Bioenchilada

Also, if it helps, I personally know someone that currently goes to a top 3 school that has lower GRE scores than you and a similar GPA. ;P

I honestly think thay your research experience will most definitely make you an excellent candidate for graduate school in any tier. GRE scores are not really informative of a person's capacity to do research, whereas continuous productive exposure to the field and international presentations show you have a lot of skill.

I got several questions. A) Do you have a lot of research experience? B ) How good do you anticipate your rec letters to be? C) Are you an underrepresented minority? (I guess it's also relevant to ask your school ranking)

I think I can answer this question due to my summer experience there. I'm pretty certain the applications are different to some degree, for example, I know for sure that the SOP varies per program. I know people that have applied to BBS and MCO at the same time ; however, I must point out that I'm VERY sure that the acceptance rate is higher for BBS than any other program. Like, applying to different schools really doesn't increase your chances much, if at all, because every department is looking for different things, and some even have VERY low acceptance rates (I think Neuro was one of these). Some insider information.... once accepted to BBS, or Harvard in general, you can rotate in any lab, meaning that you could work for someone in MCO when accepted to BBS or vice-versa. In fact, it would be ideal to get admitted to the umbrella program given that it'll likely cause less problems if you transfer departments. (This answer is mainly applicable to Ph.D biology applicants, don't know how it works for Public Health).

Would someone be interested in giving me feedback on my SOP? (Preferably to make it shorter)

Did his father write him a rec letter? If not, he might have gotten there on his own merit. Even if he did, which is highly unusual, I don't think being the executive of a chemical company in a capitalist country can have that much leverage when it comes to admission. What I'm trying to say is that, your friend might have been good enough. If everyone needed a 340 on the GRE to get into top schools, the average would indeed be 340. People on these forums tend to overreact about scores when they can only take you so far. An average, as you may know, exists because there is a spectrum of numbers that varies from "low" to very high. If you look at the Stanford Biosciences interviewee pool from last year, you'll see that the lowest scores for both Q and V were 148 and the lowest GPA was 2.89. While it is unlikely that a person with these credentials will get it, this just proves that there is no GRE minimum indeed and that graduate schools actually care about the people that put the time into applying, unlike undergrad. Bottomline is, again, don't diss people that put the time and effort into making connections or were even fortunate enough to be born with connections. At least, by asking you to tutor him, your friend showed that he cared enough to not ride on his father's reputation alone. *Rant ends*

Connections are everything my friend. Then again, networking is an art, not everyone is good at it nor knows who to network with. Also, I would be very careful when underestimating a person just because they have connections. How are you so sure that his/her credentials were average? Maybe he had really good people skills, which can also take you very far. Regardless, the important thing is that he/she made it Yale and if they graduated, that must mean that they were good enough, right?

I think your extensive research experience will set you aside from most of the applicants during this round and you have really good numbers. However, I'm a domestic student so I can't really assess how well you fare when compared to other international students. In terms of school selection, make sure you constructed your list based on fit rather than ranking, it'll be very obvious to the adcoms when you write your SOP. Also, is this for real? (I honestly hope not) "I'm sure these "Bonus Points" and "connections" are those which finally give domestic students the final edge. Someone show me how to get a renowned Harvard scientist back my research skills please? " If so, the only answer is... you work for it.

I can take a look at your SOP, if you're still interested.

I think you have excellent numbers, even for an international student. In terms of school selection, what rationale did you use when choosing? Admission to grad school is mainly based on fit, so if you looked at ranking alone, this is likely to be reflected on your SOP. Do you feel like the research going on at these institutions matches your research and professional interests? What do you mean by "volunteer"? Did you have your own project (s) or when you mainly helping around whomever needed assistance? How much research experience do you have overall? (This is perhaps the most important factor when it comes to admission). Will all of your recommenders comment on your ability to perform research, as in, have they all supervised your work one way or another?

i'd suggest you read the school's websites regarding their admission policies and requirements. For example, Purdue's ECE department states that the minimum GPA required is usually 3.25

Dartmouth and Cornell look for above 310 and 308 combined, although they state that it should be equally distributed among the parts (155 each). Nevertheless, they state that a lower score won't take your app out of the pool. Personally, I think that the GRE cutoff is an outdated practice given that most schools say that they do not use one. PS: I assume that schools like Harvard and MIT also have a similar cutoff.

