bkim346

Hey, I wouldn't lose hope just yet. But a great next step would be continuing to get research experience. There are many postbac programs, such as the NIH prep through schools or NIH postbac IRTA at NIH, that will give you more experience and can help you next application cycle. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to know more about the NIH postbac program. I'm currently at NIH and really enjoy my experience here.

Same. I did find that they specifically do not post the dates and that we should not ask them... Odd

Does anyone know the interview dates for UCLA?

I'm hoping they still are... They did say 18th - 20th.

Haha I think it depends from prof to prof. But I'm currently a postbac at NIH and my POI is on the same floor as me.

Email. I just noticed that it was an email from my POI that looked a lot like an official email... So I confirmed that an official email is to follow. Sorry for the confusion.

I know that the Brown faculty met and made their decisions yesterday. So I'm assuming they will be sending out invites today also? But in terms of consideration, the two programs are distinct.

Brown-NIH decisions are out! Interview dates are February 21-23 at Brown University with additional interviews at NIH for GPP applicants February 19-21.

I'm not sure about Biology, but for UCSD Neuroscience the dates are Feb 26th - March 1st. I found this snooping around their events page!

I think the thought is that maybe they are reviewing it the order they received the applications.

When did they let you know? And was it an email or call?

For the Brown-NIH GPP I believe they will be sending them out late next week.

Thanks! I'm a domestic student and I submitted my application on the 28th of November.

And minutes after I posted my list, I got an interview invite through an email for the Neuroscience PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine!

Got an interview invite through an email for the Neuroscience PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine.

I didn't apply for as many programs as others here... But my list is UCLA (neuro), Caltech(Neuro), UCSD(Neuro), Johns Hopkins(Neuro), NIH-Brown(Neuro), Baylor Medicine(Neuro). Hope it works out well for everyone and we all hear back soon!

Hey all, I applied last year and didn't have great luck, but thankfully I've been able to get great research experience and hopefully, this will boost my chances. I'm pretty hopeful that I'll be accepted somewhere, but It'd be great if I could get some feedback on what seems like a strong point and if I should address anything in particular in the essay. Thanks! Undergrad Institution: Large Public school, very heavy on research and engineering.Major(s): Biomedical EngineeringOverall GPA: 3.08Position in Class: AverageType of Student: Domestic Asian MaleGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q:165V:157W:4.5Research Experience: Undergrad lab Undergraduate research at school in an electrophysiology lab studying neuroscience - Peripheral cuff electrode design and fabrication for bioelectronics 5 semesters part-time and 1-semester full time 1 conference poster 2-second author publications and undergraduate thesis Current Lab NIH postbac research fellowship studying sensory neuroscience - Studying the olfactory system in locusts to understand the coding of odor information in turbulent plumes About a year and a half and still going 2 poster presentations at major conferences, and 1 poster presentation at NIH This project is in the process of being published and I will be a 2nd author. (High Impact factor Journal) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Best Poster award at NIH - Postbac presentations only President's Undergraduate Research Award at School Scholarship for graduate classes at NIH Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...) TA for 2 semesters for Engineering class Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...) I took a graduate level Neuroscience course and got an A which should help my GPA situation I mentored 6 different people that I could talk about?... My PI would really like for me to do my PhD here and he knows the admissions board very well Currently collaborating with a lab at UCSD and will be publishing with them and their PI likes and knows me! Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Electrophysiology for 4 years with different animal models A lot of electrical engineering classes (almost got a minor) Applying to Where:Brown-NIH Graduate Partnership Program - Neuroscience - Sensory information processing (Olfactory or Vision) Johns Hopkins - Neuroscience - Sensory information processing (Vision) Upenn - Neuroscience - Sensory information processing (Vision or Olfactory) Baylor Medicine - Neuroscience - Sensory information processing (Olfactory) UCLA - Neuroscience - Sensory information processing (Vision or Olfactory) UCSD - Neuroscience or Salk Institute - Sensory information processing (Vision or Olfactory) Caltech - Neurobiology - Sensory information processing (Vision) UC Berkely - Neuroscience - Sensory information processing (Vision) For the schools I've picked out at least 2 profs I would like to work with and do what I would want to do, and I keep going back and forth whether I should reach out to them and try and meet them during SfN. It seems a little early to be trying to meet with them, so if you could give some advice on that I would really appreciate it too. Thanks again!

@biochemgirl67 Thank you so much, everyone. The other options are definitely something I will follow through on. I appreciate the different thoughts about the different options I could take, and I wholeheartedly agree that I could improve my app with more diverse research and post-bac to show that I can do well with courses. What @blc073 said, also raises a critical question that I will definitely have to think more about. I am very set on an academic career path, and I know I will enjoy being in a Ph.D. program, but like you said am I willing to settle? I will keep my options open and keep the forum updated. Thanks again!

Thank you for your thoughts! And I've worked with her for a long time, so I expect a very strong letter. This is, of course, a long shot, but what do you suggest I do at this point to strengthen my app? Even if it meant I apply again the next admission cycle? I've seen admission stats where people with GPAs of 2.67 - 3.9 being admitted to top schools and I was thinking maybe the publications will be able to show that I am able to conduct research and follow through well and help me get through.

Unfortunately, not. The closest person I have is the veterinarian who also conducts her own research and publishes, but is still technically not a PI. I realized a little too late that I should try and work with more than one lab. But I was able to get the publications out for working long in one lab at least.

Thank you. I figured, but thought I'd ask still.

Regarding research, I should have mentioned that I have taken summer and this Semester off in order to pursue full-time research. Would that be a beneficial factor? And for the LOR, do you think my mentor who has worked very close with me, a PhD student, might be a better Idea then? Thank you so much for your time!

She is in charge of assisting with animal procedures, has worked close with me regarding acute and chronic procedures and she has a neuroscience Ph.D.herself.

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 Engineering School in the US (Strong in research)Major(s): Biomedical EngineeringMinor(s): N/AGPA in Major: 3.13Overall GPA: 3.01Position in Class: N/AType of Student: Asian Male, DomesticGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 162V: 155W: 5.0Research Experience: A year and half of research at my school in an electrophysiology lab focused on the periphery. The work I have done focuses on neural electrode fabrication and conduction block with electrophysiological measurements. I have 4 publications (1 first author, 3 second author all in respectable journals.) and 2 poster presentations at a major conference. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: President's Undergraduate Research Award (Within School) Dean's list twice - most recent year and 1st junior semesterPertinent Activities or Jobs: Teaching Assistant for heavy engineering courseSpecial Bonus Points: Strong LORs from on campus veterinarian, famous PI and prof for TA class. .All experiments for publications done by me. Writing a thorough undergraduate thesis based on the work on the publications.Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Invited to student panel and visit NSF funded Engineering Research Center - Center for Autonomic Neural Engineering Applied to GRFP Mentoring - freshmen BME students - BME department Mentoring - Potential freshmen - Admissions department Applying to Where: Johns Hopkins - Neuroscience Janelia research Campus - Joint Program with JHU George Town Univeristy - Neuroscience University of Maryland - Neuroscience CalTech - Neurobiology UC - Irvine - Neurobiology and Behavior UC - Berkely - Neuroscience I'm interested in investigating the perception of sensory information in the CNS and move on from the periphery. I plan on taking the GRE again as my quant score fell short of what I expected from practice tests(165 - 170). Anyway thank you so much for your time and I know I fall very short with my GPA, so I wanted to get some different views on my prospects.