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Around this time last year I began preparing my applications for graduate school. It was an incredibly stressful time, and I know I would have loved the opportunity to ask someone who successfully completed the process the year before all of my neurotic questions. 
With the process fresh in our minds (read: in our nightmares), Bioenchilada and I are starting this thread to answer any questions any prospective students may have about applying to PhD programs in the biological sciences.
I am a G1 in Harvard University's PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences. I interviewed with six programs, so I am familiar with the entire process. 
Bioenchilada is a first-year in the Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Group at the University of Pennsylvania. He interviewed with five programs. 
 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

Hey everyone, best of luck with interviews and the whole admissions process. I know this is a very stressful time, but remember that you have worked hard to be where you are now and that hard work will pay off. 
If you don't get an interview at your dream school, don't worry about it. I know plenty of people who ended up at a school other than their top choice and a year or so in they are loving it. Everything will work out, and at the end of the day, it's all about how hard you work. If you're going to be a good scientist, then you're going to be a good scientist, regardless of where you do your PhD. I know people who get Nature papers at lower tier schools and people who never publish at Harvard. It's up to you to make the most out of your experience wherever you end up, so go nail your interviews regardless of the program and be the great scientist you know you can be. 
Good luck everyone! 

@Philsgross 
Your numbers and experience look great! I think you have a good shot at all the schools you listed. You could maybe even add more top tier programs. I know Harvard has a great neuroscience program. I've also heard great things about the UC schools (Berkeley and SF, in particular).
Your admissions will come down to your SOP and your LORs. If you can really talk about your research in your essays and have LORs that support what you write, you should be set. 
I will say, I am concerned about having LORs from post-docs. Typically, you will receive a single LOR from a lab, with each post-doc with whom you worked giving input and the PI submitting the letter. Do you have another LOR you could submit in lieu of the two post-docs? 

The important thing to remember when writing your SOP is that schools do not care about your personal life. The SOP should be about your research experience and why you are ready for grad school. If you have something special to say (you built a school in Iraq (people actually do this kind of stuff), you are a minority, etc.) mention it in your last paragraph. 
Looking back on my personal statement, I followed a nice formula. My first paragraph was full of strong words, "I am a good fit for [name program] because I am this, this, and this." I then listed all of my research experiences briefly. My next paragraphs were outlines of the research I did, with more attention paid to the projects in which I played a bigger role. Here, it is important not to list the skills you learned, rather what you gained as a scientist. Anyone can pipette or run a PCR. Top grad schools (any grad schools) want to see that you know how to think like a scientist. They want evidence that you can ask important questions and test those questions. After discussing my research, I wrote one, three sentence paragraph specific to that school. I wrote what I like about the program, I mentioned a couple of specific faculty, then I said something like, "I am certain I will succeed in this environment." I topped it of with a nice paragraph with some sort of deep insight. I mentioned that every grad school committee member will look for something specific in an application and that I just hope anyone who reads my SOP will see that I am this, this, and this. I finally sprinkled in some special stuff about my childhood or whatever here. 
I spent a long time perfecting this SOP for my top choice school. Then, when applying to other schools, I changed the beginning paragraph to say the specific school name, and I changed the one specific paragraph. Everything else stayed the same. 
If you use this method, you will save a lot of time by not having to write eight individual SOPs. Use that time to read each SOP several times to avoid accidentally saying the wrong school name. Also, this method only works if your first SOP is really good. I made my SOP to the standard of my top choice school, then I assumed it would have to be good enough for everywhere else. 
Finally, never write more than two pages, and do not ignore specific instructions in the application. I used this method for most of the schools to which I applied, but one school specifically asked for other things in the SOP, so I had to write a completely different one. 
Good luck! PM me if you want feedback on your SOP. 

I would not take the subject test for any reason. 
A subject test is not going to make up for a low GPA. Research experience and great LORs are the only things that matter for grad school. Someone with a 3.2 GPA and a low GRE with four years of solid research experience and great LORs will get into a top school over someone with a 4.0 GPA and a perfect GRE with only a summer or even a year of research experience and mediocre LORs.
If you have clear interests with experience and LORs that support your interests, you will be fine. 
To get an interview at a top school: have several years of experience in a specific area, write your SOP about your research in that area, then get three LORs that support your experience in that area. 

Around this time last year I began preparing my applications for graduate school. It was an incredibly stressful time, and I know I would have loved the opportunity to ask someone who successfully completed the process the year before all of my neurotic questions. 
With the process fresh in our minds (read: in our nightmares), Bioenchilada and I are starting this thread to answer any questions any prospective students may have about applying to PhD programs in the biological sciences.
I am a G1 in Harvard University's PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences. I interviewed with six programs, so I am familiar with the entire process. 
Bioenchilada is a first-year in the Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Group at the University of Pennsylvania. He interviewed with five programs. 
 

