[University Selection Help]

On 7/30/2019 at 12:52 AM, BabyScientist said:

So long as there are at least 3 faculty at each institution that you'd be excited to work with, I think your list is fine. 

On 7/30/2019 at 3:39 AM, cephalexin said:

I would look at Wisconsin as I remember seeing cancer bio as an option when I applied for molecular bio. 

On 9/1/2019 at 2:10 AM, DRMF said:

If you're not dead set on cancer bio, I'd suggest you look at more "true" umbrella programs, ie programs that make everyone interview and do lab rotations together and let you pick a subfield after you've started the PhD.

Thank you all for your feedbacks. Cancer biology was my second choice of programs, neuro being the first. Neuro seemed to be more competitive for international students compared to Bioscience programs. Thats why I initially thought about applying to biosciences with a focus on cancer biology. But after giving it much thought, I have decided to apply for Neuroscience programs. Most of the uni in my mentioned list would remain with few changes, I think. Are there any universities with neuroscience programs I should look into? 

[University Selection Help]

Hello. I'll be applying to umbrella Biosciences program (preference: cancer biology) this fall. 

Applicant: International, South Asia

University: Among top 5 of my country

Subject: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

GPA: 3.81/4.00 Undergrad. 3.92/4.00 MS (4th in class)

Research experience:

• Over 4 years in Bioinformatics
• 3 years in Plant genomics and proteomics expression analysis
• 3 years in Biodiversity (Developed and maintaining an online database on country-wide existing odonates)
• 1 year - Histopathology analysis of hepatotoxicity induced rats

Publication: 3 (1 on Immunoinformatics, 2 on plant science - 1 PubMed indexed; First author in 2, Second in 1). Ongoing 2 but won't be published by the time of application. 

Awards: Govt merit scholarship, Honors with distinction, Award for poster presentation at an international conference

Grants: The explorers' club USA, Govt fellowship for MS thesis

GRE: V161(88%), Q163(83%), AWA4.0(59%), Didn't retake as GRE is becoming optional 

LOR: Should be very good, but not from famous scientists.

I couldn't work on cancer related areas as my country doesn't have that much research opportunities.

Current selection of Universities: All biosciences programs - MIT, Princeton, UChicago, UCDavis, Duke, NYU, McGill, Michigan state, Purdue, Penn state.

These are my stats including the drawbacks of my profile. I am having second thoughts regarding my choices of universities and am in need of assistance. Am I aiming too high? Should I include/exclude any university? Any kind of help or suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

[How did you do well on the GRE?]

My results just came in. V161 Q163 AWA4.0. Preparation duration ~45days. I went through magoosh vocabs (Common & Basic) for the first 15 days with continuous article reading from aldaily (1 article/day). I was pretty confident in my maths skills so it was pretty easy for me to brush up my quant ability, completed one module per day from magoosh. Verbal was very tough for me as a non-native speaker, so I had to focus really hard on my english for the last 20ish days: Lots of article reading and problem solving + magoosh videos as well as revising my vocabs (After completing the magoosh common and basic decks, check greg mats list of vocabs). The most important thing in my opinion is to practice both maths and verbal Every Single Day. I was pretty bummed with my quant score which was my own fault for not practicing my maths in the final few days. For AWA, practiced four essay writings in practice test sessions (Followed greg mats instructions). Finally use the practice tests very wisely and don't skip the writing sections. It really helps building up the stamina to sit through the 3.5 hours long exam.