Dedi

I don't think I have to send in a writing sample for any of my schools...

Makes sense. Good to keep in mind. I'll have to double-check my SOP but I think it's flexible enough. I know I'm pretty set on my goals for the scholarships I can apply to.

The thing is, many scholarships that I'm looking into require sufficient background into what you want to research and even a brief research method. Also, I don't think anyone's research plan is 1000% air-tight. Even profs make mistakes. We are human, after all.

Ah, I see. So it's a double-edged sword, I'm guessing. That makes sense.

...That's stupid. You should have well developed research interests. Which university said that they rejected you for have too specific of research interests? I have very specific research interests (I even have my aims for my graduate dissertation for the purposes of scholarships) and I think it actually helps. The grad students at my top choice POI's lab told me that they like hearing about people that have set goals.I don't see the problem with knowing exactly what you want to do (even if it narrows your school choices a bit).

1) I've found that the best time is late summer/early fall. Many professors are out during the summer and don't check their emails as often as during the school year. 2) You probably want to give a quick intro at the very least so they know the situation and why you are writing. Only attach a CV if the faculty website indicates to do so. 3)/4) Be concise, definitely. I had no idea how many emails these professors get every day when I first started emailing them. My top choice POI gets 500 emails a day. Have some knowledge of their work and connect how their work would overlap your interests, but do it very briefly. 5) Yes, but again, be precise. They can only spend so much time reading emails. They need to teach and do research, too (: Overall, you have some liberty on how detailed you want your emails to be, but at a certain point.

This. The main reason that my top choice school is my top choice is because I feel there is a personality fit within the lab. Just talking with professors over email, I can tell if their conversation seems rigid or it flows. When I feel rigidness, I kind of see it as a personality mismatch. Of course, what counts as rigid or flowing depends on the personality of the student. As for interest fit, I probably will never find an advisor that does both epigenetics and animal welfare. So personal fit is more important to me. Considering that I've been research volunteering here for 1 1/2--2 months and I might possibly get my own project shows that I've been fairly successful here. Sure, I've made mistakes, but it's not a big of a deal if the lab members and PI like you. This is another reason why I believe personal fit > research interests, and maybe even GPA and GRE scores (I believe that you do your best when you have supportive lab members). Does your grad school have a rotation program? If so, that may be a good way to determine personal fit if your research interests overlap multiple professors'.

In the year? Possibly. I did get the most success in early to mid fall last year...

Good luck! I haven't had much luck thus far in contacting POIs this year. Last year, oddly enough, was much more successful.

Haha. Okay, then I'm not too worried. Thanks for your input!

I'm not exactly trying to achieve a high score, but I don't want a score of 2. Is a score of 2 really hard if you're trying?

The 20 most difficult GRE practice questions has either a mistake in the question or they came up with the wrong answer (no wonder so many people messed up!) in Question 11. That really irks me. It's still useful, but know that the correct answer that you're supposed to get with what they give you is counted as wrong.

First off, this is the first essay that I've written specifically for the AWA task. I went over the time, but that is not of importance at the moment. I just want to know that my quality of wiriting is decent and that my argument is relatively sound. "People who hold high expectations for others are rewarded with high performance and respect." Develop the response to the claim in which you provide specific reasons whether or not you agree with it. Focus specifically on the most powerful or compelling examples that could be used to support your position. The argument is that people who hold high expectations for others are rewarded with high performance and respect. The main effect of putting high expectations on someone is to create more stress and pressure to do well. Therefore, there is a balancing act between high expectations improving performance and decreasing confidence. This delicate balance makes pushing high expectations not worth the risk of constant failure in some people. First, mild stress from high expectations can cause people to perform at a high level. Studies have shown that mild stress improves cognition, boosts the immune system, and increases athletic ability. The reason for this is because when humans developed as a species there were physical dangers that required them to act and succeed in order to stay alive. Today, when people are mildly stressed, the improved cognition tends to be beneficial to performance. On the other hand, too much stress from high expectations can cause others to make more mistakes and thereby decreasing performance and ruining confidence. Chronically stressed people have the opposite effect than those under mild stress: faltering cognition, worsened immune system, and weakened athletic ability. The decrease in cognitive ability causes the person to fail to do well. When the expectations are not met, confidence decreases. Also, decreased confidence can decrease performance even more the next time they do the task. It ultimately becomes a downward spiral. Lowered self-esteem from decreased confidence can lower people’s expectations for themselves and therefore increase stress from high expectations. That increased stress worsens performance and decreases confidence even more. In addition, different people have different thresholds for when stress becomes detrimental to performance. For example, people with trait anxiety will be more sensitive to stress. People with already low self-esteem are sensitive to stress. Those more resilient to stress and have coping skills are less sensitive to stress. Ultimately, high expectations has a biphasic effect and it is not going to improve performance overall. Expectations are not a “one size fits all” concept. Therefore, expecting people to do very well on a task will cause some people to achieve and others to fail.

