[2019 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Has anyone applied to the Francis Crick Institute and heard back from potential supervisors yet?

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

18 hours ago, Crucial BBQ said:

Yeah, I heard all of this too.  I also have a low uGPA with great research and volunteer (directly related to field) experiences.  I did not publish while in UG, nor did I run my own lab--both of which I assume will be huge advantages for you, but I did also receive stellar LORs.  First time through the application cycle I was denied by five programs and waitlisted by one... ...only to ultimately be denied by that one, too.  Second year, applied to 7 programs and was denied by all seven.  I was in contact with a PI at one of those programs and I had thought for sure I was in as he practically all but said it.  Third cycle/year/attempt I had applied to five programs, including to the same lab/PI I had just previously mentioned.  Was denied by four but was accepted into that PIs lab.  

Each time, with each rejection, I had contacted the program director to see if I could find out where in my application I may have been delinquent with the hopes of arming myself with that knowledge for the next cycle.  My SOPs were good, LORs were good, experiences were good, GRE scores good enough, and so on.  Turns out, it was my low GPA that caused the rejections.  

It's really hit or miss, though.  Some will say that a well-written SOP, good LORs and UG research experience are enough to overcome a low uGPA.  Others, will tell you otherwise.  There is truth to both and it really depends on the department, who's looking to take on students that particular year, and on and on.  Luck plays a role in all of this, too.  

 

*edit to add*

I've been a member around here for five years or so.  If history bears any evidence, this thread will get swamped with bio undergrads looking at neuroscience programs, immunology, oncology, and a few other programs more-or-less related to a medical field.  Competition in these areas is intense, in particular when compared to other fields of biology such as marine bio, micro, ecology, and a few others.  Not to discourage anyone from applying, though, and I am wishing everyone good luck.  

Really sorry about your tough application experience - I'm glad you're finally in a great program you're happy with!

I agree that it's pretty much a hit-or-miss with the low GPA/great experience combo. Even though I like to think I have great experience (plus a first author Nature pub, whoop), I held off applying because I know that my GPA (~3.4) is a huge turn off for competitive institutions. I settled for applying to a top 1 year MS program, but even then I expected rejection. Happy to report that I will be attending the program - I can only hope it'll boost my chances next cycle. 

I guess I've been lucky so far, but I still fully expect to receive a good number of rejections when I apply next cycle as well.  However, from professors and students alike, I always hear that experience trumps GPA. I myself personally value things like previous (and relevant) research and graduate level experiences waaaay more than a mid to high GPA. GPAs are supposed to be indicators of graduate school success, after all. If you've effectively shown great potential in other ways, I can't imagine it would be an impossible obstacle with adcoms - maybe not easy to swallow, but still not impossible. 

But again, as you've said, it's a hit-or-miss. I still strongly believe that if you really want that PhD, and if you work hard enough, you'll land an acceptance. 

 

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

On 7/23/2017 at 10:45 PM, BabyScientist said:

I think you should look into applying to some lower tier schools. Your research experience is impressive, but I've heard that schools like Harvard, etc filter out people with less than a certain GPA (3.5, I think) before even looking at the rest of the application.

@BabyScientist While top schools like Harvard do tend to admit students with relatively high GPAs, there's never a GPA cutoff unless it is clearly stated on their website/application. Grades are almost always secondary to research experience and LORs. 

@ThinkA Your research experience, publication record, TAship and graduate course experience are attractive to many graduate programs and prove that you can thrive in a Ph.D. environment despite your undergraduate GPA. Study hard for that GRE so that the only blemish on your application is your transcript.

That said, it would serve you well to look at some lower-tier schools. With just three schools on your list (all extremely competitive) you're at great risk for disappointment this cycle.  

Also, although it's not exactly a "lower tier" school, NYU Sackler has a great biophysics program. 

Good luck!

[Chemistry Supervisor in Biology PhD program?]

Thanks for all the advice @Eigen and @TakeruK! I guess I'll just ask the PI about the feasibility/requirements of working in a chem lab as a biology PhD student. I was just worried that he made me the offer without really thinking the logistics through, which would screw me since working in that lab is a major reason for me considering that institution. Hope it works out. 

 

 

[Chemistry Supervisor in Biology PhD program?]

It's a US program. The supervisor already reached out to me and was hoping I'd join his lab as a PhD student. I've published with their lab before. The idea was for me to work on the molecular biology/biophysics side of things while the rest of the lab does the complimentary hardcore chem stuff. I thought that it was weird for him to make that offer knowing that I'm primarily a biology person, but he's a department head so I assumed he could make it work. Now I'm not too sure. 

Would it be possible for me to have him as a co-supervisor along with another biology PI? There's already an ongoing collaboration between their labs.

 

 

[Chemistry Supervisor in Biology PhD program?]

