NegativeCation

I suppose I will stop lurking...
Undergrad Institution: Ivy
Major: Biochemistry and Statistics
Minor: NA
GPA in Major: NA
Overall GPA: 3.9
Type of Student: International, Asian

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 161
W: 5.0

Research Experience:  (All during undergrad)
2.5 years in a molecular biology lab 1 semester in biostatistics 1 summer + 1 semester in pharmacology ~9 months in organic chemistry Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 
1 co-first author paper, another 2 papers in preparation (one 2nd author and one 3rd author, not from the same lab) 4 conference poster presentation Some awards in high school but don't think it matters Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
Currently working as a software engineer in big tech (less than a year) one internship experience in big pharma, one internship in big tech, another internship in biotech startup Teaching assistant for a few classes Residential counsellor Leadership in some clubs in undergrad, some volunteer experience Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
NA

Special Bonus Points: 
1 very strong rec from molecular biology PI 1 strong rec from pharmacology PI 1 decent rec from biostatistics PI (I only met him twice during my time in his lab, but we are submitting a paper together so hopefully it isn't too bad, I don't know) 1 strong rec from professor whom I worked with for extracurriculars, can speak on leadership Applying to Where:
Harvard BBS (interview 12/18) Harvard Systems Biology (interview 12/18) MIT Biological Engineering HST MEMP Caltech Bioengineering (interview 12/18) Stanford Bioengineering UC Berkeley - UCSF Bioengineering I'm interested in synthetic biology, don't really have any experience in this area though.  
My PI (who's on the admissions committee for many years) said that international students are harder, but not significantly if you studied in the US. There's less funding for internationals but most schools do reserve some funding for internationals. He says that the LOR is the most important part, and they don't really pay very much attention to the personal statement (it's more for sanity check that you're a nice person and know what you're getting in for) so I shouldn't stress about it . 
Regarding funding for specific programs for international applicants, different biology departments seem to have varying amount of funding for internationals. Sometimes the biomedical program can only fund 1 international student every year, but another sister program (like bioengineering) can fund many internationals, even as you can probably work for the same PIs in the end. I emailed a few schools to check on their funding for international applicants before I applied.