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Victorious Secret

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Everything posted by Victorious Secret

  1. Hi sjoh, Thanks for your response, and sorry about the late reply. I mentioned my research background briefly in the second paragraph, two years + an REU so far, with a first-author publication being written right now. Another two years coming up. One project will be a year long "Senior Research" project for credit that I'm taking in my second to last year, another is my Senior Honors Thesis (in my actual Senior year) which will be a year long research project as well, and my paid work is in a research laboratory on campus doing nanopharmaceutical research. I would imagine that I will be a part of another upcoming publication next year, and I am contemplating writing a review article on a niche I have done research in. I am also considering taking one or two key upper division classes as "Honors by Contract" which would require for me to do additional work outside of class, potentially wet lab or computational research (all of that is discussed with the professor at the time of enrollment). Also, to clarify, when I say "hide" my old GPA what I mean is drowning it out with current excellence. =) -VS
  2. Hi Edotdl, Thanks for your response. I will be at my most recent university for a total of 7 semesters when my applications are submitted, all semesters around 18 units. And obviously I'm not talking about withholding transcripts, I'm talking about drowning out the old grades with a barrage of new excellence. Sort of a "kill them with A's and publications" kind of approach. =)
  3. Hey OP, So you will want to be strategic about this. Your GPA will not be your most outstanding asset (your UG institution rank will be slightly relevant with regard to that; if you went to a top tier school without a rep for grade inflation, that could help you). Strong GRE scores can help your case that you simply under-performed early but possess the requisite aptitude for a competitive program. You will be competing with applicants who have stronger research resumes, so LORs will be important as well. But I would advise you to think strongly to at least consider some lower ranked PhD programs, and to consider getting an MS first (that will go a long way toward solidifying your research background, and can help if your research is good (read: published) and GPA is around a 4.0 in grad school). You can always apply to tougher PhD programs once you're finishing your MS. Any more info you can give about your UG institution type/GRE scores/prospective LORs/publications/research presentations can be helpful to the discussion.
  4. I am a chemEng/biology double major at a large public institution. When I was 20 (around 2005), I transferred to a top-20 biochem program and did ok the first year (3.0) and miserable the second year (1.3, withdrew from school). During that time I was working full time while caring for a close relative with a terminal illness, and I was unable to fulfill my academic obligations. In 2013 I returned to academia at a different university and since switching to chemical engineering/bio at that time my GPA is 3.92. I have taken four graduate engineering classes, with a 4.0 GPA in them. However my cumulative GPA when I apply will only be around a 3.35 due to my earlier studies. I have completed two years of research plus an REU, and will complete another two years of research by the time I apply for PhD programs. I love research more than anything I have ever done. I will likely have a publication submitted in the next month, first author. I have taken the GRE for the first time recently and scored 163/164/5 V/Q/W. I will be working hard on the vocabulary and quant skills to shoot for at least 165/166/5 the next time around. I would like to attend a strong PhD program in the Boston area (I am geographically tied to this region), in either chemical or bio/biomedical engineering (my interests in protein and biomolecular engineering lie at this interface of these disciplines). I am strongly considering the following schools, all of which have faculty whose work aligns closely with my interests: MIT (ChemE and BioE) Tufts (ChemE and BioE) BU (BiomedE) Brown (ChemE) Northeastern (ChemE and BioE) Harvard SEAS (Bioengineering concentration) My questions: 1. Is there any circumstance under which it would be disadvantageous to apply to two closely linked programs such as these at a single university, when my research interests genuinely are in both fields? (Basically, biochemical engineering, which is often handled in ChemE and BioE departments.) 2. How much damage did my earlier academic career (11 years ago) do to my chances for admission? I often was unable to even attend exams because of my responsibilities, but did not want to quit by dropping out. I see now that I should have left school and returned later but my grades now are so close to perfect... Did my foolish choice to remain in school when I was young ruin everything? I know that graduate programs will pay more attention to my most recent grades, but I fear that my lowered cumulative GPA will cause my applications to be rejected before the circumstances are seen. 3. What can I do to help hide the old dark mark from my record. I started an NGO last year (with funding from my university) that does biodigester engineering work in a third-world country, I also mentor, tutor, etc, but I hear that such efforts are worthless as far as graduate admissions. I am even taking 20+ units each semester to try to raise my GPA further, with no drop in grades. What can I do to get them to look past the old grades?
