Teaching Faculty Wannabe

I can definitely relate. I am taking a gap year, and surprisingly I found myself missing school work after summer was over. Even though school is super stressful, it was a good distraction from everything else sometimes. The anxiety after submitting does really suck and can be overwhelming, but try to take it day by day, maybe during break do things, such as reading or watching movies or hanging out with family/friends, you haven't been able to do during school and that you have been wanting to do for some time perhaps?

I don't think it will be a disadvantage. 15 days is not that much time (compared to how much time they will be reviewing all the applicants) and I am sure they won't look through too many applications during that time. This is just an assumption, but I don't think it will be too much of a disadvantage if it happens to be one. They set two separate dates, so they shouldn't do that to applicants that have references the turn their letters in close to the deadline.

First off, I am so sorry that happened to you. No one should ever experience domestic violence, and medical issues can be awful as well on many levels. I think what you wrote here is sufficient. I don't think you want to go into detail about it, especially since SoPs have limited space and you should use that space for other things. Also, you should be proud of all of your accomplishments. A 3.1 is obviously no 4.0, but it is still a decent GPA and you shouldn't feel ashamed for doing the best you can under the circumstances you were in. Good luck with your applications!

I would stick to 1 inch margins. For schools I applied to that asked for a specific margin size, they all said 1 inch, so I just used that for all of my essays. You could contact the graduate coordinator for the department you are applying to to ask for specifics just to make sure. Good luck!

Watching tons of shows on Netflix, lots of napping under warm, fuzzy blankets, reading massive amounts of books, and applying to retail jobs so I can save money for the hopeful move to grad school.

North Carolina has a big research area called the Research Triangle, which makes up Raleigh (NC State), Chapel Hill (UNC), and Durham (Duke). Because of these three universities, there are a lot of companies and start-ups in the area. Good luck!

Here are some topics : Biomaterials Hydrogels, tissue scaffolds, etc. for wound healing, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine Nanoparticles Surface modifications Implants Stents Biocompatibility, biodegradation, and bioactivity Materials for biosensors Materials for bioimaging Drug delivery/therapeutics Injectable materials Supramolecular materials Immunomodulation Bioprinting Organ/tissue-on-a-chip Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Biomaterials (scaffolds, nanoparticles, implants, injectables) Mimicking the ECM Mimicking environments of tumors and diseases for understanding their behavior and drug testing Controlling stem cells Growing whole organs Bioprinting tissue, organs, and biomaterials Neural, bone, musculoskeletal, cartilage, skin, fat, etc. Culturing tissue Clinical studies on animals Vascularization and getting oxygen to new tissue

I will go first! Just as an FYI, most of the programs I am applying to are in biomedical engineering. However, my background is in MSE and some of the programs I am interested are still in this major. Additionally, I did my undergrad at NC State, so if anyone wants to learn anything about that school, their MSE department, and/or Raleigh, NC, feel free to ask me. Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): a leading public research (heavily focused in STEM) university located on the east coast/south, ranked in the Top 25 Engineering Schools in 2019 according to US NEWS Major(s): Materials Science and Engineering Minor(s): Biomaterials concentration GPA in Major: 4.00/4.00 Overall GPA: 4.00/4.00 Demographics/Background: Hispanic/Latina, from a lower middle class family (resulting in occasional financial difficulties and many loans for undergraduate), one of my parents immigrated from Venezuela, grew up on college campuses (my mother is a university professor) GRE Scores: Q: 157 (65%) V: 152 (56%) W: 4.0 (59%) *I know these scores aren't the greatest. I really suck at standardized tests and don't have the finances/desire to retake it* LOR: Two letters from professors I had classes with (one of the professors I also did research with and the other professor I connected with before taking their class through a research program they run that I was participant of) and a letter from a supervisor I did a summer internship with last year Research Experience: A little over a year of research = 9 months of undergraduate research with the same PI (research on materials used to improve electrochemical processes) + 10 week summer research experience at a university in Australia (research on a ceramic material used for refrigeration applications) +10 week summer internship at NASA (research on growing graphene for gas sensor development) Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: Two poster presentations at state-wide conferences for NASA research, poster presentation for materials science and engineering senior design project at my university's undergraduate research symposium Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Received travel grant to visit University of Michigan Valedictorian of my graduating class Outstanding senior award in my department Best senior design paper award in my department Semester Dean's List for seven semesters (didn't get it for my last semester because I wasn't a full time student) Received for four one-time scholarships in the past four years. Fellowships/Funding: Applied for NSF GRFP and GEM Fellowship Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I know it is recommended to not discuss activities done before undergrad but I did a summer internship at Jefferson Lab, a national accelerator facility, when I was in high school that exposed me to the world of research/helped me discover that I want to be a researcher Research Interests: Broad interest are biomaterials, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, wound healing, and drug delivery; more narrow interests are using polymeric scaffolds for tissue growth/regeneration Institutions/Programs: University of Delaware Boston University University of Connecticut

