[If I knew then what I know now]

On 7/6/2017 at 0:38 AM, MCF10A said:

To future international applicants: Many programs are not "international-friendly", especially some small programs that rely on NIH training grant. When selecting programs, do some homework on whether these programss have a proven track-record of taking intl students.  

How do you go about finding out if they have a good history of taking in intl students? 

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Thanks for all the info MCF10A! I might want to rethink about the schools I wanna apply to, like probably not applying to UCSF or Yale. For the schools you mentioned, are they friendly to international applicants? I vaguely remember seeing that UMichigan don't think in internationals at all? 

[Suggestions for Cancer Bio Programs?]

I'm looking for good cancer biology programs, especially those with opportunities for translational research into cancer therapeutics. I'm particularly interested in schools that has a "Med into Grad" Program, or programs that provide additional emphasis on translational medicine/therapeutics/clinical exposure/clinical relevance to basic science through a special track or a certificate program! 

A few schools I already identified:

Columbia, Harvard (BBS, Therapeutics), UPenn, Sloan Kettering, WashU seattle, UCSD 

 

Anywhere else you guys know of? Thanks for your help!!

[Ask questions about the PhD application process!]

On 3/20/2017 at 4:15 PM, abcd1 said:

Thanks. I am an international student so was wondering if the tax rate might be different for me. 

I'm an international student as well. I did college in the US and got a few awards + and I getting paid as a TA. Tax is no different for internationals. 

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Hello! Thanks for starting this thread! I'm a first time applicant, but I'm nervous because I'm an international student (even though I studied in the US for undergrad) - I heard it's generally harder for international students to gain admission anywhere. So I'm applying to 15-16 schools to make up for this higher standard for international students.

Here're my stats, and please let me know if I'm applying to too many top tier schools. Should I change my school choices? What are my chances? What should I focus on now to make my apps good? 

Also I'm applying to a new field. I want to apply to cancer biology with translational research focus/clinical exposure, but my experience has been in basic science and developmental biology. Does that affect my chances? How can I make my application stand out more?

Undergrad Institution: Large public research university in California, well known for biology/chemistry/medicine 
Major(s): Molecular, Cell, an Developmental Biology
Minor(s): Biomedical Research 
GPA in Major: 3.99
Overall GPA: 3.98
Position in Class: Top few
Type of Student: International, female, minority (Asian)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 162 (82nd percentile)
V: 162 (91st percentile)
W: 4.5 (81st percentile)
B: - 

Research Experience: 

- Undergrad research experience: 2 years in developmental biology lab at my school. 2 college wide poster presentations, 2 departmental poster presentations 

- 1 year as full time Research Technician (same lab as undergrad), manuscript in preparation (4th author out of 5, I'm in the only undergrad, the first 3 are post docs). During this year I made successful unprecedented attempt to apply a technique to our tissue, and also spearheaded using CRISPR/Cas9 in our lab. So I basically set up these 2 techniques in our lab. 

- 1 Summer Research Internship in Japan: Tumor Biology, 1 Program wide presentation, 1 host institution presentation 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Summa Cum Laude, College Honors, Phi Beta Kappa 

Within school: Deans List (9/10 quarters), departmental outstanding poster award, study abroad scholarship, humanities essay prize 

Outside school: Amgen Scholarship (summer research), Amgen Japan Symposium poster award, Amgen Kyoto Symposium poster award, Singapore Government Undergraduate full-ride scholarship 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

- TA 1 quarter, might be TAing again the upcoming Fall 

- 1 year research technician (mentioned above) 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 

- 1 LOR from departmental Chair (famous prof) 

- 1 from director of my minor (worked closely for TA and took a class with him)

- 1 from summer intern prof (who is relatively famous, worked under a very famous prof for his post doc) 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A?

Applying to Where:

Harvard - BBS Program (Therapeutics, Cancer Bio or Translational Medicine Track)

JHU - Cellular and Molecular Medicine 

Stanford - Biosciences - (Cancer/Immunology/Stem Cell)

UPenn - Molecular Cellular Biology (+Certificate in Graduate Training in Medical science) - Cancer Bio Program

Gerstner Sloan Kettering - Biomedical Sciences

UCSD - Biomedical Sciences  - Cancer Bio/ Stem Cell

Columbia - Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular, Biomedical sciences

Rockefeller - Biosciences

Yale - Biological and Biomedical Sciences - Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, Physiology 

UCLA - Bioscience - Molecular Pharmacology 

UCSF - Biomedical Science - Cancer Bio & Cell Signaling

UChicago - Biomedical Science- Cancer Bio/Molecular Medicine/Immunity 

UT Southwestern Medical Center - Biological Sciences (+Translational Science Track) - Cancer Bio

WashU - Molecular and Cellular Biology - Cancer Bio/Stem Cell/Immunity

Pittsburgh - Biomedical Program - Cellular Molecular Pathology/ Molecular Pharmacology/ Developmental Bio