ballwera

This is pretty much what I did, however I started to do computational work as a tech. I mostly just fell into it to be honest. My PI wanted to do some stuff that no one in the lab knew how to do. I'm self taught for the most part. I took an intro class to learn some basic Bioinformatics and programming. I know the program I'm going into has a graduate certificate in Bioinformatics that I will be doing alongside my PhD. If your institution doesn't offer a similar option I know that UIC offers something similar that you can do online. I would also look at doing a postdoc in a lab that does a mixture of both. Let me know if you have any questions.

If I'm paying to submit my application, I think that I deserve a rejection letter at the very least.

Yea that didn't go where I thought it was going... Thought for sure you were going down the gluten free, anti-gmo, organic route...but seriously wow...

You can take a postdoc right now as an MD. using a phd program as a stopgap sounds like a terrible idea IMO.

You're still an undergrad at this point, nobody is going to judge you for moving labs.

Oktoberfest, Beerfest

Same here I've been working for about 3 years now. I'm a bit scared of being in class again.

Grace and Frankie on netflix is pretty good.

Happened for me. Applied to school. Was contacted by a professor for an interview. Interviewed with his lab, then lost contact. Finally here back from him (after the 4/15 deadline) at which point I tell him I'd already accepted an offer at my #1 program. Haven't heard anything back since, not even a courtesy email from the professor. The online portal still says under review fwiw. But like Melissaam said it's a ridiculous policy. If you have to pay to have your application reviewed, you at least deserve to get some feedback.

Could you just master out of the program you are in now and apply normally?

Yes, that is true, but then you can't go on to complain about the direction in which the thread goes...

The biggest issue here is that the initial post was deleted (less than an hour after the thread was made). Now, anyone who comes into this thread has no context what so ever, even if you wanted "helpful" advice you'll never get it.

If you want to gut the number of STEM applicants, force them into getting 2 - 3 years of work experience before applying.

This already exists for Biomed. Postdoc salaries (minimums) are set by the NIH, but there is still a glut of postdocs. It seems to me that there is a lot of luck involved in the whole process. (i.e being in the right lab at the right time)

Which is exactly how it's supposed to be done, but it's impossible to catch if someone is deliberately fudging their numbers. Even harder to sniff out someone that is throwing out a few samples here and there to make their findings significant (which I'm sure a lot of people are guilty of). If it gets to the point where one can't even trust someone's raw data, the whole system will come crashing down. A big problem with a lot of science, is that some of it is nearly impossible to replicate ( unless conditions are perfect and you are using the exact same samples/reagents), can cost huge dollars to replicate, or simply takes way to much time (scientifically speaking) for a replication study. On top of all of this, it's nearly impossible to get replication funded.

I got extremely lucky with mine, my program covers a full year of insurance and pays everything but a small feel that the university will not allow the program to pay for. In the end, this was a huge deciding factor for me because I had two offers that did not include Health Insurance, which would have cost me over $2000+ a year. It was amazing to see the differences in stipends. The largest school I was accepted at (which also had the best reputation), offered the worst acceptance package, which was really surprising. I was also accepted two different programs at a single institution that had very different acceptance packages, One offered me a full year stipend with paid health insurance, the other offered a 9 month stipend with no health insurance.

Not sure about your field, but this is pretty standard for biosciences. The last author has the same right to presenting research as the first...remember the work was done in the PIs lab. Your name will be mentioned more than a few times throughout the presentation and you'll get credit in any citations that come from the research. Also, I have to assume that this would be your 1st big presentation (just based on you being a 1st year), would that really be the appropriate forum for such a thing? Also what's the context of the talk? Is your work a small portion of it or is it the main portion? In my experience, PIs tend to pool together all recent work from the lab for presentations.

Looks bad for the PI and the student's committee too. Part of their job is to make sure the student is progressing which clearly is not happening. Now their could be extenuating circumstances that we don't know going on as well.

If you have access to one ( you'd be surprised how easy it is to get wall time), then your need for a high end computer would definitely be diminished.

If you were by yourself, I wouldn't recommend any kind of pet except for maybe a fish.

My parents have a Quaker parrot. Couple of points ( disclaimer I am not a fan of the bird). 1) They are VERY loud, I mean ear bleeding, can't concentrate on what the hell I am doing loud. We have a large 2 story house, and it doesn't matter where in the house I happen to be, the bird can still be heard. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live with one in an apartment, possibly with a roommate. I would also be prepared for possible noise complaints. 2) Parrots are extremely messy and be prepared for that. 3) Parrots require a lot of attention. Ours can get really mean if it't not handled enough. If you are convinced that you want a bird, I'd go with a canary or parakeet.

Our backgrounds are eerily similar haha. I skipped the M.S and did a 2 year stint as a tech before applying to PhD programs last fall ( you can see my results below, my uGPA was < 3.0). If you are really wanting that M.S, make sure to apply to funded programs.

This is one of the more interesting two body problems I've seen. All of the schools sans UVa have multiple schools within a decent commute. If I were you, I would also apply to schools that are on her list but not yours ( wustl/washu ) and vice versa. Also have you considered applying to law school after your SO is accepted somewhere? Applying to grad school is a huge crap shoot, so you may want to consider the possibility that only one of you gets in this year. If she is applying to PhD programs it will take her 4 - 6 years to complete, so you may also want to consider what implications that has on your early career as well. Sorry I may have raised more questions than I answered haha.

Does your program offer access to a supercomputer?

Few questions: How are your grades in your upper level courses? How long has it been since your first 24 credits were completed? Also, have you considered retaking those first 24 credits?