Chimeric Phoenix

If you look back at the 2014 version of this thread you'll see that other academic all-stars applied to similar schools. Assuming your LOR and SOP are good, you'll probably end up with a decent number of schools to choose from. There always seems to be a couple people who end up getting shut out despite having ridiculous stats, and there's no real way of knowing why but I'd make sure you have 1-2 safety schools depending on how far from the top your "safe" schools are.

I honestly don't think that your undergrad grades are going to hinder your application much at all. If you finished your UG with good GPA and then continued that trend in grad school, that should show them that you can complete graduate level work for your PhD. Touch on it very lightly, but I don't think you need to dwell on it. That's a ton of schools on your list, you could probably stand to remove a few. Make sure that your list includes multiple faculty that you would want to work with. Sometimes they won't have room in their lab, and sometimes they're not even faculty anymore!

If there's no reason that you earned < 3.0 in your undergrad, I would highly suggest a MS or at least graduate coursework. Like others have said, you've also got plenty of time to retake your GRE. I Studied for about 80 hrs over 3-4 months and I am normally pretty good at standardized tests. If you're just working a 9-5 right now, I'm guessing you could do the same. I assume you studied before the first exam, so the second time should allow you to focus more on your weaknesses. IF your U-GPA is the only weak point of your application (GRE, SOP, LOR, research experience are all good) you could probably get an acceptance. Just pick mostly safety schools unless you can improve your GPA. This probably didn't sound that cheerful, but don't be disheartened. The fact that you're on here 2 years early means you've got plenty of time to put your best foot forward when you actually apply.

In regards to acetylcholine, I think his initial advice isn't bad. I had similar numbers, and ended up applying to 10 schools and declining 2 interviews. In retrospect, I would apply to 2 less schools. In general, it seems like including at least 2 safety schools is the way to go. @Octopus: I don't know your financial situation, but I would definitely consider the cost of applying and then paying for flights while you wait for reimbursements if you're bankrolling your applications. Not too much though, you're going to be spending 5-6 years at this place you want to make sure you're happy. I'd look at WashU and UWashington as well as some safety schools of course. Like I said, I think you've got a pretty competitive application wherever you apply.

Speaking as someone with very similar Undergrad/Grad transcripts. I would say that it is important that you address why your grades were bad and then improved. In my case, I could point to undergrad and say this was during treatments, and then show the obvious improvement of grad school along with GRE and say this is now. I think that's the best way of dealing with it. For my situation, I could say that all the issues were in my past. But if you're dealing with a potentially continuing situation, I would avoid going into details. Like others have said, you don't want the adcoms to feel like they're taking a risk on you.

Going to join the club of willing to take questions from current applicants. You can find all my details in previous posts, but in summary: low undergrad GPA (very low science), decent MS GPA, and good GRE scores. Good Luck!!!

Congratulations!

I had a similar situation, and I went with #1 because I felt like I could be happy at both places and I didn't want to make a decision based on how well someone could recruit me.

I just accepted an offer to JHU as well and I'm looking to find a roommate. I've been looking around and it seems like you can get really nice places pretty close to campus for less money by getting a roommate. If there's anyone else in the Baltimore area looking for a roommate feel free to send me a private message.

I'm also looking for a place in Baltimore, is anyone thinking about roommates? I'm going to be at the SOM, but I'm open to places that are on the shuttle or train lines. Please message me if you are!

Thanks, yeah in the end it was between 1 school that had the program with best fit (but terrible climate), 1 school had the campus that I liked the most, and JHU had the culture/city that I liked the most. Everyone had interesting research and great resources.

Have finally decided on Johns Hopkins Immunology program. Hard to argue against #1: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/infectious-disease-rankings

I just want to echo that I've heard this as well, from multiple schools.

Congrats!

Yep, I'll be there too. This is my second in-person interview, but the first of a series.

Stanford was terrible as was Indiana University. Both had a bunch of essays and other things. WashU was pretty good and no application fee is always a good thing. JHU was pretty short and sweet as well.

Can anyone confirm that Stanford has sent out all their interview offers? I have an interview offer for that weekend and I don't want to confirm prematurely, but it seems like I'm just waiting for a no at this point.

I'm not sure what program you applied to, but I know that many of them have multiple interview dates. I know for certain that Immunology has another interview toward the end of February.

It's a Federal holiday, so no state schools will be working.

Still no official word

Hey there, that was probably me. The interview dates are on the website: http://www.stritch.luc.edu/graduate_school/admissions/requirements Fall 2014 IPBS PhD invited Interview Days January 17 February 7 February 21 March 7 March 28 I ended up choosing March 7th because that was the first date I was free.

So, I just realized that my Statement of Interest to Johns Hopkins said University of Michigan... I really hope nobody asks me about that when I interview there lol

My stats are almost identical and I have interviews at some pretty good programs. I had a pretty compelling reason for my poor undergrad grades.I think in general if your most recent history says that you can succeed academically, and you have good experience doing actual research, you should be fine.

I had the same problem, it was due to ETS not sending in the official GRE scores correctly, but they told me they would use the self-reported scores and it wouldn't hurt my application. (which I'm almost positive was rejected anyway...)

Loyola sent me an email saying they were still reviewing applications a week ago.