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

If you're interested in going into industry after academia, then what you'll be looking for will be different than other graduate students. You'll have to find PI's that are open and supportive of the idea knowing that you'll be going into industry after graduate school. Some PI's I've met with through my interviews were clearly more open about it than others. Some even have direct connections and will help you get a job in big pharmaceuticals after you graduate while others may be more biased about industry and try to keep you in academia. I feel like all three schools have excellent research strengths in the biomedical sciences - all with great reputations. I don't know about other states but in Texas, UMich and Northwestern are highly regarded, more so than University of Washington. That's just 'laymans' prestige. But of course, in academia, all three medical schools have excellent research programs. I'm in the same situation as you and trying to decide between NYU Sackler or Baylor College of Medicine for virology/immunology. so if any of you have insight into those schools it would be greatly appreciated! Some schools will publish where their students go after they graduate. At NYU, 70% go into industry while 30% continue onto postdoc. At Baylor, 70% go into postdoc's while 30% go into industry. So the culture at the two places are already different in what they will be best preparing you for. Also, in my opinion, it looks better to go to graduate school at a different institution than where you did your undergrad. I think the same would also considered to be true for post-doc. You generally want a greater breadth of educational experiences from different schools than staying at the same place for all the stages of your education.

Any insight into either Ph.D. program in virology/microbiology/immunology? I have several of the faculty at both schools that are interested in recruiting me to their lab and I see both as equals in term of research fit for myself. Beyond that, any insight into the strengths/weaknesses of either program?

Any insight into how Baylor College of Medicine vs NYU Sackler institute hold up in terms of biomedical research/tier? virology/immunology programs.

Do you know what the acceptance rate is post interview? like how many applied, how many are interviewed, how many are offered interviews and how many ultimately matriculate? I know some schools post this information but I couldn't find one for NYU.

I'm also curious to know how the Sackler interview went. What was the atmosphere? Do people wear suits or is sports jacket/slacks ok?

There are no taxes in texas but I think the federal income tax still applies. It will be slightly lower because it's taxed differently for graduate students (I think but not totally sure). I have friends that are at UThealth and their stipend is 29k in Houston. They also live super comfortable life styles. I wouldn't be worried about the stipend. Food and lodging in Houston are quite low and affordable. Graduate students seem to be living quite cushy lifestyles. I have a younger brother that will be a freshman undergraduate at Rice University next year. The science department is strong. A lot of them do collaborative research with Baylor College of Medicine and other schools in the Texas Medical Center. I think officially, Rice is part of the TMC. There are some professors at BCM that also have appointments at Rice.

Hey! I had this exact question. I messaged a grad student at Baylor College of Medicine to figure out what their after tax stipend ends up being. For BCM, they get $32k per year. After tax, they get about $1,100 every two weeks, in a year, that amounts to around $28,600 that you would take home after taxes. I'm from the Houston area and was able to tour some of the graduate student apartments. They live VERY comfortable lives. the average one bed room around the West University/medical center area will be around 900-$1100. The $1100 ones are quite nice, washer dryer connections AND units included. They all seemed to have higher standards of living than other schools I've visited. Plus many of them were able to have savings accounts. I'm not sure what program you're applying to but Rice University is an excellent institution.

StemCellFan is absolutely right. But also in general, fields of study that have direct implications for human health like cancer biology, immunology, microbiology and the likes, will have a large majority of them housed under a school of medicine. Some of the researchers will be focusing on translational research, but some will also be investigating basic sciences related to the field. Many of the top programs in these fields will be at a school of medicine. A lot of students that want a strong focus on research will also be drawn to these medical school based programs. The lack of undergraduates will free up both the faculty and graduate students to focus more on the research... and good research means more $$$ from the NIH! For me, my interests are specifically in molecular virology so all the Ph.D. programs I've applied to are connected to medical schools. It was very hard for me to find a traditional university that had a large faculty base interested in virology research. You can also TA at graduate programs located in medical schools but you'll most likely be TAing graduate classes, medical students, or other graduate level courses, depending on what classes the professors in your department are responsible for. There was one program I interviewed at where the graduate students and the faculty with primary appointments in the neurobiology department were responsible for teaching the medical students about neurology. Another school had a lot of the microbiology professors (Ph.D.) with primary appointments in the department of internal medicine, infectious disease. There are pro's and con's in regards to both. You just have to find which fit is best for you and an environment you'll be happiest in.

I've been through two interviews now with two more to go. So that's 8 people that I've had a one on one interview with me (4 at each program). This question has come up several times from faculty interviews and interactions with graduate students. I usually just let them know the other schools that I'm interviewing at - you should be proud about whose trying to recruit you! It'll also give them an idea of how in demand you are. I'd also think they want to see who they're competing against. If you're at a 'low' tier school and you have a bunch of interviews at a really top school, say Harvard, they'll think that you are using them as a safety school and not seriously considering them. But then at each school I'll reinforce that XYZ school (the school that's currently interviewing me) is my top choice because of one reason or another. I usually say it's because of a specific set of faculty members, similar research interests, facilities they have, or anything that the school is proud about and makes them unique. You want to reinforce that they are the star of the show and demonstrate that you really want to go their and you WILL go there if given an admission.

Do you know how long it usually takes for BCM MVM to send out decisions after an interview? thanks!