Edotdl
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Posts posted by Edotdl
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5 hours ago, jw2899 said:
Hi everyone,
I'm applying to a few BME/BioE programs in addition to a few medical physics programs so I figured I'd put my profile down here.
Undergrad Institution: Columbia University
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.87 / 4.00
Overall GPA: 3.83 / 4.00
Demographics/Background: White maleI'm currently doing an MS so I'll include it too.
Graduate Institution: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Major: Medical Physics
Graduate GPA: 3.70 / 4.00
GRE Scores:
Q: 166
V: 159
W: 4.0
LOR: 2 solid, 1 good ( I guess?)
Research Experience: 2 years working in MRI, 3 REU's in physics from undergradPublications/Abstracts/Presentations: 1 First-Author Manuscript, 1 Second-Author Manuscript, 1 Sixth-Author in a book chapter
Poster Presentations at 3 conferences
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A fellowship that paid for my master's / a few scholarships along the way
Fellowships/Funding: None
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research Assistant at a cancer hospital for 2 years
Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: I was a national champion wrestler back in high school (probably not too relevant)
Research Interests: MRI (functional applications)
Institutions/Programs:
Harvard-MIT HST (MEMP)
Penn (BioE)
Yale (BME)
Columbia (BME)
Chicago (Med Phys)
MD Anderson (Med Phys)
DKFZ - in Germany (Med Phys)
Comments: My didactic background in biology is a bit weak for bioE/BME programs. I'm hoping my research in cancer imaging can offset that, but I don't know.
Good luck everyone
Having applied and been accepted to a few BME/BioE programs without that much Bio background outside of research, I don't think it'll be a big issue. Profile looks decent.
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I feel like it helps to the extent that the professors will know the letter writer better if they are an alumnus of the school/program. If your letter writers are well known within the field then it should not really matter whether or not they went to the school you're applying to.
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2 hours ago, myhairtiebroke said:
I took one course at the NIH while I was there as a postbac. I plan on entering it into my applications, along with the unofficial transcript. However, it was only one course so my GPA is "0." This won't reflect negatively, right? I feel like admissions committees will understand the situation when they see the transcript (I got an A), and that I was only enrolled for 3 months. However, I'm worried because I've heard programs may automatically reject applications below a certain GPA or GRE threshold, so my application may not even be looked at. Is there any truth to that?
I'm not sure why one course means a GPA of 0. If you are entering the GPA yourself I would just put a 4.0 (or whatever an A is on the grading scale".
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1 hour ago, VoidInColor said:
Just a quick question. For applications that ask for resume, and don't mention a CV, I should submit a resume despite a cv being far more descriptive, right? Or do they really not care that much?
I think I submitted a CV for all my schools, I don't see why they'd care much.
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On 11/1/2016 at 8:57 AM, TakeruK said:
If you absolutely want to play it safe, you can call everyone by their title and last name forever (or until they ask you to use their first names).
This has pretty much been my approach so far, but it's starting to feel awkward sometimes, especially now that I'm a grad student so I'll probably just switch to first names soon...
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I've heard of some profs that will not look at your application unless you've mentioned them in your SOP. Adding a few "customized" sentences is the approach I took and it seemed to work out okay. It should be clear from the rest of your SOP why you want to work with these profs and how their interests relate to yours. Therefore, a few sentences to mention specific names should suffice.
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On 11/10/2016 at 2:05 AM, Neuronophil said:
Undergrad Institution: Top 5 engineering school (US)
Major(s): Bioengineering
GPA in Major: 3.75/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.75/4.00
Demographics/Background: Non-Native English speaker US citizen
GRE Scores:
Q: 162(xx%) (oops! unfortunately I don't have time to retake it)
V: 163(xx%)
W: N/A (yet) (xx%)
LOR: 2 solid, 1 okay
Research Experience: 2 years. Computational biology/neuroscience in 2 labs (including 1 summer)Publications/Abstracts/Presentations:
1 co-author (3rd in a 6 author paper paper in a tier 1 journal. Another journal paper under preparation (co-author). 2 poster presentations.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honors gpa. Deans list 5 semesters.
Summer research award.
An NSF funded scholarship
Multiple school scholarships
Fellowships/Funding: NONE
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Founding member of an undergraduate science club.
Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments:
Research Interests:
Computational and Systems neuroscience/neuroengineering
Institutions/Programs:
Not 100% sure yet but here is a tentative list: JHU, UCB/UCSF, GATech, Wisconsin, CalTech, UCSD,
Comments:
Let me know what you think? Is the GRE going to hurt me bad?
Looks ok, GRE shouldn't matter too much.
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Nothing stands out in particular to me in your application. That's also a lot of schools, if you're actually applying to all of them. IMO Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, Columbia, etc. will be a reach.
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Assuming the breakdown is 170Q/157V you should be ok, given you are international.
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Are you asking what you should say in an email to a professor, for the purpose of being able to "drop" his/her name in your application? You should probably only email professors if you have actual questions or something worthwhile to say. Superficial interactions are unlikely to benefit your application.
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1 hour ago, Franklinisajerk said:
A lot of schools ask for lists of research experience and then have a separate section for a research statement. Does it look weird to list an experience that we don't mention in our statement? I have a variety of different experiences and would prefer to talk about a few in depth rather than all of them shallowly but am not sure if that's the best approach.
Doesn't look weird at all, and is probably expected if you have many experiences or some that are not as relevant.
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I'd say your research is a bit on the light side too. Will you only have one letter from a professor you did research with? I think it's possible to get into top 20, but I would definitely also apply to less competitive programs as well.
