strugglebus2k17

-posted from another thread

https://www.bcm.edu/education/schools/graduate-school-of-biomedical-sciences/programs/immunology-microbiology/research/autoimmune-inflammatory-diseases

I'm a first year PhD student in a microbiology/immunology department. Some great Microbiology programs in the united states that you might consider are UNC Chappel Hill, Scripps, Baylor College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, UPenn, UMich, Tulane, University of Washington, Washington University in St. Louis. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) is a great microbiology school for tropical/emerging microbiology. Harvard is a top school for Virology.

From what I've seen in my experience, if you can become a tech at the school of your choice and science of interest and work productively for 1 or 2+ years, maintain a great relationship with the PI, you can tremendously improve your odds of admissions given some slight blemishes on your application (low test scores or GPA's). I'm a first year PhD student and I've seen some students admitted sub-optimal GPA's or GRE's but did research as a tech in the school for a couple years, got some publications in, and were ultimately admitted.

First off, it depends on the field you want to go into and the school you choose. Each school has different programs they employ to sort their students into sponsored research labs. I'm interested in virology/immunology so I choose to look into medical schools that have PhD training programs for this. For my program, the first year we have up to 5 rotations, each 2 months, in different labs that we may be interested in. At the end of the year, if you click with the mentor, they'll take you into their lab where you can begin to work toward your thesis research for the next 4ish years. My program also put together faculty seminars where we would listen to 4 faculty presentations each week to help us decide what we were interested in/if we wanted to rotate in that lab. This type of rotation model is pretty consistent among medical school based PhD programs, at least the one's that I interviewed at and were considering. I know in other sciences you have to match with a faculty as a prerequisite for admissions into the school/program. I'm not in one of these types of programs but my best guess/advice would be to email the program director or department chair of the school your interested in if any faculty at the school are looking/has funding to recruit graduate students into their lab for research. Most PhD programs, will have the PI fund your PhD education. Only some rare exceptions, like Mayo Clinic, will the Graduate School foot the bill for your training the entire time you are there.

Any school that is affiliated with an NCI designated comprehensive cancer center will be environments to study at. BCM Cancer and Cell Biology program has a great balance of basic science research faculty but also translational research too. The Cell and Molecular Biology department at BCM is top notch, I think top 5 in NIH funding, and is one of the driving forces of the college's cancer research.

Also, there's a movement for graduate schools to drop the GRE completely as a requirement for Ph.D. programs. I would totally look into those schools. I know NYU Sackler has dropped it starting this year for the application cycle.

Hey, from your numerical stats you look like an excellent candidate and I'd say you'd have a good shot at the schools you listed. What it really comes down to now is if your recommendation letter writers will be able to step up and vouch for your ability and character. Also, it will be super important that you're able to articulate the big picture and significance of the research you did both in your statements and during interviews. If teaching is important to you, you may want to consider non-medical center based biology programs. Typically, at medical schools, teaching is usually optional and your stipend is guaranteed through your research. At traditional universities with an undergraduate base, teaching is usually a required part of your compensation package. From my experience of interviewing at phd programs based in medical schools, there are less opportunities to TA, just by the lack of undergraduates to teach. Not saying that there are absolutely no TA opportunities, there are just less of them. I think Berkeley and Princeton would be great schools to apply to with your interests. I know Houston is very south and a little warm but Baylor College of Medicine has a stellar microbiome center with research faculty that closely align with your interests. Other schools with strong microbiology departments you might want to consider are: Harvard, UNC, University of Washington, Emory, UMich, Yale.

Hey, I was in exactly your situation and I also had the same concerns. In undergrad, I did around 3 years of research in a neurobiology lab that investigates neuronal recovery after ischemia to the caudal forelimb area of the motor cortex. My career interests are in pursuing a totally different direction - mainly molecular virology and antiviral immunity. I've interviewed at four schools and was accepted at all four in their respective phd programs for my topic of interest. I did have a few interviewers ask why I did undergraduate research in neurobiology instead of virology to which I just explained that I joined a lab where there were ample opportunities for undergraduates. My PI was known to be a great mentor for undergrads and would offer a lot of independent research opportunities. Professors that you interview with will mainly want to see your interest/passion in science, if you have had a significant research experience, and if you are able to communicate to others what you did and why it was important. You will also have to defend the work you did from probing questions. All in all, I think what's most important is if you are able to get a publication out of your work (which would be great! but also not an absolute), present at conferences, or make some significant contribution to the lab you joined to demonstrate that you did some science rather than wash lab dishes for all that time.

There's a facebook group for other BCM matriculating students on FB if anyone wants to join! Just search in the FB tab: Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School 2018

If all else are equal you can use location/city to help make your decision. In science, both programs are top notch and well respected in academia. Though, I feel like upenn being an Ivy name will give you more 'prestige' back home. But that's just 'laymans' prestige. As far as other scientists are concerned, both are excellent schools! The reputation of the program/department will hold much more weight to your peers.

I'd say a name like Hopkins will carry you far in academia or industry. People know it's a fantastic school with great name recognition in both realms. Of course, there are a lot of other factors to consider. The location at Hopkins will be significantly different in weather compared to UCSD. But weather aside, I feel like the pro's of going to a school like hopikins will hopefully outweigh the cons of it's weather. I've had many friends from Texas that go to school in Baltimore and love it over there!

Thanks for the insight! Im not sure if I want to do academia or industry at this point yet. I’ll go where the opportunities are and I want to keep my options open if possible.

Yeah I was accepted! The revisit is two weeks from now on March 21st.

Yeah, I interviewed last weekend and heard back on Wednesday