Hi all!! I noticed there were a decent amount of people on here applying for MSE graduate degrees, so I figured I would make this. Good luck to everyone! Use the template below to plug in your applicant information: _________________________________________ Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: x.xx/4.00 Overall GPA: x.xx/4.00 Demographics/Background: GRE Scores: Q: xxx (xx%) V: xxx (xx%) W: x.x (xx%) LOR: Research Experience: Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Fellowships/Funding: Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.): Research Interests: Institutions/Programs: Comments:

Since I don't know the specifics of what the school wants for your Personal Statement, I am only assuming things since I would think Personal Statement prompts should be theoretically similar across schools. I applied to the University of Michigan and I had to do an SOP and a Personal Statement. For my Personal Statement, I talked about my personal journey that influenced my decision to pursue graduate school. I did not connect it to my research interests at all. Rather, I talked about how education was a huge part of my life ever since I was little. My grandparents immigrated to the US to go to grad school and get their PhDs. I saw my mom get her masters when I was little. All three of them are university professors, so I grew up on multiple college campuses. So, I just discussed how I realized that education can be very transformative and how I want to be a part of that and how a PhD will allow me to do that. However, your personal story can include your research interest/question. It's based on what you think influenced your decision to want to go to graduate school most on a personal level (see what I did there? ?). Here are some other forums that might help you figure out what to write for your Personal Statement. I hope this helps! Good luck!

@Manilo I think it is fine. I am in engineering and I am kind of doing what you are doing. Most of the programs I am applying to are in Biomedical Engineering, but my research experiences and undergraduate degree were in materials science and engineering. As long as you express your interest in cell and molecular biology and show that they are capable of doing research in your applications, I think you will still be a good candidate. Good luck!

I hope he submits them! Good luck!

Thanks for your answer! Your change in interest totally makes sense. I have heard that working with stem cells is a huge pain, but I hope to work more on the materials development side and less with seeding the scaffolds with cells, but we shall see. Maybe I might actually like doing that. Organ-on-a-chip models are pretty neat. I have read a lot of research papers and articles about them and might even consider them for my PhD. Imaging is also a very fascinating topic. I hope you get good news soon from your the schools you applied to. Thanks again for your help! I actually haven't heard of this. I am going to check it out, thank you. I am even applying to Northwestern, so that's awesome!

@WisdomAndIntelligence I wouldn't say a 3.0 would make it impossible to get a PhD. It might be the minimum for programs, but I don't think you should let that discourage you. You could talk to the graduate program coordinator for the schools you might be interested in and discuss your worries about your GPA. Your application is more than just your GPA, though. It is your references, your essays, your GRE scores, and your experiences. Since you got your Master's, I am suspecting you have research experience from that, so that counts as experience in my mind. Also, the fact that you are writing paper is good. If you can't get a job in the area you are interested in and want more research experience, maybe volunteer with a professor. It might lead to a paid position over time, but even volunteering can be a good experience. Also, in my opinion, 29 years old is not too late. It may feel like you are behind since most people entering PhDs are around 21 or 22, but I don't think you should feel bad about entering school at an older age. One of my classmates who was in the same undergraduate classes and graduating year was in her mid-30's when she started her undergrad, so you shouldn't let your age discourage you. I have also attached some other forums on GradCafe that may help. I wish I could give you more answers, but I hope this helps somewhat.

