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JakeHeebs

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  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
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    Chemistry

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  1. Hey everyone, I am going to be submitting my applications to PhD programs in chemical biology or pharmacology fairly soon. Was wondering if anyone would be willing to look over my SoP and tell me what you think. Thank you all, Jake The easiest way to differentiate between industry and academia is to simply look at the cars in the parking lot. Characterized by block-buster drug sales and unparalleled earnings potential in the stock market, it is no secret that the biotech industry offers lucrative monetary incentives to the erudite scientist. However, as the cliché adage suggests, there is one thing that money cannot buy – the satisfaction of pursuing a dream. As a biotech employee with an undergraduate education and malnourished appetite for discovery, I wish to continue my studies at the graduate level. My interest in pharmaceuticals began during my sophomore year of undergraduate studies while pursuing the daunting task of earing an A in organic chemistry. The way in which functional groups retain specific chemical reactivity and physical properties, and the way in which chemists are able to harness these properties to assemble diverse structural motifs has always been fascinating to me. Considering my seemingly innate attraction to this field of study, I began research under the supervision of Dr. XXXX. Dr. XXXX is an organic chemist whose research is focused on the isolation of biologically active small molecules from natural sources such as plants, fungi, and insects. While performing research in the XXXX laboratory, I spent a great deal of time learning about the isolation, purification, and structural determination of organic molecules. My responsibilities included isolating compounds from natural sources via column chromatography, and subsequently purifying by HPLC those compounds displaying putative antimicrobial activity in vivo. I was also responsible for collecting NMR data for lead compounds and helping to elucidate their chemical structure utilizing 2D NMR experiments. Our endeavors resulted in a publication titled XXXXX, which described the isolation and structural determination of the chemical compound lupeol from a novel plant source. Although I thoroughly enjoyed studying under Dr. XXXX, I was very interested in exploring another facet of organic chemistry – synthesis. My interest in organic synthesis eventually led me to the laboratory of Dr. XXXX, whose research interests lie in the synthesis and mass spectral analysis of functionalized thiophene monomers. In the XXXX laboratory, the tools of organic synthesis and mass spectrometry were utilized to probe the relationship between the structure of a compound and its physical properties, such as bond dissociation energy, proton affinity, and collision-induced fragmentation pathway. My responsibilities included synthesizing, purifying, and spectroscopically analyzing a library of thiophene carboxylic acid derivitives. In order to synthesize these compounds, I was taught numerous chemical reactions to generate molecules containing acid-derivative functionalities such as amides, esters, ureas, and carbamates. These reaction schemes provided me an opportunity to learn various synthetic techniques that are uncommonly seen at the undergraduate level, such as organolithium chemistry and air-free synthesis. Once these compounds were synthesized, impurities were removed by recrystallization or distillation techniques. We then confirmed the structure of these compounds by analyzing them via NMR, mass spectrometry, and infrared spectroscopy. I studied with Dr. XXXX for the remaining two years of my undergraduate education. During that time period, I gained a wealth of knowledge and practical experience in the field of organic synthesis, and I learned how to operate analytical instrumentation that is absolutely crucial to performing effective research. Our studies have formed the basis of multiple poster presentations, all of which I presented at regional conferences held by the ACS. Currently, a manuscript is in preparation to be submitted for peer review. Like all good things, my time in the XXXX laboratory eventually came to an end. Graduation came and I was forced to integrate into “the real world.” However, one good thing ended and another began when I was hired by XXXX. XXXX is one of the fastest growing and most well-known biotech companies in the industry today. XXXX specializes in the development and production of human antibody drug candidates against both novel and validated drug targets implicated in diseases such as macular degeneration, dyslipidemia, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis. My job responsibilities at XXXX include the large-scale purification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from genetically modified CHO cell lines. I have been trained to perform various techniques utilized during drug production activities such ligand affinity, anion/cation exchange, and hydrophobic interaction chromatographies, as well as ultrafiltration/diafiltration, drug formulation, and aseptic technique. My time at XXXX has allowed me to experience what working in the biotech industry is really like. In doing so, I have concluded that the biotech industry is undoubtedly the place where I would like to pursue the aspirations of my professional career. However, I feel that my opportunities within the industry are severely limited with my current qualifications. I feel that my current job responsibilities do not challenge me enough intellectually, and by obtaining a graduate education I will be able to acquire a position working in a more mentally demanding environment. The laboratory experience I obtained during my undergraduate research, coupled with my time at XXXX has motivated me to pursue graduate studies in order to one day secure a job that will exploit my curiosity and provide a more suitable and intellectually satisfying work environment. My research interests lie at the interface of synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, and pharmacology. In a broad sense, I want to understand the molecular processes within the cell that contribute to its normal functioning, and how these processes become altered in pathological states. More specifically, I want to utilize the tools of organic synthesis to create molecules capable of probing the function of biological targets. By establishing a thorough biochemical framework of the cell, it will be possible to more efficiently design biologically active molecules, determine new drug targets, and discover novel biochemical markers for the diagnosis of various malignancies. When I first considered exploring the field of drug development, I was interested in small molecule research exclusively. However, the tremendous success of XXXX has broadened my interests to include, drug-biomolecule conjugates, synthetic peptides, and peptidomimetics as areas of considerable interest. A contemporary issue I am interested in is the role of NMDA receptors in the pathology of depression. It has been recently shown that certain NMDA receptor antagonists have profound and rapid onset antidepressant effects. I am interested in the design and synthesis of NMDA receptor antagonists for the treatment of depression, as well as understanding the mechanism of action of these drugs in order to rationally design more effective therapeutic compounds. [School-specific paragraph] Thank you for your time and consideration. I am very excited at the prospect of attending “XXX” University for graduate studies and look forward to your response. Regards, Jakob M. Hebert
  2. Got the rejection letter from Harvard today. Dreams = crushed.
  3. I applied to Yale, MIT, Princeton, Caltech, Harvard, Stanford, UW-Madison, and UNC Chapel Hill. Only one I've heard back from is Princeton and it was a rejection. I'm getting a sinking feeling I'm going to be rejected from all 8...
  4. Thanks for the feedback my friends, greatly appreciated. Do you have any comments about my experience with instrumentation? I feel that it's something virtually zero undergrads have. All of our instruments are brand new, higher end Bruker models.
  5. Hello all, I'm new the forums here, so far I really like them. I'm here to ask some questions. My stats are as follows: BS Biochemistry from a small liberal arts college in NY cum GPA: 3.77 major GPA 3.81 GRE: 157V 158Q 4.5AW Chem GRE: 810 (79%) 2 very strong LOR and one strong LOR Member of 3 national honorary chemistry societies, including the ASBMB honor society, Chi Omega Lambda. Two poster presentations and one publication, also attended a metabolomics workshop put on by Bruker at their headquarters in MA. 3 years research experience, one doing natural products isolation and the other two doing synthetic organic. I am the only student under my advisor and do all hands on work independently in the lab. I have a TON of experience doing air-free synthesis and handling hazardous reagents such as butyl lithium. I also have one-on-one training and 100+ hours personal experience using instruments such as NMR, FT-IR, MALDI, and Q-TOF mass spectrometers. I have two years experience as a tutor for general and organic chemistry. I currently work as a lab hand with my research professor, separate from the research that we do. I have applied to the following for fall 2015 chemistry PhD: Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford Wisconsin-Madison MIT Caltech UNC chapel hill So my question is, any thoughts on my chances of success? I feel confident about everything besides my general GRE scores. Thanks for the feedback everyone!
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