Is it possible for a biology PhD student to have a supervisor from a chemistry department? My academic background is in biology/biochemistry, but most of my research has been in chemistry/biophysics. I don't plan on pursuing a PhD in chemistry, but the institution I'll likely do my PhD at doesn't have a formal biochemistry track (just biology or chem), and the PI I'd like to work with is a hardcore chem person. 

Does anyone have experience working with other departments during their PhD? I'm mostly worried about how funding would work or if it's even possible. 

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

2 hours ago, somino42 said:

I am quite nervous for applying this year! First time, ahh! I need some help deciding whether the schools I am applying to are too much of a reach. My GPA is my only low point but I have attempted to mitigate it with my GRE and post-bacc classes I took at the graduate level with incoming first years at my uni. 

Undergrad Institution: Big 10 School
Major(s): Bio with Neuro emphasis 
Overall GPA: 3.22 (last 2 semesters 4.0, struggled first 2 years with straight 3.0-3.2 f-jr) 
Type of Student: domestic, white woman
 

5

Your situation is pretty similar to mine. I also have a relatively low GPA but great research experience. I run my own division in a lab independently and have published as first author. Also have the glowing LORs from famous PIs yadda yadda. I'm not applying this season, but honestly in my experience (and according to all the advice I've received thus far), what you offer in terms of research experience, publication record and dedication to research is way more valuable than someone with a high GPA and "decent" research experience (i.e. most applicants). I'm not in neuroscience so my perspective may not be the best suited here, but I think you have a decently balanced list of schools, maybe leaning towards the more competitive end.

Knock that SOP out of the park and you stand a great chance. 

[NSF/NIH (External Funding) Questions]

I mean, despite the prestige the GRFP comes with, that pay cut kinda sucks. I thought it would at least supplement my funding, either for research or stipend. I guess there's little to no financial benefit that comes with the grant. 

How are schools expected to come up with other funds? Why does the NSF require this? I thought NSF just pays the grant money to the university and then they decide how that's distributed over the student's tuition/stipend/research/department funding.

[NSF/NIH (External Funding) Questions]

Yeah, smaller pay cut than I expected but I'm assuming the prestige pays off in the long run, career-wise. Thanks for the advice!

I've seen a good number of people on this forum receive these fellowships - how competitive are they exactly? Is it enough to have a well thought out and interesting proposal? I have a good pub track record and good connections - does that help at all?

[NSF/NIH (External Funding) Questions]

So I'm looking to apply for either the NSF or NIH grant for PhD studies (commencing in Fall 2019; yes I might be a little early in thinking about this). I was wondering how the grant works exactly. Do they fund the student directly (i.e. stipend) or the institution (to cover the cost of research/tuition)? Is this added to the original/base student stipend or is that decreased if the student receives the grant? What are the other benefits of receiving either grant (besides becoming a more attractive PhD candidate to grad schools)?

Thanks!

[How far does a first author pub get you in grad apps?]

11 hours ago, bioapplerobot said:

I think it will help your application tremendously. I went into the 2017 application season with a 3.36 GPA, below average GRE for first or second tier program, but a ton of research and a 1st author publication in a much lesser journal than Nature. And now I'm headed to BCM, almost purely off the back of my research and publication. I had easily the worst stats of anyone at my interviews (at least who I spoke with), and two separate faculty told me that my research/first-author publication got me an interview over my "middling" GPA and GRE.

Congratulations! Hope I'm lucky enough to follow your footsteps. Like you, I feel like I have everything else going for me aside from my grades (3.37). But I'm lucky enough to have had amazing mentors and PIs who supported me throughout my years of research and continue to do so postgrad. 

[How far does a first author pub get you in grad apps?]

thank you! I'm just psyched that my hard work finally paid off. my grades aren't spectacular, only because I dedicated so much time to research since it was way more interesting and intellectually stimulating to me than lecture-based classes. my LORs reflect this as well.

i'm off to Imperial College to complete a masters by research in my field. i'm hoping that, along with my publications, will give me a good chance at some of my dream programs. 

[How far does a first author pub get you in grad apps?]

I'm about to publish my undergraduate thesis in Nature as first author (so grateful and happy!). I'll likely get another first author publication out of my project by the end of the year, likely lower IF. I know it doesn't make me a shoo-in for PhD programs, but how far could this take me if I apply to competitive programs in my field (Rockefeller, GSK, UCLA, MIT)?

[How well does a UK Masters hold up for US PhD programs?]

3 hours ago, Concordia said:

Imperial is one of the very top universities in the U.K., and there are plenty of people who don't get any MA before going on to PhD programs.  Shouldn't be a problem-- just do well and get a good recommendation.

If you go to Quora.com, one of the more active contributors on science grad schools did his master's at Imperial before moving to MIT.  See what advice he can give about making good use of your time there.

