theycombinator

This is very frustrating, and I have experienced it last week. Short interviews with almost no technical content, just vague questions like where do you see yourself in 5 years time. Hard to distinguish yourself or impress anyone in this framework. Many if you're a good speaker, but that doesn't have any correlation with science.

This is very frustrating, and I have experienced it last week. Short interviews with almost no technical content, just vague questions like where do you see yourself in 5 years time. Hard to distinguish yourself or impress anyone in this framework. Many if you're a good speaker, but that doesn't have any correlation with science.

Hello,   I'm getting prepared to apply for admission to PhD programs in Spring '14. Being from Europe, and having an unconventional background, I'd love to hear some advice from you.   ==Education== * BSc + MSc in CS, MSc in Math Modeling & Statistics * 2 Molecular Biology courses at CSHL and some others elsewhere   ==Research== * One paper submitted as coauthor to Nat. Methods * Another one as first author already accepted in Bioinformatics * Might submit a third one during Fall * No wetlab experience * Still quite weak bio background   ==Highlights== * Graduated first of my class and top of my whole country   ==Letters of recommendation== Pretty bad, I'm supposed to start a PhD at my current institution, but their research sucks despite good publication profile. I'd rather run away from here as fast as possible. Good chances of getting great LORs from my previous non-bio environment, though. Might be able to get one from a low profile guy here as well.   ==Questions== 1. What schools would you apply to? I have a slightly theoretical / quantitative bend, but I like collaborating with people that do lab work, and I'd love to learn that too. I'm mostly interested in the mechanics of complex diseases. My papers are in the field of oncology.   2. Should I take GRE? I'd rather spend some time optimising other parts of my application. Maybe this depends on the schools I apply to.   3. Other advice is welcome.   Thanks