eevee

I'm attending one of the schools on your list, and I think your list is currently a little top-heavy, but you definitely do have a chance with your great GPA and the research experience you *do* have. I disagree with the other folks who replied saying that there's a movement towards needing a gap year -- I applied straight out of undergrad, and in my cohort there was a fairly even split between people who came straight from their bachelor's and people who took gap years.
4 semesters of research is pretty good, and plenty of people get in with no publications. Do you have anything else to "show" for your research though? Any posters / abstracts? Does your department offer the possibility of an honors thesis? I was unclear on when you're actually graduating, but there may still be time to 'clean up' some of the work you've done to submit to a journal or a conference. Even if it's not accepted by the time you're applying, having something under review can still be a plus since it shows that you've taken initiative. 
I know you said you weren't going to take the GRE, but if your practice test scores are that high, you may want to take it 'just in case' because it may be able to help you ever so slightly. 
GAs are generally not a great choice for recommenders, since they don't have the same connections/name recognition as professors. Is there any reason why the PI of the Cognitive Psychology lab you spent 3 semesters in would not write you a letter? 
Other than that, I would recommend you narrow down your application list a little bit, and apply to some gap year programs/jobs as well (I know the NIH postbac is quite prestigious, but honestly you could just apply for any research assistantship at any school -- if you really like the lab you're in now, you could even see if they would take you on full-time for a gap year). For grad school applications, just focus on writing really good personal statements, getting in touch with potential PIs and students at the schools you're interested in, and figuring out your 'elevator pitch' to talk about the research you've done and what you're hoping to do in grad school. Normally I'd also recommend networking at conferences, but those aren't exactly happening this year, unfortunately. If you take a gap year, though, definitely do go to conferences and network if you can!
But honestly your profile does look like you could apply this cycle. You could certainly stand to be more competitive, but it just kinda depends on whether you WANT to get started on your PhD ASAP or whether you want to take a year to do more full-time research. It's kind of up to you! If you decide you want to go for it and apply to programs this year, feel free to DM me about anything, especially the UCLA NSIDP program  No matter what you decide to do, you're in a great position and I'm sure you'll land on your feet!

I'm attending one of the schools on your list, and I think your list is currently a little top-heavy, but you definitely do have a chance with your great GPA and the research experience you *do* have. I disagree with the other folks who replied saying that there's a movement towards needing a gap year -- I applied straight out of undergrad, and in my cohort there was a fairly even split between people who came straight from their bachelor's and people who took gap years.
4 semesters of research is pretty good, and plenty of people get in with no publications. Do you have anything else to "show" for your research though? Any posters / abstracts? Does your department offer the possibility of an honors thesis? I was unclear on when you're actually graduating, but there may still be time to 'clean up' some of the work you've done to submit to a journal or a conference. Even if it's not accepted by the time you're applying, having something under review can still be a plus since it shows that you've taken initiative. 
I know you said you weren't going to take the GRE, but if your practice test scores are that high, you may want to take it 'just in case' because it may be able to help you ever so slightly. 
GAs are generally not a great choice for recommenders, since they don't have the same connections/name recognition as professors. Is there any reason why the PI of the Cognitive Psychology lab you spent 3 semesters in would not write you a letter? 
Other than that, I would recommend you narrow down your application list a little bit, and apply to some gap year programs/jobs as well (I know the NIH postbac is quite prestigious, but honestly you could just apply for any research assistantship at any school -- if you really like the lab you're in now, you could even see if they would take you on full-time for a gap year). For grad school applications, just focus on writing really good personal statements, getting in touch with potential PIs and students at the schools you're interested in, and figuring out your 'elevator pitch' to talk about the research you've done and what you're hoping to do in grad school. Normally I'd also recommend networking at conferences, but those aren't exactly happening this year, unfortunately. If you take a gap year, though, definitely do go to conferences and network if you can!
But honestly your profile does look like you could apply this cycle. You could certainly stand to be more competitive, but it just kinda depends on whether you WANT to get started on your PhD ASAP or whether you want to take a year to do more full-time research. It's kind of up to you! If you decide you want to go for it and apply to programs this year, feel free to DM me about anything, especially the UCLA NSIDP program  No matter what you decide to do, you're in a great position and I'm sure you'll land on your feet!

I think that if you were to spend time getting to know the culture of this BB a bit more you'd understand that these kinds of comments are not appropriate here.

1) Communicating your research. Is there a possibility for you to work on a paper? Not necessarily first authorship or anything, but is there anyone in the lab working on something related to your work for which you could help develop a figure or two, do some analysis, or help write up a lit review and maybe get a second or third author position? Alternatively, even though you said there are no relevant conferences coming up in the next 2 months, look at ones that are coming up later and submit an abstract / work on a poster for those. While larger conferences are better for networking, you could also look for a smaller, local, or even just university-specific one. For example, my college had undergrad research symposium just for undergrads to present their work.
2) As you're compiling your list of programs, start reaching out to faculty you might be interested in working with and/or students in the programs, and see if you can set up short skype/phone informational interviews. It's low stress but a good way to both learn more about the program and also show that you're a committed applicant. 
Best of luck!! 

