blc073

I am against going to the same school for graduate school and undergraduate, but it's done. Just work hard and publish in good journals, then nothing else will matter.

Well, you have until next Wednesday. Maybe you could ask ETS to resend your scores?

Could you call someone in admissions to ask if they have received all of your materials?

I was under the impression that all decisions had to be made by April 15th.

NYU is an awesome place, and you all are going to have a great time.

First off, congratulations on being so pro-active. Now is a great time to start looking ahead to graduate programs. The most important thing for you to do right now is to make sure your GPA goes from a 3.34 to at least a 3.5 by application season. A 3.5 GPA and plenty of experience in the lab will get you into any program. Continue to work as hard as you can in the lab, but do not let your GPA stay below a 3.5. If you have a 3.5 GPA and a lot of research experience, your GRE only needs to be average. Are you more interested in computational neuroscience or proper neuroscience? If you like computational, then of course take more programming. If you want to work on cells and animal models, take more biology and chemistry courses. Physics is also important for neuroscience since you will be studying what is essentially circuitry in the human body. I would not waste time with psychology courses unless you want to do systems neuroscience or behavioral neuroscience. Finally, never retake a course in which you earned a C. Retaking the course may make your GPA look better, but graduate schools will still ask to see the original grade. I would just do better in a more advanced course to prove that you understand the material. And only take a subject test if it is required. Good luck!

I will be joining the PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Harvard in the fall, but I am doing my first laboratory rotation this summer. I'm surprised there aren't more Harvard people posting here!

Experience outweighs GPA and GRE, without doubt. You can get into a top graduate program with low stats if you have strong enough LORs and enough research experience. If I were in your position, I would take two years off to work in a biotech lab where you are getting paid. Look at it this way: graduate programs want students who are prepared to work. If you have two years of experience in a real job in which you work rigid hours, you will be much more attractive to top graduate schools. Save your money, work for two years in a biotech lab, then apply to a wide range of programs (a safety, two mid-tiers, and some top-tiers). Good luck!