floatingmolecule

Wow, I don't even know where to start! Thanks for all your input guys! So, number one priority: Improve those GRE scores, make them perfect enough for a place like Cornell and all the other private institutions you guys have been so kind to mention. Secondly: Get more research experience, preferably as a research tech. Only question I have here is: Is it that easy for internationals to just get a tech job in the States? Isn't that the type of position preferably filled by qualified citizens? Thirdly: Try to get ouside funding, preferably after contacting a professor willing to mentor me and drawing up a research proposal. AND I don't seem to need teaching experience or publications. Next year might be my year after all, especially if I manage to secure a tech position and ace those GREs! Cpt Jo: Thank you for your suggestion, but I have been in Europe for a while now and am beginning to feel very alienated (my family is living in North America). It pains me that I cannot take a cheap Greyhound trip to see them during the holidays, especially since my mother is no longer so healthy. I do not think I could commit myself to another 5 years here, away from everyone I love.

Thanks! Now that I am facing utter rejection this year and a repetition of the whole process in the months to come, I realize that I should have come here a long time ago. Lol. For next year, I will definitely do some more extensive investigation and try to find departments that might actually be able to accommodate me. As an international, I can't afford to just "apply and hope for the best". Look where it got me!

Interesting. I was initially "scared off" by the extremely competitive reputation of private universities, but in the end I would have had better chances if I'd applied there instead? I kept seeing people rejected from some of these programs with very high GRE scores and even publications. It did not inspire me to give those institutions a chance, due to the limited funds I have for application fees. Are there any private universities you would recommend? (Just in general - of course I'd still have to see if the program fits)

Thank you. As long as I am paid a stipend that enables me to survive, I am very willing to do internships. I don't, however, have a Visa and do not live in the US. Is it easy for a non citizen to get tech jobs? I am not with the military either.

I applied to public universities because I only had limited funds for application fees. I did not figure I had a shot getting into a private uni since they tend to be more competitive. My lack of pubs etc. and lower GRE would not have worked in my favor. I knew that state institutions accepted less internationals but I was hoping the chance would be slightly higher than what awaited me with the private alternative.

That is another very good tip - for next year, I should try contacting advisors very specifically and asking them if they were willing to take me on. If I narrow down my choices to a few that actually want to mentor me, I can probably apply for funding in advance and secure my acceptance without having to play the waiting/chance game. It is probably no where near as simple as it sounds, but it is one more angle that I can take to be more successful next year. Thank you.

Yes, I agree, the GRE needs a retake! I am already practicing the quant section in preparation for next year. The GPAs I listed are for my undergrad and the current status of my master's degree. I will be done my master's in August, which means I can find other opportunities to add to my resume. Is it easy for an international to find research tech jobs in the US? I can work over my SOP again and have some more people look at it - certainly can't hurt! Thank you for your advice. What do you think of my idea to teach English to acquire teaching experience?

Thank you very much. This is probably an excellent idea - to look into forms of external funding that (if secured), will make me a much more attractive applicant. I have looked into it in the past, but a preliminary check of requirements (like an extensive research proposal - how on earth do I write one if I am applying to various unis, each with a slightly different program, and have not even secured a lab, never mind an actual topic for my thesis?) turned me off the idea. This was probably a big mistake. I will take a second look! Thank you very much for your suggestions. Yes, finding an actual job in my field with my credentials (a master's degree in biology) is ridiculously hard. I was not surprised that Forbes magazine listed my degree as one of the top five most useless master's degrees to strive after. Employers consider you "indecisive" - not bold enough to face the workforce with a BSc and not driven enough to go for the PhD. You are lucky if someone overlooks your over-qualification and grants you a position usually given to those with an undergraduate degree.

Do you finance yourself through a job or savings? I will be trying again next year and rethinking my flaws and room for improvement. Maybe I will have better luck then.

GRE: 163 (V) 155 (Q) and 4.0 (V) Not the best, so I am retaking it. I will definitely take your advice on asking for feedback - perhaps someone will reach out to me and offer some suggestions for improvement. My schools were all public middle and lower tier institutions, as I was wary of spending precious application fees on universities that were too prolific and selective when it came to applicants. I also had 5 letters of reference - three of them from faculty, two from professional sources, all of them very strong. One letter is from the professor who is currently advising me on my thesis and it was a very positive recommendation. I did reach out to faculty in each of my top three schools, but aside from a lab tour, an interview and a brief indication of interest from one prof, I never heard anything further. My personal statement was reviewed by a number of people (including faculty, business owners and a marketing director responsible for hiring people) and was revised several times. I can let it go through the wringer again, but I doubt it was responsible for my downfall. Is it possible that my GRE is solely the cause behind the lack of interest? Or could it be that they disliked me after meeting/interviewing me? If that is the case...... oh dear.

I didn't apply to them because I am quite impoverished and only had a limited source of funds at my disposal for application fees. I observed that the typical candidate being accepted by private institutions had more illustrious credentials than I (publications, conferences and awards) and so I figured that it was safer to place my bet on middle and lower tier public universities that offered full funding for those in need in case of acceptance. I chose those institutions that had interesting programs that would make a great fit and hoped for the best. It seems my wager did not pay off, as I have not received a single acceptance. Do you receive internal or external funding?

