[Harvard PhD- BBS and BSPH programs, 2020]

Hi there, I was also waiting to here, emailed BBS and they do not anticipate sending out any more interview requests. Sorry for the bad news, I'm a little disappointed to hear it myself.

[Biomedical Science PhD Applicants (Fall 2020)]

5 hours ago, cc92 said:

Congratulations!!!! Do you know if Uchicago is done sending out their invites? Really love this program! I submitted on the last day so idk if that has any effect on the time I hear back

No idea, sorry! I also submitted on the last day but sadly don't know anything about their process

[2020 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

On 12/7/2019 at 12:33 PM, reprobio_12 said:

I applied to the umbrella BioMolecular program yours may be totally different and on a different timeline. Don't worry I think it's still super early.

 

I just got a call yesterday afternoon from BBSP inviting me to interview. I applied a few days before the priority deadline and my top program of interest was toxicology.

Do you mind telling me the BBSP interview weekends? I am not confident I will get one, but since I submitted close to the deadline maybe it will just take longer....either way I have already scheduled two interviews and I don't want to block out the weekends BBSP may be!

[Biomedical Science PhD Applicants (Fall 2020)]

I received an email saying I will soon get an official invitation for the University of Chicago Molecular Biosciences Cluster on Thursday, the official email came in Friday afternoon, so I signed up for my interview weekend (very excited, one of my top picks!!!). Friday I also got interview invites from UMichigan - Ann Arbor PIBS via email and a phone call from Wisconsin - Madison Genetics!! 

 

A lot of good news at once. I still want to hear back from Harvard BBS and Washington - Seattle Genome Sciences, but I'm glad I'm not totally in the dark anymore! 

 

[2020 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

11 hours ago, BabyScientist said:

Depending on the strength of your LORs and SOP, you have great odds at interviews at a bunch of those schools. No red flags at all in your application: your GPA is great, your GRE is good (and not even important anymore), having any pubs at all is great (let alone 6-8), and your school list looks fair. Don't be down on yourself. I'd say your reaches are just Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia.

Oh, that's a huge relief. I really am struggling with over-analyzing my SOP, but thank you so much for weighing in!

[2020 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Undergrad Institution: large state R1, not super well-known for biology but definitely not bad
Major(s): Biology - Biochemistry/Cell/Molecular
Minor(s): Music
GPA in Major: not sure if this is accurate, but calculating myself I got : 3.60/4.00 if major GPA includes other major requirements like physics and chemistry (C in Organic II brought me down some…).  3.70/4.00 if only considering Biology classes. Not great, I am very aware
Overall GPA: 3.75
Type of Student: domestic female (white)

GRE

Q: 158
V: 162
W: 4.5

pretty disappointed by the writing. If I had ever studied the math I guess it would be higher. not planning on submitting these unless I have to (please tell me if this is a bad idea)

Research Experience: just passed the 2 year benchmark as a research technician. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: not any related to biology, really. I did elect to do the honors concentration in my degree, which involved a thesis (but my undergrad research was lacking so i opted to complete a literature review instead)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: The full-time tech job is pretty pertinent, I'd hope

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: n/a

Special Bonus Points: I do have a famous PI as a recommender, but my 2nd rec letter is from my lab manager, both from the tech job. and 1 (supposedly strong) letter from undergrad.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 6 (now 8 counting 2 in process) mid-author publications in big journals (Nature, Science, etc) but sadly, nothing first-author. These are all from tech job, nothing from undergrad.

Applying to Where:
U of Washington Seattle - Genome Sciences
UNC Chapel Hill - BBSP
U of Chicago - Human Genetics or GGSB
Harvard - BBS
U of Wisconsin - Madison - Genetics
Stanford - Biology and Genetics
Columbia - Biological Sciences
Vanderbilt - Biological Sciences
U of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Baylor

maybes: Yale - BBS, Rockefeller, CSHL, Duke, Boston University, UC San Diego

I know it's super late (and these are probably all reaches) but I wanted to re-submit since I have a much more solid school list and my GRE scores in. If anyone feels like telling me any last minute advice, I would be ever-so-grateful. I am trying to get everything submitted soon but the anxiety caused by my procrastinating (and just being busy to be fair) is really getting to me. Thanks!

[2020 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

@BabyScientist thanks a lot, that's very encouraging! I think because my high school friends, and other people I knew from college had much better GPAs, though some were in different fields. I guess I don't know where the bar is exactly. For example, I thought for sure UNC would be considered UChicago tier, I was really thinking Washington would be a slightly better shot (just as an example of how I'm not really sure what's considered top tier versus medium tier schools). Congrats on getting in everywhere you interviewed by the way, that's so impressive! Do you have any advice for finding other reasonable (or even "safe") bets, if such a thing exists? thanks again, your post definitely alleviated some of my anxiety! 

[2020 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Undergrad Institution: large state R1, not super well-known for biology but definitely not bad
Major(s): Biology - Biochemistry/Cell/Molecular
Minor(s): Music
GPA in Major: not sure if this is accurate, but calculating myself I got : 3.60/4.00 if major GPA includes other major requirements like physics and chemistry (C in Organic II brought me down some…).  3.70/4.00 if only considering Biology classes. Not great, I am very aware
Overall GPA: 3.75
Type of Student: domestic female (white)

GRE

haven't taken it yet but a practice test I've done I scored quant 160 verbal 158. not sure if this was even accurate, planning on doing another kaplan gre practice test soon.


Research Experience: just passed the 2 year benchmark as a research technician. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: not any related to biology, really. I did elect to do the honors concentration in my degree, which involved a thesis (but my undergrad research was lacking so i opted to complete a literature review instead)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: The full-time tech job is pretty pertinent, I'd hope

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: n/a

Special Bonus Points: I do have a famous recommender; l am not confident that's going to be helpful.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 6 mid-author publications in big journals (Nature, Science, etc) but sadly, nothing first-author. These are all from tech job, nothing from undergrad.

Applying to Where:
U of Washington Seattle - Genome Sciences
UNC Chapel Hill - BBSP
U of Chicago - Human Genetics or CEB 
U of Wisconsin Madison - Genetics
Stanford - Biology and Genetics
Vanderbilt - IGP
Columbia - Biological Sciences

even more tentative: Harvard - BBS,  Yale - BBS, Rockefeller, CSHL, I have others on my list to look into that I don't even feel confident mentioning yet.

I need so much help, I know I'm not at all a top-tier applicant and I know that there is no such thing as a safety school, but I really need some reasonable schools I could get into. I'm not too enthusiastic about getting rejected from everywhere I apply to, and I am quite aware that these are some really great schools (that's why I'm interested!)

Any and all advice is sincerely appreciated!