Hey y'all. Thanks for having this thread, it's really helpful. I made an account here just so I could talk with y'all! I guess I'm struggling to decide which programs to apply to... or how competitive I am for grad school in the first place.
Undergrad Institution: State school, decent research output/environment (R2)Major(s): Concurrent degrees in (1) Biochemistry (chemistry-intensive) and (2) Cell BiologyMinor(s): NoneGPA in Major: ~3.95Overall GPA: 3.98Position in Class: Near topType of Student: Domestic white femaleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 163V: 168W: 4.5B: Research Experience: I've worked for 4 academic years and 2 summers in the same biochemistry/enzymology lab. I've worked on two projects that are significantly different but have some similarities between them. The first project is being included in a paper - I may be third author but a good bit of my data had to be redone after I left the project (booooo, lab protocol changes!), so I would be behind the grad students who contributed to the work. I've had two funded research fellowships from my university (one for a summer+full year, one for just a summer.) About the first project, I published a short article in the undergraduate journal at my university and presented a poster at my university's research symposium. I did an REU at a moderately respected program and had a poster at that university's symposium as well. I want to continue the same or similar field of research as what I did for my projects/REU. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Lots of scholarships/awards from my school. Phi Kappa Phi award/scholarship sponsored by my school. Recognized as the top junior in my department last year. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Teaching assistant for four years in general chemistry and biochemistry labs. I'm the only undergraduate teaching assistant for biochemistry lab and I've written an experiment for the class that might be published in J Chem Ed eventually. In-class teaching assistant for organic chemistry and biochemistry (one course of each.) Departmental tutor for chemistry/biochemistry - I tutor around 4-5 students per semester, usually meeting once a week or so with each. Helped to start "Research Ambassadors" program to help other students learn about research and find research projects (two years of involvement.) Leadership position in student American Chemical Society chapter with a good bit of volunteering. Volunteering through other science-based outreach in my college (open houses for elementary/middle school, "science fair" stuff, etc.) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: My PI is not extremely famous but I think she's respected in the field! All my letters (one from my PI, one from REU supervisor, and one from lab TA supervisor) should be solid and complimentary. My personal statement / SOP should be good - I'm going to have lots of professors/friends/other people review it to make sure. I'm applying for the NSF-GRFP this year. I have a TON of breadth in coursework: upper-level chemistry, bioinformatics, genetics, immunology, microbiology, etc. I have taken some graduate courses as well. Special Bonus Points: I have a lot of enthusiasm/charisma in person and interview fairly well. I would guess that at this level everyone has this so it probably doesn't make a big difference. Applying to Where:
University of Wisconsin Madison (IPIB program)
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (Biological Chemistry) (they have a lot of cool flavoprotein studies, which is an interest of mine!)
UNC Chapel Hill (BBSP Program)
Duke (School of Med, Biochemistry)
Stanford
UT Dallas
University of Washington (particularly for their peptide design research)
University of Toronto (undecided on this one, I just visited the campus and liked it and there are some cool projects)
Thanks in advance for any feedback on this. I guess I just struggle to see my strengths when I think about my application! A lot of my research background is not that varied and I don't have a publication aside from my undergraduate journal article... I'm wondering if that makes me a poor candidate for top-tier programs. It's my dream to become a professor because of how much I love to teach and see others succeed in chemistry/biochemistry. I don't want admissions committees to think that I only care about teaching and not about research. Should I dial back my expectations and apply to different places?
Any suggestions for where to apply are also welcomed. I'm mostly interested in enzymology or non-computational peptide design, especially as it relates to studying cell signalling or the immune system. Sometimes I feel like I might miss out on cool universities in my areas of interest because I don't know about some secretly-really-great programs or how to decide if a PI is respected and productive in research - just general guidance for figuring that out would also be much appreciated!
Thanks for reading!