  5. I am glad to see that you are thinking critically about your desire for medical school now, rather than after you have applied. The general rule of thumb is that if you're not that hot on the idea of doing a long-term program, you will have almost no chance of sticking with it once you get in. I'm sure there are exceptions, but you seem more tuned into engineering approaches than biological ones. I am a chemE/bio double major, so I can speak to both sides of this. Engineering is more problem-solving oriented and requires a more robust understanding of quantitative disciplines, so you are right to be taking various maths. But the transition from science to eng (in this case Chem to ChemE) is about an entirely different way of thinking about the problems. If you are able to change your major/minor in an engineering discipline that would be helpful for your MS application. If that is not an option at your university, taking ChemE courses may be your best way to go. Mass/Energy balances (sometimes called ChemE calculations), thermo and fluid mechanics would all be helpful. But you will be competing against students who have also taken separations, heat and mass transfer, kinetics, transport, plant design etc., and mastered a lot of concepts with their capstone projects, so there will be a steep learning curve. I do research with a guy who got a BS in bio and is now a PhD candidate in ChemE. He needed quite a few courses at the beginning of his graduate studies to catch up. But if you're willing to do this, I think you would find the rewards to be well worth your investment. BTW, it's good that you love differential equations. They are everywhere in ChemE. Linear Algebra, not so much. I would speak with your adviser and research the experiences other Chem students have had applying to ChemE grad programs (there are quite a few who have undertaken this path). Different graduate programs will expect different remedial work so look into that as well. Hope that helps. Best of luck.
  6. I am an chemEng/biology double major at a large public institution. When I was 20 (around 2005), I transferred to a top-20 biochem program and did ok the first year (3.0) and miserable the second year (1.3, withdrew from school). During that time I was working full time while caring for a close relative with a terminal illness, and I was unable to fulfill my academic obligations. In 2013 I returned to academia at a different university and since switching to chemical engineering/bio at that time my GPA is 3.92. I have taken four graduate engineering classes, with a 4.0 GPA in them. However my cumulative GPA when I apply will only be around a 3.35 due to my earlier studies. I have completed two years of research plus an REU, and will complete another two years of research by the time I apply for PhD programs. I love research more than anything I have ever done. I will likely have a publication submitted in the next month, first author. I have taken the GRE for the first time recently and scored 163/164/5 V/Q/W. I will be working hard on the vocabulary and quant skills to shoot for at least 165/166/5 the next time around. I would like to attend a strong PhD program in the Boston area (I am geographically tied to this region), in either chemical or bio/biomedical engineering (my interests in protein and biomolecular engineering lie at this interface of these disciplines). I am strongly considering the following schools, all of which have faculty whose work is in line with my interests: MIT (ChemE and BioE) Tufts (ChemE and BioE) BU (BiomedE) Brown (ChemE) Northeastern (ChemE and BioE) Harvard SEAS (Bioengineering concentration) My questions: 1. Is there any circumstance under which it would be disadvantageous to apply to two closely linked programs such as these at a single university, when my research interests genuinely are in both fields? (Basically, biochemical engineering, which is often handled in ChemE and BioE departments.) 2. How much damage did my earlier academic career (11 years ago) do to my chances for admission? I often was unable to even attend exams because of my responsibilities, but did not want to quit by dropping out. I see now that I should have left school and returned later but my grades now are so close to perfect... Did my foolish choice to remain in school when I was young ruin everything? I know that graduate programs will pay more attention to my most recent grades, but I fear that my lowered cumulative GPA will cause my applications to be rejected before the circumstances are seen. 3. What can I do to help hide the old dark mark from my record. I started an NGO last year (with funding from my university) that does biodigester engineering work in a third-world country, I also mentor, tutor, etc, but I hear that such efforts are worthless as far as graduate admissions. I am even taking 20+ units each semester to try to raise my GPA further, with no drop in grades. What can I do to get them to look past the old grades?
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