laminator

Thanks, both of you, I was sort of leaning toward mostly the faculty I had met with already, so I will definitely do that plus one other I was unable to meet before. There are other interesting faculty members, but those ones are definitely the closest aligned.

It looks to me like all of us who have heard from Penn are applying to neuro, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Got my first interview request this morning, although the email shows it was sent Friday... Makes me kind of nervous that another request might just disappear entirely. They asked me to suggest faculty to meet with, and usually I'd have a good idea of who to pick. However, I actually had the opportunity to visit the school a few months ago, and got to meet with several of the faculty I'm most interested in then. Anyone have advice on how to make a list at that point? Should I meet again with the faculty I met with before to strengthen those connections, or try to branch out, or some of both?

Thanks everyone! You've allayed my fears a bit. (@Crucial BBQ: I walked by Lucky House a lot, but actually never went there, Dara's was my go-to Thai place. Did I miss out?)

Thanks, that's encouraging! I'm a little concerned that they'll see my research in mostly unrelated areas and lack of publications and think I'm not serious about neuroscience in particular, but I hope you're right.

A little late in the game for me to make any changes to my plans, but let's see what y'all think. I come from a slightly different background than most of you. Undergrad Institution: Berkeley Major(s): Math, physics Minor(s): GPA in Major: 4.0, 3.8 Overall GPA: 3.9 Position in Class: Not sure exactly, but pretty high. Type of Student: DWM GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 170 (98%) V: 170 (99%) W: 5.0 (93%) B: Did not take. Research Experience: 1 year at Lawrence Berkeley Lab in particle physics (computational & experimental), summer at another UC in plant sciences (loosely biophysics), summer internship in Singapore in computational physics, currently employed in a career-track job at a research institute associated with another well known university, doing some modeling & simulation work (a little in systems biology), some machine learning that I could spin as useful, and some unrelated crap. Unfortunately no publications yet, might have one by spring but not sure enough we'll get the funding to work on it to put it on my apps. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: High honors overall, highest honors in math, award for excellence in scholarship in math, a couple of minor physics scholarships for research and stuff. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Three semesters teaching math at Berkeley (UGSI, basically a TA but I was leading 3 hours of class per week per section I taught), TA for Berkeley's under-resourced high school outreach program for a summer. For jobs see research. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Might be clear already, but I have a substantial amount of CS experience, a few classes but mostly hands on. Special Bonus Points: Contact with professors at Stanford, U Penn, Berkeley, and Princeton. (more than just an email exchange) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Currently taking Neural networks and a physiology-neurophysiology sequence. Background is a little broader than my majors would indicate, with some small number of psychology courses thrown in. Extracurricular-wise I'm pretty serious about a weird musical instrument I play, got admitted into the national organization of players this year, doubt schools would care so I'm not putting it on most apps unless you all think I should. Applying to Where: Interest is mostly in cognitive neuroscience, though I'm still open to exploring & also interested in some more biophysics-related stuff. Princeton - Neuroscience - Computational U Penn - Neuroscience - Computational UCSD - Neuroscience - Computational Duke - Neuroscience - Computational Stanford - Psychology - Computaional/Cognitive Berkeley - Biophysics - Neuroscience Last two are different program choices on the advice of the professors I talked with there in terms of where my application would be most successful or where they had the most influence. Obviously I have a pretty short and competitive list here, my numbers are good but my lack of publications might hurt me I think. Hopefully my (I think strong) letters of rec from my research at LBNL and presently should help counteract that. The list is short because I only applied where there were specific professors I was interested in, and I am not going to be heartbroken about staying in my current job for another year or two (plus I can pick up a free masters along the way.)