Janiejoneswoah
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Posts posted by Janiejoneswoah
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Yeah, I think if you had one or two interviews which were particularly good I don't think it could hurt to reach out and say you enjoyed meeting those professors. It's definitely not required though. Just don't email everybody you spoke to with a generic form letter, it will be very noticeable.
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Strategically, I would say no it's better to interview with somebody else... although it might not matter if your PI is not on the admissions committee. Usually the programs match you with a couple of PIs on the ad com and a few who you have said you are interested in. Although the ad com will account for the other interviews, the most important thing is to make a good impression on the PI's who are actually on the committee. Any opportunity you have to meet somebody new on the committee is an opportunity to get somebody else to fight for you in the admissions meeting. If your PI already likes you and are on the ad com, they will likely already fight for you. If they don't much like you and are on the ad com, you aren't going to change their mind in an interview. If they aren't on the committee, as I said it probably doesn't matter much since you would interview with them or somebody else not on the committee.
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I disagree with the previous comment... I can't think of any situation where the subject GRE will help you when it's not required by the program. If you have a strong math background that will speak for itself on your application in terms of grades and coursework, and if you don't then you aren't likely to do very well on the exam which is not very crammable. You might be able to make up for insufficient pure math coursework (although, your amount sounds fine to me for a biology phd program) by emphasizing computer programming experience which is more relevant to a computational neuroscience degree in any case. If you feel like you are missing something later in your program, you can always just take a course while you are there.
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If you're applying to medical school this could potentially be an issue, depending on what the exact requirements are in your region. But most phd programs that I am aware of do not have a specific list of courses they want to see you take. It can help to have several courses in the field that you are applying for—but most likely spending the time building research experience would be much more valuable. Research fit/experience is the first and most important metric used by grad schools. There's no need to freak out over specific courses that you can't fit into your schedule.
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On 9/24/2017 at 6:00 AM, AD said:
how is uni of alberta, canada?? for neuroscience?
It depends completely on your interests - I don't think I've heard much about U Alberta but that doesn't mean much. if you look at their faculty page and can easily pick out several PI's whose work appeals to you and who seem to be publishing somewhat regularly, it could definitely be a good choice. You can also see if you can email some current graduate students there and ask what their experience in the program has been like.
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On 8/28/2017 at 4:03 PM, strugglebus2k17 said:
Hey guys,
I posted my profile before but have a couple questions and updates.. I'm planning on applying this coming cycle - fall 2018.
Any and all help would be super duper appreciated!! - thanks in advance
Undergrad Institution: University of Texas at Austin graduated this past may 2017
Major(s): Public Health Infectious Diseases
Minor(s): none
GPA in Major: 3.6
Overall GPA: 3.55 (4.0 in my last semester)
Position in Class: top quarter? I'm not sure.
Type of Student: domestic, male, LGBT
GRE Scores (New):
Q: 151 (51st) :,(
V: 157 (76th)
W: 4.5 (82nd)
So this is the second GRE i've taken and I know my quant score is low, I really, really struggle at math. But is it too low where schools will filter out my application by that statistic? Should I retake it again?
I have taken the MCAT and scored at the 87th percentile on the "Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems". - i know it's MCAT and i don't know if graduate schools even care about it, but it's there.
Research Experience:
Behavioral neuroscience lab for 3+ years that investigates rehabilitation in animal models (rat and mouse models) after ischemia to the motor cortex. The lab does a lot of studies into vasculature and dendritic spine recovery during neurorehabilitation and neuralrepair after infarct. so it's much more neuro oriented than the "behavior" part.
I just finished the draft of my manuscript and submitted it to my PI for review. Our goal is to submit it for publicaiton soon, we have a journal in mind and one that she has a good history with. For the same research, I presented it at the Clinically Applied Rehabilitation Engineering symposium at my university. I was also one of five abstracts selected to present orally at the American Society for Neurorehabilitation annual meeting in san diego. co-poster presentation at the society for neuroscience annaul meeting, also in san diego.
