[Ask questions about the PhD application process!]

8 minutes ago, StemCellFan said:

What would you ask them?  Did you open up conversation with them before applying?  If they don't have a lot of weight in admissions decisions, then I don't see the point in contacting them.  

Was thinking about updating my POI on my status, but that seems quite unnecessary the more I think about it. I did manage to speak with my POI through Skype before my applications were reviewed and she was excited about my application. I think I'm just a little nervous  (as we all are).

[Ask questions about the PhD application process!]

Still waiting on a few schools, but wanted to ask if it be considered inappropriate to e-mail or contact your POI while decisions are still being made?

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

2 hours ago, ElleEmme said:

Has anyone here heard from the following schools/dept?

UC Berkeley - MCB

UC Davis - BMCDB

Columbia - Micro & Immuno

NYU Sackler - Biomed 

UMiami - Micro & Immuno

UMaryland (Baltimore) - GPILS, Molecular Micro & Immuno

UFlorida - Biomed, Biochem & Molecular Bio

 

I am an international student (currently in US) and was not sure if they contact international students last because they assume it will only be a skype interview. 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!! 

 

PS. Good luck to those with upcoming interviews. 

Also waiting to hear back from UMaryland, same program too. Good luck to you.

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

On 1/11/2018 at 10:16 AM, lwalker2149 said:

Thank you!

When did you email them? I know that some departments say not to send emails regarding admission decisions, that they will contact you when a decision is made regarding your application. 

It depends. I called the graduate division coordinator and that's how I learned. I don't think it hurts unless you come off as rude or impatient. Good luck.

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

On 1/10/2018 at 8:41 AM, lwalker2149 said:

I am waiting to hear back from 

1. UNC BBSP

2. UT Southwestern 

2. Emory- immunology and molecular pathogenesis

Does anyone know if it is too late to hear back? I have one interview so far at Vanderbilt 1/26. I also have one rejection from UM Ann Arbor. I just hate waiting.

For #3, you might want to call/e-mail them. I applied to their MMG program and apparently I was waitlisted since they never sent me a rejection. While they're probably not at the exact same time, they're likely very close.

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

19 hours ago, microbenerd2018 said:

Hi there! I had a phone call from MMG on Dec 8th to invite me to interview. Hope this helps!

Congrats and thanks! Just a little nervous as I'm unsure of how their invites work since I didn't receive one yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

Has anyone heard back from Emory MMG?

[Ask questions about the PhD application process!]

A school I applied to reached out to me for a letter of rec from my PI, who hasn't got back to me. I already had three letters submitted for my applications and for all intents/purposes, they were completed on time. Should I take this as a sign of interest in my application or am I overthinking?

[Apply for 2018, or wait for 2019?]

I'm sort of in the same boat as OP. I've been out of college for about a year and worked in industry research for the same amount of time. There are many things I've learned and gotten to do in industry that I don't see myself having access to in academia. Another thing to note is how stringent industry is with certain things like protocols and process development, things that you can (sort of but not really) get away with in academic research. Of course, the same can be said of industry; there's many things that are de-emphasized in industry such as, oftentimes, the "doing of science just for science" aspect. All in all, however, I find industry to provide unique challenges and experience that I would definitely have missed out on if I had gone another route. I plan to make it very clear to the ad-com what strengths I've picked up that will bolster my success as a candidate/student for their program. I am hoping that will help me stand out even though I've no publications/authorship to speak of. 

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

5 hours ago, hirosh said:

Undergrad Institution: Tier-2 university in Japan.
Graduate Institution: Best school in Japan
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
GPA(UG)-2.7/4.0(80-percentile), GPA(M)-4.0/4.0

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:168/170
V:141/160
W:3.0/-
(I did not prepare at all, so I retry the GRE tmorrow.)
TOEFL Total: 99

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
I have 3 year research experience. undergraduate for single year and masters for 2 years. At master's course I executed 3 completely different research topics under different supervisors.
My publication as a first author are 1 journal publication that is currently under review and 4 conference papers (one of which is IEEE). 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Graduated with best research presentation award (undergrad).
Passed the qualifying exam at the highest score in the class(undegrad institution)
 
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)
Research assistant (RA) at Japanese version of NASA.

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
My current supervisers are really famous. 

Applying to Where: 

MIT - EECS
Stanford - Aerospace engineering
CMU - mechanical engineering
Duke - mechanical engineering
Univ. of Tokyo - EECS
Georgia Tech - aerospace engineering
Kyoto university - mechanical engieneering
UCSB - mechanical engineering
Keio university - mechanical engineering

My undegraduate GPA was low. Probably, I will be rejected by all American Universities. Fortunately, Japanese university's admission didn't care GPAs to my knowledge. I will  go for Ph.D.  in Japan, and wiil apply american university as a Post-Doc student again! 

Anybody who has really low GPA like me but has confidece about your research ability, applying Japanese university is one choice.  I think foreign student can relatively easily get the fund in Japan. 

