glialstar

I feel like I am slowly losing my mind over here as many of the biology PhD programs send out waves of invites. It seems like the wave of neuro interviews is typically later than other programs? Im waiting to see how it pans out this year, but last year the dates for the programs I applied to were as follows (stalked the results page): Yale neuro- Jan 3rd, Princeton neuro- Dec 20-22, Brown neuro- Dec 20-21, Weill Cornell neuro- Dec 21, Dartmouth PEMM neuro- Jan 5-13, USUHS neuro-N/a, Mayo Clinic neuro said they are reviewing Dec 15th this year

We have half in common! Ill keep my fingers crossed for the both of us lol

Hey all! I applies to 7 programs (lucky number hopefully lol)- Mayo Clinic, Weill Cornell, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, USUHS, and Princeton. Ive been living in a state of constant stress, so I made a suspected list of release dates for these programs based on past years interview notifications ?

Oh my gosh, I completely missed that. Thank you!

Would anyone find it helpful to create a separate thread just for interviews? Looking back through previous years, I felt it would have been more helpful to have a thread dedicated to just interview notifications with stats, with the discussions and questions staying in this main thread. Thoughts?

Just my opinion, but I don't think you should be worried. I would'nt have been surprised if you applied to even more competitive schools with your record tbh. This is from seeing how similar profiles to you have done- you probably wont get all the interviews bc it all depends on what each school is looking for this cycle, but I would be fairly confidant in having 3+ interviews. I had a friend with a slight higher gpa, much lower GRE and less research get into that Vanderbilt program last year.

Harvard's PREP application process was honestly a bit of a mess last year. It was not through the graduate portal, rather a separate website. Notifications and navigating the application were a bit hectic. I planned on doing a 1 year PREP, however the option for a second year is comforting if graduate applications don't go well this round- as I can continue taking PhD classes that will transfer, and am working towards publications. My day to day mentor is a senior postdoctoral fellow as my PI is incredibly busy. I see my main mentor every day, and my PI every week or so, but he is available if I ever wanted to drop by. Mentoring through the program is great as well! We have an IMSD meeting every week (with the PhD students, summer students, MD students, etc), journal clubs, grand rounds, and really just a ton of different seminars you can attend. Feel free to PM me with any additional questions! Also, I'd include your GRE as it can't really hurt here-most programs offer study plans and fee waivers to take/retake the GRE.

I ended up picking Mayo Clinic! I interviewed with Northwestern and Yale as well, never heard anything back from Harvard lol. Its been great so far, particularly as I'm interested in clinically translational research! It has the option for additional years in the program, however I am planning to give grad apps a shot this round!

@Smeb Oh geez, this entire post completely went over my head. I am currently in a NIH PREP, applied 4 last year! Best of luck!

I picked 7 as well- its always been my lucky number so thought id give it a shot! My schools: Yale, Mayo Clinic, Dartmouth, Princeton, USUHS, Weill Cornell, and Brown.

I would add in a few more safety schools as I know there are very few spots for international students at many universities, so it might be better if your finances permit to apply to a more broad range of schools.

Thank you for your reply! Columbia is definitely on the list, and Brown has a Neuroscience partnership program with the NIH that I've heard great things about so I thought it might be interesting! As for the west coast, I don't have much family that way, and cost of living in California seems to be much too high on a graduate budget so I just sort of skipped over that region ?. Id honestly been thinking a lot about having the safety schools myself and agree with you, I don't think I would go to them rather than take the extra year so Im likely not applying to them- this round will be a complete batch of crazy reaches lol. I was unsure if retaking the GRE for the quant score would be necessary as so many schools are discounting the GRE entirely now, looking at it moreso as a pulse check. I took the GRE last year cold turkey, so studying might help, but Im unsure if its worth getting the books and taking the time to study to go up possibly a few points? I really appreciate your advice, thanks again!

Try filling it out in the below format- helps to better assess your application! Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Biology?)Major(s):Minor(s):GPA in Major:Overall GPA:Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)GRE Scores (revised/old version):Q:V:W:B:TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:Applying to Where:School - Department - Research InterestSchool - Department - Research InterestSchool - Department - Research Interest

I have fee waivers to all thanks to ABRCMS so the app fees at least wont be an issue-which would you reccomend droppng though? I was unsure which schools have the automatic sort/drop based on low gpa’s.

Yep! I would just stay in the postbacc a second year, also Im applying to 2 state ones I know I can get into. Take the feedback and try again lol?

I would look into applying to some of the NIH partnered programs as well, since you already have contacts there. NIH-Brown, NIH-Oxford/Cambridge, NIH-Karolinska (Sweden). Your state are pretty great so I think youd have a good shot!

