eeee1923

It seems like you answered your question in your initial post

It may be time for you to physically track down your advisor and have a talk CBclone. I would do this first before going above her head to the department head.

Taking some time to make your profile as strong as possible is always my advice. Also nothing is wrong with aiming for top programs (I went to a top 5 undergrad and I'm going to a top 10 grad) since those programs have the most resources to conduct cutting edge research.

Good luck - the exam is coming up pretty soon (relatively speaking)

Wait are you currently a rising sophomore (sorry but I was a bit confused)? Also taking a gap year to do gain some cool research experience (I assume you would be able to work on some sort of project with these opportunities) is totally fine. What is getting into your PhD 1 year earlier going to do if you could gain some better skills by waiting? I took a gap year to do more research and was totally fine.

What degree did you receive? What sort of research have you conducted?

Since you want to work in cancer research, the Fred Hutchinson would be a solid choice IMO than the masters. Since your masters would be funded, then that would also be a viable option. Just to let you know there are plenty of people that work as research techs before a PhD and don't find too much trouble getting in. Ultimately this is a very personal decision but I thought I'd let you know that working at a research institute should not be viewed as a disadvantage. Also keep in contact with your PI from your undergrad and let him/her know of your plans so that they can write you a strong letter when you eventually apply.

Getting an immunology PhD would still allow you to work in the biotech industry just to let you know. My question is why don't you just take your USMLE now instead of in 5 years? IMO I don't see a point in continuing in research (i.e. a PhD) if your ultimate plan is to practice medicine.

During my MS, I've been quite involved with community outreach, especially for the underrepresented groups in STEM. This mostly involves 2 short meetings a week and tutoring at a local church one day a week. I don't know if it gives me any professional advantages but I enjoy seeing my students tell me that they got B+'s and A's where they were previously getting D's and C's and pretty sure that STEM was not for them. I also help undergrads (at an unofficial capacity) with plans of studies and possible career paths. The GradCafe is quite helpful in opening my eyes to all the opportunities out there which I then convey to the undergrads.

Exactly. As an undergrad you're just trying to get exposure to research - it's not really imperative that are an expert in the topic or stay in the lab until the project is complete (even at the grad level it's not too big of a deal if you switch labs early enough and if there's sufficient funds)

Where you get your masters from doesn't really impact you getting into a good PhD program. Since this would be a funded opportunity, use it wisely and present your work, network, defend a thesis and if possible publish a paper. The skills you gain from the degree will be transferable at the PhD level. When you go for PhD interviews as long as you demonstrate your knowledge of the area of study and can coherently speak on what you can offer the program (as well as why they can help you), the adcomm doesn't care where you got your MS from. Plus since you like your PI and project you can get an awesome LOR out of the opportunity. I'll give you an example: I'm currently finishing up my MS from a pretty unknown school in the Bio field. The school is top-tier for engineering (my undergrad) but when I decided to switch my field of study from pure engineering to a more bio related field (cancer bio/pharmacology), the school name held little weight. However, I had the opportunity to do a MS while being fully funded, so I took it. The way I saw it was that it gave me the opportunity to do in-depth research at the grad level for 1.5 years while easing my mindset into the grad school one. If I didn't like grad research I had the opportunity to quit and go into the workforce or if I did like it I would have even more research experience on my CV. I also look at it like this: spending 2 yrs on a degree isn't that big of a deal since I'm relatively young and plan on continuing my studies at the doctoral level. Overall I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. I got to present my research (went to 2 conferences), network, and I'll be getting a publication later this year. Plus I had interviews at every program I applied to (ranked 2-30) and I'm going to be attending a top 10 program. So I say take the opportunity since it seems like you want to and don't worry about not being able to get into a good PhD program. Good luck with you endeavors!

maple syrup

It's been very interesting to see how this thread's topic of conversation has evolved over time .

Ditto

chocolate cake

It's very program dependent. Like BiochemMom stated it may help or it could just show the program you take initiative but may not play any significance in the final admission. Make sure you can present the strongest applicant profile you can (GRE scores, SoP, and LoRs).

Nobody can tell you if you should cut down programs. Just be warned that applying to that many programs will be an expensive endeavor. Make sure that you have at least 3-5 PI's at each institute you're applying. If you don't have at least this minimum, I would advise against applying to the program. Your profile seems decent so you should be able to do well in the application cycle.

sauce boss

I can only speak about my experience with applying to STEM programs. That being said here's what I can remember: I applied to 7 programs in total: - GRE: $200 + $20 for a prep book - GRE scores sent: ~$27 per school it sent to (you get 4 scores sent for free on test day if you choose to use the service, so unless you tanked the exam, use this feature!) - 7 PhD applications: fees ranged from $50 - $90 (I was able to get 2 of the application fees waived - look into these, I wish I'd been a bit more aggressive and saved some more money) - Transcripts sent: my undergrad institute actually did these for free but the state college I took classes at during high school charged ~$20 per 5 schools. Some of the programs I applied to actually let me just upload an electronic version of my transcript (unofficial) for evaluation purposes and if I choose to attend I had to send my official transcripts. So check before you spend money sending your transcripts. - Interview Weekends: I had an interview with every program I applied to and I accepted every one of them (partially out of relief that I was chosen) which was quite time consuming (definitely way your options before committing to these since they tend to run about 3 days each for most STEM programs). Usually the program covered all the fees such as plane tickets, hotels, food, etc. I did have to pay for parking at the airport but usually that's a very small price. For programs that are close enough that you could drive to, a lot of programs would just reimburse the applicant for the mileage driven (~$0.55/mile) but keep in mind these reimbursements take about 1-3 months to get back to you. Those are the major expenditures that I remember from my application cycle. Hopefully this helps you and other future applicants.

Your profile seems to be in good shape. You can look at C&EN for some of the current research to try to track down some programs. You can also look up the top ranked 30 programs or so and look up the research of the PI's in the various departments and see what looks promising. That should give you a good starting point.

128 for an ipad seems like overkill unless you have a bunch of media (music, movies, photos) on the device as well. If it's mostly for notes and reading 32 gb or 64 gb should be fine.

chili fries

I sympathize with your situation but have you tried to get a research tech position anywhere? To me it seems like it would be a lot of hassle trying to find a school that allows spring admission.

Hey I'm just a random guy on the internet, not a member of the Adcomm at these institutes. If there are profs doing research you like at these schools - go ahead and apply. You seem to have a decent profile so don't be discouraged.