jougami
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Posts posted by jougami
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7 hours ago, strugglebus2k17 said:
Do you know what the likelihood of acceptances after interviews are?
It depends on the school, but I hear post-interview acceptance rates are usually 60-90% or so for domestic applicants. I heard Princeton accepted around 2/3 of their interviewees, while UPenn accepted more than 90% last year https://www.med.upenn.edu/camb/app_info.shtml . It's just anecdotal, but I think most of the other schools I applied to accepted at least 80% of their domestic interviewees, with the interview acting as more of a recruitment tool than for eliminating candidates.
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14 minutes ago, _caffeinated said:
Does anyone have an idea of how long it generally takes to hear back from a school (acceptance or rejection) after having interviewed?
My acceptances came within a few days to a week of the interview, while my rejections from Dartmouth took 2 weeks and Princeton took 6 weeks.
- _caffeinated and synapticcat
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I did 7 interviews my senior year of undergrad and met some people who did more, but I had a very light spring semester schedule so I didn't actually miss any coursework. While I really enjoyed my interview experiences, it does get exhausting eventually and if I had more classes to deal with it would have been a challenge to keep up with them. If you know you definitely don't care about a school, you can turn down their invitation since you already have 4 interviews (unless you're an international student). Do keep in mind though that a school you don't really consider at first might be an unexpectedly good fit when visiting in person and that interviews are also a good networking experience.
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What are your long term goals? I would think getting a master's is doable with the basic biology background you have and your gpa, as long as you can explain your desire to switch fields. In a master's program you could join a lab and do research to see if that's the path you would like to pursue.
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On 11/16/2017 at 12:33 PM, StemCellFan said:
Okay, I have a weird/stupid question. I have a couple interviews scheduled already, which I know is pretty early. One of them is in mid January and the other in early March. The one in March is the later interview weekend for that program (which is one of my top choices) and I'm wondering if that will put me at a disadvantage interviewing later, because they would have already admitted others by that time. I already booked the other date with the other program, so I had to pick the later interview weekend.
It shouldn't matter unless the program is really small and more people from the earlier weekend accept their offer than they can take. Otherwise, schools usually know how many offers they can make and treat the interviews independently.
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1 hour ago, paxillaris said:
Nervous about applying for the first time this cycle and would appreciate any feedback on how competitive I'd be for my programs of interest! I’m interested in studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of how organisms interact with their environment.
Aside from feedback on my list of programs, I have a few specific questions that I’d appreciate any answers to:
- How specific do I have to be about my research interests in my statement of purpose? When looking at labs I’d be interested in working in, I’ve found that my interests encompass genetic/molecular approaches to sensory biology, host-pathogen interactions, and ecophysiology… which I think all technically fall under “genetic and molecular mechanisms of how organisms interact with their environment.” I can tie these interests to my past research experiences, but I’m concerned about being too broad. Should I try to narrow it down more? For what it’s worth, I’m applying to mainly umbrella programs that I chose for their breadth of faculty, since I'd like the opportunity to do interdisciplinary work.
- How much should system of study factor into deciding on if a lab would be a good fit? I have the most experience working with plant models, but also have insect and mammalian experience, and the labs I’m interested in cover a wide range of models as well.
- How many PIs per institution should I contact before applying? Currently have at least 3 PIs per school whose work I find interesting.
Thanks!!
Based on your stats and experience I think you'll be competitive for the programs you applied for. I had a 4.0 from a flagship public university, 168/169/5.0 GRE, and 2.5/1.5 years of research (concurrently in different labs) when I applied and got into UPenn, Duke, and Cornell. I'm not in your field but I would say don't sell yourself short and apply to Stanford if you'd like to go there. If you apply to mainly umbrella programs, you don't need to be super specific about your research interests. In undergrad I did research on plant biochemistry and human cancer, which are two very different things; in my applications I vaguely stated that I was interested in research involved in curing disease, especially cancer, which is also very broad. I would say you don't need to contact more than 3 PIs; I didn't contact any before applying but like for all the above advice your mileage may vary.
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As an senior in undergrad (or as a grad student), you can apply for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, but the NIH fellowships are restricted to grad students as far as I know. For the NSF GRFP, the grant is paid to the institution as a $34,000 stipend and a $12,000 cost of education allowance for the student, yearly for 3 years. https://www.nsfgrfp.org/general_resources/about
Most of the places I interviewed at stated that if a student receives a fellowship, they get a few thousand added to their stipend as a bonus (so you don't get the entire amount of the fellowship stipend on top of your regular stipend but you're not going to lose anything if your regular stipend is more than the fellowship). In addition to having a nice line on your CV, having your own research funding allows you to be more flexible in the advisor you choose and the research you do since they have to worry less about supporting you financially and can spend that extra money on the research.
