ballwera

I've officially committed to Cincinnati's MDB program! I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my chest!
@BiomedicalPHD123 You have a very hard decision ahead of you! Make sure that you take into account your gut feeling about a place. If you're really interested and committed to cancer cell bio for your graduate training, then I'd go ahead with GSK. If you think that you may want to venture out into other fields, then I'd say go to Harvard because they are pretty good, if not excellent, at many things bio-related. I'm a little bit leery about the rotation/class thing at GSK personally, but if that works for you and seems to be well-liked by the current students, then go ahead and do it!

Thanks for the advice! Hopefully I wasn't to abrasive about the academic track! I'm just a bit burnt out and was disappointed to say the least when i discovered the man behind the curtain.  
I looked into law and medicine options, but I'm not sure I can handle any more schooling to be honest. I'm also not sure if my wife will sign off on that either (already kinda put our lives on hold for this degree).
I've been extremely interested in the biotech/pharma option, as my skill set is pretty desired. It also seems the research is much more translational, which is more interesting to me than basic research. I've made a few pharma contacts, and have been applying for internships so may that will pan out.
On a side note, I do hope we can keep this an open topic on the board. In all reality,  only a small fraction of us will be able to secure tenure track positions so it's useful to have these types of discussions. 
 
 

Just posting this as a piece of advice for current applicants. In MY experience, the absence of publications will absolutely NOT have an impact on whether or not you get into a particular school. Don't think you're at a disadvantage if you don't have any because, in reality, most of your peers wont. Sure, it'll look cool and it'll show that you were heavily involved with a project, but it is not common for undergrads to have any meaningful authorship credits. I know plenty of people in top programs that did not have publications at the time of application. Just my two cents. 

I mean a first author in Nature (assuming you mean mother nature), is usually what Postdocs ride into a Tenure-Track faculty position. I'd assume that along with LORs would put you in the highest tier of applicants for any program. 

Coming from a former tech:
Highlight the research you've done as much as you can in your SOP, and make sure to get strong letters of support from PIs involved in the research that you are doing. You have a leg up on most applicants in that you've spent 2 years doing nothing but research, use that to your advantage as much as possible. Try to see if your PI will give you a bit of freedom for a more independent project, I know this helped out my application more than anything.  More for the interview phase, be able to explain your research as clearly as possible and what the purpose was. You don't want to look as if you were just a set of hands doing work for your PI. 
Just as a bit of a side note, I do wish more people were techs prior to grad school.

Could also mean they've got some grant money but nobody to do the actual work. Happens a lot in my dept because the # of PIs >>> # of Grad. Students 

I'm married, so I had to go to the school that was the best fit for both my partner and I. I got into much better schools than the one I'm going to, so I am definitely feeling a little regret. I think what you're feeling is pretty normal. It's a big decision. 

All right.
Applied to:
Caltech Biology, Stanford Biosciences, Berkeley MCB, and UCSF Tetrad
Accepted to:
Stanford Biosciences, Berkeley MCB, and UCSF Tetrad
Caltech never got back to me that after that online interview.
What was it you gleaned from that 10 minute window, Caltech? Fuck you.

Coming from a former tech:
Highlight the research you've done as much as you can in your SOP, and make sure to get strong letters of support from PIs involved in the research that you are doing. You have a leg up on most applicants in that you've spent 2 years doing nothing but research, use that to your advantage as much as possible. Try to see if your PI will give you a bit of freedom for a more independent project, I know this helped out my application more than anything.  More for the interview phase, be able to explain your research as clearly as possible and what the purpose was. You don't want to look as if you were just a set of hands doing work for your PI. 
Just as a bit of a side note, I do wish more people were techs prior to grad school.

Just got a call from an unknown San Diego number and with absurd enthusiasm ran out of the library (#finals) to answer. It was a telemarketer. Hang in there, pals. 

Got email from UIUC, asking me to fill a survey...... don't get too excited when you see email from UIUC today...

If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend removing yourself from as many e-mail lists as possible. Will save you from having a few mini heart attacks a day. Also don't forget to check your spam/junk folder every couple days. I had an e-mail or two from programs fall in mine during my application season. 

If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend removing yourself from as many e-mail lists as possible. Will save you from having a few mini heart attacks a day. Also don't forget to check your spam/junk folder every couple days. I had an e-mail or two from programs fall in mine during my application season. 

