Teaching Faculty Wannabe

Hi there! I am not in immunology, but I think your experiences will definitely outweigh your grades. Programs want to see that you will be a successful researcher and fit will into their program, and if you can establish that in your applications, then you are golden. I will admit that grades are an important factor to schools, but your GPAs aren't horrible and your experience is amazing! I would focus on your experience for sure and talk about how it has prepared your for a doctorate in your SOPs. Applications are like a balancing act, in my opinion. Good luck!

@jwiz I don't have any experience of this, so I am just going off intuition. However, I don't think it's a bad thing to go to a different university for a PhD. The reasons for this are: 1. You will get to experience another place. Moving to a new university will open your eye up to new personal, professional, and research experiences. Your network will expand by meeting new students and faculty, and you will get an new advisor that will be doing possibly similar, but slightly different research. 2. The qualifying exam may be different at the different university, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, I think it's a good thing that your Master's is preparing you for qualifying exams. You maybe take the advice with you to the other university. Nonetheless, I wouldn't fret too much about the exams in terms of transferring. You will probably get advice and time to prepare for them at the other university. Additionally, core grad courses are usually similar throughout different universities. You can also look up universities' core classes and compare them to the class you took for your master's. I would only stay at the university you are currently at if you feel comfortable staying there and don't want to explore new places/research avenues. I hope this helps! Good luck!

What I am about to say may not be the most helpful thing, but I would honestly apply to schools that have research you are interested in, despite their ranking. Apply to about 5-8 schools, ranging from top schools to lower ranked schools, but ranking isn't really what you should fully base your school selections on. Along with your research experience, great GPAs, and an awesome Quant. GRE score, I think making you applications as beautified and organized as possible and writing a top-notch statement of purpose and/or personal statement will make you a top applicant. There is no saying of your chances because it seems like that is harder to establish for graduate schools and that's why it is hard to determine safety schools, but get as much advice as you can about your essays and your CV/resume, and do a lot of research on the schools you want to apply to. I hope this helps in some way! Good luck! FYI, NC State has a pretty good CS program. I did my undergrad there and Raleigh is a great city and NC State is an awesome school. You should check it out, if you want.

Overall, I think your application profile looks really great. Your GPAs aren't as bad as you think. A 3.5 is still a good GPA. Your GRE scores are great. LORs sound good. Your research experience is wonderful, especially since you got publications and presentations from them. I know your MCB background worries you, but I don't think it will make you look bad. There are ton of people that transfer from the sciences to engineering when entering into a PhD. You may have to take extra classes in order to make up for the required pre-req classes you didn't take in your undergrad and master's, but if that's fine with you, then that should be okay. Also, the fact that you have a more biology-based background with diverse research experience can be an advantage since it can make you seem more knowledgeable in biology, if that makes sense. For other schools, I would check out University of Michigan (I just visited last week and it seems to have a great BME program), Wake Forest University, John Hopkins, and the joint NC State/UNC Chapel Hill BME program. I am not entirely sure if they have research you are interested in, but I believe they are good schools. Also, look at other places biomedical engineering people on here are applying to/have applied to in order to get an idea of other schools to look into. I hope this helps, and good luck!

All of my letter writers submitted on time for the NSF GRFP. One submitted right on the deadline and I thought I was going to die, but at least she got it done.

Still waiting on one letter writer and she has one hour left.....

Two of my letter writers still haven't submitted their LORs for the NSF GRFP and they are due tomorrow at 5pm.....so anxious.....why are they doing this?....I sure hope they submit them on time.....I have reminded them multiple times and gave them plenty of time to get it done.....

@Chrono I totally get that. Applying for graduate school is very expensive, but I definitely think you have a shot at those universities!

