bsharpe269

This is very normal. I had to take biochem without having organic chem first. I taught myself organic chem with khan academy while in the biochem class. It sounds like your background isnt as strong as many of your classmates and that you are having to play catch up. Again, this is pretty normal. Academia in general involves teaching yourself alot. If you arent happy with the phd track then that is fine and maybe you would be happier either studying a different subject or not getting a phd. Based just on what you are saying here though it sounds like the program itself is fairly normal in its expectations. They would not have accepted you into the program if they didnt think you could be successful. It sounds like the biggest issue comes down to whether or not you are happy in the program. You could also talk to an advisor to see if they will let you take some undergrad prereqs next semester to catch you up if need be and then let you take some of the classes that you are struggling most in next year instead.

I agree that you should have at least some idea, it doesnt have to be super specific but specific enough that the school can tell that you are a good fit. I am in biophysics and there are different subfields within that. I know alot about the subfield that I was pursue and I can suggest dissertation topics if asked. I wouldnt want to commit to any of them at this point though since I really enjoy everything in the subfield and would be willing to consider just about any project within it. All of the schools I am applying to are great fits since they have 3+ people in the subfield. I would be interested in doing rotations with any or all of them. If you dont know enough to at least point towards the direction of your interests then I would say you should consider a masters first to get to know the field better. I dont mean this in a mean way... if you look through the posts of current grad students then it will be really clear why! You see people post here all the time about how they are in a good PhD program and have finally figured out what they want to study but there are no faculty in their departments studying this. Using myself as an example again, there are only around 10 schools in the country that are strong in my subfield. If I randomly chose a school before knowing my subfield then it is VERY unlikely that it would happen to be one of those 10. That means that I would have had to transfer which would also hurt my application since it shows that I really didnt know what I was getting into the first time. I think that career wise it would be much better to figure out what you want to study and then to apply to PhD programs that fit that. It is really common for people changing fields do do a masters since you will have a hard time deciding if you like a field and what you like about it if you havent really studied it. I am currently working on my MS because I also changed fields (from applied math to biophysics). Those are just my thoughts since it seems like people are in your shoes all the time and then end up mad at themselves for not knowing what they were getting themselves into. Goodluck!

Honestly, I have this same issue. My work is computational so its not an "in the lab" sort of issue but I really love it too and prefer it to just about everything else. I have found that I really enjoy meeting up with people to do work. I go to the coffee shop with another student to study a couple times a week. This is a great way to combine the two. We both sit at a table and work adn chat about things in between. This has become a really important part of my social life. Even if most of you work needs to happen in the lab, Im sure you have to read papers or analyze data and stuff that could be done while studying with someone else. It is also worth mentioning that most people have those big idea moments when they arent working. Talking to others about your work is a really important part of coming up with new ideas. Im sure there are other grad students who love their work as much as you do. Why not grab a drink with them and talk work? Is there another lab that does sort of similar stuff? There is one other lab at my school in the same subfield as mine and I love talking to the students in that lab. It is different enough that I learn alot but similar enough that we can understand eachothers work well. I make an effort to talk to those students alot and bounce ideas off of eachother. Their work comes from a slightly different perspective and looking at my work from their perspective gives me alot of those big idea moments. I have also found that making plans and sticking to them is important to get me to get out of house. I have a hard time putting down my work and going out but if I committed to doing something Friday at 8pm then I make myself to do it. Once I am out, I always enjoy myself and I gad that I did. I am sure there are other things that you like as much or nearly as much as work? Possibly things you have been neglecting due to work? For example, maybe it would be really good for you to get back into a sport that you used to enjoy or something. Maybe join some sort of sport club after school which would force you to get out of the lab and workout and be social once a week. These are the kinds of things that I do that basically form my social life!

I wouldn't submit it unless it is required.

