bioapplerobot

Since your GPA is basically the same as mine, the one piece of advice I'd give is to crush the GRE. I got the impression that my GRE (166 V, 156 Q) may have been okay for people with GPAs >3.7 or so, was seen almost as a confirmation of my bad grades. The test is not that hard, so just buckle down and nail it, unlike what I did

I think it will help your application tremendously. I went into the 2017 application season with a 3.36 GPA, below average GRE for first or second tier program, but a ton of research and a 1st author publication in a much lesser journal than Nature. And now I'm headed to BCM, almost purely off the back of my research and publication. I had easily the worst stats of anyone at my interviews (at least who I spoke with), and two separate faculty told me that my research/first-author publication got me an interview over my "middling" GPA and GRE.

Just adding my voice to the choir, but I'm headed to Baylor College of Medicine PhD in the Fall, and my cGPA is a 3.1. I had great letters of rec, an okay GRE (167 verbal/156 quant), one first author publication, and three years of research. No interim years as a research tech and no masters degree. I did start a company, but most people I spoke with on the interview trail said that while my work experience was interesting, it was not the thing that got me there. I did end up getting shut out from the "top-tier" programs I applied to (e.g. Stanford, UPenn), so if a top five is your singular goal then maybe a masters is in order, but I had interviews at Baylor, Dartmouth, and Brown, which I think are pretty well regarded depending on the program. Just make sure to knock your SoP out of the park and you'll be fine!

Hey did anyone here get an interview invite for Weill Cornell neuroscience? I see one listed on the results search but they just say Cornell, and there is a neuroscience PhD program on the Ithaca campus.

I don't post a whole lot, but I thought I'd make mention of the neuroscience programs I applied, or will apply, to. Emory Stanford Weill Cornell WUSTL Good luck to you all!

@Edotdl and @Bioenchilada, thanks for your advice and perspectives. You've both given me a lot to think about. But first, I'll have to see if anyone wants to interview me in the first place!

Thanks for your response. When I started the process of evaluating graduate programs I actually didn't have many from the Ivy league on my list, but as my priorities became clear, and my spouse's graduate school plans firmed up, that's the direction everything was pulled. So, I'm interested in knowing if anyone has any thoughts on the following programs: Brown Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Dartmouth Experimental and Molecular Medicine Columbia Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine These are all smaller programs with a focus on mechanisms of disease and translational research. I really like that 1. they're smaller 2. they hit all my favorite parts of research 3. they all have faculty from a broad group of disciplines (cancer, neuroscience, immunology, toxicology) despite their small size 4. the program directors and faculty have all been very approachable. Are there any redflags associated with smaller programs like these, as compared to larger programs like, say, Stanford Neuroscience or Upenn Pharmacology?

Undergrad Institution: Large private school in the USMajor(s): NeuroscienceMinor(s):GPA in Major: 3.4Overall GPA: 3.36Position in Class: Not sureType of Student: White maleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 156V: 166W: N/A (waiting)B:Research Experience: 3.5 years of research experience. 1 year in a biophysics lab looking at hippocampal interneurons and how beta-amyloid affects them. 1 year, which overlapped by 6 months with the first year, doing biomedical engineering research focused on the development of a device for frontal lobe cooling to treat insomnia and cluster headaches - required a decent amount of work with MRI thermometry and GSR. 2 years of translational virology which was a joint-project between a startup I founded and a couple different labs on campus. I have 1 publication (1st author out of 14), and two invited presentations which included a poster/abstract in one case.Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Lots of things to do with business. Not sure if any of them are pertinent.Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I'm currently a part-time intern for my university's technology transfer office, and I also run a pharmaceutical startup. I previously interned at a biotechnology company doing financial analysis.Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Business stuff. Again, not sure if it's pertinent.Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) I think my LORs should be good? Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:Applying to Where: *all of the below are either neuroscience or pharmacology, in both cases I'm angling towards neuropharmacology* Brown Dartmouth Cornell Northwestern Columbia WashU UPenn Stanford So, any recommendations for how I should position myself in my applications? I'm going to address my grades in the SOP, and I'm hoping that my verbal on the GRE helps to balance out the quant. Any thoughts or advice at all would be appreciated!