Thanks so much! Do you happen to know this contributor's name on Quora?

[How well does a UK Masters hold up for US PhD programs?]

So I recently graduated with a BS in biology and minor in chemistry from a top US institution. I'm headed to Imperial College London for a Masters of Research in Chemical Biology with the intention of returning to the US for a PhD in a similar field.

I'm worried that my ICL degree, however, won't hold up well in PhD applications, either because of lack of name recognition or the fact that it's from an overseas institution. I ultimately chose Imperial because they have one of the few labs working in the field I'm interested in, as well as to show that I can be successful in a graduate school environment (read: compensating for my 3.37 GPA). The UK MRes degree is well structured and suited to my interests in that it consists of 80% research (plus they're only a year long), but now I'm starting to think that I'm making a mistake.

Does anyone have any insight on this type of situation? Not sure what to do.

[UCL, KCL or ICL for Biophysics/Biochemistry]

Okay, never thought I'd be lucky enough to be in a position to choose between these three universities (Masters of Research), but here I am. 

All these programs are extremely similar in structure and have faculty members I'd be interested in doing research with. I really can't seem to choose a program. Can anyone offer any insight? I'd really appreciate it!

 

 

[How far can a recommendation take me?]

47 minutes ago, Eigen said:

Everything in your application balances together. Some are more important, and some less- i.e., a good recommendation and research experience is more important than grades and GRE scores, up to a point. There are minimum GPAs and GRE scores that it's really hard to recover from. 

The other thing to remember is that it's a competitive process. Having 3 fantastic letters (one won't really do the trick) will help attenuate low GPA, but there are people who will be applying that have both 3 fantastic letters and good GPAs. 

This is also going to depend a lot on the country, I'd imagine- I'm answering mostly for US institutions, but if I remember some of your past posts, you're looking for UK masters degrees? That's an entirely different game. 

 

Thanks for the advice! I believe that all my letters are excellent, with this one in particular really standing out (literally cried when I read it; the professor is also an alumnus of my top choice university). I have a lot of research experience (w/ 1 pub and an honors thesis), a great PS and a strong upward trend. The only thing getting me down is my overall unimpressive/subpar GPA (I elaborated on some mitigating circumstances in my PS). 

Yeah, I'm currently looking into UK masters degrees. I only received one offer so far. Not sure how much emphasis there is on the "whole" application with those institutions, but I, at the very least, meet their academic requirements for entry. That's about all I can tell. 

[How far can a recommendation take me?]

Curious as to how much impact recommendation letters have at the graduate level. I know that one of my references (research mentor for the past 3 years) wrote me an absolutely amazing recommendation - but I'm not sure how much this will offset some of the "sub-par" aspects of my application (i.e. GPA).  Anyone ever in a similar situation and can offer me some insight? Thanks!

[UK Universities for Biology Research]

Thanks! 

[UK Universities for Biology Research]

I'm stuck deciding between UCL, KCL and Imperial for a research program (Masters of Research) in Biology (specifically biochemistry/biophysics). I've looked at the current projects/faculty research at each university and find all of them interesting. I can't really decide which program I should go with. Can anyone with a biology background offer insight on any of these universities? I'd really appreciate it!

[If I knew then what I know now]

How early should I begin the PhD application process (i.e. reaching out to professors/schools, preparing a research proposal)?

 

[Risky to get creative with a personal statement?]

18 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

I would say that yes, it is certainly more risky to submit a creative statement instead of a "traditional format". But it's not impossible. One of my friends submitted a photo essay and that didn't seem to stop them from getting in to top ranking programs. They applied to a scientific field too, nothing to do with photography. To me, that is too much of a big risk when I can go with the boring, sure thing. 

I didn't think a narrative structure would be "not traditional". I actually thought a narrative is the typical way people write these statements! To be clear, by "narrative", I don't mean telling a creative story but just telling my life story. As in, "First I did A and I learned B and achieved C. Then I chose to do Project D because of Reason E and I achieved F and learned G. etc. Finally, I want to study H at your University so that I can learn I and work in J." To me, this is a narrative because I'm telling the reader about what I did in undergrad and why I made the decisions that I had made.

To avoid cliches, I would recommend avoid embellishments and irrelevant details. Think of this as a piece of academic writing and just state the facts. Generally, you don't want to use adjectives and adverbs unless they are required to specify what you are talking about. So, you would use adjectives like "mass spectrometer" or "10-m telescope" but I wouldn't write things like "exciting project". If you find your text too dry after finishing it, then you could go back and add adjectives if you'd like. I think this is a better approach if you are worried that you will be too cliche/have too many descriptors. That said, it is okay if your statement is boring and dry, in my opinion. Profs are going to read this one after another, and they are going to scan it to look for key details. Don't spend too much time trying to create the most perfect analogy or metaphor because they are likely going to miss it. Make it easy for them to find your key qualifications by just stating them upfront.