I feel that asking for 20 LORs is very inappropriate. I would ask for a max of 10. if your interests are so narrow that you are able to fit well at 20 schools then I would consider getting some more research experience before applying.

ok, im not humanities but I really think the answer to this question is pretty much the same across all disciplines. I keep a different attitude about this that really seems to work for me. I plan what I want to plan without worrying about number of hours worked. My plans usually involve dinner a couple nights with friends or family, maybe another lunch at some point, study sessions with people, walking the dogs, etc and then I work whenever im not doing those things. Depending on what I have going on that particular day, I work 8-12+ hours a day, 7 days a week. Sometimes Ill plan something like an all day hike on a weekend day if I feel like. A couple times a semester I will go out of town for a weekend and not work at all. All in all, I probably average somewhere around 70 hours a week at least though. I dont really think into this too hard or compare myself to others. I study/work the amount that I feel like I need to to keep high As in my classes and be productive with my research. I am sure that I work more than some people and less than others. This doesnt feel like much of an issue for me because I really love what I study a ton. If I am at home then I want to work since I enjoy it a lot more than watching tv and all. I do enjoy spending time with family and friends though so I schedule that in a couple times a week with just as high of priority as homework and research.

Im a different field but I will be citing. When I describe my research interests, I go into a fit of detail and I do cite. I stay pretty general so a lot of it is being studied by a lot of professors so when I possible I cite the professors at the university I am applying to.

Your scores are great. I would turn your focus to other parts of your application at this point.

Great points, I would also add that at minimum, I advise looking through each applicaiton now. I was shocked this weekend to find that one of my applications wants a page long research description for every project Ive done (which is like 4). Some schools will ask for random extra time consuming stuff. Edit: I saw this on the side bar and didnt realize it was in the English subforum! Sorry! This comment still may be relevent though.

I think it will be very helpful. Even if not academic experince, it is still great experience. In order for it to be helpful, you definitely need a letter from it though! It does not have to be from your direct supervisor maybe if you do not feel comfortable telling him now. Is there anyone else with a more senior position that can write a letter though? For example, somone in a team leader sort of position? Obviously without knowing your relationship with your boss, it is hard to give advice. I would encourage you to at least consider discussing this with him though since in my experience, most employers are supportive of this and it will make putting in your notice later much easier. Of course, your work environment may not be open to this sort thing so that could potenitally be unhelpful advice.

It might be more beneficial to email the student coordinator to see if anyone is looking for an RA, rather than contacting individual professors.

A PhD program expects you to fit well with the program, regardless of whether you apply through an umbrella program or to a specific PhD program. You should be able to discuss your interests in detail and how the resources at that university best enable you to pursue your research goals. Honestly, odds are that your particular research interest will only be emphasized at a couple of the top 10 schools so you will probably one have 1-2 schools to apply to if you decide you must attend a top 10. There is little point to setting that standard since it is entirely likely that top 20 or top 30 schools will be just as strong or stronger for your research interest, resulting is just as good of networking and career options. For example, only 2 of the top 20 universities in my field are strong at all in my research. I would be seriously hurting my career options by attending a top 10 university that has relatively poor research in my subfield.

If you just want to take a class or two then research experience isnt important at all. If you want to get into a PhD program then it will be the most important factor in your application.

It sounds to me like that would be the best combo: 1 from undergrad, 1 from grad, and your supervisor. I definitely think a strong letter from a supervisor is better than a mediocre one from a professor.

Has anyone received the award and not used headings? I think I prefer that style for my essays since I think it makes it more readable and I think my IM and BI will be very obvious.

I am doing something in between these two approaches... I do have a hook but it isnt related to some childhood story, it is research related. Basically my hook is a really interesting quesiton that was proposed in my subfield a while ago. The community started answering the question in detail about 20 years ago but tons of research still needs to be done. My research interests fall into all of this stuff so I discuss the intriguing question and some of the awesome discorveries inspired by the question. I then present my research interests in the context of this problem. This is my into. So basically I like the idea of getting to the point but you can do that in an interesting, hook sort of way. Your first sentance doesnt have to be a boring "My research interests are blah blah."

If you share your research interests then others may be able give advice. I am really lucky that only a couple of the top schools for my interests are ranked in the top 10 and the others are closer to 30, at least giving me a sort of reasonable shot there. I am sure that there are at least a few schools ranked around (20-50) that people can suggest if you give some more info about what you hope to study.

