nerdyneuron

For biology PhD: do programs still look at GPA/GRE scores even after you get the interview? Or was GPA just part of the initial screening process? In other words, is GPA/GRE still taken into account even during interview process or is passing the interview (being accepted into the program post-interview) solely based on your interview skills, how well you match up with professors, etc?

just got interview from UCI

Hi, For biology majors: If you guys could share whether you got Masters or PhD and the job you decided to pursue, that'd be great. Right now, I am unsure if I should just get a Masters or get a PhD (for safety reasons and increase in job opportunities? ). I am still indecisive with this, because I am unsure whether or not I want to stay in academia after a PhD. I'm just curious in knowing the possibilities out there for biology majors, because I'm sure there's more jobs than just ones in academia.

Hey everyone, What are the differences between a top biology PhD program and a weaker program/ how crucial is this when you begin a PhD program? Is it that top programs at a top university may have more resources and funding? Would there be more opportunities available after you get PhD degree from a top university?

So I think that when you get rejected from a University, it's hard to pinpoint why exactly you were rejected. Many people can have a great GPA, but some of those people get invitations, while others don't. This also makes it hard to know how the committee chooses who they want to give invitations to. But is it possible that that your specific research interests may have an influence on the committee's decision? For instance, if I talk a lot about my research experience and my interest in studying neurodegenerative diseases ... is it possible that the University may not be looking for many people who want to study neurodegenerative diseases so this reduces my chances of getting accepted? Maybe because, for example, there's not a lot of professors at the University who study neurodegeneration?

Hi, Just wondering: Anyone know how to find biology networking events or opportunities? I want to connect more with people in a similar situation as me and also maybe try to find a good mentor. Any advice will help, thanks.

Thank you for letting me know - I'd love to know more about post bacc programs as well since I am not very informed of them. Yeah, I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I guess realistically, I am starting to realize I am bit of an outlier in comparison to other candidates applying to the same schools. Wouldn't be a bad idea to start thinking of a Plan B though

Congratulations on getting an invitation! I don't really see a gap year as a failure, and I am now realizing many people do take a gap year. I recently also realized that I am competing with many candidates who already have a masters' degree or graduated from undergrad. The main reason why I mentioned gap year is because I was looking at the Results page from previous years and it seems like many people who already have a masters' degree (so more full time research experience) or did a post bacc had a higher undergrad GPA than me and still did not get into an R1 school. Initially, I was feeling encouraged that if I take a gap year and get more research experience, I can get into a R1 school. But now I'm feeling a bit less confident which is why I had mentioned it seems risky for someone like me.. but yeah not sure

thank you for the encouragement & i completely agree with you that there's a lot of persistence and determination involved. But the unknown is really scary and I want to know what I'm doing with my life before mid-20's lol (like what path I am taking). ... Yeah not sure what people do in this case - whether it's getting masters' degree or becoming research assistant in a lab?

haha thank you for the encouragement. I applied to several programs (19) and I know most of them sent out invitations already. I'd be so happy to receive just one invitation

hahaha that's awesome congrats ? i'm a 4th yr undergrad & worked in a lab as a full-time RA at UCLA for 4 months and volunteered in the lab for ~5 months , got a great LOR from the PI, author in Cell Press and unfortunately did not receive an invitation from UCLA (my top choice of school) so far... i'm thinking that my GPA is my limiting factor. Even though I don't have as much research experience, I thought I made a lot of contributions and the output was there but perhaps not enough compared to other candidates. I basically only applied to the top Universities so I'm assuming I probably won't get an invitation from those places as well. I don't regret not applying to maybe R2 or R3 schools, because I knew I wouldn't want to go to those Universities anyways. But yeah, looking through this site, I guess some people did post bac or masters first with high GPA and good research experience yet did not get invitation to these R1 schools, so it's not guaranteed that I can get into a good R1 school by taking a gap year to get more research experience and it is a risky path because I am not the type of person to take multiple gap years and just hope I will get in that time around. With that said however, I love research, but I know not everything comes easy with just passion - the GPA needs to be there unfortunately. Not sure what my next step will be, assuming I won't get an invitation from the schools who do send a second batch of invitations.

is it essentially impossible to pass the screening process & get an interview at a top-tier University (like UCLA) with a 3.4 GPA? Even though research experience may be more important, I'm seeing a pattern with the people who are getting interviews and their GPAs are all ~3.7 to 3.9

does anyone know how the committee does the initial screening process? Like do they actually read through all the personal statements, LORs, etc or do they initially look at GPA and weed out the outliers first & then read the essays/LORs/etc?