ilovelab

Take a look at this. Its the NIH post bacc program. https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/postbac_irta If you can't find research before you graduate you can always do it after you graduate.

I thought my old PI in undergrad didn't like me at all. It wasn't till I had an awesome lab presentation on the work I had done for the previous 3 months he changed completely. He apparently would appear to be cold/indifferent b/c he wanted you to prove yourself in lab. Super weird but it was awesome afterward.

Honestly? Just tell her what you wrote here. You know her work is more quantitative based but you would like to do experiments. Ask her if you were to come up with experiments/a project to do (it doesn't have to be big) would she be willing to let you do it.

Graduating from and Ivy does not guarantee instant interviews in science. Its whose lab you worked in, who your PI knows and what your CV looks like. Unless all the PI's at ETH as crap it shouldn't be a problem, as long as you can find a supportive PI whose lab you can do good work in. If you are getting your MS in Neuroscience why do you care about people not knowing your schools name outside of science? Do you plan to go into marketing/psych/comm? If you're going to stick with science why does it matter? Or does it bother you that the average person in the US has no idea where your school is? Lets be honest, most people in the US have no idea what Caltech, Reed, WashU, Bowdoin, Amherst, Williams, Rice, Scripps, Janelia, Mayo Clinic etc are. It doesn't mean they aren't great institutions. Who cares! A prestigious school doesn't necessarily have the best program. You also are saving 80K in debt. That's a lot of $$$ you're going to save by not having student loans.

You're trolling but I'll bite. Your resume could say Harvard Undergrad MIT Master Stanford PHD. It won't make a difference to employers if you haven't done shit at any institution. Do you honestly believe you would get a Postdoc based on where you did your PHD? Its whose lab you're in and what you've published. Also having gone to UCLA for undergrad I find the notion you regretting UCLA for Berkley offensive. It could be worse though, at least its not USC, then I'd have to rub it in how badly we slayed you on saturday.

It depends on the department honestly. The few grad courses (stem cell bio/Advanced Human Genetics/Cell Biology/Developmental Biology) I took as an undergrad I can say were harder than my undergrad courses. Mainly b/c you had to figure out everything on your own. There were no OH, no TA's. Some classes the entire grad was based on a final paper. So it really varies by institution and department.

We'll there is your problem. You can't wing the GRE with 1.5 weeks of studying. That being said, your stats are GREAT. IF the adcom chooses do so there is a GRE/GPA cutoff, its either one or the other. Your GPA is great and should get you past the initial screening IF the grad programs filter apps like that. Work hard on the SOP in the time remaining.

It might look weird as the email address won't have your university affiliation. Honestly it might not. Usually professors use their school email for LoR but some might not so the adcom won't think its odd. The only way anyone will know is if either of you tell anyone. So... there's that. Its honestly an uncomfortable situation to be in. He's going to have to read the letter for him to sign it wont' he? Or will you just do an electronic signature? Tell him the truth, that you feel uncomfortable.

Will these schools accept the GRE instead of GMAT? I've heard from the Dean at our Business school that the conversion isn't ideal (whatever that means), so they don't take the GRE. I assume you've checked but just be sure. I don't know a lot about B-School but if you haven't already check out this forum. gmatclub (google it) from there you can look at specific schools and see the stats of accepted applicants. The most important part I think will be the essays, everyone applying will have similar GMAT/GRE/GPA/Work Experience. So the Letter of Rec and Essays are the only things to make you stand out. You can't control the LoR but the essay's are where you really stand out. I also wouldn't worry about not working for a F500 company etc, b/c if that's all B-Schools were looking for I'm sure they could fill the incoming class with Goldman-sachs/Bain/KPMG/Pricewaterhouse etc applicants. But looking at student profiles at the schools, they clearly are not.

Your grades are fine. You shouldn't worry about that. You're going to have to take Cell Bio and Biochem again or some version of it in your grad program anyway. I would send the subject test. They will see your subscores, so it shouldn't be a problem. The organismal bio part of the test covers a lot of stuff that won't be relevant to your phd. Same with the Eco/Evo part. I would email some of the schools and ask how they weigh the test. Will they pay more attention for the CMB part which you did excellent on or will all subscores have an equal weight. If the other two aren't super important to the adcom send the score. Also, does Georgetown allow you to apply to two different programs? Do you have a good fit with each program? That's the most important part.

Email your schools and ask how much much they care about the AWA score. I don't know about CS programs but the GRE isn't a huge factor in some departments. I think they would care more about your Quant score than the essay. That being said 168 and 170 aren't that far apart. You could send both if you want.

Do you like the current lab you are in? Could you possibly do your grad work there? I would call/email someone at the program and ask them if they have a GPA cutoff. If they do then you know your answer. Ask if they will look at your app, if they do then you should be considered.

There is usually a space where you can explain extenuating circumstances etc/anything else you would like the Adcom to know. Mention how the PI you did the ecology work with retired. I'm sure they will understand. Are you still getting a LOR from your current PI? I wouldn't worry about the fact that he's new and the lab hasn't published.

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone knew of any programs off the top of their head that were similar to Duke Masters in Management Studies. Its essentially a masters program for students without a strong business foundation who want to transition into various buisness fields. Someone called it MBA-lite. I've been trying to find similar programs but I haven't had a lot of luck.

Are you allowed to? I don't know how it works in other countries but most schools in the US only allow you to apply to one program in the department. If the masters programs are in different departments than it might work. Contact someone at admissions and they will let you know for sure. It might be in the FAQ for each program.

I don't know if I would consider NYU Sackler a safety. I thought it was pretty hard to get into. I could be wrong. One weakness would be your research experience, most people applying will have more than 1 year of relevant research experience. You are applying to some top schools, if you don't want to change your list do you have a back up plan? If you have a solid back up plan then I would say go for all the schools on your list and then apply at a later time. If you want to get into a grad school for next year you might want to look at some lower tierd schools just to be safe.

I definitely didn't phrase everything correctly. The OP shouldn't escalate the situation and make it awkward as hell. Avoid that at all costs. I think the OP still should talk with the PI and let her know that OP needs more mentoring. The PI isn't obligated to mentor their grad students but, she did accept the OP into the lab. I don't think a PI would except a grad student to need no/minimal mentoring to complete their PHD. I could be wrong.

The biggest thing is knowing what the GPA/GRE cutoff is for each school. If you get passed that you should be one of the top candidates. Some schools don't have cutoffs but some of your schools probably get a lot of applications so they might use the cutoff to filter apps out. I would be shocked if there were applicants with more impressive research experiences than you.

Is there a specific field within neuroscience that you are interested in? If so I would look up PI's that are well known in that field and email them to see if they have openings or will have future openings in their labs. You can look up through the NIH if they have NIH money to know which labs are well funded or not. I know a few people who emailed PI's, the labs didn't have advertised positions but the PI's like them and created a job for them. It will take a while though. Some PI's won't respond, some will say NO but you could get lucky!

No, You are not jumping the gun. dumb qustion but have you emailed your PI? Honestly I would convey everything you have said here in an email to her. She is supposed to be your mentor, she clearly isn't doing her job. I would be honest with her and let her know that the situation has to change. If that doesn't work, I would go to other PI's in your department for advice. IF none of that is helpful/works out then I would consider leaving with your masters. Your're is a crappy situation because of the time of the year. Apps are due around Dec 1. You are going to have to decide quickly.