alanfv91

It's getting closer to the time when classes start.  Hopefully everybody is ready for the grind that is grad school.  

I know this is a little late, but here we go...
 
I applied to an overall of 14 graduate programs, all mostly immunology since I come from a strong immunology background from UC Irvine.  I only received two interview invitations which were from UTMB BMB, and UC Davis Immunology.  I was accepted to UTMB, and waitlisted at UC Davis post-interview.  My obvious choice was to go to UC Davis since their program was a much better fit when compared to that of UTMB.  Furthermore, I also wanted to attend UC Davis because one of my friends who was working in my undergraduate lab was a first-year in that program (and coincidentally she was also my student host at the Davis interview!).  I actually didn't receive the acceptance from UCD until the day before the April 15 deadline, and by then I had already taken the offer from UTMB.  Luckily, I was able to rescind my acceptance from UTMB without any hard feelings (I hope somebody else was able to receive my offer though!).  
 
To be honest, I'm quite amazed at how I was able to make it into a rather selective program at UCD; I don't have the greatest of stats (3.096 GPA for example), but knowing that I was able to compete with people from UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSF was a nice morale booster.  I'm sure a lot of those people I met at the interviews have chosen to attend a program they feel is better suited for them, and they really deserve it.  While it wasn't your top choice, it was definitely up there on my list.  Good luck to you guys - I'm sure you'll be happy and will succeed in the program you are ending up at!

I must agree with both sides on certain aspects.  I think you should have a balanced list of schools - a few safety schools, a few in the middle schools, and maybe one or two reach schools.  Sure, GPAs and GRE scores can be used as a primary cutoff for the applicant pools, but I do think it is a good idea to directly ask the department or the program about your certain situation/qualifications and see what they may think of it.  Sometimes they may tell you to apply while others may say otherwise.  Also, it may be a good idea to apply to a school or two in which you have a personal connection with; that may be helpful in winning acceptance in at least one school.  When I applied, I had the list of schools that was just described.  I applied to a bunch of schools, but fortunately I was able to budget it out and I ended up being accepted to a pretty good school with just a 3.0 undergrad GPA, no masters.  My last statement is to persevere, prepare your applications with professors, and do some mock interviews with faculty you know to see how well you interview.

Color me dissatisfied with your response. You can have your opinion about whether or not Octopus will be admitted or not, but you are NOT an adcom.
 
Numbers are important, yes. But they are not the end all for every program. The professors Octopus decides to apply to work with may have the ability to pull him out of the applicant pool and accept him based on funding, as long as the professors can make a case. Your advice to be cautious is fine, but your negativity is unwarranted.
 
You had your own history with the adcoms for the programs that you applied to, but you can't say that your bad experience is what Octopus with also experience. You might have come off badly during interviews or in your statement. Octopus might have something, as GeoDude! has said, that resonates with the adcom. You don't know. Graduate admissions are wonky, and sometimes, things turn out differently than you expect.
 
My advice to Octopus is to ask whomever you can at each program (admissions office or potential advisor) about how big of a factor your scores are. They should be honest with you. Go from there. No one on the forums can tell you this, even if they attempt to by extrapolating from their own experiences.

Yeah, I would disagree on that statement as well.  I'm currently finishing up my appointment as a lab manager at my home UC campus, and I've noticed that the grad students on my campus tend to love their programs.  I'm actually going to be starting at my graduate program at another UC campus and it seems they treat their grad students well over there too.

I think you are pretty competitive with these stats.  Sure your GPA isn't the highest out of the bunch, but the research experience you got is quite extensive and good!  I wouldn't worry too much about the GPA and GRE scores though, I had a GPA that is just right in the same ballpark as yours in addition to similar GRE scores and I've managed to be going to graduate school in the coming Fall (UCD).  The ivies will probably be your reach schools, but the others I see on your list are probably doable in terms of making it.  I say you may want to elaborate on your GPA a little bit on your application statements if they ask for you to talk about any discrepancies in your application.  Let me know if you have any other questions and feel free to PM me if you like.  Good luck!

For the schools you are thinking about applying to, you can try the same schools I did.  I applied to mostly immunology programs at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, Scripps, University of Washington, University of Minnesota, University of Texas Medical Branch, UT Southwestern, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard.  The last two schools were definitely my reach schools, but if the finances allow you to, I would apply to those schools.  
 