Since you're applying to engineering programs (non-biomedical), you may want to refer to the "Applied Sciences & Mathematics" section of the forums as they can probably give you a much better outlook/feedback for your profile since many of us are applying to biological sciences programs and would not have the expertise necessary to answer many of your specific questions regarding your field. Here's a link: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/32-engineering/

Good luck!

[How to email a lab you want to join]

1 hour ago, aquamarine said:

So based on those two statements as an example, I feel like you could link them in a way that shows you're open-minded: "I'm interested in how different circumstances can result in genes triggering proto-oncogenes to become oncogenic. I've seen some recent research about how circumstance W causes gene X to trigger proto-oncogene Y to become oncogenic... and I think protein Z is a factor." (This might be better in an interview context instead of an SOP). For a SOP, the second one might be better, especially if there are multiple faculty at your schools of interest doing something along those lines. 

Not a perfect example, but you get the gist. I think @samman1994 has the right idea with his SOP right now. There's definitely a sweet spot between sounding like you've done enough research to have a mostly focused path in graduate school vs. being way too specific. 

 

I see. Thank you very much for your insight!

[How to email a lab you want to join]

14 hours ago, aquamarine said:

I spoke plenty about my specific topic of interest (neuropharmacology), while making it clear that I was in no way 100% committed to exactly what or how. The important thing that I might not have conveyed clearly enough is to show that you are open minded, especially with techniques. In the context of my interview, he was referring to interviewing with other students who essentially said "I am studying ONLY problem X using method Y with Prof Z". If your SOP/interview come off as too narrow, it is a detriment in your application. 

@aquamarineThank you for your perspective. From this, I gather it would not hurt to mention the topic of research in its context without mentioning any techniques. However, I'm wondering how specific you can/should speak about your topics in your SOP/interview. Is it okay/better to mention the specific thing in the style of 'We don't know why circumstance W causes gene X to trigger proto-oncogene Y to become oncogenic, but we think it has something to do with protein Z. I want to study this phenomenon.' or simply 'I want to study the circumstances underlying the causes for certain genes triggering proto-oncogenes to become oncogenic.'? To me, both of these sound better than just "I wanna study what causes cancer".

P.S. Not a cell bio guy, just using that as an example.

[How to email a lab you want to join]

On 9/13/2017 at 1:13 PM, aquamarine said:

I interviewed with the director of my graduate program and I mentioned that even though I was most interested in behavioral neuroscience, I wanted to rotate in labs that gave me exposure to different techniques than what I'd done previously. He then spent 10 minutes of my interview talking about how he gets frustrated when graduate students come in with the idea that they will be sticking to previous techniques and research areas, because inevitably you will not end up doing what you thought you'd be doing even a semester into dissertation research. I would be very careful in how you phrase your previous techniques vs. what you think you'll be doing with your PhD in your personal statement - being viewed as closed-minded would be a huge detriment in your application. 

Alternatively, I've heard that including the research you'd like to see yourself doing in the context of the "what's what" in your field can help your statement stand out. This is made even better if you've identified a gap in understanding in the field that you can perhaps work towards filling. I don't think it's exactly impossible or that unlikely that you would be doing what you set out to research in the first place. This is especially true if, like me, you mention a topic in which  you are seeking to branch out that's distinct from your previous topic of research anyway. That being said, people and interests change multiple times after they're admitted/enrolled into a program. However, that's not to say speaking about your specific topic of interest should be held against you in anyway simply because the professor believes you will not stick to it.

[2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

I'd love to get some input on my choices/chances, as someone who has no publications (do wish I hopped onto research earlier as an underg). My application feels a bit bland in comparison with other profiles I've seen on here. I also noticed that most applicants on here do not apply with industry experience so I've no real reference on how relevant it is. To be specific, my industry experience is analytical/R&D. Maybe someone who entered with similar experience can give a comment on this aspect?

Undergrad Institution: University of California
Major(s): Microbiology
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.57
Overall GPA: 3.43
Position in Class: Slightly above average (3.1)
Type of Student: Domestic male

My freshman year gpa was below average in freshman year, but I raised it afterwards (took some time).
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 165 (89%)
V: 162 (91%)
W: 5 (93%)
B: N/A

Research Experience: 
1 year undergraduate research assistantship in molecular and cell biology lab characterizing HIV. No conferences/publications

1 year post-graduate industry research position at a biotechnology start-up.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Dean's Honor List - 4 quarters
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Tutor - Organic Chemistry

MA internship at large public hospital (was a pre-med student)

Volunteered at hospital in high school (same thing)

Dance club - Treasurer
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: 

I will be frank here and say that I wasn't on the best of terms with my PI, so I did not receive a recommendation from him.

1. Work supervisor from current occupation

2. Professor of Microbiology - Lectured a class and supervised lab class

3. Professor of Immunology - Lectured immunology class

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Mostly micro-/MCB programs at these schools, w/ emphasis on micro-

Vanderbilt

Tufts

WashU

Univ. Alabama - Birmingham

UCB

Emory

Univ. Maryland, Baltimore