It's not necessarily a bad idea to network with other professors outside your university, even if they have no idea if they are taking in students two years from now. Establishing that the professors' interests overlap yours can be important. As for summer research opportunities with a POI: it's possible (it worked out for me), but I've found that it take some luck and skill. My PI gets 10-11 emails a week about volunteering in his lab and there's a long list of accepted volunteers waiting for something to do. And he isn't an extremely famous professor either (but behavioural epigenetics is kind of a hot field). So considering that I was a random person from another university (another country, even), I feel extremely lucky on how involved I have been with the lab. At the same time, I think my previous research experience and my specific research interests really helped. The fact that you have previous research experience will help make a good first impression to other professors--it shows you have a level of commitment to research.

That's pretty useful! I started my own spreadsheet but haven't really updated it recently. I also added things about money, such as typical stipend, different available scholarships I could apply, and typical apartment costs. That takes bit more research, though.

I'll start. Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts University that isn't very well known nationally. Major(s): Psychology Minor(s): Biology GPA in Major: Not sure, we usually don't have that calculated. Overall GPA: 3.51 Position in Class: I got inducted into Psi Chi last semester so at least top 35% Type of Student: Female US citizen applying to mostly Canadian schools GRE Scores (revised/old version): (Taking in August) Q: V: W: B: Research Experience: Oh, boy. This one is always tricky because the university doesn't have "labs" that I can join. I did an independent biology research project that lasted about 7 months. Preparing a manuscript (1st author out of three). Did two conference talks on this project (single author; one was a regional conference and the other was a university-wise conference) Was an undergraduate research assistant for a probability learning project, but we only got preliminary results. We're going to hopefully present a poster at a state-wide conference (2nd author out of four). Presenting a poster at a Canadian national conference on a research course project (single author). I plan to continue the project this fall and hopefully will get a manuscript in next spring (I'm thinking 1st author out of two). I am a research volunteer/intern at University of Toronto for the summer. I doubt I will get into any manuscripts. There are a few research opportunities for me this fall (behavioral ecology project, research seminar for psychology students) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Tri-Beta member, Psi Chi member, Dean's list, received a Tri-Beta research grant based on my proposal for my independent biology project Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Biology lab assistant at my university Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I can't think of anything else... Special Bonus Points: The PI that I'm volunteering for this summer is my POI for my top choice school. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had a poor first year due to adjustment problems. However, my grades shot up in second year and third year. Applying to Where: See signature--I imagine that it is subject to change.

I'm getting too anxious to wait for someone to create this thread..! We've made it this far, everyone! Now for the hard part... Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Biology?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: B: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applying to Where: School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest School - Department - Research Interest

I also have phone anxiety, but I somehow managed to give a very good impression to my POI. Part of the reason is that he called me an hour early due to time zone differences. So I wasn't getting more anxious by the minute as the time came closer. Some advice for you: Try to be as honest as you can. If you have to go through grad school with a mask on, it will not be nearly as fulfilling in my opinion. For me, I tend to relax after the first few minutes of the phone ringing, especially when I don't feel the tension with the other person. That's kind of how I determined personality fit with the POI and I. If I was tense throughout the whole conversation, afraid that I will mess up, chances are that it will be the same thing for those 5-7 years in graduate school. Also, don't worry too much about not asking enough questions. If you think of something afterwards, email the person you talked to about it. This is the perfect time to determine whether you not only have a good research fit, but also a personal fit. I'm sorry I can't give specifics for your area of study, but some questions I was asked were: What is your past research? What are your interests now? Why do you want to go to graduate school? What do you want to do after graduate school? Hope this helps! (:

I had a freshman GPA of under 3.0 as well. With hard work, my GPA shot up from 2.9 to 3.51 at the end of 3rd year. I've been told is that it matters if your grades improve. Canadian schools, for example, usually look at 3rd and 4th year grades. So, don't worry about what you have right now and look more into the present. Work hard and do your best, and things will hopefully fall into place.

I always hated getting started on my writing, too. I'm getting better, though. I just finished a draft of my research proposal (to send out to granting agencies). I've wanted to do this since first year, but I didn't have the required knowledge/writing ability to articulate such a thing. A couple insights and a few 5-hour literature search spurts later (not to mention a couple years later), I was able to go from writing an outline to a full draft in a week. That's a big deal for me. I don't know where I was going to go with that, but yeah. I also get excited in finishing up and polishing my writing products.

My advisor has taught my animal behavior classes. The main reason I would choose the neuroscience professor because I am afraid of the committee thinking I do not have a sufficient background in the STEM field (I took the only 2 neuroscience classes that are available to the school. Is that something I should put in my SOP instead?). However, my project does heavily involve animal behavior as well as neuroscience, so the advisor's input might be as important as the neuroscience professor. Okay. I should contact my professors very soon. Thanks for helping me think it through.

I know McGill Neuroscience does applications on a rolling basis and funding is first come first serve. But that's probably the exception rather than the rule.

As far as I know, most schools don't expect a publication from an undergraduate. Your stats seem good anyways. I think you have a shot in getting into at least one of the programs you are interested in.

I don't usually send the CV unless the professor asks for it specifically.