I wouldn't worry too much about your GPA.  I actually have a GPA that's very close to what you have too, and I'll be attending the Immunology program at UC Davis in Fall 2014.  What I think matters a lot more is your laboratory and research experience.  I say you should definitely stay in your lab and get as much research experience and learn as many things as you can before you apply for the upcoming cycle.  If you do stay in the lab, your letters of recommendation from your PI should get a nice boost since you will be working there for a longer time, and your PI will have a better idea of how you work and succeed in graduate school.  The bottom line is, don't worry too much about your academic stats - as long as you get decent GRE scores in the future and continue working in the lab, you should be able to get into a Ph.D program!  Just maintain your diligence, persevere, and hopefully the admissions committee will see that in you.
 
Good luck!

I know this is a little late, but here we go...
 
I applied to an overall of 14 graduate programs, all mostly immunology since I come from a strong immunology background from UC Irvine.  I only received two interview invitations which were from UTMB BMB, and UC Davis Immunology.  I was accepted to UTMB, and waitlisted at UC Davis post-interview.  My obvious choice was to go to UC Davis since their program was a much better fit when compared to that of UTMB.  Furthermore, I also wanted to attend UC Davis because one of my friends who was working in my undergraduate lab was a first-year in that program (and coincidentally she was also my student host at the Davis interview!).  I actually didn't receive the acceptance from UCD until the day before the April 15 deadline, and by then I had already taken the offer from UTMB.  Luckily, I was able to rescind my acceptance from UTMB without any hard feelings (I hope somebody else was able to receive my offer though!).  
 
To be honest, I'm quite amazed at how I was able to make it into a rather selective program at UCD; I don't have the greatest of stats (3.096 GPA for example), but knowing that I was able to compete with people from UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSF was a nice morale booster.  I'm sure a lot of those people I met at the interviews have chosen to attend a program they feel is better suited for them, and they really deserve it.  While it wasn't your top choice, it was definitely up there on my list.  Good luck to you guys - I'm sure you'll be happy and will succeed in the program you are ending up at!

I know this is a little late, but here we go...
 
I applied to an overall of 14 graduate programs, all mostly immunology since I come from a strong immunology background from UC Irvine.  I only received two interview invitations which were from UTMB BMB, and UC Davis Immunology.  I was accepted to UTMB, and waitlisted at UC Davis post-interview.  My obvious choice was to go to UC Davis since their program was a much better fit when compared to that of UTMB.  Furthermore, I also wanted to attend UC Davis because one of my friends who was working in my undergraduate lab was a first-year in that program (and coincidentally she was also my student host at the Davis interview!).  I actually didn't receive the acceptance from UCD until the day before the April 15 deadline, and by then I had already taken the offer from UTMB.  Luckily, I was able to rescind my acceptance from UTMB without any hard feelings (I hope somebody else was able to receive my offer though!).  
 
To be honest, I'm quite amazed at how I was able to make it into a rather selective program at UCD; I don't have the greatest of stats (3.096 GPA for example), but knowing that I was able to compete with people from UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSF was a nice morale booster.  I'm sure a lot of those people I met at the interviews have chosen to attend a program they feel is better suited for them, and they really deserve it.  While it wasn't your top choice, it was definitely up there on my list.  Good luck to you guys - I'm sure you'll be happy and will succeed in the program you are ending up at!

To answer the main topic at hand:
 
I actually applied for Ph.D programs for Fall 2013, and I got close to getting some admits but got rejected by the schools post-interview.  That happened when I was finishing up my undergraduate studies.  The bad thing was that my GPA wasn't stellar, and neither were my GRE scores.  However, I managed to apply again to more schools this cycle, and I actually got accepted to a couple of the schools I applied to (yay!).  
 
I would say the one thing that really boosted up my applications this cycle was my work/research experience.  I decided to stay another year in my undergraduate research lab to work as a lab manager/research associate.  I do have to say that taking another year of research really helped me out since I learned some new techniques that are definitely relevant to what I will be doing in graduate school in the coming Fall.  In addition, that extra year helped my letters of recommendation since my PI had more to write about.  Furthermore, I had some teaching experience in two different ways.  First, I acted as an "undergraduate supervisor" in the lab - meaning that I helped undergrads with their experiments as well as advising them on what to do.  Second, I had another part-time job as a teacher at a local learning center where I tutored some high school students in various science subjects such as physics, chemistry, and biology.  Since I had an extra year to work, I believe the admissions committee saw the effort I took to improving my applications, and they also saw how I supported my career goals to become an academic in my SOP due to my teaching experience. 
 
