MeTooThanks

I also have not heard back from UNC BBSP. I didn't submit until the final deadline (12/5) so maybe that plays a part in it? I am also waiting to hear back from UCSD BMS and Columbia CMBS. Are these looking like rejections?

That's a tough call. I think the one thing about a low writing score is that you can always have an amazing SOP to make up for it. I think the SOP is probably a much better indicator of your writing ability and admissions committees will understand that. I would submit your first score and package it with a stellar essay.

Yeah, I'm relying on being able to get my materials in electronically. I've also sent my GRE scores to the three institutions I've mentioned already. I'm hoping to get an idea of schools I might be able to apply to just under the wire or some sense of whether my current picks are a reach.

Undergrad Institution: University of Washington (unfortunate, since this is among my top grad school choices)Major(s): Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (B.S.)Minor(s): None GPA in Major: 3.43 (Ochem/biochem brought this down a bit)Overall GPA: 3.45Position in Class: The UW doesn't give us this data, but most classes curved to a 2.7-2.8 so I would suspect I was above average.Type of Student: Domestic, Asian, Male, First-gen collegeGRE Scores (revised):Q: 163 (85th)V: 165 (95th)W: 4.0 (59th)B: N/AResearch Experience: 2 years of undergraduate research in a lab as part of an iGEM team (two projects, one year each). This was mainly student-led research, but we got input from graduate students and post-docs and were hosted by a lab. I'm not sure if this is a pro or a con since it isn't the typical undergraduate research experience. I presented a poster the first year at the iGEM conference in Boston. This project was related to protein design. The lab which hosted us is one in which I hope to become a graduate student Have been a research technician for about a year at Fred Hutch, which is pretty well-known locally and nationally. The lab performs assays on vaccine recipients who are participating in clinical trials. We work on assaying immune responses to peptides in blood samples from the vax recipients. On a broad level, I want to study protein design with the end goal of engineering immunogens/vaccines/medicine/you name it. This is why I accepted the position - to learn more about immunology and what it takes to design a vaccine. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Our first iGEM project won Gold, our second year we won Silver. This sounds impressive, but lots of teams get medals. Special Bonus Points: My previous and current PIs are renowned in their field and have a lot of name recognition. They were both willing to write strong letters. I also have a strong letter from my current supervisor, which I have been told carries a lot of weight. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I did running start at a local community college. I earned an associate in science degree in biology with honors and had a 3.79 gpa. I don't factor this into my cumulative GPA above since I feel like it's separate and a community colleges aren't as rigorous.Applying to Where:My only certain choice so far is UW. I plan to apply to the BPSD and the MCB program. I would love to go here and study protein design since there are several faculty that do that type of research. Other schools I am considering are UCSD (BMS) and Columbia (CMBS). I think I would be happy studying protein function/structure anywhere, and these are good programs thare are cross-disciplinary. I'm not 100% sure where else I might be a good fit, or if I'm competitive for the schools I have chosen already. Any thoughts?