pyrocide

In high school I hung out with the art boys. The art boys played Halo, and I wanted to fit in, so I tagged along to their 13-hr LAN marathons. I realized if I was going to get them to refer to me as something other than "girlie-tron," I needed a gamer tag. The art boys gave me a list of prefixes and a list of suffixes, and "pyrocide" was the result. It's an older name, had it for the last 8-9 years or so now. It was even my email in college. My avatar is a cup I made.

On the results page I saw UW-Seattle has started sending out interview invites but I'm not sure if they sent out all of their invites or what. Does anyone know?

dry bones

Oh my gawd. Just thinking about how much this endeavor has cost me... 4 PhD app fees: $345 (none waived) GREs: General- $185, Subject- $150, Study Books- ~$100, Score submissions- $75= $510 Transcripts: $50 (had to send one express, my own fault) Total: $905 It's less than many of you, but the cost of applying just blows my mind. I have no idea how some of you can apply to 10+ schools. I could only take the general GRE once due to budget constraints.. getting that up just a bit more would have been terribly helpful.

Apple Jacks

You know it man. I also have interest in the Cancer Bio department. Weee multiple possible fields of study!

I'm sure something like this has been posted before, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to locate the thread. When considering graduate programs, I limited myself to schools only in areas where my stable, long-term boyfriend (5+ years) could locate, which downsized my search to Boston and Seattle. The schools I picked are either a great or at least an okay fit for me, but I was wondering what experience you all might have with restricting yourselves to specific geographical regions. Did it work out okay in the end or was it a terrible idea? If you're asked to send a list of schools you're applying to in apps, can grad adcomms tell? Do they look down on it? Should I have stated my limitation outright? Thanks for your imput!

Well, I sure am late to the party. Since I'm going to be here angsting with the lot of you, might as well break the ice. Undergrad Institution: Ranked with Ivies but with more math. Graduated in 2011. Major(s): Biology Minor(s): required humanities concentration in bad contemporary art.. does that count? GPA: 3.9/5 Position in Class: Average Type of Student: White female GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 156 (65%) V: 162 (89%) W: 4.0 (54%) B: (Biochem) 590 (73%) Research Experience: Undergrad: 30hrs/week for 1 semester in senior project lab (antibiotic resistance: molec bio), 6 months in UROP (neuronal regeneration: imaging and genetics).After graduating: 2 years+ working as a full-time lab technician (Heart development: cell, molec, anatomical work). One paper currently under review (second authorship). Manuscript for 1st author publication underway. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Promoted from lab tech I to II after one year of work. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Very good at drawing and painting. Desk captain, hall chair, social committee chair at undergraduate dorm. Currently: long distance running, spends spare time overpowering Power Wheels cars then races them in events held across Midwest, competed in finals at New York City last September. Special Bonus Points: One LOR is the coolest science lady for womens' rights in STEM fields. I love her, she's a rockstar. Other: Geographically restricted to Boston/Seattle due to significant other's work location options. Applying to Where: Harvard University - DMS-BBS - Heart development/regeneration, dsDNA repair/histone modification University of Washington - MCB - Heart development/regeneration, dsDNA repair Boston University- MCBB - Heart development, cell cycling in cancer Tufts University - Biology- Heart Development, dsDNA repair, molecular mechanisms in trinucleotide repeat expansion

1) Are you the first in your family to pursue graduate education? Are you the first to pursue higher education in general? Pursuing undergraduate? I think I had some cousins in on-line, for profit programs. Other than that, my mother graduated with an associates degree. My father graduated high school. I am the first to pursue graduate studies. 2) What struggles have you faced as a first-generation applicant? Undergrad was easier due to financial aid support from my institution. Senior spring my parents had some medical/financial issues so I had to spend a few years post-undergrad helping them with funds from my job as a lab technician as well as a night job at a fast food restaurant. This financial restriction limited the number of GRE tests I could take as well as grad school programs I could apply to (which was hampered further by geographical restriction.) 3) What have you accomplished as a first-generation applicant? I am proud of graduating from my undergraduate institution (consistently one of the top 3 in the US), as well as working hard this last year to get myself into a position to apply to graduate schools. 4) What has helped you reach your educational goals? My PI for my lab tech position. He has done so much by teaching me techniques and helping me conduct successful experiments, as well as encouraging me to do well on GREs and apply to school while I was bummed out about my familial responsibilities. My academic advisor from college was also incredibly helpful and supportive, and hanging out with my hackerspace when I was feeling stressed or lonely made all the difference.