If you did your undergrad in the US then I actually think that changes things quite a bit. If you have a decent undergrad GPA then that proves that you can excel in an english speaking environment. As long as you do average on writing (4.0 or higher) then I dont think that the verbal score will significantly lower your shot at great schools. Basically, if I were in your situation I would be torn too. I doubt that it will hurt your appliation that much but at the same time, increasing the score can only help. If you do decide to retake then I highly recommend memorizing vocab if you didnt the first time ( I used Magoosh's iphone flashcard app). You dont have too much time to study at this point but if you are interested in using some sort of study software, I used Magoosh and increased my verbal from 153 on the practice tests to 162 on the actual tests. To get that big of an increase, I spend a few months studying but it might be worth at least considering! Either way, it sounds like you have a great application overall!

Wow Im sorry! I have ADHD and understand how frustrating this would be. It is pretty much impossible for me to get school work done without my meds, even if I am doing everything in my power to help the ADHD like working out, sleeping well, etc. It is so frustrating! Can you old doctor maybe phone a month or two worth of your medication to a nearby pharmacy to last you until you figure out a way to get it at your new location? Or another idea, would the school be willing to prescribe you something that is less likely to abused for now while you sort this out? It might not help as much as your current medicine but it might at least enable you to somewhat keep up.

Hey guys, what do you think of the application question: "Is the proposed graduate research plan expected to have a significant international component?" A friend did pretty well last year but was denied the award (She scored mostly VG and a couple G). One of the negative comments made by reviewers was the lack of international component. She answered no to this question and plans to answer yes this year because she thinks it negatively effected her applicaiton. I am wondering if I should answer yes to this question, even if I sort of have to dig a bit to get there. What do you think? You can pretty much do my proposed project anywhere with a decent computer cluster (so like any university) since my methods are MD simulations, modeling, etc. At the same time, the broader impacts of my project relate to tons of different health issues so I can definitely argue international impact.

I dont think your current score is horrible but its also not good. What are your writing and TOEFL scores? If those are good then I think you will be just fine. If one or both of those is also low then it might be worth retaking the GRE and trying to get the verbal up a few points. The main concern would be that you might struggle to communicate in English but a strong writing and TOEFL score could get rid of this worry. Having a native english speaker edit your SOP could also be helpful to show strong communication skills. Like you mention, if you decide to retake it then I think that 155 would be a good goal.

I think that is definitely fine! The 'top' but bad fit schools I mentioned have no or at most 1 person in my research area and aren't known for being strong in my interest so I meant that sort of situation could possibly send a red flag. As long as there is good research in your interests at all of the schools that you are applying to then that's what matters most I think. The schools I'm applying to aren't necessarily ranked high in my field in general (though not low either) but are great fits for my particular research interest.

Like Catria says, I think that this is likely a way to see how serious you are about your research interests. For example, some of the top programs for my research interests include University of Maryland, UCSF, and Washington University in St. Louis. If UCSF sees that instead of applying to Maryland and WUSTL, I have applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton , etc then it will be very obvious that I am interested in going to grad school for prestige and that I dont care much about research since those schools are not strong at all for research in my subfield.

I agree that you should definitely include this lower rank school in your applicaiton list. You can decide after visiting or speaking to more professors after being admitted whether you prefer it or the higher ranked schools.

Thanks guys! The two professors are independent collaborators, neither works for the other. In fact, they work work for 2 completely different departments (one is a chemist and the other is a physicist). They are both tenured professors. My third letter will be from a tenured professor unrelated to the lab. I took a couple of his classes and I did a little project project for him. He asked to write one of my letters and has become a mentor figure for me. This should be a great letter and should provide a different perspective on my background since he is much for familiar with completely different skill sets of mine than the other two. The replies make me feel better about using two letters from the same lab. I could relplace a letter with one from an undergrad research mentor but my undergrad work was in a slightly different area. Since I want to stay in the same subfield for phd as these two writers are in though, they will be well known by PhD POIs and the undergrad mentors will not. My gut says that a letter from someone in the subfield who they are familiar with would be better.