Is the letter from the other person you're considering going to be better than the one the research director can provide?

You seem to have a fair amount of research experience, so that's good^^ Your science GPA is on the low side for the schools you're applying to. Is there some reason that explains not doing well at first that is worth mentioning in your SOP? Regardless, the research might compensate for that (I guess?) A low GPA also means that more weight might be put on your GREs, so doing well on that will most likely be very beneficial. Is there someone else that can write a rec letter for you besides your professor? Those letters tend to not be super helpful unless: a) The class was very small b ) You interacted with the professor a lot and he can say more than" X student got an A" Finally, what kind of journals were your pubs published in? That's all I have to say for now. Hopefully, that helps. :)

I sent you a PM.

To those of you applying to top schools, I was given some insider information by rather influential and involved people in the admission process about the importance of numbers. The GRE becomes more and more relevant as you GPA decreases; thus, if you have a low GPA (<3.5), doing well in the GRE is almost a must. If you have a high GPA (>3.75), getting an average score won't hurt you that much, if at all. In terms of specific numbers, I can use my own as an example. I got a 155V/159Q/4W and was told that these scores were fine, but I must point out I have a 3.96. As expected, math is more important, so getting a score higher than the 70th percentile should be the goal. I will be applying to graduate school in this round, so I really can't tell you that these scores worked for me; however, this information came from people I had a very good connection with, so they would have told me that my app is shit if it were. Hopefully, this info helps. (Also, I found the attached information on the Stanford biosciences admissions page)

Okay, so I have now taken the GRE and got the following Q: 159 V: 155 W: 4

Yeah, I'm not a very good standardised test taker in general hahaha So, I don't really know if it's worth retaking the test. :/ Also, wouldn't having a rec letter from someone at Harvard make my chances of getting in higher?

Any input on my stats would def. be appreciated hahaha Undergrad Institution: Big 10 SchoolMajor(s): Double Majoring in Cell Biology and GeneticsMinor(s): Anthropology, Biotechnology GPA in Major: 3.9Overall GPA: 3.96Position in Class: Top Type of Student: Domestic Minority (Hispanic) GRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 159 (75%)V: 155 (67%) W: 4 (56%)B: N/AResearch Experience: 6 semesters of research (3 in a pharmacology lab and 3 in cell biology) 6 semester of involvement in HHMI-sponsored research project (SEA-PHAGES). 2 of these were spent as a student (project is actually presented as a research-oriented course) and 4 have been spent peer mentoring. 5th Annual SEA-PHAGES National Symposium Speaker and Poster Presenter Summer internship (SHURP) at Harvard Medical School (BBS) Summer internship (SUIP) at the University of Pennsylvania Oral Presentation (2X) at Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS) Coauthor in research paper published in eLife on HHMI Phage project Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Recipient of multiple competitive (and merit) scholarships at home institution. Recipient of 2 4-year "external" scholarships.Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Peer mentor for HHMI funded project for 4 semesters. Member of selective undergraduate advisory group for the school of biological sciences at home institution. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:Special Bonus Points: I've taken several grad classes at home institution, made connections while doing my internships, and one of my recommenders is famous. I'm also Hispanic and gay, if that helps hahaha Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Don't know (?) Applying to Where:Harvard University- BBS - Cancer BiologyUniversity of Pennsylvania - CAMB -Cancer Biology Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine - Comparative Biomedical Sciences - Once again, cancer biology.

Hey! I'm going to be applying for a couple top Ph.D programs and wanted some feedback on my credentials and potentially my "chances" of getting into the programs I want to. Also, knowing what GRE score I should shoot for would also be helpful. School: Well-known research institution Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic GPA: 3.95 Majors: Cell Biology, Genetics Minors: Anthropology, Biotechnology Research Experience: 6 semesters of research at home institution, 1 summer at UPenn, 1 summer at Harvard Med, 3 national conferences (LANS twice and SEA-PHAGES National Symposium at Janelia Farm), 1 publication from HHMI-funded national research project. Practice GRE score: PowerPrepII Q:163 V:157 LORs: Expect strong letters from PIs at Harvard, Penn, and home institution professor (2 of which that were confirmed to be strong by Harvard PI) Potential grad schools: Harvard Med, UChicago, UPenn, Stanford Med , and Cornell Vet Thanks for your input! (There's a moderate to high chance that I'll take a year off to effectively prep for a joint degree program, but that's a separate issue lol)