I have often wondered how my target universities would have reacted to me had I come packaged with external funding. The institutions I applied to are all "state" universities, since I did not have the publications, prizes or conference experience to make me competitive enough for most private schools. I imagine that my lack of funding plays a large role in their lack of enthusiasm to accept me, since it is much cheaper to accept American students in a similar position.

So, now that March has arrived without a single acceptance, I have to consider the very real possibility that I will be rejected everywhere and not be starting my PhD this fall. Since I cannot rely on any information from the schools in question as to why I was not selected, I will have to theorize on those possibilities myself and figure out a way to make my application more competitive for next year. From what I have gathered, as an international student I am already at a significant statistical disadvantage and have to conceive of a solid plan that will let me stand out from the rest. I have: A master's degree come end of the summer (Undergrad and current grad GPA is 4.0) Volunteer experience (including research abroad) An internship Over a year of research experience Employment experience, albeit in a remotely related field I don't have: Real teaching experience Publications Conference experience Scores in the late 160s or 170 in GRE I was thinking of doing a few months abroad teaching English to strengthen my application and taking online courses in programming to add to my skills. I will retake the GRE to get even higher scores. But how do I fortify myself in the areas of publications and conferences? My current research is "in progress" and I have no idea whether or not it will amount to results worthy of publication or presentation at a conference. As far as applications for next year are concerned - perhaps I should apply for master's leading to PhD programs? Will that increase my chances? Any ideas that might further help me? I have a year to fill and want to make the most of it.

@LYJ (Sorry, the "quote" function isn't working on my computer at the moment) You are international too, so you are probably dealing with the same problems that I am facing. Every program I applied to indicated that only a small number (if any) international students will be accepted.... it is perhaps, a consolation to know that we are dealing with a much more competitive selection process, BUT, it does not change the fact that complete rejection means a further year of stalling, waiting and going through everything all over again. I am sorry that you have had to deal with 10 rejections - I have only had one and it stung badly enough. I hope that your last school is just waiting on funding or something else less ominous and that you will get an acceptance this year. Let's (continue) to keep our fingers crossed.

Yes, the complete silence leaves too much room for speculation. At least "we have no idea" tells you: You can still dream, everything is possible, whereas complete silence has me oscillating from "they want you, but have to wait on funding", to "they might want you, but you aren't a top choice" to "you're just another statistic on the rejection mailing list" to "they think you are so worthless they forgot about you". The rollercoaster goes from an absolute high to a low in a matter of minutes and it makes me feel terrible. I can't heal from the rejection or properly feed on my hope or do anything, really, except carry this anxiety around with me wherever I go. To think, at the beginning of the year, I was hardly thinking about the status of my applications, figuring I'd know most of the answers by the time February rolled in. And now? The first thing I do every morning is check for notifications and come here.

Some of the schools I applied to conduct interviews for which I was not invited. There is no indication that there is more than one round of interviews (one school explicitly lists its interview dates), so I fail to understand why those not invited were not rejected immediately? If they already have a wait list, what do they need the rest of us for? As an international applicant I am likely facing even more complications, due to the preference of domestic or in-state students and the higher degree of funding required to sustain me. I wonder if these elements are prolonging the wait as well? It is so agonizing to think I might just be on some mailing list that gets a round of rejections sent out come March/April, without any further word, because I wasn't even important enough for an update. It is strange how initially some of the schools showed interest, requesting further references, telling me I am under consideration and then, all of a sudden, fell silent, not even bothering to reply when I wrote them a message. I still hope and dream that maybe I still have a chance, but every week that passes seems to deflate that possibility.

That is just it. I don't have a single acceptance, not even a waitlist! So all this waiting seems like a river flowing towards impending doom - it seems the longer it takes, the infinitely closer I get to the abyss without ever really reaching anything but an exponential level of crazy.

I have the same problem as you guys. There have been no visible acceptances on the results page, but there were rejections and wait lists. I was told that there is no decision regarding my application yet. Since I am international, I hope this is simply a question of funding availability and holding out for American applicants. I hope. And hope. AND HOPE!!!!

I had an interview almost two months ago and am still being reviewed. :/ I just don't know what to believe anymore.

Thanks guys. I was just very confused when I saw that one of the people waitlisted had a far lower GPA and GRE scores than I did. I am still confused, but at least I know that everything is still possible.

What exactly is under review? Does that make me worse off than a person on the waitlist......that they aren't sure if I'm good enough to be waitlisted and might be flat out rejected instead?

What if you've already had an interview? Does that change things?

Does anyone know when UBC sends out it's offers for biology related programs? When I visited one of the labs, the professor told me that in that particular lab, they start considering new graduate students in the early summer!

Others in the program have been rejected or waitlisted, but I was merely told that a decision had not been reached about my application. Is that another way of saying "you are waitlisted"? I have not seen any acceptances yet.

When I'm on the road, I check my phone at least every hour. Here at school, I have my email permanently open in the browser, along with Grad Cafe to check for any new incoming results. Bad, bad, bad.