1) Communicating your research. Is there a possibility for you to work on a paper? Not necessarily first authorship or anything, but is there anyone in the lab working on something related to your work for which you could help develop a figure or two, do some analysis, or help write up a lit review and maybe get a second or third author position? Alternatively, even though you said there are no relevant conferences coming up in the next 2 months, look at ones that are coming up later and submit an abstract / work on a poster for those. While larger conferences are better for networking, you could also look for a smaller, local, or even just university-specific one. For example, my college had undergrad research symposium just for undergrads to present their work.
2) As you're compiling your list of programs, start reaching out to faculty you might be interested in working with and/or students in the programs, and see if you can set up short skype/phone informational interviews. It's low stress but a good way to both learn more about the program and also show that you're a committed applicant. 
Best of luck!! 

I think apply directly to PhD programs! You could also apply to a mix of PhD programs and "back-up" masters programs. Speaking from semi-personal experience, one of the people in my cohort in a neuro PhD program did his bachelor's in biology, and he's been completely fine. Personally, in my program I wish I had more of a molecular/cellular background, because a lot of my first-year classes have been skewed that way. Most programs will have at least a year of general neuro background classes to get everyone "up to speed" including basics of neuroscience, so as long as you're generally good at science and learning I'm sure you'll do great  

Just got a call with an offer for the Brown Neuroscience PhD! With my gpa from undergrad being 3.27 (3.07 in major), i really wasn't too hopeful for this round of applications- But I'm ecstatic! 

Looking on....the bright side?

And of course, when T says that, he wants people to think he got an MBA from there. Which he did not!

I'm not saying I'm the best candidate, but I am saying I'm a racist. 

*sips from delicious glass of white tears*
"BS in Biochemistry at Temple U. 6 month undergraduate research in biophysics (wet lab), 6 months undergraduate research in Computational biophysics, and 2 years as a research technician in pathobiology at UPenn. 3 co-authors and currently submitting a first author paper. 4 LORs. Rejected via email. I'm a middleclass white male. I'm not saying I'm the best candidate, but if you arent a female or URM, you will most likely be rejected. On their program overview page it says over the past few years 61% were female and 31% URM. Good luck to all of you hard working white men out there!"

I'll be there as well! And at the grad school fair for at least part of it. 

Your hunch is right: on the resume you submit to grad schools you really don't need any mention of lab skills at all. You should focus on succinctly and coherently summarizing your research and any broader 'soft' skills (i.e. grant or manuscript writing) that you did as part of your research, since that'll be more applicable. Basically, grad schools don't care if you can do a western blot or whatever, because they know you can and will learn the lab skills you'll need for your research. They care that you've learned how to think deeply about the research you're doing, to ask intelligent questions, and to manage your own project. 
 

Is your GPA low enough that your GRE scores might help? Otherwise I don't think you need to spend the money on it. 

Have you identified an area of research you're interested in specifically?  Have you found faculty at places like Harvard or Mount Sinai that do research you're interested in?  Other than prestige, what is attracting you to these programs?  Your numerical stats look good, but after a certain point it will come down to research fit, what your recommendation writers say about you, and how you structure your personal statements/statements of purpose (and if a school is a good research fit for you, that will be indicated in your statements). 
So I think by numbers, you probably would be competitive, but it's really hard to give any definite answers because admissions is more than the numbers on the paper and is such a crapshoot.  I would also apply to more schools than just Harvard and Mt Sinai and not have prestige as your most important criteria for a program, but that's my 2 cents.

I successfully defended my undergrad thesis today!!!

I got engaged yesterday! 

I don't think it would help your application, and in fact might hurt it. Talking about your SO, even briefly, probably doesn't belong in your application and may stand out in a red-flag kind of way.

Your post ratio on this board so far: 
1 exceedingly long post asking an entirely ordinary question that's been answered on the board dozens of times
2 posts complaining about the tone of the (helpful!) responses you got, tone-policing others 
0 posts thanking posters who took the time to help you
0 posts updating us about how our advice worked out 
0 posts helping others in any way 
I'd personally aim to make a slightly different impression.

I successfully defended my undergrad thesis today!!!

I successfully defended my undergrad thesis today!!!

I successfully defended my undergrad thesis today!!!

I got in. I dont know what just happened today

I'm in a similar place with my Master's thesis! Sent my thesis to my committee Monday of this week, giving my seminar and defending next week!!! The end is in sight! And then I can start worrying about housing in my new location and getting my thesis ready to be sent off to journals...