Hey guys!
I'm new to this forum, but just signed up to learn more and get some advice. Right now I am just trying to figure out where I stand, if I'm on a good track for grad school, and what sort of schools I should begin to set my sights on.
To provide some background, I am an undergrad and will begin my junior year next year at a top 20 university. I am majoring in neuroscience, and would like to attend a neuroscience grad program. I have also been flip-flopping between MD and PhD for a while now, and want to get more information on PhD programs as well as see if I would be a competitive applicant. I know I love research and could never see myself completely stepping away from it, but I'm worried I would burn out if I devoted my entire career to it. I am really interested in psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia and alzheimer's, specifically on the cellular level (I really enjoy tissue culture).
Right now my GPA is ~3.7, with a 3.5 freshman year and a 3.9 last year (essentially an upward trend). I have not taken the GRE and could not provide any estimate for how I would score, because I really have no idea. I have a decent chuck of research experience (about 1300 hours total), but no publications yet. For my entire senior year of high school I conducted stem cell research at one of the top cancer research centers in the country. At my university I have been working in a neuroscience oriented psych lab since my freshman year, and will be completing a thesis in this lab (my project will be studying stress). Last summer I worked at a top 10 ranked research medical school conducting research on neurodegenerative diseases (it was a lot of tissue culture stuff), and had some pretty significant findings. This summer I am at a top 5 ranked research medical school conducting schizophrenia research in a genetics lab. In this research I am working with stem cells (again) and editing their genome. My PI told me today that if what I do works (and it should), then he really wants to make a paper out of it (ie there is a decent chance this work will get published). There are also no grad students in this lab at the moment, so it is a very independent project.
On campus I am involved with a good variety of clubs, from the typical pre-med clubs, to club sports, and even an environmental club. I really enjoy each club I am a part of, but I don't really have much leadership experience. I also volunteer at a local community center, but it doesn't relate to science in any way. Additionally, I have some shadowing experience, but no hospital volunteering or anything like that. So my clinical experience is somewhat minimal.
Anyways, sorry if it seems like I just randomly listed things. I want you guys to get a grasp of where my experience lies so I can get useful feedback. I don't really know too much about applying to graduate programs, so I really have no idea where I stand right now. So how am I doing so far? And how can I improve? What schools/programs should I begin looking into?
Thanks for the help in advance!
