lisa11

I was just at the USC Programs in Biomedical and Biological Sciences PhD "recruitment" event two weeks ago. There were a couple of interviews mixed into the event, but for the most part, it seemed like they were the ones trying to court the interviewees. Everyone was in business wear (suits for guys) during the day and casual business wear for the dinners. I've heard from the graduate students there that it pretty much means you're in, but you still need to present yourself well. Good luck!

Thank you so much for all the replies. I've decided to do just that and apply this fall to see how I do. At worst I'll just have to reapply. I greatly appreciate all those who replied.

Hello everyone, I'm currently a Biological Sciences undergrad at University of California Irvine. I'm about to begin fall quarter as a senior. I know my stats aren't stellar so I'm unsure whether I should take a year off to strengthen my resume before applying. My questions are: 1) Is my resume strong enough to make it into the programs I'm interested in? 2) Should I take a year off to do more research and prepare for the GRE to strengthen my application? 3) This is somewhat unrelated. I work a lot more closely with the post-docs in my lab than I do with the professor in charge of the research. I feel that the two post-docs I've been working with could write me better recommendation letters. Is it a bad idea to have one of my recommendation letters be written by a post doc? Degree: BS from University of California Irvine (I'll be graduating spring of 2010) GPA: 3.23 GRE: Haven't taken it yet but let's say average Research: Over a year of independent research in a comparative physiology lab at UCI (but without any publications under my name). If I decide to take a year off, I'll be continuing what I'm doing in the lab and perhaps participate in another immunology lab. Volunteer work: Volunteered for about a year at an animal shelter Recommendation letters: I'm not completely confident that all 3 letters will be stellar because I don't work directly with the professor in charge. Degrees of interest: PhD specialized in comparative physiology or PhD in developmental biology Schools of interest: UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, University of Arizona, Oregon State University, University of Wyoming, University of Texas, University of Colorado Denver,University of Virginia, University of South Carolina, and University of Tennessee, University of Michigan, Howard University, University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, University of Missouri, University of Utah Thank you for reading, Lisa