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46 minutes ago, cokitty said:
Please let me know what you think!!
Undergrad Institution: Top 50 LAC
Major: Russian
GPA in Major: 3.47
Overall GPA: 3.37
Position in Class: top 25%
Type of Student: Domestic, woman
GRE Scores (revised/old version): Haven't yet taken my GRE. Will take later this month.
Q:
V:
W:
B:
Research Experience:Presented at a conference hosted at my institution
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:University honor society, inducted fall of sophomore year
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:Tutor for 2 years
TA for 1 year
RA for 3 years
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Special Bonus Points: Woman, one of my LOR writers is well-known in the field
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Currently living and teaching in Russia
Applying to Where:- University of Southern California - Slavic Languages and Literatures - Soviet literature/gender studies/translation
- UCLA - Slavic Languages and Literatures - Soviet literature/gender studies/translation
- Northwestern - Slavic Languages and Literatures - Soviet literature/gender studies/translation
- Illinois - Slavic Languages and Literatures - Soviet literature/gender studies/translation
- Berkeley - Slavic Languages and Literatures - Soviet literature/gender studies/translation
- Yale - Slavic Languages and Literatures - Soviet literature/gender studies/translation
Just in case you haven't realized yet, this thread is specific to Biology applications, so you might not get advice specific for Slavic Languages and Literature.
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No one can give you an accurate answer to your chances. However, my guess would be that it would be difficult (ie I would not be surprised if you were not accepted to any top 10 school). That being said, your chances are non-zero (as long as you apply) and I'm sure there have been people that have gotten in with those scores, so just apply if it's what you really want.
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I think it would be helpful if you were more specific about your goals. In general, taking relevant classes or any other experience will be helpful whether during or after undergrad. Is there a reason why you don't think classes after undergrad will help?
There are summer bootcamps in things like machine learning or programming and such, but I don't think that's really sufficient if you're looking to switch from a eg. Spanish major into CS research.
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Yeah programming experience is useful in general, so you should definitely get some experience. However, unless your lab is very computation heavy, it's unlikely you'll be at the level of a software/machine learning engineer.
In general, I find the two areas in industry where a neuro PhD could be applied is AI and pharma/biotech. The former would be suited for computational labs and the latter for more experimental wet lab.
I'm not the familiar with the specific skills needed for the second option but I'd assume it would be along the lines of specific techniques (eg. Crispr as mentioned above.)
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I'd just email her telling her that you took her class a couple years ago and let her know what you've done since then (how your interests developed, etc.). If possible maybe try to tie in how taking her class affected your decision. Then let her know you're planning on applying to PhD programs and you'd like to talk to her about her research or whatever else you want. These types of situations probably aren't that uncommon.
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10 hours ago, Born-to-pipette said:
Perf so pretty much getting an interview at a larger institution is a good indication of admission status, as long as one doesn't screw it up haha
I'd be hesitant to make this generalization. I've seen/heard about large programs with post-interview acceptance rates of 50-95%. I'd generally say if you have at least 3 interviews, then you're very likely to get into at least one.
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Leaving it out is probably a good default option. Although if they will see the information from other materials I don't think it'll matter much
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Yeah I applied to 10 programs and usually chose like 5-6 to list that were the most related. They just use it for statistics and stuff. Some programs also email you when you turn down their offer asking which program you chose over theirs.
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I'll join this thread. I'm on the computational (neuro) side for those of you interested in that. I interviewed at UCSF Neuro, MIT BCS, Caltech CNS, JHU BME, and Berkeley/UCSF BioE last cycle. Feel free to ask me any questions or PM me.
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I'd pretty much agree with what Bioenchilada said.
8 hours ago, DGD4L said:Thanks for the feedback! I'm not sure what I'm going to do about my GRE scores. I know they aren't super important but it definitely isn't a good mark on my application. I have a couple of other schools that aren't ivy that I am looking at. So we will see!
Personally I feel like those GRE scores will hold you back, especially coming from a less well known school. One of the purposes of standardized tests is to act as a benchmark for comparing GPAs from different universities. While getting perfect GRE scores aren't necessary, I feel like you should at least try to get 160+, with 155 being the minimum. It might be a bit late to prepare/retake the GRE at this point though...
7 hours ago, DGD4L said:My PI (obviously) has written me great letters before (for awards and such).
The other professor is one I had for an upper-level microbiology lab that included and independently designed research project. Her and I got closer after working closely with her in this class and she has also written me letters before, so she is familiar with my research.
The last professor I asked is one that is helping me write my honors thesis. I was appointed to her specifically for help on writing and she has become super familiar with everything I am doing.
When I was choosing professors to write me letters, in my head I was thinking this:
I have my PI, who knows my research and me personally, can attest on my performance in the lab.
My professor from lab knows that I can be diverse in the type of lab work I do and adapt.
The professor who is helping me with my thesis will be familiar with my writing and can attest to my communication/writing abilities.
IMO, having 3 letters from PIs that can attest to your abilities in lab is stronger than 3 professors who offer these "different perspectives". However, it seems like these are your strongest letters, so the point is moot.
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I think it depends more on the specific program than the ranking.
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Your application looks good. I'd still list publications in preparation, it might not help but I don't think it'd hurt. You can just put, "in preparation" after it. I think your list looks ok.
What sorts of programs could I target with my profile for CS?
in Computer Science
Posted
I feel like you should be ok, but I also don't have that much experience with MSCS admissions.