- whybanana and rockyMicrobe
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On 6/22/2017 at 4:42 PM, TLNCP said:
Hi all. I couldn't find a page for 2018 yet, so I thought I'd tack on my stats here. I am starting to look for programs to apply to in the fall and was wondering if Stanford Biosciences and UCSF Tetrad would be a stretch. Let me know what y'all think. Thank you!
Undergrad Institution: Top state school in California
Major(s): Biochemistry
Minor(s): NA
GPA in Major: 3.93
Overall GPA: 3.94
Position in Class: top 5%
Type of Student: domestic, white maleWith your stats, I think you're a competitive applicant as long as you score decently on the GRE.
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On 4/4/2017 at 3:19 AM, LilyMira said:
So... I'm applying to grad school next fall, and I've got a big bag of festering questions (don't know how many of them are relevant to this particular post, so ignore/exile me if I'm out of line).
Me: attending medium-ish R2 state school, majoring in microbiology/molecular biology- ~2 years of research (and counting), with one funded summer program at my home institution, 4.0, a couple of poster presentations and undergraduate grants, but nothing published. I'm interested in environmental and community microbiology, and in genetically engineering microbes to solve problems (detoxification, biofuel feedstock breakdown, value-added products).
1) The elusive question of "Prestige": so I picked my favorite 8 schools with the conditions that (1) they have to pay for me, (2) they have to have at least 5 faculty I like, and (3) their microbiology program can't be part of their medical school/program (shocking how many schools this disqualified). The schools I ended up with were University of Georgia, UC Berkeley, UW Madison, Rutgers New Brunswick, U Minnesota Twin Cities, Michigan State, U Mass Amherst, and Arizona State University. Now obviously I have a couple of crazy prestigious schools, but others I can't find microbiology rankings for- should I be worried about the schools not seeming hugely renowned after a quick google search or am I being (characteristically) neurotic? I'm not planning on going into academia, as of now.
2) As for not wanting to go into academia... is that something I should shy away from mentioning on my application? Right now my dream career would be working in industry (I'm interning with the DOE this summer, and hopefully I enjoy the environment as much as I think I will), but I see a lot of people here saying that grad admissions committees want to admit future professors.
3) Letter of recommendation by post-doc? Pretty sure this is a no-no, but just thought I'd get confirmation. The post-doc who oversees my work in lab offered to write me a great letter, but I figured it would be better for me to ask the professor who I've taken an upper-division biochemistry course with and am going to TA (an upper-division biochem lab) for next semester. (My other two will be my lab PI and the overseer of my summer project at the DOE- keeping my fingers crossed on that one)
4) Subject test: okay so tricky one: a couple of the programs recommend I submit either a BCM or biology subject test with my app. I was planning on taking the BCM test until... it got discontinued. I tried a practice biology test instead, but I know literally nothing about plants and neuroscience, and I landed in the 60th percentile. With scores like that, is it worth me trying to study and take the test over the summer?
Honestly I'll be happy to get into any graduate school. Whew, that was longer than intended. Anyway, thanks for reading my novel, and I'll appreciate any input (unless you suggest a gap year... then you're dead to me)!
1. As long as the schools have good research and would be a good fit, you shouldn't really worry about prestige. I will say though, with your GPA and experience applying to more prestigious schools should be fine. Prestige isn't everything but it still is correlated to funding and other opportunities.
2. I am fairly certain I want to do industry but I put that I was keeping both academia and industry in mind when I did my application. During interviews the professors didn't seem to have a problem with this but I heard there was one guy who had an interview go bad after he said he wanted to do industry. Your mileage may vary but I'd say the safe bet is to say you're keeping your options open.
3. If you already have 3 professors writing your letters you could maybe have the post-doc's letter as part of your PI's letter.
4. With your GPA and major the subject test is unnecessary.
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1 hour ago, m21 said:
Hi! I'm hoping someone can give me advice on my situation. I interviewed with my first choice program in late January, and I still have not heard back. I emailed them a month in asking for an update, and they told me that they would be making final decisions in the "next few weeks." With April 15 approaching, should I email them again? I suspect I'm on the wait list, but they have not even told me that. Any input would be appreciated!
It's worth a shot. It's almost April already and the worst they can do is reject you so I'd say go ahead and either email or call them.
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Rejected by Princeton. Pretty disappointed but I guess my research interests were too biomedical so their decision makes sense
Now I have to decide between Duke and UPenn...
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I also agree that the science should guide your decision, but if you think you might be unhappy living in SF you could try emailing prospective advisors/grad students at Rockefeller and ask about their lab environments or if they are taking students.
