bsharpe269
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Posts posted by bsharpe269
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I agree with rising_star! I am sure he realizes that you are applying to multiple programs. This is a great opportunity to see if this lab is a good fit for you. I really doubt he will ask for an answer. If I was asked for an answer during a conversation like that then I think that I would just say something like "I am definitely very interested. I would like to do some more research on the school and program and will let you know as soon as I have made a decision."
Again, I really doubt he would ask something like that. Good luck... this sounds like a great opportunity.
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You can overcome these bad grades if you do very well in the future. I have 2 Ds on my undergrad transcript, one in a chem course and the other in a math course. I am currently working on my MS with a 4.0 GPA and have received interviews from the only 2 of my schools who have issued any so far. You need to make great grades going forward (nearly all As and Bs). If you can do that then the admission committee will look at the upward trend in grades.
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My uGPA is also pretty low at 3.3 overall and 3.0 for science (which includes the classes most relevant to my field). My masters GPA is a 4.0 and I have a lot of research experience and great LORs. I have already been offered 2 interviews at great schools and will hopefully be offered some more in the next few weeks. I was even told by one of the professors at WUSTL that the adcom was very impressed by my application. It was really encouraging but a bit confusing since I feel like my uGPA makes my application pretty bad. Hopefully my progress so far can be encouraging. Feel free to check in on how my application cycle goes in a few months. It might help give you an idea of what to expect.
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I am finishing up applications for a couple schools with Jan deadlines and need input on a situation.
I have a fairly specific SOP, detailing my interests in my chosen research area. Prof X and Prof Y are two of the most famous professors in my subfield and there is quite a bit of collaboration between their schools. The situation looks like this:
Univ X: Prof X
Univ Y: Prof Y and Prof Z (one of prof X's former students)
Prof X and Prof Y are two of the biggest names in my subfield and they seem to get along. There are a couple competing theories in my subfield and these two have similar ideas and argue in favor of each other. Prof X and Z publish together a ton.. multiple papers a year. It is very common for students to do a PhD under Prof Z then do their postdoc under Prof X.
I am very interested in both of these schools. Prof X is probably the most famous of them all (will probably get a Nobel Prize any time now). I have heard some not too great things about his mentoring though so I would lean towards Univ Y if I get into both.
Alright, so my question is: as I am writing my SOP for Univ Y, do I mention their collaboration with Prof X? On one hand, there is so much collaboration going on here that I feel like it might be an oversight not to mention it. Also, it shows that I really know my field and have done my research on the schools. On the other hand, since Prof X is probably a bit more famous, I don't want Univ Y to assume they are my second choice. Thoughts on this situation please? I don't know if this is an important or potentially dangerous thing to mention.
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I applied to about 16 different programs because I was able to get application fee waivers. The only thing I really had to pay for was sending the GRE score, plus programs like Madison and Harvard will let you apply to multiple programs under one fee waiver, so I just said screw it and applied. I felt bad for my recommenders because they couldn't keep up, but I've been having a lot of success getting interviews just because of the sheer number of schools I applied to. I understand that normally it costs money, but anyone looking to apply again in the future - check out the University's rules for application fee waivers! It saved me so much money!
Oh man.. good for you for applying to so many but I don't think that I can handle any more applications (i have 11). Personalizing my SOP for each school has taken so much time. There were 3 more schools that are great research fits that I may have applied to if I could handle any more applications. Juggling 30ish hours a week with my current research, applications, and classes though has been really rough. You must be much better at managing your time than I am!
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I think your scores (and profile in general) are very good. Improving the scores to something like 165Q, 165V would only slightly, if at all, improve your profile and would probably take quite a bit of work. I think that spending the equivalent amount of time reading additional papers in your field and then illustrating this knowledge through your SOP would help a lot more raising the GRE scores by a few points. Honestly, if you present a clear case for knowledge of literature and passion for your field and are rejected due to imperfect GRE scores then they are doing you a favor because that would likely be a horrible learning environment. Focus on learning as much as you can about potential research topics and you will be in great shape for application season!
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I didn't realize one of my schools needed official transcripts until the day of the deadline! It was just fine. Schools usually give a few weeks extra time for materials to arrive.
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This is just my opinion which should be taken with a grain of salt since I don't know your specific field at all...
I agree that it helps personalize the essay and connect your specific path to your career with the letters that will come with your application. I would give some details on how they have influenced you, not just state that you look up to them (which I think you were planning on with the "..." above, but just making sure).
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I find it interesting that there is such a variation in invitation dates by subfield. It seems that neuroscience people heard back right away, followed by biology. I have received responses from 2 programs and both are umbrella bio programs. I have not yet received invites for any of the biophysics programs I applied to (and no invites posted in results either). In previous years, most of my programs sent invites in mid-end of January. I am thankful to have 2 interviews so far but super anxious/hopeful that I will get a couple more! All of you who already know your interview schedules are super lucky!
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I think you're just being paranoid (we all are a bit!) definetly don't bring this up to the professor.
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Staying with a current student gives you a chance to learn more about the program while also giving you the chance to impress students who will report back to their mentors on their impression of you. If the decision comes down to a couple students and the grad students are able to more favorably comment on the other student because they got to known them better then I think this could hurt you. I would definitely stay with a student! When making arrangements, just make it known that you are allergic to pets so that you can be matched with a student without them.
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Also, no one has mentioned one of the greatest advantages of living alone, which is that you can be naked pretty much all the time. And doing research without a bra >>> doing research wearing a bra.