If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend removing yourself from as many e-mail lists as possible. Will save you from having a few mini heart attacks a day. Also don't forget to check your spam/junk folder every couple days. I had an e-mail or two from programs fall in mine during my application season. 

Hi Everyone,

I know this is a random question, but I'm doing a course for my masters to learn about genetics mapping and I could use some help understanding recombination mappnig.  So we were given this question:   Mutations in the old-1 gene cause extension of the C. elegans life span. Mutants defective in the let-513 gene die as young larvae. Suppose you have a strain of genotype dpy-10 old-1 / unc-4 let-513 II, which is wild-type in phenotype, and you identify 33 adult Unc animals among the progeny of several heterozygotes. You find that 25 of the 33 Uncs segregate the Old phenotype upon self-fertilization, but none segregates the Dpy phenotype. a. What is the order of the 3 genes along the chromosome? b. If unc-4 maps 2 cM from old-1, what is the map distance between unc-4 and let- 513?

Would anyone be able to help me solve this?  Thanks! 

How does one mess up blocking a western? Just curious. 

@VirologyPhDinTraining 
Hey friendo, you're coming off a bit arrogant. I would tone it down a bit before proceeding. We're here to help people, not make them sad. 

Lol do you honestly think that most people at top schools have first author pubs? I think rec letters are enough proof of a candidate being committed and productive. 

I mean, if you think so, but they don't have any first author pubs. Being in research for 3 years without a first author pub isn't what I would call good research experience. It's a lot better than nothing, but top programs, when you have deficiencies in your packet, want proof that you will both be committed and productive. They have shown the former, but not the latter. As I said, if I were them, I would cut a few of the top schools and would add a few middle tier institutions, especially if they want to do a PhD asap. Also I would still suggest retaking the GRE, a low quant score is a massive red flag for viro/immune programs.
As for your comment about 50k+ on a masters? I have a masters and spent 0 for it. The only people I know who paid for masters were pre-meds who want to pad their GPA. Funded MS programs definitely exist, and can make an okay candidate into a top candidate.

I honestly think that this person covered their based with the schools they intend to apply to. Their GPA is not bad enough to warrant a 50k+ investment on a Master's, and they seem to have good research experience. 

In light of last night's election, what non-US programs are worth looking into for neuroscience? 

I would consider large, umbrella programs, rather than small, field-specific programs. Umbrella programs admit more people, they cater to people with broad interests, and they are more forgiving of low GPAs/GREs. 
Also, are you willing to share your SOP? Seeing the angle you are taking might help determine where you went wrong last time. 

I'd like to point out to all the impressionable applying students, especially those coming straight out of undergrad, that "top person" is so subjective.  It's in flux and it's not a real thing.  Don't choose schools/programs based on a PI (not saying VirologyPhDinTraining did, just that someone with a master's is more focused/mature in their training and therefore more successful in making those kinds of decisions) because there are so many things that they don't tell you in undergrad.  How do you like to be mentored as a growing scientist?  90% of you don't know (and you shouldn't!) and will find out during rotations.  What do you want to study?  So many of you think you know (I did and now I'm kinda falling in love with viruses) and end up in something else.  Do you want to work in an established lab or a new one or something in between?  Do you want your PI to foster a sense of community by trips to bars and parties or do you want someone who is more hands-off?  Do you want your PI to jump in and train you or do you feel more comfortable doing that with a senior lab member?
For someone who has not been in grad school before, fame of the PI should be last on your mind.  If you already have a graduate degree, chances are you have your life a little more figured out and can make a decision like that and not regret it, just because you're more informed.  But younglings, keep in mind that fame does not equal grad student success.  It doesn't negate it, but there are a lot of ways to be successful in grad school, and it's not always by going to the top school/program and working with the "top" PI in the field.  Choose a school/program where you fit in and a PI that will be a good mentor.  Don't make decisions on fame and prestige if you barely have any experience in the field.  And I know, it feels like you have a lot when you've worked in a lab for 2+ years, but do yourself a favor and give yourself as many options as possible because you might just want them in about a year from now.

Just curious, why won't you say your institution in "public"?

Just from looking at CMU's website it looks like they want student's w/ a basic background in both CS and Bio. However they all state they take students with an either or background and tailor your coursework to an individuals background. If I were you I'd stop paying attention to a specific programs "recommendations", because these will be different for every program and every student applying. This isn't like medical school there is not perfect mold for an applications and there are no real "hard" requirements as far as course load. Focus on your research and keep your GPA up those are the 2 most important things you can do imo..