Adenine_Monarch

Undergrad Institution: Large private university, USA Major: Biological Sciences Minor: Psychology GPA in Major: 3.63 Overall GPA: 3.78 Position in Class: Not sure; must have been near the top. Graduated magna cum laude Type of Student: Domestic/female/mixed race minority GRE Scores (revised) Q: 160 (78%) Quant was the annoyance. Fortunately, I did passably. At least I didn't really have to study for verbal or writing much since I'm strong with those. V: 162 (89%) W: 5 (93%) B: 690 (58%) Biology - Would have done better on this, I think, but I took the test badly. Only answered about 100 questions. Was too slow Research Experience: Worked in an invertebrate zoology lab as an undergrad for one year as a part of a directed research course. Turned in final paper. Majority of my biomedical research experience (and research interest) was in a major gene therapy lab at a major hospital and then at a major research university. 8 years experience post-undergrad. One 2nd author pub and 4 middle author pubs. 6 posters/oral abstracts at conferences. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not much. Half scholarship as an undergrad. Dean's List. Magna cum laude. Was featured in a researcher spotlight by a biotechnology company. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: My 8 years of work as a technician and researcher? No other real relevant activities that are recent (I'm old...heh). Have worked in hospitals and Humane Society/animal hospital (good for the lab animal work experience. I used to want to be a veterinarian). Special Bonus Points: My former PI is a former professor at one of the schools I'm applying to. He's pretty big in his field and he's one of my references. I've already worked a long time, so I'm familiar with many of the names in my field (and at least some of them know me, too, due to collaborations and stuff) - now I know what universities they're from! Never paid much attention before. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Have received replies from 4/6 faculty I've contacted. They just invite me to come talk to them if I interview there. Applying to Where: This got kind of out of hand somehow! I didn't really originally mean to apply to this many...hope it's not a bad thing. I just didn't want to sell myself short and not give myself opportunities. There are researchers doing stuff I'm interested in at all of them, some better than others (maybe I can somewhat predict acceptance/rejection on that basis?) UW - Immunology OHSU - PMCB UC Davis - BMCDB (faculty invites) Stanford - Biosciences (faculty invites) UC Berkeley - MCB UC Irvine - CMB USC - PIBBS (already invited for interview in Jan.) City of Hope UTSW U of Arizona - ABBS Baylor College of Med Cal Tech - Biology U of Utah - MB Scripps Btw, how do people do the little thingy with their signatures that shows where they've applied/been invited/rejected/accepted? Do any of you think that my being a few years older than most other applicants will be a big deal? Obviously I worked for quite a while before deciding to pick up again with my education. Does anyone know if adcomms try to search or lurk on these sites to get info about applicants? Was just curious.

When confronted with something like: "Please use this page for any additional information that was not captured within your application." ...or with the option to upload extra documentation, what, if anything, do people add? Ideas? Is it a bad idea to leave this sort of section blank? Sorry, I should also add that this is with regards to biological/biomedical Ph. D type applications. Thanks.

I second the Magoosh suggestion....for a fraction of the price you can study in the comfort of your own home since you don't have much time left (or, if you're really pressed for time - try to get whatever you can out of their one week free trial. I used it to study in the last week leading up to my GRE. It was helpful and worth the money to me even though I didn't spend any. Once I saw the content, I was kinda bummed that I didn't discover it earlier and instead paid $500 for class based prep. It was okay, but I think Magoosh would have been better and cheaper AND more convenient). $3000 is definitely WAAAY too much to spend. Don't get ripped off. I've never heard of a prep course costing this much.

Yes, the schools wouldn't really know...but your recommenders will! I wonder if that would at all "translate" negatively to their letters....probably not, but I guess you never know. You wouldn't want to annoy your recommenders with too many letters, either....

So...the background on me: uGPA: 3.78 (USC - Biological Sciences) GRE: 162V/160Q/5AW (89/78/93 percentile) just took it in July. I'm going to be taking the subject test this Saturday in Biology (prac test indicates that I may get somewhere in the 75-85% range, I hope) 5 papers (4 middle author, one 2nd author), also some abstracts and posters, though I was not the one to go to the conference... Am expecting LORs from PI and two senior members of my lab (project scientists) I should also add that I've been out of school almost 10 years and I was a tech/researcher in a gene therapy lab for 8 years, so I definitely know what grad students go through and I have a firm knowledge of techniques and lab experience. I took the last year off to decide on grad school, study for the GRE and spend time with my family (the calm before the storm....) ....now I wanna go back to school, too. I'm interested in applying to molecular/micro/genetics or immunology type programs such as: Stanford (Biosciences) Berkeley (CMB) Cal Tech (Biology) UW (MCB, GS or Immunology - can't decide) UT Southwestern UC Davis (BMCDB) UC Irvine (CMB) Univ of Arizona (ABBS) Rice (BCB) USC (PIBBS) Univ of Utah (MCEB) Univ of Nevada, Reno (CMB) City of Hope Honestly don't think I'd get into Stanford or Berkeley, but I don't want to sell myself short, either. Might have a hit or miss chance at Cal Tech, UW, UT SW and Davis. The others hopefully aren't that hard. I've tried to come up with a range of easier/harder places. What do you guys think?!! Did you get into these places? What sort of credentials did you have? Are there any other places/progs you guys would recommend for me? How much do you think my being out of school for a decade will matter? Should I mention anything about family/time management in my SOP/PS or keep that sort of stuff out? Is 13 programs too many? Seems like some people think the more the merrier, others that it just makes you look desperate... Please advise!!! Thank you.