mcfc2018

Sure, I’ll take a look at it. i applied last year for neuro programs.

Ultimately what you're trying to accomplish with your application is to have members of the adcom advocate for you to get accepted. This will obviously be easier if there's a member who knows and likes you, but at the end of the day, your application still has to convince most of the committee, so even if you have one advocate, it won't be enough if the rest don't agree. It's possible. But some programs require PIs to step out of the adcom meeting when discussing their own student/anyone they wrote a rec letter for.

No. Quite frankly, emailing the PI is so that you get to know the PI’s research better. Chances are it will have no impact on your application (the PI probably isn’t even on the adcom). attach a CV so they have a better sense of who you are, but I would focus more on asking about what they do and their research than talking about applications.

Agree with Babyscientist it's definitely not bad form and it's a good opportunity for you to get a taste of what the PI is like and their research. Don't get discouraged if they don't respond though! They're busy people and some profs are simply terrible at responding to emails.

Some people might disagree with me on this, but IMO, a 3.3 GPA is perfectly respectable and there's really no need for you to go out of your way and defend your grades, particularly if you're a couple years out of undergrad. Obviously it's not the ideal 4.0, but I feel like trying to pass off a B+ average as "personal problems" comes across more as fishing for an excuse than anything else (Not trying to insinuate that you didn't go through personal problems or anything like that, but unless you plan on elaborating more into what they were, I wouldn't bring it up).

This is the most comprehensive list I know of: https://grenotrequired.com/

I applied to top neuroscience programs this past semester, and most of the undergraduates who I interviewed with didn't have publications. It's the norm, not the exception. That said, are you currently doing research yourself? Hard to tell what "volunteering in some labs" actually entails, but research experience is definitely necessary for a neuroscience PhD

I don't know too much about these programs, so maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like you're overvaluing the number of faculty aspect of each institution. It's not like you'll be doing 8-10 rotations anyways, so at most you'll only be working directly with 3-4 different faculty members at either institution. And if it's simply that you want to collaborate with them (or even just talk to them), the two institutions are so close (physically and relationship-wise) that I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to do so at either institution. This does assume that you view all these faculty equally. If there's one in particular that you especially want to work with, then that changes things, but imo, the difference between 8-10 and 4-5 isn't huge simply because you wouldn't have the opportunity to work in 8-10 labs to begin with.

Anybody apply to Rockefeller/know when they're going to send out invites? They're the only school whose timeframe I don't know.

I got mine at 1:47 pm and a follow up email at 3:52

Got interview offers at Harvard PiN and Hopkins today!!! So psyched.

It's a massive pain in the ass (I don't understand the purpose either). I plan on filling in on the ones I can and either leaving it blank or writing N/A for the ones I can't.

I hate that some advisors take forever to respond. Makes me anxious. Also submitting my first application today and I keep thinking of worst case scenarios.

Super stressed about my SOPs and can't sleep. just want to be done with this.

I've got a call scheduled with a potential advisor next week and was wondering how I should prepare. I plan on reading the highlighted papers as well as the more recent papers, but beyond that, not really sure what I should do or expect?

Anyone willing to review the rough draft of my SOP? Any help would be appreciated.

So for the research proposal, the solicitation states that consideration should be made with regards to the PI's ability to perform the experiment. If I'm a senior undergrad, I don't know who my future PI might be, so how am I going to address that?

I think a big thing is identifying what your struggling with. Are you running out of time or are you getting questions wrong? What type of questions tend to trip you up the most. One of the benefits of the GRE Quant is that it's fairly cookie-cutter so you know what to expect from test to test. Identify things you do well and things you don't do well and shore them up. Also, if your taking the test on the computer, be sure you also take one of the practice computer tests as well. There's a completely different dynamic between taking a paper practice test and the actual computer test.

The section is distinctly called Statement of Purpose.

Hi all, I'm applying to neuroscience PhDs and for one of the schools I'm applying to, they ask for both a Research Summary as well as a statement of purpose. They specifically ask that the SOP be about how my personal background impacts my decision to pursue a PhD and highlight things like cultural/family experiences and challenges I've faced. Moreover, they emphasize not reiterating anything I say in my research summary. I sorta understand why they have it this way, but at the same time, I'm a bit lost as to how to write this SOP. Honestly, my background has had minimal influence on why to pursue a degree. I want a PhD because of my research experience, and I don't know how to write about my pursuit without talking about my research. Thoughts?

I'm applying to a neuroscience PhD right out of undergrad, so I'm in the same boat as you

Am I required to include the other schools that I am applying to? Does it hurt my application if I have a lot/a little?

It is program dependent, but most schools will do an initial screening before inviting the best prospects to do an interview. I believe all domestic students will have an interview prior to being accepted, but I don't know if it differs for internation students. But, in general, all programs will have interviews. If you have any programs in mind, you should look through their application page for more details.

I think your scores are fine (I assume you mean 159 V, 164 Q). That said, if you have a low GPA/no research experience, then it might be worth retaking it to make up for it. Most schools are also deemphasizing the GRE as well (Stanford doesn't require it for their general biology program anymore), so unless your other stats are worrying, I wouldn't waste your money.

So a lot of the neuro programs that I'm applying to no longer require the GRE general test at all, so I was wondering if it was worth sending it to them. I don't have bad scores (Q:169, V: 164, AW: 4.5), but it does cost money to send them, so if it won't make a difference at all, I'd prefer not to send them.