Bioenchilada

Your GPA and GRE are pretty good, those are not the reason. Who is writing your letters? If you are confident that the letters are great, my only suspicion would be a weak SOP, especially with the amount of experience you have. Who has given you feedback in the past?

Your GRE is fine. Your amount of research experience is okay, I wouldn't classify it as lots-unless you're talking about full-time research. Will your letters be strong? Idealy, you want to have three PI's vouche for you since the person is supposed to assess your research capabilities.

I guess if you wanted someone to "chance you", your GPA is kind of on the low-side. Who's writing your rec letters? How many years of experience do you have? What's your GRE score? Have you considered taking the subject test? Also, you'll need to have a great SOP, but that applies to every school you apply to lol

It's your money, so if BBS is a program you're really interested in, you should apply, though you should look for more people to potentially work with since 1 person is just not enough. 5 people is a good baseline number, and people typically list 3 in their app.

I agree with what the user abover said. You have a strong application, but you should aim for at least the 75th percentile on the GRE. UPenn's cancer research, especially in immunology, is just as strong and competitive as Harvard's, so it'll be just as difficult to get into any of the two.

I'd say find at least 5 people you want to work with.

In terms of my program, I am incredibly happy with the opportunities that I have available at UPenn. There is so much interesting research and faculty doing research in my area of interest, and every professor has been incredibly nice! In my opinion, doing research in a different city can make a HUGE difference. I did my undergrad in Indiana and the differences between that and Philly are extraordinary. There is so much going in Philadelphia ( historical sites, clubs and bars, LOTS of restaurants, various universities, etc...), so you'll always have some way to spend your spare time. PhD programs are renowned for being incredibly difficult and there will be lots of frustrating times, so it's good to know that you have options to clear your mind. I think you could get a similar educational experience, quality-wise, at MANY places, but the environment and people will make a difference in the quality of your life while you're there. For example, in my case, Cornell had been my dream school for a rather long time since a part of me had always wanted to be a veterinarian. I got into their PhD program within the vet school and they had offered me the most competitive financial package by FAR; however, even though there were professors I would have happily worked for there, I really couldn't see myself being in another rural campus for 5+ years. TL;DR: Research fit is one of the most important things, but keep in mind that you are not an emotionless machine and that the environment and the people you surround yourself with during your PhD will ultimately play a HUGE role in how good your experience is.

I don't think the actual name of the sub-division matters much since most umbrella programs let you rotate with anyone within the overall program. So, you should check if that's possible with your programs of interest. At UPenn, at least, you can rotate with anyone with an appointment to CAMB or BGS. Also, if the faculty member doesn't have an appointment to BGS, you could even request them to be given one if the research aligns with the program's. (You should check if this is possible at other schools)

I think it depends on the strength of the program.

Based on the schools you're applying to, you might as well apply to Harvard and MIT(etc..), since I feel that people associate those schools with ultra competitiveness while applying to schools that are just as hard to get into for graduate school (i.e Yale, Princeton, UCSF, Columbia). In terms of how to shorten your list, you should only have schools that you would TRULY be satisfied going to, even with respect to name recognition. Ps: Also, the fact that you're applying to Penn State and not UPenn

I think your GRE is good and you have plenty of research experience, so you should be able to write a good SOP. Your GPA is kind of on the lower side for these schools, the rest of your package might compensate for it. Does the small class professor actually know you well? Also, your list is pretty long. I'd recommend taking like 5 schools out. How did you come up with that list?

Also, grad admissions are very different from undegrad, so it's difficult to separate them ito tiers. I know plenty of people that got into reach schools but got rejected by "safeties" because of fit, essentially. However, if you're going to try to rank schools, use funding sources (NIH/NSF) as a parameter since competitive schools tend to have more resources. You can also take a lot at the NRC/PhD.org rankings for your desired subfield and maybe even US News, if enough data is available in your subfield, to pain a somewhat clearer picture; however, take these as a grain of salt. This is where you look more at strength of departments and divisions and ignore previous conceptions of competitiveness. For schools that have medical campuses tied to grad programs and hospitals nearby, look at how good these hospitals are in your specialty and how much funding they have (also something you can mention in your SOP).

I looked up the structure of their program specifically, minority resources and devotion to diversity, amount of professors in my field of interest, surroundings, etc. My case is not the norm since I had personal or professional ties to half of the schools I applied to, so I had plenty of things to talk about given my experience with the school and/or the research being conducted. I got rejected by most of the schools I didn't have some form of tie to since I either applied for the reputation and then found out the school was a horrible fit when I went to interview , or just because it was an amazing school and the application fee was waived lol

Do you have a preliminary list of schools? Also, if you need help crafting your SOP, I can help out, if you'd like.

With regards to the school selection, I'd go either with public schools that have a lot of resources (i.e UC-Berkeley) or private schools. I'm certain you'll be fine number-wise. Regarding your research experience, I think that two years is moderate amount and how much working in one lab helps you depends on the picture you paint on your statement of purpose. If you think about it, you have approximately two pages of space to talk about your research exposure. If you've only worked on one project, how much of that space will be you talking about your research vs. fluff. Again, only you know how much you can elaborate on your work, I just think it will be rather difficult to not become overly repetitive or go into unnecessary details. Another concern is, who will be writing your rec letters? Will two of them come from instructors that only know you in a class-setting, or some form of non-research advisor?

I think you have a very strong application for any school you apply to, especially if you decide to apply to cancer biology programs. As long as your LORs are great and and you write a convincing SOP explaining why you fit into X or Y program, you' should get plenty of interviews. My only concern is that you seem to have too many schools in your radar, the ideal range in my opinion is from 7-8. Make sure that you're not applying only for name recognition, which is easy to do. If you can't prove to the admissions committee that you're actually a good fit for a school and not just riding on a reputation, you'll get rejected. Avoid writing a generic school-specific paragraph at all cost. Also, the way you ranked the schools in your list, especially if talking about cancer biology or cancer immunology, is rather funky. I'd say that any top 10 program is a "reach", regardless of your credentials haha

I mean, they're no better than Stanford for your field haha I encourage you to apply; however, don't do so if you're only doing it for the reputation. Fit is critical when it comes to PhD admissions, so a person with a "perfect" profile will still be rejected if they don't fit with the program.

You are right in the sense that the best science tends to happen at elite institutions. And, if you're going down the academia path, where you get your training--along with who trains you-- is rather relevant. I don't know much about Bioinformatics programs, but maybe MIT, Harvard and JHU are really good for that (?). Though, maybe you should look into schools with really good funding as well and check the research going on.

You seem to have pretty good chances given your amazing credentials. As long as your rec letters are great, and mainly come from PIs, and your SOP is good, you should get plenty of interviews Are you focusing mainly on California schools? Also, are you going applying to BME PhD programs?

Seems like you're in really good shape! Make sure your SOP is great, and you'll be set

How many years of research experience do you have?

Haha I think you'll be fine. Which schools are you planning to apply to?

I don't think they'll average both GPAs out but the amount of damage it can have on your app is dependent on the kinds of courses you took. Honestly, it'll range from minimal to moderate, if the courses you took were all relevant to your major and desired field of stuy.

You should definitely mention them since those projects probably shaped you professionally and helped you get to where you are.

I would try to mention anything that you got something out of and/or helped you grow as a scientist or a person. Edit: Of course, if you didn't get a LOR from the PI or talk about something you did in high school extensively, it'll raise some eyebrows.