Logic

Here we go with the neurotic questions.... My stats: GRE: 161V, 164Q, 4.5W, (58th percentile Biology Subject test). GPA: 3.3 undergraduate (majors: Physics, Philosophy). 4.0 post-baccalaureate. Experience: 6 years bioinformatics (4 years undergraduate, 2 years post-baccalaureate, 2 summer undergraduate programs). 2 papers (one 1st author, one 2nd author). My grad school list: Bioinformatics PhD's: UNC, Duke, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, U Penn, UCLA, WashU in St Louis, U of Washington, Cold Spring Harbor, NYU. Computational Neuroscience PhD's: USC, UCSD, U of Washington, Boston U, U Chicago, Caltech. Does this grad school list seem realistic?

Just reading that email made me feel bad. Good luck with the rest of your applications!

Thanks for both responses. As of now I'm not sure if I'll take it. I'll see if I can self-study for the exam. And I'll ask professionals who are involved in Comp Neuro admissions for advice.

I recently graduated with a physics degree and plan on applying to PhD's in computational neuroscience. I've only taken four semesters of mathematics (Calc III-IV, Diff Eq I-II) in college so I'm worried that I'm not prepared mathematically. Would taking the GRE Math Subject test improve my chances of admission at Computational Neuroscience PhD programs?

I recently graduated with a physics degree and plan on applying to PhD's in computational neuroscience. I've only taken four semesters of mathematics (Calc III-IV, Diff Eq I-II) in college so I'm worried that I'm not prepared mathematically. Would taking the GRE Math Subject test help in improving my chances of admission at Computational Neuroscience PhD programs?

Does anyone know what kind of mathematics background might be required for phd programs in computational neuroscience?

I won't be applying to comp bio/bioinformatics PhD's until next year but best of luck to everyone!

Thanks for the response. If you can’t chance, that’s fine. I’ll be applying to a healthy mix of mid and high tier programs.

Anyone have any advice to read papers quickly while still retaining the details? I'm mostly talking about scientific papers but this kind of advice can probably be extended to any field.

I'll be applying in Fall 2018 to a wide range of PhD programs in bioinformatics and computational neuroscience. I'm currently a post-baccalaureate researcher at a government institution. I'll have 5.5 years of research experience by the time I apply. I've also done 2 summer internships, received a second-place award in a national research competition, and authored one paper. There's a good chance I can get a second paper in the next year. 3.3 undergrad GPA, 4.0 post-baccalaureate GPA. (I'm currently taking math/science courses). GRE's 161 V, 164 Q. I plan on taking the subject Biology test. I know my GPA is low but I'm hoping the other parts of my application (such as my post-bac GPA) will make up for it. My questions: 1. Will my undergrad GPA be offset by other parts of my application? 2. What are my chances at top-tier programs? 3. Should I re-take the GRE and try to do better?