@extramaniac If you don't mind me asking: what work/research did you do? What did you like about it? What didn't you like about? I know that you said in the Biomedical 2019 Application Profiles forum that you are switching to imaging. What made you change from tissue engineering to this?

I finally finished my all of my applications! My last LOR writer is finally submitting her letters, which I am so thankful for! Yay!

I have heard of that application, which are really cool! I thought I wanted to do materials research in clean energy, sustainability, and finding cleaner alternatives to existing procedures, such purifying water. I actually became interested in biomaterials when I learned about biomimicry. Biomimetics is super fascinating since it integrates environmental-friendly, biological processes into synthesizing materials or altering the physical aspects of materials in order to create a specific property. However, I think using biomaterials as a basis to regrow/heal tissue or whole organs is so amazing. Also, I am interested in using biomaterials in biosensors, such as flexible electrodes, and drug delivery systems. Also, microrobots are super cool and biomaterials are very important for them to work properly in the body.

To all those interested in these topics, I kind of wanted to discuss interests related to these three topics. I applied to PhD programs in BME and MSE in order to conduct research in these fields. I sadly haven't actually done research in these areas, but I have taken classes in biomaterials, biosensors, biology, and regulatory affairs for medical devices. Because of this, I found out that these fields were a great combination of my undergraduate degree (materials science and engineering) and my love of biology. I hope to work with polymer (or polymer-based) scaffolds for tissue regeneration applications. However, I was wondering if anyone has any experience in these fields and any other research avenues/options that are done in these fields. I want to explore other things I could do with these fields since I have very little hands-on experience. Thanks in advance!

I think we have a higher chance of getting funding even if we don't get a corporate sponsor. One of the university GEM members have to agree to sponsor you so you can become an associate GEM fellow. I think getting the email, and getting past this first hump, is good. So, hopefully one of the schools you apply to will want to sponsor you!

I believe they reach out to you. But that's awesome! I hope it all goes well!

@Penelopepie I think you will have a better chance at getting advice from SLP peeps if you post your questions at https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/95-speech-language-pathology/ Good luck!

I have submitted to eight! I can't submit my ninth one because as I was about to submit, it says that a writing sample is required. I didn't even know what to submit because it didn't say anywhere on the website and the other ones didn't ask for a sample, so I emailed the university. I am also waiting on one LOR writer to submit for all the universities, but otherwise, I hope all goes and I hope the same for you all!

@p287@Sigaba Thank you both for your advice. She ended up turning the LOR I was freaking out about in the original posting a day late, but the fellowship still accepted somehow. I got lucky this time, but I am suspecting other applications won't be so kind. I still thanked her for doing it anyway, and didn't mention that it was a day late. I apologized for bugging her with multiple reminders. I only plan on reminding her two days or so before a deadline and again on the day of the deadline, if she hasn't gotten it done yet. I haven't contacted her since the "fiasco" of the last application, and have been giving her space. Hopefully this will help. I have learned a lot from this experience.

I got an email as well today and my employer status changed to matched (@ray92) . I am not sure this happened before or after the email, but yeah. I have attached the meaning of the different statuses of the employer status that I got from a previous forum. Status Change Definitions Matched - GEM thinks you're a good candidate and matched you with a company(companies) Held - A company is reviewing your credentials and is considering an interview extension Release - if you went from Held to Release then the company was looking at you, but decided to pick another scholar. (This can happen after an interview also). Accepted - You got a company sponsor! Congrats! Also, you don't have to be sponsored by a company to get a GEM Fellowship. Just by a university, I think. If you don't get a company sponsor, then you get an associate fellowship and less funding and no internship, I think.

Good luck to all the GEM applicants!