syntheticbio

Hello everyone! I hope you all hear some great news soon. I thought I could contribute to this discussion because I applied to 11 PhD programs at 8 schools for Fall 2018 and was rejected by all of them, so I at least know when some top schools notify their unsuccessful applicants. My chief research interest is in synthetic biology, and there seems to be some ambiguity about where synthetic bio fades into biological engineering/BioE/BME programs versus the more cutting-edge life sciences departments and programs. Fall 2018 Results MIT Biological Engineering PhD "The number of applicants for admissions to our program greatly exceeds the number that can be accommodated and it has been necessary to refuse admissions to some fine applicants such as yourself." (Rejected January 26, 2018) MIT Computational & Systems Biology PhD Program. "As a small interdepartmental program that admits 6-8 students a year, we have had a record number of over 220 applications from highly qualified applicants this year like yourself." (Rejected January 19, 2018) Harvard Systems Biology PhD (Rejected March 2, 2018) Harvard Engineering and Physical Biology track within the Molecules, Cells, and Organisms PhD (Rejected March 2, 2018) Stanford Bioengineering PhD (Rejected February 7, 2018) Yale Physical and Engineering Biology PhD (Rejected February 21, 2018) Oxford Synthetic Biology DPhil (Received invitation for a December 2017 Skype interview on November 30, 2017 and attended the virtual interview. Rejected January 18, 2018) Oxford Engineering Science DPhil (Rejected January 3, 2018) Edinburgh Integrative Physiology PhD (I got a clear "We have now received the information that we require to make our decision on your application" but then never got an acceptance. I later tried logging in to check my results, and my account just said I was no longer affiliated with their university.) University of Washington Biological Physics, Structure & Design (BPSD) PhD (Rejected January 31, 2018) Caltech Bioengineering PhD "Your record and qualifications are very good, and we have no doubt of your ability to earn an advanced degree and that you will have a successful career." (Rejected March 23, 2018) I'm in a very uncommon situation right now. I graduated in December 2018 and started this month as a lab technician at an R1 state university where I'm applying to their life sciences PhD program for Fall 2019 admission. When I talked about my research interests during in-person interviews, the faculty here simply recommended people at other schools (Harvard and MIT) who were a much better fit for the sort of synthetic biology that I want to do. It was very surprising and demoralizing to see them recommending other people and schools to me, after I just relocated here for a full-time lab tech job. After my recent PhD interviews here, I don't think it's the right program for me at all. It doesn't help that this state university doesn't have a stellar reputation / isn't well known / isn't highly ranked, and I'm just here for now because I had no other job/PhD program offers. I think I'm going to try be a lab tech here for several years and/or try to maybe get a research-based masters in BioE/BME elsewhere. I then plan to reapply to elite biological engineering PhD programs (or synthetic biology related programs) in 3-6 years from now. I have a 3.88 GPA (B.S. Biomedical Engineering) from a STEM-heavy top 50 US university and 170/170/5.5 GRE, but I think my total lack of publications after four undergrad research experiences sunk my applications. I hope that being a productive lab tech and helping my PI's intriguing projects can be a stepping stone to getting published, or maybe a stepping stone to a master's program where I can publish some more, so that I can one day be a successful PhD applicant at a much more distinguished program where I actually want to enroll/commit to something like six years. How can I tell my PI in my current lab that I think I'd like to remain a lab tech (and ideally earn publications along the way) rather than actually commit to the lab (and this school) for an entire doctorate? My PI has a doctorate from a very elite school that rejected me last year, and I could suggest that I'm aiming to go to my PI's alma mater for my PhD. My undergraduate research LOR writer also earned a doctorate at the same, very elite place. I think I can do a lot better than where I am now if I just get some impressive post-bachelor's experience and post-bachelor's publications. Does anyone know about the right trajectory for remedying a lack of publications in undergrad (with otherwise solid GPA/GRE)?