I just graduated from UT this past may and in my gap year I'm currently hired on as a microbiologist (class: II) at the Texas Department of State Health Services in a survelliance Arbovirus lab in Austin, Texas. I work with Zika, Dengue, Chikunguna, WEE, EEE, and West Nile virus. A lot of the work I do is along side people who are 10-15 years older than me that hold Masters and PhD's in the field - to give you perspective. We do RT-PCR and a combination of cellular work to survey for these viruses.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
like dean's list once or twice and I got an honors scholarship ($1000) at the end of my freshman year.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-TA for Genetics for 2 semester, I got really good reviews from the students course-instructor surveys at the end of it.
-clincial observership program at MD Anderson in houston for 1 summer. I did rotations in leukemia and surgery. This was mostly for when I was pre-med so idk how pertinent this is for grad school.
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I was an officer and team captain of the Polo team at my school. it's just a fun thing i did on the side.
I have a significant amount of community service in a couple different organizations.
Special Bonus Points: being gay? it's 2017 and idk if it counts for anything anymore. I probabbly won't "declare" this on the app specifically unnless there is a specific part where they might ask.
I'll also have a very strong rec letter from the PI that i work for.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I had to Q drop two classes but I can explain my way through those. I got a C+ in calculus. I can't do math to save my life SOS.
Applying to Where:
Looking into applying at the molecular virology/microbiology programs at these schools.
- weill cornell
- columbia
- NYU biology
- NYU sackler (anyone know what the pro's and con's are of doing a traditional university based Ph.D. or one at a med school? I'm assuming the clinically applied research there?)
- baylor college of medicine
- UT Health Science Center Houston
maybe UTMB galveston.
So in short, does my GRE quant score stick out too much? is it going to be a deal breaker? I know there are cut offs and I won't be as competitive but is my score lethal?
Baylor, Columbia, and cornell are dream schools but now with my GRE I don't know if I can get there anymore...
Let me know what you guys think, thanks for for time,
OT
I think you are correct in your assessment that your GRE is the biggest thing holding you back. If there's anything you could do to bring that quantitative score up, even if it means dishing out $500 for one of those Kaplan classes, I think it would be worth it. I say that because your research experience is really solid and your PI (I also went to UT and I think I know who you are talking about) is going to have a very weighty letter. Other than that quantitative score, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't get into some of those programs you mentioned as dream schools.
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6 hours ago, somino42 said:
After reading around, I think I may end up having to do a masters.
Since posting this, I have become a TA for a grad level course in neuroscience. I also published a paper in JNeuro this month as second author. Still not thinking these things will push me over the edge on any front, but I *really* don't want to do a masters and waste my time. However, the GPA is a huge problem for any of the schools on my list, and it's just impossible to overcome (last 2 years GPA was a 3.7, with my final year being a 4.0, which just speaks volumes about my first 2 years), regardless of my research which is my strongest suit. My letters are going to certainly say that I am among the top 1% of students my PIs have mentored, as they have told me this. I work really hard on my research and I independently run the entire elecrophysiology team in a very famous lab. Just not sure that's quite enough for my poooooor GPA. I graduated in 2015 so there isn't that much time between me graduating and now to make my GPA irrelevant.
Thoughts?
IDK if your GPA is irrelevant but a GPA that trends positively as yours does can make up for the low average. I agree with the previous poster, high GRE and good research experience along with a positive trending GPA and you should be fine.
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Also check out Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and Stanford! MIT and Caltech are also great but their departments are very computational.
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12 hours ago, samman1994 said:
There are multiple labs that actually do what I'm discussing. Each school I am applying has at least 3+ faculty doing said research. But I understand, thank you!
You should be in good shape then!
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In your SOP, you need to be able to construct a narrative for why you are applying to a given program - why would you fit in, why should they take you? That is easier if you have a lot of experience in exactly what the department is strongest in, but this is not required for admission. Strong interest and comparable experiences are sufficient.
From your post it sounds like you might be applying to a program for a single lab. Be careful if so. You don't necessarily know if the PI will have the funding and/or desire to take a student next year. Even a verbal assurance to the contrary from the PI isn't worth much - they might move, they might retire, something might change in their lab between now and when you want to start. In any case, you'll be more likely to get in if you can make a case to the department as a whole for why they should accept you rather than just to a single PI. The admissions committees will be more than one person, and your PI of interest may not even be a part of it.
