JTacademics

Oh boy. Here we go. Worries: I am a Biochem major with a 3.999repeated sign gpa. I had 1 A- in analytical chemistry and I blame my lab partner, but who cares at this point. My GRE scores however, were subpar. Quant: 155 Verbal: 157 Writing: 4.0. That scares me. I feel like my Letter of Intents were a little rushed but I did submit corrected ones to a few schools that were a little better. I forgot to put clear, concise future goals besides the generic “I want to be a professor and do research” type stuff. I also applied for only Medical Physics and Applied Physics PhD programs because I came to love biophysics and particle physics rather than strictly biology based biochemistry. I had 6 months of research experience where I assisted on mitochondria based research with a paper we were writing as a lab (possible publish, but not certain), and noted that all this semester would be spent working on a single author peer review with my PI guiding me that could get published, but not certain on that. I am worried that “planned to be completed before admission” research experience isnt as solid as other undergrads who already had their research done prior to submission of their applications. I hope my biochemistry background and gpa will both appeal to medical physics committees, that have mostly physics applicants with little biology backgrounds. Excitement: I am very pleased with my GPA and am happy that my biology research deals with physics bases concepts, such as the organic cation mitochondria research that consists of altering the mitochondrial membrane potential to force it to work harder to meet energy demands, resulting in less energy stored as fat. While a paper did not become of this research, I hope it helps my case. Very excited to hear back nonetheless!

Yeah, I did. I put in quite a few, and probably rushed mine a bit, but I was just so excited. On the brightside, one of my schools does rolling admissions (ECU, my undergrad), so I may hear back from them quickly. The rest are pretty good schools, so I likely won't hear back until March-April. NC State (Physics), Wake Forest (Physics), Duke (Medical Physics and also Molecular Cancer Biology), UNC (Biochemistry), ECU (Medical Physics). Really hoping for a Physics or Medical Physics acceptance, but will continue on with Biochemistry as well, because I do enjoy all of it. We'll see!

Just submitted my applications to the following schools: NC State - PhD Physics Wake Forest - PhD Physics Duke - PhD Medical Physics and PhD Molecular Cancer Biology UNC - PhD Biochemistry ECU - PhD Biomedical Physics About to wrap up my BS in Biochemistry at ECU (current GPA 3.97) GRE Scores: 157V 155Q 4.0W I started undergrad wanting to study biochemistry mostly because of cancer studies, but my calculus based physics courses were too interesting and I do not know as much about the world as I'd like without going deeper than the molecular level. Finding myself watching lots of videos on the crazy side of physics where reality as we know it breaks down, and it is definitely my preference, but I also do love biology as well. Aiming for a complete shift to Physics, but Medical Physics / Biomedical Physics gives me a nice mix of everything I like altogether and still utilizes my biochemistry knowledge, with lots of branching opportunities as well as fantastic job options, and have applied for Biochemistry as a hopeful backup as I could be happy in any of these areas, and it is directly related to my undergrad. Waiting on one more professor for LORs for some of these applications. Aiming high, and looking forward to hearing back to see where my options are. A little nervous I rushed my Personal Statements and didn't go into enough detail on my research experience, but I feel like my personal achievements really stand out compared to other applicants, and I do have good biochemistry research at a graduate facility rather than the usual undergrad stuff, so we will see! Will be posting any decisions made on my applications if anyone wants to compare their GPA/GRE. Regardless of my acceptances, I will continue to self study both biology and physics because I have a need to learn both of these areas to fully understand the world, both biological and physical. Wish me luck, and would love to hear feedback on my odds of acceptance on some these if there is any insight out there. It will be a long few months of waiting!