[Help! Round 2 PhD Applications]

On 3/10/2016 at 3:14 PM, Bioenchilada said:

What schools did you apply to? Who wrote your rec letters?

Top tier schools (because they had the research I was interested in) NYU, Columbia, Mt Sinai, UChicago, Northwestern, WashU, UCLA, UCSD, USC, UCSF. My current PI and my former PI at BU both wrote me recommendations, as well as a professor from BU who is a co director of the Alzheimer's research group at BU and a Harvard and BU medical school professor. 

 

On 3/10/2016 at 3:17 PM, Effloresce said:

did you have someone read over your SOP?

I had several people (both in science and not) read over my statement of purpose. 

 

On 3/10/2016 at 3:25 PM, HopefulPHD14 said:

I know Monica Carson at UC Riverside does some neuro research that relates to degenerative diseases.  

You probably won't find a lower tier school that has a focus on neurodegenerative diseases, but you can probably find researchers at schools that do that.  Look for multidisciplinary programs or umbrella programs that have a researchers that focus on neuro. 

That is mainly been my problem, just being able to find the research I want at lower tier schools. Most PIs I have spoken to have basically told me to give up on doing a PhD in neurodegenerative diseases and look for another topic, but that's what I'm passionate about. I don't think I want to compromise on that. Is that being selfish? Should I suck it up and just get the degree where ever I can?

[Help! Round 2 PhD Applications]

Hi everyone!

I applied to 10 PhD programs in Neuroscience for admission in Fall 2016. I have yet to hear from two schools, but they have had their interview weekends, so I have accepted the fact that I have been rejected from all of them. I definitely aimed too high, but I'm not sure where else to apply. I want to do research in neurodegenerative diseases and I've found that lower tier schools do not have labs with this research. I have four years of research experience in behavioral neuroscience (addiction and fear learning) with three publications and more to come. 

So, here are the numbers:

BA from Boston University in 2014 with honors for completing a senior thesis

Overall GPA: 3.23     Major GPA: 3.3  with a very large upward trend in my last two years (semester GPAs of 3.4 or above)

GRE: V 155 67%       Q 152 48%         W  4 56%

I took the GRE a second time and did worse. I do not do well on standardized tests and I'm not sure I'll be able to do better on this. 

I know numbers wise I'm not strong, but I have great research experience and I know I can be successful. Any advice will be very greatly appreciated! Thank you!