Undergrad Institution: Big state schoolMajor(s): Clinical Neuroscience Minor(s): N/AGPA in Major: 3.05 ishOverall GPA: 3.3Position in Class: I graduated this spring in 3 years, but I think probably average-definitely not topType of Student: Domestic, female, Puerto Rican & African AmericanGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 156/61%V: 159/83%W: 4.5/82% Research Experience: 1 year as a volunteer in an addiction research lab at the medical school/research institute (freshman) semester marketing research class-wrote a paper on consumer bias but didn't publish 1.5 year in a glial biology lab with a pending publication- at medical school/research institute-professor associated with my university (middle author, end of sophomore-junior/final year). Summer molecular biology fellowship at Notre Dame summer neuroscience fellowship to continue research in the glial biology lab Attended 4 conferences, presented at 2. Won poster award at ND summer REU, and a poster award at ABRCMS for neuroscience Worked as a biochemistry lab technician for a year during undergrad receptionist for student conduct for a semester project assistant for transportation research at my university for a year Awards/Honors/Recognitions: university travel award & ABRCMS travel award 2 poster awards minority foundation scholarship deans list 3 times (infrequently, so nothing special) recognized at graduation for completing undergraduate research excellence program recognized in university & local newspapers for research Recognized at fall undergrad excellence ceremony for college of science Pertinent Activities or Jobs: notetaker for disabled students in cell & molecular neuroscience ambassador for office of undergrad research student conduct committee member team leader for study abroad in Spain office of undergrad research-founding member of undergrad research blog & science editorial board writer Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Special Bonus Points: female/minority, pretty solid LOR-1 well known in field Completing NIH postbacc Mayo Clinic for the next year-option to stay another year should this application cycle not go wellApplying to Where: Neuroscience focused PhD Mayo Clinic Neurobiology Yale BBS Northwestern Brown USUHS Princeton Cornell Dartmouth Columbia NYU Boston U UVA NIH-Brown Neuroscience PhD I am aware this list looks crazy-I figure the worst they can say is no, in which case I take the feedback and spend a second year in the postbacc

They were thinking along the lines of having additional publications and grades from the grad courses the program pays for. And thanks! As ABRCMS gives participants fee waivers for pretty much anything the only cost is GRE scores which are always required officially at first.

So I'm in the process of picking graduate schools to apply to and Im having a hard time of getting past the mentality of applying for the best schools in my field and seeing what happens? (Yale BBS, NYU, Northwestern, Princeton, Brown-basically all the reaches). I can stay a second year in my current postbacc fellowship and have been advised to do so if i want a shot at these schools, but as i have fee waivers and the worst they can say is no, my head is stuck on aiming high and just taking feedback this round. Wondering what some match schools would be though! Also, unsure if id have a somewhat better shot applying to biology umbrella programs for neuroscience or straight into neuroscience? Undergrad Institution: Big stateMajor(s): NeuroscienceOverall GPA: 3.3, in major probably around 3.05 (pretty average student except for chem/ochem-mostly B's, pretty much few equal in science A's-C's cancelled out)Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?): Domestic, female, Puerto Rican & African AmericanGRE Scores:Q: 156/61%V: 159/83%W: 4.5/82% Other: Several extensive research experiences, (3 academic years, 2 summer fellowships, presented posters at 2 university conferences and won awards, ABRCMS national conference poster award, 2 travel awards, 1 middle author publication in submission, writing a review paper with a well known PI now), 3 pretty good LORs, and the typical grad cv full of extracurriculars I held 2 jobs most of my 3 years of undergrad, and graduated in 3 years rather than taking the 4th to improve my gpa due to financial considerations. Im currently in an NIH funded postbacc at Mayo Clinic. Bless you for reading this far, any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

I ended up with an informal offer at one school and was waiting on a decision from one other PREP interview, however decided to go ahead and accept the Mayo Clinic PREP offer as they seemed really great and had faculty in my area of interest!

Just finished Skype interview for Mayo Clinic PREP today, and have Skype interview for the Yale PREP later this week. Nothing back from the Harvard or Brown PREP's. Good luck to everyone!

@PsychedSloth Sorry for the double post, just received an invitation to interview from Northwestern PREP! Yale PREP emailed to say they will be sending out invitations within the next two weeks.

@PsychedSloth I understand, in the end its just up to you and where you feel comfortable! Postbaccs are amazing in that they can be gateways into the PhD programs, so Im sure you'll thrive whoever you end up. Definitely agree as well, the NW director is very hands on and was incredibly helpful in giving feedback on my essays to edit. Fingers crossed this week!

@PsychedSloth Oh darn, you should have! I had an offer at my university for next year, so figured Id apply to reaches as the worst they can say is no

@PsychedSloth Hello, thank you for the information! I received the email from Northwestern about review as well, fingers crossed and good luck! As far as I know, the other NIH PREP programs I applied to are as follows- Yale (end of March/early April), Mayo Clinic (rolling), Harvard (early April), Brown (April?)