ktaylor11

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice here. I’m looking to apply to molecular biology or immunology PhD programs. I graduate in March, a quarter early. However, I recognize my profile is not extremely strong and I’m a little lost as to whether I should apply this cycle (I really want to, but I feel like I may be wasting my time) or, I’d rather not take a year between schooling, but am considering applying for 2019. However, the criticism I receive most is that I’m too hard on myself, so I’m not sure if that’s the case in terms of my profile. My stats are as follows: GPA: 3.02 right now. Will have it to a 3.2 by graduation. Upward trend however and can explain in SOP SOP will be well written. It will explain my GPA although will not be entirely focused on that. I love writing so this is going to be lot of fun for me to do GRE: 160V, 155Q, 4.5 AW Research: 2 6-month pharma lab research positions. I worked with influenza both times, and was in charge of leading my own projects, choosing what experiments to conduct to back up hypotheses etc. One position was working with antibodies against the virus and attempting to develop a method to quantitate viral proteins. I did a large amount of protein work during this time period. The second was using a chemistry based technique to observe the viral splitting kinetics. 1 6-month cell/molecular/biochemical independent study project. This is more method development but again I have full scientific authority. This is an academic lab experience. LORs: I believe I’ll have two strong letters, and am still deciding who my third letter will be. My top 3 schools are University of Washington, Seattle. Boston University. Pitt. And I know it’s a total reach, but Penn. So I’m lost. I know my profile will be stronger if I take a year between and get a research position during that time, but I’d really prefer to apply this cycle. Im determined to attend graduate school, however, so I’m prepared to do whatever it takes. That being said, am I wasting my time applying this cycle? Thanks in advance.