Around this time last year I began preparing my applications for graduate school. It was an incredibly stressful time, and I know I would have loved the opportunity to ask someone who successfully completed the process the year before all of my neurotic questions. 
With the process fresh in our minds (read: in our nightmares), Bioenchilada and I are starting this thread to answer any questions any prospective students may have about applying to PhD programs in the biological sciences.
I am a G1 in Harvard University's PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences. I interviewed with six programs, so I am familiar with the entire process. 
Bioenchilada is a first-year in the Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Group at the University of Pennsylvania. He interviewed with five programs. 
 

@Philsgross 
Your numbers and experience look great! I think you have a good shot at all the schools you listed. You could maybe even add more top tier programs. I know Harvard has a great neuroscience program. I've also heard great things about the UC schools (Berkeley and SF, in particular).
Your admissions will come down to your SOP and your LORs. If you can really talk about your research in your essays and have LORs that support what you write, you should be set. 
I will say, I am concerned about having LORs from post-docs. Typically, you will receive a single LOR from a lab, with each post-doc with whom you worked giving input and the PI submitting the letter. Do you have another LOR you could submit in lieu of the two post-docs? 

I know this is not what you want to hear, but do not rotate in that lab. Your first two rotations should be in labs that could potentially be your thesis lab. If after your second rotation you know where you will join, then you can use your third rotation for a technique or a topic. Most people use all three to find the right lab or they join as soon as they find a good fit. 
This PI seems really nice. He is being nice by offering a rotation position, but it may not be the most professional move. You should respond by thanking him for the opportunity and the information, then tell him that you want to use your first rotations to find a thesis lab. If he's still there after your second rotation and you know which lab you are going to join, rotate in his lab then. 

I know this is not what you want to hear, but do not rotate in that lab. Your first two rotations should be in labs that could potentially be your thesis lab. If after your second rotation you know where you will join, then you can use your third rotation for a technique or a topic. Most people use all three to find the right lab or they join as soon as they find a good fit. 
This PI seems really nice. He is being nice by offering a rotation position, but it may not be the most professional move. You should respond by thanking him for the opportunity and the information, then tell him that you want to use your first rotations to find a thesis lab. If he's still there after your second rotation and you know which lab you are going to join, rotate in his lab then. 

The important thing to remember when writing your SOP is that schools do not care about your personal life. The SOP should be about your research experience and why you are ready for grad school. If you have something special to say (you built a school in Iraq (people actually do this kind of stuff), you are a minority, etc.) mention it in your last paragraph. 
Looking back on my personal statement, I followed a nice formula. My first paragraph was full of strong words, "I am a good fit for [name program] because I am this, this, and this." I then listed all of my research experiences briefly. My next paragraphs were outlines of the research I did, with more attention paid to the projects in which I played a bigger role. Here, it is important not to list the skills you learned, rather what you gained as a scientist. Anyone can pipette or run a PCR. Top grad schools (any grad schools) want to see that you know how to think like a scientist. They want evidence that you can ask important questions and test those questions. After discussing my research, I wrote one, three sentence paragraph specific to that school. I wrote what I like about the program, I mentioned a couple of specific faculty, then I said something like, "I am certain I will succeed in this environment." I topped it of with a nice paragraph with some sort of deep insight. I mentioned that every grad school committee member will look for something specific in an application and that I just hope anyone who reads my SOP will see that I am this, this, and this. I finally sprinkled in some special stuff about my childhood or whatever here. 
I spent a long time perfecting this SOP for my top choice school. Then, when applying to other schools, I changed the beginning paragraph to say the specific school name, and I changed the one specific paragraph. Everything else stayed the same. 
If you use this method, you will save a lot of time by not having to write eight individual SOPs. Use that time to read each SOP several times to avoid accidentally saying the wrong school name. Also, this method only works if your first SOP is really good. I made my SOP to the standard of my top choice school, then I assumed it would have to be good enough for everywhere else. 
Finally, never write more than two pages, and do not ignore specific instructions in the application. I used this method for most of the schools to which I applied, but one school specifically asked for other things in the SOP, so I had to write a completely different one. 
Good luck! PM me if you want feedback on your SOP. 

A lot of how competitive you are will come from how well you describe your research in your essays and whether or not your letters support what you say. Based on what you have posted, I am sure you will be in the running for top tier schools, but I am not convinced you will be a shoo-in. Definitely apply to top programs, but include middle tier and safety schools on your list. 
Also, what are you interested in studying? You are a biochemistry major with experience in pharmacognosy, cancer biology, and metabolism. How are you going to describe those (seemingly random) experiences in a way that is cohesive?