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Nobody ever responded to this so I will chime in on the off chance you check this site:
Your application looks strong. If you can get GRE scores around the 90th percentile and write a really strong SOP, I think you can apply to mostly top tier programs as well as any other programs that you feel fit your interests especially well. UCSF and UCSD are excellent programs that you mentioned you were interested in, and I would highly encourage you to apply to them. Harvard also has a great translational program that you should look into if you can stand the cold.
10-12 schools is probably too many; try to narrow it down to 7 or 8 so that you are only applying to the schools that are highly suited to your interests. Go through the faculty pages of each school, and if you can't find 3 or 4 PI's who you would be excited to work with then you shouldn't bother applying -- going to a program you aren't interested in is far worse than waiting another year to strengthen your app. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!
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On 8/3/2017 at 11:02 AM, takos said:
Hi everyone.
I'm a foreigner student looking for advices or feedback. I have no idea what the application process will look like, I just know that I will have to take both GRE and TOEFL.
Application field : Neuroscience
Undergrad Institution
BSc in a French University - Their neuroscience program is solid, but I doubt anyone knows it in US
I am currently enrolled in a Master's Degree in Cognitive Science, at the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris
Major(s): Neuroscience
GPA in Major: Cannot convert to GPA system - from the info I gathered, it looks like ~[A-]
Overall GPA: Same - BSc ~[A-] (14.5/20) // MSC ~[A] (15.5/20)
Position in Class: BSc : 1st in class, 4th in overall program / MSc : No ranking (but probably top 5/10%)
Type of Student: Foreigner / France
GRE Scores :
Q: 164 / 88% (Kaplan Practice) PI in US told me I should get 90% in Q
V: 150 / 50% (Kaplan Practice)
W: -
Research Experience:1 month of lab rotation during undergrad
4 month internship during MSc 1st year in rodent's electrophysiology - PI has a good reputation in his field
3 month internship during this summer in NHP electrophysiology - PI is very well-known in his field
5 month internship incoming - same PI as summer / work might be publishable, but the application process will be over by the time we submit the paper)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nop
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: See internships
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Special Bonus Points: I have had an interview with a PI from one of the Uni for which i'm going to apply - went extremely well. Plus, current PI knows this guy very well.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Head of a Student Association that organizes nationwide events in Cognitive Sciences.
Applying to Where:- Yale - BBS (top choice)
- CalTech BSN program
- Mount Sinai
- Might consider other Uni if advised
In my mind I almost only want to apply to Yale, even though it might be too presumptuous - US is not my fav' destination but I'd REALLY like to make it to Yale. But eh I paid for GRE and TOEFL so I guess I can try other programs
I will also apply to several EU PhD programs.
Thank you for your feedback
Why just Yale, out of curiosity? It is a very prestigious university obviously but that does not always correspond to quality of particular graduate programs. I think that of the four schools you listed CalTech is a tier above the others for neuroscience, although the department seemed fairly computational last time I checked which may not be your thing. If you are only applying for the prestige value of the school it will be fairly obvious to people reviewing your application, and in any case the prestige of a school outside of the scientific community should not be a part of your decision making process. Make sure you have a solid justification for why you want to go to each school you apply to, and that you can find at least 3 or 4 people you would be a good match for based on your experiences and interests. Fit for the program is usually more important than any other application component.
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Basically I have no idea where to start—how far in advance should I set up my rotations? Should I wait until I start the program and meet some more PI's of interest before I actually choose my first one, or is it better to do it in advance? When contacting the PI, what is the etiquette—keep it brief, just say 'hey your research seems really cool' etc. or should I go into some detail in terms of what I found interesting and what my experience has been? Include a CV and/or personal statement?
Any and all advice appreciated.
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Is anybody else having a hard time staying motivated for undergraduate courses after having decided on a grad school? It's killing me at the moment, everything feels like busy work (especially all the GE courses that have nothing to do with my major). Any thoughts on finding a new carrot/stick to keep my GPA above a C- this semester?