First off, silly me for suggesting Boston when you already had it on your list. Sorry about that! I kind of determined them based on several metrics: their ranking, their average GPA and GRE scores (if they list them), graduate acceptance rates (sometimes they list those), reputation (is it an ivy league or a big name university?). So, for a safety school, their ranking could possible be lower with lower GPA and GRE averages of their accepted students and not as high of a reputation relative to other schools. However, I will say it is hard to choose safety schools for graduate programs compared to undergrad because I feel like they look at a lot of things, such as your essays (convincing them that you fit their program and the research being done there), your academics (GPA and classes), your letter of recommendations (what do they say about you as a researcher?), your awards, and your research experience. Fit into the program is especially essential because professors want to choose students they believe will do great research in their labs, not just make good grades in their classes (which is what undergrad is mainly about). So, safety schools are kind of thing, but not as easily determinable for grad school. I hope that makes sense and good luck!

Honestly, I am not sure. I don't think you will be, sadly. However, you never know. I suggest contacting the Graduate Program Director for Mechanical Engineering or someone in the engineering graduate admissions to get a better answer. I think they encourage undergrads to apply directly to the PhD programs because you get a Master's in the process while gaining more research experience. That's just my thinking, though.

@Chrono I don't think they are too ambitious. You have a wonderful GPA, good GRE scores, great research experience with some publications and such, and some awards. However, I would suggest applying to a few more places. It is recommended to apply to about 5 to 8 universities. I hope this helps and good luck!

Hi all! I just got back from a visit at the University of Michigan. If anyone has any questions pertaining to Ann Arbor, the University, or its biomedical department (or engineering in general), please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer based on all the info. I gained while I was there.

@mmseazon006 No problem! I am glad to help! I would suggest applying to maybe one or two top universities because you never know. I don't have the greatest profile (my GRE scores aren't the greatest and I could have more research experience), but I thought it was worth a shot anyways. Of course, apply to places you are comfortable with. Other universities I suggest looking into are Wake Forest University, Rice, Drexel, North Carolina State University (they have a joint BME department with UNC-Chapel Hill), Indiana University, Northeastern, Tufts University, Florida State University, and University of Colorado Boulder.

Hey @mmseazon006! I recently graduated as well with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, and I am applying to various MSE and BME PhD graduate programs for biomaterials (in particular using biomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications). You definitely don't have to have a BME degree to enter into BME for a PhD. It helps to have an engineering degree, but sometimes you may be required to take additional classes beyond the requirements if yo enter the program with some missing initial required previous coursework, such as a biology class. I think that depends on the school's specifics, though, and you can usually find that on their website. You can stick with MSE, if you want. I chose a mixture depending on if the professors were doing research I was interested in -- sometimes it was BME and sometimes it was MSE. I think your profile is good. You are getting good research experience, your GPA looks good, and you have a great quantitative GRE score. I don't know much about the IELTS, so I can't provide much on that. When looking at schools, you want to make sure they are a right fit for you and vice versa. Even if you had an amazing profile with top scores and a top GPA and have tons of research experience and top-notch LORs from well-known people in your field of study, you most likely won't get picked if you don't establish that "fit". For universities, I suggest looking at professors you want to do work with, funding amounts (thankfully, engineering usually provides funding for PhDs), the graduate program itself (the type and amount of required classes, time dedicated to research), and the university's locations (is it in a city or a small town? Where would prefer to live for 4-7 years?) and amenities (such as clubs/organizations, training programs, lab facilities, internship opportunities, grad students activities, etc). Maybe to get you started you can look at schools I am applying, which are listed below. I can't help you much beyond that because biomaterials is a huge field and I don't know what you are particularly interested in within that field. Also, there are many universities doing biomaterials research and I honestly don't know all of them. I hope this helps in some way, though! Good luck!

@antioxidant17 I would send GRE scores and transcripts as soon as possible. The earlier you get it done, the better so you don't have to worry about it anymore and just focus on the rest of application. Also, I just realized that this is for sociology, which I am not in, but I suspect things aren't too different between sociology and engineering in terms of applying.

