lep245

Does the area of research you've been involved with during undergrad need to line up with what programs you're applying to for graduate school? I've conducted research in biomedical engineering and neuroscience, but am interested in applying for graduate programs in regenerative medicine... Some of the projects I've worked on have been related, but not much more... will this matter at all?

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I got a position for the summer + fall (taking the semester off) at a top 5 school in biology that also happens to be my top choice for grad school, which has definitely boosted my confidence a bit. At this point, I'll probably apply this cycle and see what happens from there.

I wanted to get an idea of what type of schools I should apply to this coming fall. I think I'm doing okay with the exception of my GPA (I struggled with severe depression for two years early on in my undergrad and it got pretty bad, but I've since worked through it). I have been pretty determined to try to get into a top 10 school but because of my GPA I'm having a hard time gauging whether that's reasonable. I'm potentially thinking about taking a year off to do research full time and then apply to strengthen my app, so if you think that's a good idea please let me know? I'm looking mostly at programs in neuro/cell bio Undergrad Institution: Upper-tier State School in selective STEM scholarship program Undergrad Major: Biology GPA: ~3.40 by the end of this semester (~3.7 to 3.8 recently) GRE: expecting a 165+/165+/4.5+ based on the practice exams I've done so far Ethnicity/Gender: Caucasian Male Research Experience: 3 years of continuous work in a cancer lab at my home institution (~20hrs/week during the school year + one summer full time after freshman year). One paper published (2nd author) and another to be submitted prior to the start of the application cycle (likely also 2nd author). Three poster presentations, two at my home institution (won 1st place prize overall at one of these) and another at a large national conference. One oral presentation at home institution. One summer at Harvard after sophomore year, likely returning again this summer + fall (taking semester off). PI here is a leader in his field. Presented work done here at a national undergraduate conference. Letters of Rec: Home Institution PI - have a strong relationship over the years, expect a strong letter Harvard PI - don't know him that well personally (his lab is massive, so I didn't get much 1 on 1 time with him during the summer). I hope to strengthen letter by returning this summer. Also, the postdoc who mentored me offered to help write any letters I needed and just get the PI to sign off on them, which would make them more personal/strong. Research Club Advisor - advisor for a club I helped start at my home institution, is a well known PI in his field, he's been a great mentor so I expect a strong letter Scholarship Program Director - not sure if it's advisable to ask for one from him, but he would definitely write a strong letter (knows my research abilities well and could speak to my struggles during undergrad/how I overcame them as he helped me through that process) Activities: Officer of a research-based club I helped start freshman year. We've done (what I think is) some pretty impressive work to help undergraduates in research at our school but I don't want to go into too much detail for the sake of privacy. Chemistry tutor for one semester (~5 to 10 hrs/week)