[If I knew then what I know now]

On 4/26/2017 at 3:18 PM, MoreInformation said:

 

Don't waste your time taking the GRE subject test. 

I would say that this depends.  I went to a relatively unknown undergrad (no one I meet from outside my state has heard of it) and got mediocre scores on my general GRE.  I got a high score on my subject GRE (97th percentile), and I think that helped my chances.  It showed that my low general GRE scores weren't necessarily indicative of a subpar undergrad education, and I got 6/7 interview invites.

 

The only program that didn't invite me to interview was the highest ranked, and it's also the only application in which I didn't mention specific labs of interest.  I of course had labs of interest, but was having trouble with the word limit and removed that section, which was probably a bad idea.  Luckily, I will be attending a great program anyway, so I'm not beating myself up about it (much).  It may have been my general GRE scores that did me in, anyway.

I don't know if neglecting to mention specific labs of interest put me in the reject pile, but it's possible.  So I would recommend doing so.  Looking back, I also would have gone to more interviews.  After the first two, I was so happy with what I saw that I declined all but one interview offer after that.  While I think there's a strong chance I would pick the same grad program that I did, no matter what, it might have been nice to see other departments- who knows?

[2017 Interview Dates]

On 1/27/2017 at 10:53 AM, lizie.johnson said:

• Albert Einstein Biomedical sciences: Jan 25-27
• Berkeley Comp Bio: Feb 14-16
• Berkeley IB: Jan 27-28
• Berkeley Cell Molecular Bio: Feb 12-14, Feb 26-28
• Boston University PiBS: Jan 26-28, Feb 9-11
• Case Western Molecular Medicine: Feb 16-19
• CMU-Pitt Comp bio: Feb 23-25, March 2-4
• Columbia Biological Sciences: Jan 22-23, Mar 2-4
• Columbia Biomedical Informatics: Jan 27-29th
• Cornell Tri Institutional computational biology: Feb 26-27.
• Cornell BMCB: Feb 2-5
• University of Chicago Molecular Biosciences: Jan 19-21, Feb 9-11, Feb 23-25
• Duke Biochemistry: Feb 9-12 or Feb 23-26
• Duke CMB: February 2-4 or February 16-18
• Duke MGM: February 9-12
• Harvard BIG (I asked and then asked a contact I have and all I could get was late January or early February)
• Havard BBS: Jan 26-29, Feb 9-12
• Harvard MCO: Jan 25-28, Feb 1-4
• Icahn SOM at Mount Sinai (Neuro only): January 9-10
• Icahn SOM at Mount Sinai (non-neuro): January 12-13 or January 19-20
• Johns Hopkins CMM: January 19-20 or February 23-24
• UMichigan PIBS: Jan 26-28, Feb 2-4, Feb 9-11
• MIT Biology: Feb 11-14, Feb 25-28, March 11-14
• MIT CSBi: Feb 3 & 10
• MIT HST: march 2-4  (strange those two overlap as they are 2 of the top comp bio programs)
• Northwestern DGP: Jan 12-14, Jan 26-28, Feb 9-11
• NIH OxCam: February 15-17
• NYU GSAS: Feb 2-3, Feb 16-17
• Ohio State University MCDB: Feb 17-18
• Penn State BMMB: Jan 26-28
• Princeton EEB: Feb 7-9
• Princeton QCB: Feb 9-11
• Rockefeller: Feb 23-24, March 2-3
• Sanger 4-year program: Jan 23rd
• Sloan Kettering: Jan 10-12
• Stanford BI: march 1-5
• Stanford Biosciences: March 1-5
• UConn Health Biomedical Sciences: Feb 10-11
• University of Washington Biology: Jan 26-28
• University of Washington Genome Sciences: Feb 12-14, Feb 26-28
• UC Irvine CMB: Jan 26-27, Feb 9-10
• UCSD BMS: Feb 2-5, Feb 23-26
• UCSF BMS: Jan 26-28, Feb 9-11
• UCSF bioinformatics: Feb 9-10, Feb 16-17
• UCSF TETRAD: Feb 2-5, Feb 24-27
• UIC GEMS: Feb 10, Feb 24
• UNC Chapel Hill BBSP: Feb 2-4, Feb 16-18, March 2-4
• UMass Medical School BBS: January 26-27 or February 2-3
• UPenn CAMB: Jan 19-21, Feb 2-4
• UPenn Biology: Feb 24
• University of Rochester: March 2-5
• UT Austin Cell and Molecular Biology: Jan 19-22, Feb 9-12
• Vanderbilt IGP: Feb 3rd, 10th, 17th
• Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) Biochemistry DBBS February 2-4 and February 16-18
• Yale BBS Immunology: Feb 16-19
• Yale BBS MMPP: Feb 16-19
• Yale CBB/MCGD: Feb 3-5

 

[Anyone have info on WUSTL BBS essay/SOP prompt?]

I'm waiting on my final letter writer to accept, but can't see the rest of the application until I've entered contact info.  I'd like to start writing ASAP, but can't view the documents needed.

[2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Just now, Bioenchilada said:

Ah ok, I don't know what impact your age will have relative to your research experience, but only 1 LOR from a PI is kind of risky. Also, SOP writing might turn out to be more difficult as well. 

