Asimio

This thread is truly inspirational. My feelings about graduation studies have been fluctuating like anything over the past few days and this thread made me hit an all time high.

From Dr Might's post: "A subject should be informative, and about 72 characters or less. If the entire email fits in the subject, put it in the subject. If you think that's rude, it's not. If you insist that it's rude, put "Thanks!" in the body. If the email fits in the subject, it takes a click out of processing it, and raises the probability of a reply. (If the recipient gets hundreds of emails per day, clicks add up.) If the email doesn't fit in the subject, the subject should contain the most critical details, such as the date, time and location of a meeting, or the top action item and deadline. For example, don't send "Save the Date" as a subject. Send "Event Title, Save the Date: Date." In short, the subject must provide enough information for the recipient to know how to prioritize and act on an email quickly." So I'd say the former, it makes the subject more specific.

Thank you for asking Andrestoga, I was so embarrassed to ask the same question; thinking I'd get devoured upon asking.

Got it, thanks. I've been reading threads off this forum for the last two days and I've noticed the same university names over and over again. During my initial run through I went through lots of programs by means of their websites, not really looking into faculty much and they all seemed really cool. But coming to specifics, most people in neurosciences seem to only apply to a certain list of top universities. Why is that? There are SO many neuroscience programs, surely there are good fits to be found otherwise. Or is it just that this site usually has only top students posting?

Arg, still no replies? Help us guys!

By labs that you find interesting, what do you mean exactly? I am assuming you read up on faculty and their publications. Is that the case or are there more better ways of finding out if a program is a good fit for you?

I read that faculty is quite fond of recruiting unpaid people willing to work at labs for experience. Is it a good idea to scout out some interesting people and email them asking to work alongside them in the hopes of experience and getting an LOR from them?

Hello everyone! After going through a million threads and seeing the competition out there (you people are super stars!) I want to work up a comprehensible game plan for myself. I'm an international student (I'm from Pakistan, we're on the news a lot) who has done his MBBS in 2012 which is a bachelors in Medicine, bachelors in Surgery degree. I've had quite a disillusioned undergraduate experience with a very sub-par GPA of 2.29. I've systematically readdressed all my major subjects over the last two years and have read a lot in order to find some direction; and with the growing feeling of dissatisfaction towards the practice of modern medicine; I have pretty much decided that the basic sciences are for me. I've even discovered my deep interest in the Neurosciences, I'd love to romanticize further but I'll save that for my personal statement. As for the application process I have some major deficits: - I probably will not be able to produce any strong LORs. - I lack any sort of significant research experience. I only have some experience with clinical research with a couple of low tier publication in local journals. - I simply cannot find a means of making a mid-low tier list of PhD programs that I'd like to apply to, I only find lists of TOP programmes. I'm thinking of not applying for the 2016 session (I keep hearing fall and spring, are there two academic sessions? I only see deadlines ranging in December for neuroscience programs) and in the meanwhile giving my USMLE step 1, GRE, TOEFL and getting attached somewhere with a faculty member who's department I'm interested in. At the same time I've been told be a couple of experienced people that I should apply anyway, with the viewpoint that I may still get into a program. So main questions: 1) Should I bother applying? ($$$= Yikes) 2) If not so, does faculty accept students such as myself to help them out? Will I have to be prepared to work 60 hours+ per week without pay? (I am willing to do so) 3) Advise on the whole plan?