momentumflux

Undergrad Institution (approx. rank/reputation in STEM): Very meh/regional state college. Major(s): Chemical Engineering Minor(s): Computer Science, Visual Arts GPA in Major: 3.49/4.00 Overall GPA: 3.19/4.00 Demographics/Background: white female GRE Scores: Q: 157 V: 165 W: 5.5 These are from practice tests. I was only correctly diagnosed with ADHD this past spring and am currently exploring a dyslexia diagnosis, and working to get 1.5x time accommodations set up for the GRE. The current quant score is with me taking practice exams at the normal pace; I genuinely feel as though I can't even read all of the quant questions in the normal allotted time. The discrepancy between scores also obviously shows a neurological processing disorder of sorts. Very fun! I'm likely dyslexic. LOR: 1 from chemE prof, 1 from pharmacology prof, 1 from internship boss at major biopharma/consumer goods company Research Experience: 7 months in a polymer engineering lab Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: none Awards/Honors/Recognitions: dean's list scholarship for entirety of undergrad Fellowships/Funding: n/a Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 6 months on co-op at a polymer manufacturing plant 3 months as an analyst for a startup, writing huge literature reviews 3 months in a summer internship at major biopharma/consumer goods manufacturer student leadership position in this role Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: I'm completing my BS in essentially ~3.0 years, schedule has been a nightmare but that is a huge accomplishment. I got a perfect 4.0 my junior spring, in 18 credits of all 300 and 400 level science/engineering courses. General strong upward trend in grades throughout undergrad, it reflects a lot in my major GPA! Anything else in your application that might matter (faculty connections, etc.): I did start off undergrad as an art major actually, so factored into my cumulative GPA is a lot of mediocre grades in the visual arts. It's actually quite funny. Throughout undergrad I dealt with a host of horrendous life circumstances (sexual assault, financial issues with my family, severe mental illness of family members, housing instability due to a specific minority status, getting diagnosed with ADHD very late in life, and long-term health issues that cumulated in a semester of full medical withdrawals). I will mention this in my applications. Honestly though, I am incredibly strong and resilient from all that I have endured. If I can heal, survive, and excel in the face of adversity, then I am a fantastic candidate to tackle something as hard and as large as a PhD. It is all the adversity that I have faced that has kept me going and has made me so passionate. In a lot of ways, I have also been extremely lucky and blessed in my life. If I do have the opportunity to pursue grad school, then it is my obligation create technology that has a tangible humanitarian impact. Statistically I should never have made it even to this point in any education. I am incredibly grateful. Anyways though, the #sobstory is being put in as a way to explain an erratic and crazy transcript, and honestly argue as to why it makes my application even stronger. Research Interests: Formulation science (consumer health goods, pharma), emulsions, fluid mechanics, pharmacology, genomics! Anywhere where I can use AI/cs/data analytics to make my life easier, and where the ability to visualize data comes in handy. Art school was very useful for data visualization. Again, the end societal impact of what I'm doing deeply matters to me. I got into a cool rabbit hole lately about deep learning and pharma which would be extremely fun. NOT POLYMERS! Institutions/Programs: Stanford UC Berkeley/UCSF UC San Diego UMD College Park Johns Hopkins University of Virginia my own university Comments: Please suggest some other schools! I'm worried that I may be aiming a little too high- I've had such a strange path through undergrad that it's hard to compare myself against other applicants. I know to some schools, my unique story will be advantageous, but to others it won't do much and I'll be judged solely by my grades. For my own mental sanity I am avoiding the south as much as possible.