Undergrad Institution: NortheasternMajor(s): Biology (BS), Bioengineering (MS)Minor(s): Environmental ScienceGPA in Major: 3.22 (BS)Overall GPA: 3.25 (BS), 3.85 (MS)Type of Student: domesticGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 160V: 161W: 4.5Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)
I went to Northeastern, so I have 22 months of full time research experience from undergrad at three different biotech companies. After graduation, I started working full time at another small immuno-oncology company, working mostly in protein analytics and biochemistry for antibodies. I am on one publication (7th or 8th author) and 5 posters. I now work in a different biotech company, working on CAR-T and engineered TCRs in high throughput functional screening.
Total research experience: 22 months full-time undergrad, 4 years full time post-grad.Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Mostly related to extracurriculars in college, but I won two school-wide leadership honors and one national leadership honor.Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
I have some pretty strong LORs, one from the VP of my old company (alum of a school I'm applying to), a director (alum), an old coworker who used to be a professor and has good academic connections, and two chairs in bioengineering and biology (alum) from NU.Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I have a pretty terrible GPA from undergrad, but managed a much better GPA from full-time grad school while also working full-time. I'm hoping that will set off the undergrad ans show that I am capable of graduate level coursework.
I've been given a lot of opportunity to experiment and ask questions in my career, so I think I am articulating well the questions that I want to answer in grad school. I've also seen what drug development looks like and the gaps that still exist, which is motivating me to go back to grad school.Applying to Where:
Mostly schools with well-established tumor immunology research. I am particularly interested in T cell dysfunction, innate-adaptive cross talk, and adoptive cell therapy.
MIT - Bioengineering
Gerstner Sloan Kettering - Immunology
University of Washington - Immunology
Baylor - Immunology
UNC - Immunology
Penn - Immunology
Vanderbilt - Immunology
Georgia Tech - Bioengineering
Do I stand a chance at any of these places? I tried to pick a good range of comfortable to reach schools, but it is harder to gauge attainability with grad schools than with undergrad.
Thanks!