One month is a good amount of time to work on it. I think you can actually do all of the writing you need to do in just a few days. However, the longer timeline is helpful to get feedback from other people. 

 

Thank you! I like the idea of approaching it as a piece of academic writing and then adding embellishments as needed. Yeah, following a timeline is important. By creative, I meant using anecdotes/interesting language or playing with form altogether. But I feel like the work put into a creative personal statement doesn't match the payoff if a traditional one is generally good on its own.

[Risky to get creative with a personal statement?]

8 minutes ago, BigThomason51 said:

It's possible, but make sure you get it reviewed A LOT. So try your best to get the first draft done as soon as possible, and then have as many people as you can review it and provide feedback. The original draft of my personal statement took a complete 360 after all my reviews, so I think it's imperative you get fresh eyes to view it.  I know it's going to be harder with your one-month deadline, but you said it yourself; you're a great writer. So work extremely hard to get the first draft and then find people to look it over. 

 

Will do! I don't think I could send it out to more than a couple professors and my research mentor (who is writing me an LOR), but I hope that'll be enough. I'm also hoping that my LOR will make me stand out if my personal statement doesn't, since I know that it should be amazing (he's also an alumnus of the university I'm applying to).

I know this is off topic, but how much do LORs matter in the grand scheme of things? Can it make or break an applicant?

[Risky to get creative with a personal statement?]

6 minutes ago, ThousandsHardships said:

Are you talking about the personal statement or statement of purpose? Those are typically different statements. The statement of purpose (SOP) would be the one that most schools require, and only some schools require a personal statement (sometimes referred to as a personal history statement).

For the statement of purpose, focus on your background and experience. This isn't a place to give anecdotes or talk about personal difficulties. Treat it as a combination of a CV and cover letter. Your interests should be grounded in experience. One technique that I found super helpful was to start with a description of a research project I did. I got the idea from a friend's SOP (said friend got into 5 out of the 6 top schools she applied to). Using her approach as a guide, I briefly summarized the most memorable research project I did, explaining the topic, my approach, my discoveries (using some jargon in the process) and how this project led me to eventually find my research interests. In the next paragraphs, I then backstepped a little to talk about my general background in the discipline, specific background in my subfield, and I wrapped up my statement with a conclusion that talks about what I'm currently doing with my life as well as my career aspirations for the future.

For the personal statement, you can talk a bit more about your personal experiences, but the general idea is that yes, clichés are bad. I've had to completely rewrite my personal statement about four times before my recommenders were satisfied with it. What ultimately got me on the right track was when my professor told me to treat it like a mini intellectual autobiography. Basically, don't include random things that have nothing to do with your academic trajectory. And make it flow nicely. If you have had any difficulties or questionable parts in your application, this is the place to talk about it. But don't make it a sob story or give excuses. Rather, it's better to focus on the steps that you've taken to address these issues, how these difficulties have helped you along the way, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you want to incorporate a narrative structure. Do what feels most natural to you. I think it's safer to make it more traditional. Honestly, though, I've discovered that the best statement is simply one that doesn't go overboard trying to prove something or hide something. Stick to the truth and the rest will come. You don't need to describe how interested you are with elaborate adjectives, nor do you need to tell the school that you believe you're competent. Show them directly by describing your projects, experiences, and insights. Oh, and don't forget to research the schools and show them why you're a good fit (e.g. faculty whose research is in your subfield, organizations and workgroups specifically dedicated to your area).

By the way, since you're talking about narrative...I should mention that I was super upset when told I'd have to overhaul my third draft of my statement. I was having such writer's block and didn't know how to start or what to say, and so I just decided, hey, why not go out on a limb and try a poetic style? Well, that lasted for about three sentences. My end result was a completely normal statement, but it helped me get over the writer's block and identify a connecting point for all the random stuff I had to say. Cool story, eh? 

 

Thank you so much! All of this is excellent advice. The program I'm applying to isn't a PhD, so they are only asking for a personal statement. I feel like I'm pushing myself to write something more creative just to stand out, but I'm way more comfortable using a traditional style, especially given my short time frame. Will potentially save myself a few drafts by adopting something more straightforward.

 

 

[Risky to get creative with a personal statement?]

Thank you! Unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I initially thought, but I'm hoping my writing skills can help me overcome my lack of time. I know that there is no replacement for stepping back and revisiting a personal statement, but I feel like if I managed to write my college application essays in a day and most of my better essays/research proposals in an extremely short amount of time, I might be able to pull this off. 

I know that I'm naive/delusional for thinking this, but I don't have much of a choice at this point. Is it possible to write a good personal statement in less than a month?