bolicks
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Posts posted by bolicks
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I got very helpful feedback on my personal statements when I sent it to my parents, friends, girlfriend, mentors in science and PI. They will know you better than a stranger on GradCafe and might know enough about graduate admissions (eg. your PI, Grad student/Post-doc) to help you tailor your statement to a graduate admissions panel and the school you are applying to.
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On 5/29/2019 at 6:29 AM, Fountain96 said:
Hi I think this is the wrong thread to post on but I'm intending to apply for graduate school in fall 2020 and i'm just extremely worried that I'm not good enough and i should just go into the workforce instead. These are my stats:
Undergrad Institution: Nanyang Technological University (World 12th, Asia 3rd)
Major(s): Biological Sciences
Minor(s): NIL
Overall GPA: 3.63 (Expected 3.67)
Position in Class: First Class Honours/Honours with Highest Distinction (the nomenclature is confusing but top 10% of school)
Type of Student: International female, Asian
I extended my graduation by a semester to do extra research on my final year thesis at MIT in Boston (under a prof with quite a few industry associations and startups himself) so I’ll be graduating in December 2019. My current GPA stands at 4.52/5.0 (~3.63) but I’m pretty confident that I can pull it up to about 4.6 (~3.67).
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 167 (91%)
V: 162 (91%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
I’m not sure if I should take the GRE Biology Subject Test? Most of my peers are advising against it because they say it doesn’t really help much and it’s extra studying time that could be put into strengthening my statement of purpose and working on my current project in an RNA lab.
TOEFL Total: Not applicable, I’m a native English speaker
Research Experience:- Half a year in a skin/skin cancer lab working on a research project investigating the effect of biofilm conditioned media of bacteria on skin cancer cells and potential therapeutic properties. (it was a short stint and I got an A+ for that project… haven’t really followed up with my mentor or professor from that lab but I wont really be asking them for LORs)
- 9 months in a structural biology/virology lab and was part of two projects. I contributed quite frequently in the lab so my PI and mentor can both write me strong LORs. Also presented a poster in my school for the first project and got an A+ for the second project.
- 9 months on my final year thesis at a bioengineering lab. i was working on a vaccine for RSV but the initial funding got cut so we pivoted the project into a investigating the structural interactions for my thesis. This project is still ongoing after i returned to singapore and they plan to wrap it up at the end of summer and publish soon after.
- Currently working in an RNA therapeutics lab. I actually interacted with many people in MIT who made me very interested in RNA therapeutics and this is what I am very interested in researching on for my PhD.
- One poster presentation as part of my final year thesis
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
CN Yang Scholar (awards undergraduate students a scholarship for full tuition, housing and a stipend as well. about 50 students get accepted each year and our curriculum focuses on research and gears us towards graduate school; kind of similar to an undergraduate fellowship?)
Nanyang Scholarship
I also submitted my previous works to The Global Undergraduate Awards (awaiting results)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:I worked in a biopharma (GSK) as a marketing intern for half a year on top of my schoolwork which gave me quite some insight into the pharma industry and is also the main reason I decided on focusing on the science research behind drug development instead of the more commercial aspects (i.e. marketing, sales).
I’m currently working as a student research assistant in a biophysics lab working on RNA therapeutics (anti-sense oligonucleotides targeting lymphoma) and will be working here throughout the summer and my final semester in Fall 2019. Probably converting to a research officer after I graduate and working there until PhD (if i get into a school in the states).
Throughout my undergraduate life I’ve also been extremely involved in competitive sports (which contributed partly to the slump in my grades in my second year) but at MIT I was working on my research 90% of the time which made me realise how much I enjoyed and found purpose in doing it.
Special Bonus Points:- I actually spent a lot of my undergraduate years figuring out what I wanted to pursue as a career and why. I explored both research, sales and marketing and project management which led me to be absolutely sure that I want to pursue a career in research in drug development.
- Final year thesis was 9 months in MIT so I think my professor should be pretty well known. His LOR should be pretty strong. We are still in contact and the lab will be including me in the publication (some parts of my thesis is included in part of it) but I’m not sure if it will be out in time for the applications. It could be in the manuscript or first submission phase would that help boost my applications?
- My professor in the second lab also has quite a few global contacts. He actually connected me with my MIT professor for my final year thesis.
Applying to Where:
Rockefeller U
Gerstner Sloan Kettering
Weill Cornell
Cold Spring Harbour Lab (I really really want to get into a university in new york hence thinking of applying to all these schools)
MIT
Stonybrook U
UCSF
UC San Diego
UC Davis
Scripps
Boston University
Columbia U
NYU
considering Mayo Clinic and JHU
My end goal is to continue working in therapeutics (small molecule/AB engineering or even RNA therapeutics) for infectious diseases and cancer. Could someone let me know my chances and perhaps how to boost my portfolio and even tips on writing a strong statement of purpose? Any other schools focused on therapeutics-based research would be nice as well
You are an incredibly strong applicant and I would be shocked if you did not get interviews at most of the places you are applying, barring a weak essay or letter of recommendation. However, your international status may pose some funding issues at some state universities. For example, I know that UCSF funds far fewer international students than some other private institutions, but YMMV.
Lastly, I would recommend against taking the subject test and instead focus on pushing your project to publication. That'll be far more advantageous for grad apps. and grad school itself.
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Anyone know when or how we can access our reviewer feedback?
- ChilPep and chemiscool
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Just got a call from Berkeley MCB for an interview.
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2 minutes ago, Hamsterball said:
Thank you for your reply! May I ask was it an email or phone call?
Seem like some people have already heard back from UW MCB and Northwestern Driskill too. I guess no luck for me!
At least I got invitations from several great schools. Still very thankful!
Got it as an e-mail. I haven't heard back from UW MCDB either
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36 minutes ago, Hamsterball said:
I applied to UW MCB too but haven't heard back. Do you know if they have already sent out invitations? Couldn't find any post about it.
Has anyone heard from UCLA Biosciences (Cell & Developmental Biology) and Harvard BBS?
Just received a UCLA Biosci. Cell & Developmental Bio interview invite.
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Just got an interview offer from UCSF TETRAD and UCSD Division of Biological sciences!
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49 minutes ago, biol44 said:
Does anyone know if Harvard BMS or UCSF Tetrad sent out interviews? It looks like both programs generally send interviews on the Friday of last week.
I've applied to TETRAD and have not yet heard anything, if that helps.
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I recently took the GRE, scored 167 verbal, 152 quant, awaiting AWA scores (but felt good considering the scored examples I've seen).
I need to send these scores to UCSD and UCLA (Cell biology PhD), and have a cum. GPA of 3.7, 2 years of research experience and a publication. My combined GRE score is about 80th percentile, but obviously my quant. is far weaker than my verbal score. Should I retake the GRE, or hope that the rest of my application and LORs are enough?
Secondly, for schools listing "optional" GRE submission, should I submit these scores? The other schools I'm planning on applying to are in the top 15 cell bio programs.
Thanks!
Ask questions about the PhD application process!
in Biology
Posted
Spend most of your time on research and writing your statements. If there's faculty you're interested in working with, shooting them an e-mail to see if you'd be a good fit at the lab or institution would be a good idea too.
Places like UCSF TETRAD don't even require the GRE anymore, so the emphasis on it is steadily decreasing, especially among top-tier programs.