kerrrn_3

Undergrad Institution: virtually unknown, public, state, "Hispanic-serving institution" in the southwestMajor(s): BiochemistryMinor(s): noneGPA in Major: 3.84Overall GPA: 3.76 (3.80 at time of application)Position in Class: UnknownType of Student: Domestic, Hispanic femaleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 154 (56%)V: 155 (67%)W: 4.5 (80%)B: N/ATOEFL Total: N/AResearch Experience: 3.5 years research experience at my school: 0.5 year in organic chem. lab, and 3 years in plant genetics lab (lots of mol. bio. techniques) summers were spent as follows: one summer at UTSW QP-SURF program, one summer in medicinal plants summer program at my school, and one summer in my plant genetics lab at my school -- no publications presented posters at SACNAS, ABRCMS, end of QP-SURF program, end of medicinal plants program, and my host institution's annual conference (twice: one oral, one poster) and outside of science, I went to 3 ethics/bioethics conferences to debate cases Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Undergrad. Research Programs: RISE scholar for ~0.5 year until grant ended, HHMI scholar for 1 year until my program ended, and finally MARC scholar for 2 years Honor's student (wrote a thesis and graduated with Distinction in University Honors -- but this part is not in my application since I graduated in May 2016), and Dean's list for 2 semesters only Received travel grant from my Honors College and a SACNAS travel grant ABRCMS poster presentation award in BiochemistryPertinent Activities or Jobs: Teaching Experience: tutor/mentor for general physics course (1 semester), and for an incoming Freshman course on college prep./advice/etc. (1 semester)Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Member of a community service organization (Rotaract) ~2 years, and held various leadership positions in an ethics organization on campus ~3 years Special Bonus Points: Hispanic (bilingual: Spanish/English), female, first generation student (mother did some college but did not finish, and father did not finish high school)Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Don't think so...?Applying to Where: Interested in translational medicine and general research interests in Biochemistry, Biophysics, Structural Biology, and Neuroscience Applied (10/10) - Interview/Visit Offered/Attended (6/10) - Rejected (6.5/10) - Accepted (3.5/10) - Admitted and Attending (1/10) 1. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) - Division of Basic Science interested in Mechanisms of Disease Track/Molecular Biophysics/ Biological Chemistry - email on 1/4, interview offered for multiple weekends, chose to attend 2/25-2/27 - phone on 2/29 2. University of Wisconsin, Madison - A. IPiB and B. Biophysics - A. email on 2/3, interview offered on 2/18-2/20 B. email on 1/5, interview offered 2/11-2/13; interviewed for both on 2/11-2/13 - A. unofficial email on 2/17, official email on 2/22 B. email on 2/24 3. Scripps Research Institute - Chemical and Biological Sciences - no response, so I emailed on 1/22 and was emailed back on 1/26 that final decisions would be sent out the next week, official email on 2/2 4. University of California, San Fransisco (UCSF) - TETRAD - email on 1/7 5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) - BBSP interested in Biophysics/Biochemistry - email on 1/5, interview offered and attended 2/18-2/20 - unofficial email on 3/31, official email on 4/1 6. University of Washington, Seattle - Biochemistry - email on 12/18, interview offered and attended 1/20-1/23 - email on 2/2 7. California Institute of Technology (Cal. Tech.) - Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (BMB) - no response, so I emailed on 1/22 and received my rejection that day (side note: got a second, official email much later on 3/15) 8. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS) - email on 12/21 9. University of Colorado, Denver: Anschutz Medical Campus - Structural Biology and Biochemistry (STBB) - phone & email on 12/18, interview offered and attended 2/4-2/7 - told in person during interview weekend on 2/6, official email on 2/11 10. University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) - Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (BMB) - email 12/27, interview offered 1/21-1/23 but did not attend, Skype interviewed instead, went to Revisit Weekend in March - unofficial email on 2/3, official email on 2/5 (side note: accepted into Graduate Training in Medical Science (GTMS) Certificate on 3/10) - Attending!!

General advice/tips: Try to attend a national conference, and present a poster if you can. Many of these conferences have travel grants/awards or your own university might allow you to make a request for travel funds through student government or your department/program/college/PI/etc. -- you just need to ask! But why should you go? For the experience, for your CV, to strengthen your ability to talk about your research, to (maybe) get some helpful feedback on your work, to practice formal presenting, and to network. Lots of universities/companies go to these events precisely to recruit students at all levels (some want to recruit you for a job, a summer program, or for you to apply to their masters/PhD/MD/etc programs). I've even seen students take business cards, or resumes to these conferences to hand out to these representatives. This is your chance to get some free stuff, talk to recruiters (hopefully get them to remember your name), and to get FEE WAIVERS. To make the most of your time, it would be best to have a list of booths you wanted to get to (i.e. schools your applying to) and hit those first. However, if you haven't decided yet (like I was, when I went) it is still a great opportunity to find out what your options are. Your undergrad./masters work does NOT have to be what you work on in your next step (within reason). For example, switching from business to a "hard science" would be difficult to convince a committee member that they should accept you without any substantial experience or coursework in the sciences. BUT if you can explain your switch or somehow justify your decision, go for it! (This seemed to be a common theme when talking to faculty, since I rarely heard that they had worked in the same field/area their entire career.) Ultimately, play to your strengths! Be realistic, yet optimistic. There isn't a magic number when it comes to how many schools you should apply to, nor a fancy formula that will accurately predict your chances of getting into a particular school. That being said, be realistic about your budget. Applying for schools is EXPENSIVE. Be sure to factor in the cost of sending your transcripts, GRE scores, and any application fees per school. Simultaneously, be optimistic. Apply to a school or two that you don't think you'll get into but it wouldn't be inconceivable that you would either - you could be pleasantly surprised! (I actually had someone tell me once that they wished they had applied to more "difficult" schools to get into, because they got into most of their schools.) What I'm getting at is that your list of schools should be a balance - some "should get into," some "might get into," and some "probably won't get into, but you never know" schools. I would advise that you talk to someone (i.e. a mentor) about your list... but ultimately the decision is yours! (See @biochemgirl67's post about which factors to consider/how to prioritize http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/73654-2017-applicant-profiles-and-admissions-results/?do=findComment&comment=1058351681 Interview/Revisit Weekends are as much an interview for you, as it is for them. This is easy to forget, but incredibly important. While they are interviewing you, (to make sure that the person in the application matches up to the person in front of them) they are also trying to determine whether or not you could be successful there. You are basically an investment, and think of interviews as their opportunity to test drive the shiny, new car around the dealership to see if it's a good match before they buy. So if you got an interview, they at least had to like you - especially if they are spending the money to fly you out there! HOWEVER, you need to remember that you will be spending a considerable chunk of your life at this school/location, so you need to make sure that you could be successful AND happy there. Faculty are people too. When you're stressed about interviewing, it can be difficult to remember that faculty are people. Try to keep in mind that if you are on your 6th interview, it is likely that a faculty member is on their 6th interview as well. Additionally, even though some faculty may only want to talk about the research/work/science, this isn't necessarily the case. And that's okay. Sometimes faculty members just want to know more about the potential person they might be interacting with, and not the applicant. While I wouldn't necessarily try to stray the conversation to alternative topics, if the discussion goes in that direction, follow that path. These interviews are more like conversations, rather than interviews... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be professional. Unfortunately, some of this may only be applicable to the sciences but this is where my experience lies. I hope this was at least somewhat helpful. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, and best of luck!