Hi there! I am currently taking a gap year. Since I don't have a job right now, I have bee focusing on my grad school applications. However, I hate just sitting around and not doing anything, so I was thinking of asking professors at the university I graduated from and in the field I am interested in for my PhD if they have any positions in their research group I could undertake. Do you all think this is a good idea? I am not sure how professors I have never contacted before will react to do this. Any advice would be great. Thanks!

@p287 I am not an expert on this, but I think it would be good if one your recommendations was from your undergraduate and the other from your graduate school experience so that the admission committee can get an all-encompassing view on your education. I think the undergraduate advisor would be good, if even they aren't faculty, because they can speak about your alumni activities, they have known you for some time, and they could explain how good your online program is in comparison to on-campus programs. Additionally, I think your third recommender should be your grad school professor. It seems grad schools like having professors as recommenders and it seems like even though you haven't known her for long time, she knows your academic work. However, the graduate school supervisor would be good too since they can speak about your experiences as a researcher. You want to choose people that can talk about different parts of you on a personal and academic level so the admission committee can see how dynamic you are. I hope that helps, and good luck!

@ucgrit I greatly appreciate your help! Thanks so much! This definitely will help me figure out what to say now.

You want to put the actual name of your degree program as it appears on your transcript, especially for your undergrad. I am not sure about grad because I figured your proposal field of study for graduate school would be the same as your proposal, unless you are currently getting a Masters and are planning on getting a PhD with this fellowship, if that makes sense. Either way, you want to put down what you are getting your degree in for the Education and Work Experience.

Hi all! I was wondering if any current graduate students who have persistent anxiety, especially those with anxiety disorders, can give any tips on balancing your anxiety with the stressful life of grad school. One thing I am afraid of is while applying to grad school is that I will get in to a great program, but then my anxiety will become even worse and I will ruin a wonderful opportunity. Thanks for the help!

Check out North Carolina State University

1. Engineering research and professor at a university 2. Fiction writer 3. Open my own school to teach children from low-income households about science and engineering 4. Professional photographer I am not qualified for any of these, but #1 is the reason why I applying to grad school, sooooo at least there is that.

Hi there! Thanks for offering to help! I have a question about writing a diversity statement that some of the programs ask for, mainly focusing on how the applicant will contribute to diversity on campus. For example, here is one from Northwestern: "The Graduate School at Northwestern University considers having a diverse student population a key element to the educational experience of its graduate students. Diversity presents itself in many different forms such as: socioeconomic status, race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or place of origin, disability, unique work or life experience, etc. We invite you to use this space to tell us how you may contribute to the diversification of The Graduate School, your program and Northwestern University." I am a female, Hispanic, pansexual in engineering, which I would say is a rare thing. However, I don't really know how to go about describing how I will contribute to the diversity. Do you all have any tips? Thanks in advance! (Also, I hope it's okay that I am not applying to the University of Chicago. Sorry about that, folks! I am so grateful for your help, though!)

I found this answer on the NSF website under the FAQs: "I have attended several schools. Do I need to list all of them and upload all of the transcripts? You should list all institutions from which you received a bachelor's degree or higher-level degree, and you should upload transcripts from all institutions listed in your application. If you attended more than one baccalaureate institution before receiving your first baccalaureate degree, it is up to you as to whether you list the ones you attended before you earned that degree. However, you must list and include transcripts from all graduate study done after you obtained your first baccalaureate degree." So, if makes you feel more comfortable to do so, then I would upload your community college transcript. I don't think it's required, but it would at least show them what classes you took and the grades you got for them. I hope that helps! Godspeed!

In my opinion, I think it's okay if the grades for the transfer credits aren't shown on your transcript. I think they just want to see what classes you have taken. I think you would just list the GPA that you got at the university where you got your degree. I don't think you need to take into account your community college credits. That's what I think, though. You could always email someone at NSF and see what they say.