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8 hours ago, InternationalCatLover said:
I am thinking of applying for biomedical/neurology programs next year. I am graduating in May and planning on working for a year as a research assistant/lab tech. I actually applied for a few Ecology programs in this application cycle but without much luck, which is for the best because I am reconsidering my decision to go into Ecology. Last semester, I took Neurology which fascinated me and I am going to try finding a relevant RA position for this year.
During my undergrad, I have worked in two labs at my home institution (unknown public regional school) and did a summer internship, all in different areas of molecular biology. However, this experience was before senior year, and I am currently doing an honors thesis in one of the humanities. While I liked research, I feel like the projects I was involved in (only one of the three was an independent one) weren't interesting enough to me, which is one of the reasons why I was thinking of going into a completely different area of biology. However, I am now realizing how much more there is to molecular biology than what I was exposed to during my work in labs. I am wondering if my broad scope of experiences will make me look unfocused and detriment my chances. Is my thesis even worth mentioning in SOP if it is not in science? If I get a job in a relevant field, will it give me any significant boost in the admissions process? Is there anything else I could do during the gap year that will increase my chances? My GPA and my GRE are decent, so no need to retake the test or anything.
A broad scope of research shouldn't hurt you as long as you have some relevant experience. At application, I had 2.5 years of research on plankton biochemistry and 1 on cancer but applied to biomedical/mol bio programs. Interviewers didn't seem to mind and some were even interested in the work which I was concerned would be a detriment to my application. I would only mention the humanities thesis in my SOP if it had some relevance to my research or scientific goals, but you can include it in your CV as "Honors Thesis in Major So and So". Getting a job in a lab doing research would definitely help you in admissions.
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On March 7, 2017 at 5:13 PM, nile red said:
Accepted to UNC BBSP
Same here! Now I just wait for Princeton...
- nile red and kimmibeans
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8 hours ago, LoveMysterious said:
I've been in the industry in the past four years, and I've noticed that the vast majority of PhD scientists did not do translational research during grad school. You won't be at a disadvantage at all if your dissertation is geared toward basic science. However, there are certain skills that are highly desirable in the industry (bioinformatics experience, NextGen Sequencing, CRISPR, etc) which you would be more exposed to in a translational lab. Regardless, you will likely have zero trouble getting an industry job with a PhD from Princeton..
7 hours ago, Infinito said:Also, @jougami: While I cannot speak to the majority of the schools you were admitted to about neuroscience (as I applied to more bio related programs, including Duke), I can attest that Penn Neuroscience is top notch with people doing using optigenetics, in addition to it being one of the best stipended/funded programs at Penn. The only negative comment I have is that there are some politics going on in that department, but I'm not sure how much of that spills over into the graduate students.
Thanks for the information guys! I'll be going into grad school with this reassuring advice in mind. I'm interested in infectious disease and cancer, not neuroscience, but I'm assuming this all applies the same.
- Ecce and LoveMysterious
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On the other hand, can anyone defend Princeton? I'm probably looking to go into industry after graduation and also got into UPenn and Duke which have more translational research. I really liked the school and Princeton's location but they do more basic research so I'm worried it'd be harder to get an industry job. If I'm not planning on doing computational genomics/neuro does anyone have any opinions on where I should go?
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47 minutes ago, aquamarine said:
I have worked for ~3 years as an undergrad in my lab. I applied to (and was accepted) into the program that my PI is in and is on the adcom for. I know I am most likely not going to stay at my undergrad institution for my PhD, but I'm unsure of the best way to address it with my PI in a way that doesn't torch our working relationship (I'm finishing my senior thesis, but the due date is after April 15th, so I'll still be in lab). Has anyone had a similar situation?
I haven't been in the same situation, but I'm sure your PI would understand. Tell them that other institions offer new networking opportunities and possibly professional development in areas not offered at your school. Most people change institutions from undergrad to grad so it's not unusual.
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Accepted to UPenn CAMB!
- SysEvo, Bioenchilada, jeanetics17 and 4 others
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You could try to see if there are any lab positions available at your school by reaching out to professors. It might not be as easy since you're a few years removed from college, but your technician experience is a plus.
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2 hours ago, cumulina said:
dartmouth doesn't deserve you!
Thanks, I'm sure they have their reasons but I was honestly a little surprised since I thought I interviewed decently there. Oh well, congratulations to those who did get in.
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On 1/31/2017 at 4:37 PM, meioticmadness said:
Northwestern IBiS acceptance!
Same here!
How Many Interviews?
in Biology
Posted
I didn't apply to PIBS, but contacting students you know in the program definitely won't hurt you (unless they harbor a secret grudge against you). During my interviews, I talked to a current student at one of the schools I applied to who I knew previously and they gave me valuable insight into the program.