Fountain96

Hi I think this is the wrong thread to post on but I'm intending to apply for graduate school in fall 2020 and i'm just extremely worried that I'm not good enough and i should just go into the workforce instead. These are my stats: Undergrad Institution: Nanyang Technological University (World 12th, Asia 3rd) Major(s): Biological Sciences Minor(s): NIL Overall GPA: 3.63 (Expected 3.67) Position in Class: First Class Honours/Honours with Highest Distinction (the nomenclature is confusing but top 10% of school) Type of Student: International female, Asian I extended my graduation by a semester to do extra research on my final year thesis at MIT in Boston (under a prof with quite a few industry associations and startups himself) so I’ll be graduating in December 2019. My current GPA stands at 4.52/5.0 (~3.63) but I’m pretty confident that I can pull it up to about 4.6 (~3.67). GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 167 (91%) V: 162 (91%) W: 5.5 (98%) I’m not sure if I should take the GRE Biology Subject Test? Most of my peers are advising against it because they say it doesn’t really help much and it’s extra studying time that could be put into strengthening my statement of purpose and working on my current project in an RNA lab. TOEFL Total: Not applicable, I’m a native English speaker Research Experience: - Half a year in a skin/skin cancer lab working on a research project investigating the effect of biofilm conditioned media of bacteria on skin cancer cells and potential therapeutic properties. (it was a short stint and I got an A+ for that project… haven’t really followed up with my mentor or professor from that lab but I wont really be asking them for LORs) - 9 months in a structural biology/virology lab and was part of two projects. I contributed quite frequently in the lab so my PI and mentor can both write me strong LORs. Also presented a poster in my school for the first project and got an A+ for the second project. - 9 months on my final year thesis at a bioengineering lab. i was working on a vaccine for RSV but the initial funding got cut so we pivoted the project into a investigating the structural interactions for my thesis. This project is still ongoing after i returned to singapore and they plan to wrap it up at the end of summer and publish soon after. - Currently working in an RNA therapeutics lab. I actually interacted with many people in MIT who made me very interested in RNA therapeutics and this is what I am very interested in researching on for my PhD. - One poster presentation as part of my final year thesis Awards/Honors/Recognitions: CN Yang Scholar (awards undergraduate students a scholarship for full tuition, housing and a stipend as well. about 50 students get accepted each year and our curriculum focuses on research and gears us towards graduate school; kind of similar to an undergraduate fellowship?) Nanyang Scholarship I also submitted my previous works to The Global Undergraduate Awards (awaiting results) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I worked in a biopharma (GSK) as a marketing intern for half a year on top of my schoolwork which gave me quite some insight into the pharma industry and is also the main reason I decided on focusing on the science research behind drug development instead of the more commercial aspects (i.e. marketing, sales). I’m currently working as a student research assistant in a biophysics lab working on RNA therapeutics (anti-sense oligonucleotides targeting lymphoma) and will be working here throughout the summer and my final semester in Fall 2019. Probably converting to a research officer after I graduate and working there until PhD (if i get into a school in the states). Throughout my undergraduate life I’ve also been extremely involved in competitive sports (which contributed partly to the slump in my grades in my second year) but at MIT I was working on my research 90% of the time which made me realise how much I enjoyed and found purpose in doing it. Special Bonus Points: - I actually spent a lot of my undergraduate years figuring out what I wanted to pursue as a career and why. I explored both research, sales and marketing and project management which led me to be absolutely sure that I want to pursue a career in research in drug development. - Final year thesis was 9 months in MIT so I think my professor should be pretty well known. His LOR should be pretty strong. We are still in contact and the lab will be including me in the publication (some parts of my thesis is included in part of it) but I’m not sure if it will be out in time for the applications. It could be in the manuscript or first submission phase would that help boost my applications? - My professor in the second lab also has quite a few global contacts. He actually connected me with my MIT professor for my final year thesis. Applying to Where: Rockefeller U Gerstner Sloan Kettering Weill Cornell Cold Spring Harbour Lab (I really really want to get into a university in new york hence thinking of applying to all these schools) MIT Stonybrook U UCSF UC San Diego UC Davis Scripps Boston University Columbia U NYU considering Mayo Clinic and JHU My end goal is to continue working in therapeutics (small molecule/AB engineering or even RNA therapeutics) for infectious diseases and cancer. Could someone let me know my chances and perhaps how to boost my portfolio and even tips on writing a strong statement of purpose? Any other schools focused on therapeutics-based research would be nice as well