I feel like I've turned my age into a strength in my SOPs, or at least, tried to spin it in a positive way .  I've had the time to really think about whether or not I want to earn a PhD, and understanding the importance of research experience early on led me to get into a lab as soon as possible.  I didn't take an especially long time to earn my undergrad  degree, I just started late.

The juries still out on microbio PI, I only emailed him yesterday morning so a letter from him is very possible.  I think it would be positive, I only stopped working in his lab because he moved form the branch to the main campus, and prior to that he expressed interest in writing another paper with me.

I probably should have done an summer REU for an additional PI letter, but have been invested in the work I've been doing in my current lab and didn't want to leave/slow down progress.  It's been mostly just me in the lab for the majority of the time I've been here.

[2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

32 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I'd try to see if your former PI is still willing to write a letter for you. Ideally, your letters should come from people you have worked for in a research setting since your ability to do research is primarily what the adcom is looking for. I had missed the last part of your post. How long ago did you graduate from undergrad? 

I am still attending, will graduate in the spring.

[2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

42 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

Which part of cell and molecular biology are you interested in? Regardless, I think you are competitive for most of the programs you applied to. Your performance on the GRE might enhance or weaken your application depending on your math score, but your biology subject test score is stellar. Who will be writing your LORs?

Thanks for your input!

Broadly speaking, I'm interested in both gene regulation, and how cellular components localize in response to stimuli.  I'm not specifically uninterested in these topics in microbes, so a microbiology program could potentially be a good fit for me as well.

My current PI will write a letter, and I know it will be very positive.  I'm waiting to hear back from the microbio PI I mentioned.  It's been awhile since I worked in his lab so I may need to ask someone else. 

For other letter(s), I'm considering my Quantitative Analysis professor, as she could speak to my ability to do laboratory calculations and that may help mitigate my (expected, but almost certain) low GRE quant score, and a former professor who is the chair of the bio program at the community college I attended prior to earning my bachelors, who I know fairly well.

[2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Reposting due to updates:

 

 

Undergrad Institution: Small private liberal arts college
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Female, first generation college student

 

 

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

 

I have not yet taken the test (scheduled Nov 5)

 

Practice scores:

Q: ~50th percentile

V: ~85th percentile

B:  880/97th percentile

 

 

Research Experience: 

 

 

At the time of my application submission, 3 years in my current lab (mol bio).  Gave a talk at our undergrad research symposium, poster at national conference (but did not go, my PI presented), paper in preparation (second author).  Have my own research project in which I design and carry out research myself, will likely have a first author paper for it but will not be submitted at time of grad application.

 

Prior to my current lab, 2 semesters in a microbio lab, resulted in a coauthored review article.  Was employed by the university (R1 branch campus, was not a student there) for prepping teaching labs, and volunteered time for research.

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Travel award to a national conference, deans list all semesters, 2 institutional research grants, 1 endowed cholarship

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a tutor at a community college for 3.5 years, and at my current university for 1 year

 

 

 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

 

 

 I am older than most applicants (early 30s) and think that will help to show that I've given a lot of thought into my decision to apply.

 

Applying to Where:

Ohio State University (OSU)

Michigan- Ann Arbor

Yale

Cornell

Washington University in St. Louis (NYU)

University of Oregon (maybe)

Lerner Institute

New York Medical College (maybe)

University of Colorado- Boulder (maybe)

 

I may trim this list down.  I’m interested in molecular/cellular programs, I feel like I’m aiming too high, but am having trouble finding programs that aren’t as competitive, that also have several labs I’m interested in.

The ‘maybes’ are programs I just started looking at and need to research further before I make a definite decision about applying.

[2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Undergrad Institution: Small private liberal arts college, not very well known for biology
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 4.0
Position in Class: 
Type of Student: Female, first generation college student

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

I have not yet taken the test (scheduled Aug 12)

Practice scores:
Q: ~50th percentile
V: ~85th percentile
W:
B:

I am very concerned about my quant score, and have been studying with Magoosh and the Manhattan 5 pound book for about 20-30 hrs/week for the past 2 weeks, but so far am not seeing much improvement.



Research Experience: 

At the time of my application submission, 3 years in my current lab (mol bio).  Gave a talk at our undergrad research symposium, poster at national conference (but did not go, my PI presented), paper to be submitted this fall (second author).  Have my own research project in which I design and carry out research myself, will likely have a first author paper for it but will not be submitted at time of grad application.

Prior to my current lab, 2 semesters in a microbio lab, resulted in a coauthored review article.  Was employed by the university (R1 branch campus, was not a student there) for prepping teaching labs, and volunteered time for research.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Travel award to a national conference, deans list all semesters, 2 institutional research grants

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a tutor at a community college for 3.5 years, and at my current university for 1 year



Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

 I am older than most applicants (early 30s) and think that will help to show that I've given a lot of thought into my decision to apply.

Applying to Where:

I'm not sure, especially in light of my GRE practice scores.  Interested in molecular and cellular bio programs, and am specifically interested in regulation of  gene expression and/or protein localization and modification in response to environmental conditions.