In terms of completing my application, I had professors, relatives, and friends review and give suggestions on what they thought about my SOP, research experience, and other writing samples.  I also found talking to current graduate students in my lab or in prospective programs to be very helpful as well.  When time permitted, I would take some time out during the meetings with my PI to get some additional advice on what should be emphasized in my applications.  Finally, on my SOP, I used some space to explain some of the discrepancies on my academic record without giving any excuses.  I was concise with my wording as to make a long story short for the admissions committee.  Everything else on my application was pretty straightforward; I tried to answer each question that was asked to the best of my knowledge.
 
I hope this helps, and good luck to whoever is applying next year! 

Thanks!  Congrats on your acceptance as well!  I really hope you end up loving the school and program you will be attending.

Please dont act like you are amazing. You didnt "compete" with anyone you were at bottom of the barrel. I hope you can survive the first quarter.

I know this is a little late, but here we go...
 
I applied to an overall of 14 graduate programs, all mostly immunology since I come from a strong immunology background from UC Irvine.  I only received two interview invitations which were from UTMB BMB, and UC Davis Immunology.  I was accepted to UTMB, and waitlisted at UC Davis post-interview.  My obvious choice was to go to UC Davis since their program was a much better fit when compared to that of UTMB.  Furthermore, I also wanted to attend UC Davis because one of my friends who was working in my undergraduate lab was a first-year in that program (and coincidentally she was also my student host at the Davis interview!).  I actually didn't receive the acceptance from UCD until the day before the April 15 deadline, and by then I had already taken the offer from UTMB.  Luckily, I was able to rescind my acceptance from UTMB without any hard feelings (I hope somebody else was able to receive my offer though!).  
 
To be honest, I'm quite amazed at how I was able to make it into a rather selective program at UCD; I don't have the greatest of stats (3.096 GPA for example), but knowing that I was able to compete with people from UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSF was a nice morale booster.  I'm sure a lot of those people I met at the interviews have chosen to attend a program they feel is better suited for them, and they really deserve it.  While it wasn't your top choice, it was definitely up there on my list.  Good luck to you guys - I'm sure you'll be happy and will succeed in the program you are ending up at!

I know this is a little late, but here we go...
 
I applied to an overall of 14 graduate programs, all mostly immunology since I come from a strong immunology background from UC Irvine.  I only received two interview invitations which were from UTMB BMB, and UC Davis Immunology.  I was accepted to UTMB, and waitlisted at UC Davis post-interview.  My obvious choice was to go to UC Davis since their program was a much better fit when compared to that of UTMB.  Furthermore, I also wanted to attend UC Davis because one of my friends who was working in my undergraduate lab was a first-year in that program (and coincidentally she was also my student host at the Davis interview!).  I actually didn't receive the acceptance from UCD until the day before the April 15 deadline, and by then I had already taken the offer from UTMB.  Luckily, I was able to rescind my acceptance from UTMB without any hard feelings (I hope somebody else was able to receive my offer though!).  
 
To be honest, I'm quite amazed at how I was able to make it into a rather selective program at UCD; I don't have the greatest of stats (3.096 GPA for example), but knowing that I was able to compete with people from UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSF was a nice morale booster.  I'm sure a lot of those people I met at the interviews have chosen to attend a program they feel is better suited for them, and they really deserve it.  While it wasn't your top choice, it was definitely up there on my list.  Good luck to you guys - I'm sure you'll be happy and will succeed in the program you are ending up at!

I know this is a little late, but here we go...
 
I applied to an overall of 14 graduate programs, all mostly immunology since I come from a strong immunology background from UC Irvine.  I only received two interview invitations which were from UTMB BMB, and UC Davis Immunology.  I was accepted to UTMB, and waitlisted at UC Davis post-interview.  My obvious choice was to go to UC Davis since their program was a much better fit when compared to that of UTMB.  Furthermore, I also wanted to attend UC Davis because one of my friends who was working in my undergraduate lab was a first-year in that program (and coincidentally she was also my student host at the Davis interview!).  I actually didn't receive the acceptance from UCD until the day before the April 15 deadline, and by then I had already taken the offer from UTMB.  Luckily, I was able to rescind my acceptance from UTMB without any hard feelings (I hope somebody else was able to receive my offer though!).  
 
To be honest, I'm quite amazed at how I was able to make it into a rather selective program at UCD; I don't have the greatest of stats (3.096 GPA for example), but knowing that I was able to compete with people from UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSF was a nice morale booster.  I'm sure a lot of those people I met at the interviews have chosen to attend a program they feel is better suited for them, and they really deserve it.  While it wasn't your top choice, it was definitely up there on my list.  Good luck to you guys - I'm sure you'll be happy and will succeed in the program you are ending up at!