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"The only Broader Impacts addressed are the potential benefits that the research might have to human health. "
Seems like a pretty broad impact to me, but what do I know
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We've already heard a lot of wonderful things about UCSF but I'm wondering how it might compare to Rockefeller. I read through the previous UCSF vs Princeton post and stole the pros and cons that I agreed with/cared about. Currently I'm leaning towards UCSF because I think its a better fit for my scientific interests, but I want to be convinced to go to Rockefeller because I think I would be happier and have a better lifestyle there. Unfortunately the cons I have with Rockefeller are really fairly major drawbacks.
UCSF
pro
- Huge choice of PIs and labs
- Excellent research in systems neuroscience -- arguably the best in the world.
- All the resources of the bay area and San Francisco
- No TA requirement
con
- Just a medical campus, no engineering or physics etc (although Berkeley connection). I'm not very computational anyway though.
- Lots of coursework
- Crazy expensive (stipend is 37K, but SF is crazy expensive). So housing and general lifestyle are gonna be rough.
Rockefeller
pro
- Full access to mentors at Weill Cornell
- Most faculty are extremely well-regarded scientists -- something like half of them are NAS members
- Insanely good benefits - 39k stipend, healthcare. Studio housing on the upper east side of manhattan for 640/mo which is just ridiculous.
- Very small department with heavy focus on educating and nurturing graduate students.
- Department pays all stipend/tuition costs for 5 years, which could improve relationship/availability of PI's
- No TA requirement and coursework is very light, mostly seminars with no exams
- New York!
con
- Small neuroscience faculty - only a handful really match my interest and I won't know until after I commit whether I really like them and their lab environments
- Mostly large labs, though there are a decent number of small ones. Again, I might not have much choice in terms of the intersection of my interests with who wants a graduate student that year.
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Congrats guys! I'm a current undergrad at UT and I have to say it's a wonderful place to go to school. You're gonna love Austin! Let me know if you have any questions -- though I don't know much about this specific program, I'm happy to speak to housing or other non-academic related issues.
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On 2/24/2017 at 1:53 PM, neurocomp said:
Anyone get an official acceptance/rejection from UCLA neuroscience under biosciences yet?
I have yet to receive an interview or rejection, is it safe to assume it's silent rejection?
Yeah, the second interview weekend has already taken place :-/ Sorry.
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36 minutes ago, Cryptochrometime said:
How would you approach a rejection from a school you interviewed at? Should I email them and ask if they have any paticular reasons or improvements?
That's what I tried. They basically just said it was a super competitive year, don't be too hard on yourself etc... Even if you don't get any useful information, it doesn't hurt and you never know what you'll find out. It really sucks to get rejected at this stage without knowing why, especially with everybody saying acceptance rates are 60-90%, so I totally sympathize with you.
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44 minutes ago, jumbo1177 said:
So I was recently just accepted to one of my top choice programs (Yay!) and I am planning on cancelling two of my other interviews just because I applied to too many schools and it just gets to tiring! I was just wondering what the most polite way to cancel interviews is (none of them have bought any travel tickets for me yet). Should I just email the program coordinator saying I got into my top choice school and I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to interview but I really don't want to waste anyones time?
If they've already bought your plane tickets, expect to be sent the bill...
- cosiva, .letmeinplz// and jougami
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Has anybody had an admissions decision from Harvard PIN yet? They said they would be going out yesterday or today so I'm assuming the worst at this point.
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4 hours ago, spiffscience said:
Hi folks! Hope you're doing swell.
For those of you who have already been to an interview weekend -- do you have any advice to quell my nerves? I'm heading to UWashington MCB this weekend and am a bundle of energy.
Thanks in advance!
My interviews were mostly focused on what I had done -- and there weren't really any trick questions. Sometimes an interviewer will probe you with pretty detailed questions, but that's just to find the limits of your knowledge. Eventually they'll ask you something you don't know and that's where the probing ends - don't freak out when this happens, so long as it's not something you really ought to know ("So, what was your result?" for example). Know what you did, what the outcome was, and why you were doing it. Have a handful of faculty you would want to work with in mind, and know a general field you want to work in (for me, systems/circuit level structural plasticity).
NSF GRFP 2018-2019
in The Bank
Posted
Nobody knows, but I think they were released the week of April 5th last year so either next week or the week after is a good bet.