdocs as those can be signs of some issues.

Thanks! I applied to Caltech, MIT, Yale, Rice, Stanford, UW-Madison, and Columbia. I applied for most of these several weeks late as I had to deal with an unexpected visa issue and had to prioritize it over applications due to severity. They allowed me to submit the applications but not sure about the impact of the delay.

Yes, I agree. I was referring to programs applied and accepted, rejected, etc..

I am an international student but living in the US and have not heard back from any chemistry programs I have applied to. However, I heard from some of the PIs I contacted, but none have given me any word on admission. They only told me that they like my profile and blah blah. Also, I have noticed that nobody here shared a detailed profile of themself this year, so it is kind of hard to guess the situation like in the past cycles. I would be okay to share my stats as I thought it would help each other out rather than be seen as showing off. However, I am somewhat hesitant that I do not know how people would take it based on how this tread has been evolving. I am a direct and blunt person, but I do not want to offend other people instead of helping each other.

Oh Sorry I have just seen your question. I was doing the GRE Subject test at that time (April 20th, 2013)

I believe they have made many offers by now and waiting until March to decide on others based on the acceptance rate. I applied there, but a lot later (Jan/2021) due to some other issues I have to deal with. Also, I am an international applicant. Also, not a traditional applicant. I think the best option now is to wait and see till the end of the month.

Thank you!. Good luck with the interviews. I have not heard back from anyone yet. I applied for Berkeley: Biophysics U of Chicago: Biophysical Sciences John Hopkins: Molecular Biophysics Rochester: Biophysics Duke: Biochemistry U of W at Madison: Biophysics I applied late for all the programs as I had to deal with some other issues first I have previously mastered out from my PhD (Chemistry) at a public Ivy as I got sick. MA GPA:3.5 (did not attend classes as I was quarantined for a semester and just took exams as I cannot withdraw without paying back tuition as an international student) GRE Chemistry 880 (95%) 2013 but could not do the test again as ETS canceled the most recent test dates ( From April to Oct) GRE General Q 167 V 163 (2020) TOEFL iBT 119 out of 120 (2021) 18 presentations ( 6 oral and 12 posters ) and counting at BPS, ACS, ASBMB, and other international conferences Coauthor of two papers (middle) One first author review in preparation Four co-author papers are in preparation 16 published abstracts and six submitted ( ~10 citations at google scholar) 11 years of research experience (physical organic, bioanalytical, biophysics) & ~ one year at a big biotech company (diagnostics) In 2020, I got one poster award, one young investigator award, a few travel awards, Sigma Xi membership 4 LORs ( current PI, one member from the previous dissertation committee, one is a supervisor at the biotech company, one very famous peptide chemist (a Regents Professor))

Any Updates ?

I thought of opening a Biophysics thread as most universities now have separate Biophysics programs. Also, this would give us a separate space to discuss program specific issues

I am a returning international student ( previously got into a Ph.D. program but mastered out due to health) and have a bit of experience dealing with admission. Generally, all the Ph.D. students get guaranteed funding for five years (in hard science and life sciences). It might be different in humanity due to funding availability. Also, I have seen some engineering programs have funding issues. Funding would generally cover stipend, tuition, and health insurance. However, if your PI does not have the funds to support you, you have to work as a TA. This could be a bit of a hassle if you are a senior graduate student with much research work. Also, you would not be eligible for most of the awards.

I am a returning international student ( previously got into a Ph.D. program but mastered out due to health) and have a bit of experience dealing with admission. Generally, all the Ph.D. students get guaranteed funding for 5 years. This would typically cover stipend, tuition, and health insurance. However, if your PI does not have the funds to support you, you have to work as a TA. Also, you would not be eligible for most of the awards.

PM me! I might able to help.

Dear GC readers: How to include manuscripts in preparation and invited review in preparation on the CV? Thank you in advance.

Thanks cornerstone

Hi , I like to give you some inputs , I am also an ESL student (Sri Lankan) and not very good in English either. I did both GRE and TOEFL last January after an one month of preparation.I got 104 for TOEFL iBT (R30 L30 S23 W21 ) and 159 V and 161 Q AWA 3 for GRE . I used Kaplan, ETS book and Barrens. From my experiences as a some one who is not good in English, I agree that you cannot improve speaking and writing skills overnight (That what reflect in my toefl score), but you can definitely improve your reading comprehension. Read a lot of news and articles definitely will help, but don't confine to just what you like, try to read in many different areas e.g economics social science, politics. Another thing is don't try to over-depend on Kaplan for GRE quanta section , Actual quanta questions are more difficult and time consuming than what you see in Kaplan. I got near 170 when I did my mock test in Kaplan , but ran out time and did not do 7 in difficult second part and 2 in first quanta section. Kaplan is good for verbal (as per my knowledge).

Hi Just want to know from a person who took GRE Chemistry subject test on April 20 this month , how many questions were there in the paper. is it more than 130 or just 130?Thanks for your reply