Ehh maybe I should be more modest but I totally go braless around roommates (if same sex).
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Thanks for the input! I have lived away from family. I lived with roommates for 4 years during college and with a significant other for a year after while working. I have never lived alone though. I ended up with some terrible roommates during college which is one of the reasons that I am nervous to go that route again! One in particular would blast music in the apartment at 2am regularly, when I had exams the next day. Thats nothing compared to pasteltomato's story but still pretty bad...
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In the top left of the body of the document (so I intended it to be a header even though not in the actual "header" of the document), I included:
Name
Name of School
Name of Program
Fall 2015
I skipped a line after that and jumped right into my essay.
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I am currently working on my MS and living with family. I am in the middle of applying to PhD programs and have been thinking about whether I prefer to live alone or with a roommate throughout my PhD. I realize that my ability to live alone will depend on the cost of living of the area I move to and isnt guaranteed. Assuming I move to St Louis or somewhere on the cheaper end though, what are you guys thoughts?
I am a bit nervous to live with a roommate since I will be bring my 2 small dogs with me and also want the ability to date without worrying about dating with a roommate. The negative to living alone though would be potential loneliness. I like being around other people and could definitely see myself getting lonely if I spend night after night in my apartment. This might be solved by putting effort into meeting up with people for study groups and being social. Do any of you live alone and if so, do you like it?
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Hi. I am new to thegradcafe but i have been browsing for awhile.
I have a question about interviews, i couldn't find the answer in the forums. I have interviews at 3 immunology programs in january and february.
I am deaf. Not all my life. Meningitis in early teens. Applications did not ask me for this information.
so do i need to tell somebody. I don't want to be discriminated.
i can lipread well and i can still talk but not like i used to when i could hear myself. maybe i can hide it.
i have a translator who helps me but i don't think she gets to come to interviews. please what do i do
I agree that you should be able to bring your translator. I would definitely ask about this!
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Great!
I'm glad to see other transfer students successfully getting interviews at good programs.
My current PI went to a community college for the first 2 years of undergrad and then an unknown school for the rest of undergrad and ended up a top 10 grad school in his field. He's in his late 30s so it wasn't that long ago. I don't think that transfer students are a disadvantage at all, as long as you did well at the university after transferring and found research opportunities and all.
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I am in a completely different field but have a very similar profile. My uGPA was 3.275 and my science GPA was only 3.0 (which includes the classes relevent to my PhD field). I am currently working on my MS with a 4.0 GPA, top of the class, amazing LORs. I put a lot of time into my SOP and think it is very strong. I also used Magoosh for about 4 months to study for the GRE and I totally recommend it. My scores after studying were 162V (89%), 168Q (95%) which helps I'm sure.
I am currently going through the application process for biophysics PhD programs and have already been offered 2 interviews at top schools in my field. Most of my programs send interview invites in January so hopefully I will end up with a at least a few more. Even though I'm in a different field, I thought it might help to see someone with similar stats doing well currently in the application process. good luck!
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I got an interview for UNC BBSP. They have been giving out interviews all month but it seems that in previous years they continue to give them out throughout January as well.
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Honestly, if you will be paying for these classes either way, then if go for a masters instead, even if you have to do it at a low ranked school because of bad undergrad transcripts.
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I've heard that you don't want your SOP to be over 2 pages anyway. I had a REALLY hard time cutting mine to 2 pages but now that I have, I think it reads a lot better than my 2.5 page version. If you go over by a few sentences then I wouldn't freak out but I would spend some time trying to cut down to 2 pages.
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This might not be that great of news but despite a mindset on this forum that GRE scores don't matter much, my professors have emphasized that they are a very important part of the application because they are the only way to compare candidates across different schools/backgrounds. A great GPA + low GREs suggests that it might be easy to get As at your undergrad school. If you don't get into any schools this round then I suggest studying (I used Magoosh) and retaking them over the summer.
Like others have mentioned, your SOP is also very important. Do you have clear research interests and are you applying to schools that excel in your intended research area? I hope that you get into some of your top choices this cycle and don't have to worry about the GRE again! If you do end up with rejects from your top schools then retaking the GRE is an easy way to improve your application before next year.
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I would say that 10 hours directly in the lab is very reasonable. Keep in mind that alot of research will take place outside of the lab (mainly, reading research papers to better understand your topic). There are some weeks when I do more reading than i do actual work or solely do reading. Don't forget to schedule in time for this. Since this can be done at home or school and you won't need to commute, a few hours of reading per week should not hurt your schedule too much. Good luck!
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I agree that the top score is better. I think a 163 is fine. I personally wouldnt want to end up at a school who tossed out an application for a small imperfection.
2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results
in Biology
Posted
I totally agree with that last sentence. I am actually interested in computational biophysics (protein dynamics, stability, allostery). I was also a bit hesitant to apply to biophysics programs due to lack of physics course work. My undergrad degree is in math so I so have the quant background and then my MS is in bioinformatics so I also have the programming. I was nervous about lack of physics work though. I only have one freshman physics course and ended up with a C in it (due to be a dumb freshman who didn't know how to study). I also haven't taken physical chem which I worried could hurt me. I do have As in physical modeling courses, biochem, orgo, and computational structual biochem so those could help offset the negatives. To my surprise, It seems to be going alright so far...Most of my programs seem to send interview invites in mid January but I was invited to interviews for the two that send them earlier. I definitely agree to apply based on research fit, even if you don't have ideal coursework. If you love and know your research area then I think that will come across in you SOP and LORs.