justanotherbutterfly

This is a great point! Thankfully non of my POIs are experts within this field, and the population we studied was non-clinical. In my opinion there is slim chance of any of my POIs being reviewers. This particular sample is just the closest to completion and displays my writing well, which is why I was opting to submit it as a sample.

That's a very fair point thank you!

This is super helpful thank you! Do you mind if I ask a follow up? Since you removed the figures did you also remove the in text citations referring to the figures? Sorry if that's a dumb question!

Anyone applying to a program that asks for a writing sample? Would it be okay to submit a draft of a manuscript even though it's missing some figures?

My programs are all optional/not required however most of them specify on their website whether or not you can just upload the unofficial report. Surprisingly a lot of my optional schools say that if you do send your scores it has to be the official reports. Also sometimes the application itself is where you can find these details if their website doesn't have it!

It seems like a lot of it comes down to PI preference (which is not helpful...). My programs have either said "don't send" or "optional" but I they haven't specified the strongly recommend (I only found out because the PI decided to give me a heads up). I wish they would just be clear and state what they want instead of try to mislead people.

Hi everyone! I decided a while ago that I wouldn't submit my GRE scores since all of my programs went optional and I my math score wasn't the most impressive (I talked with two of my PIs that I work under and they agreed it would be best to not send them), and it would allow me to save some money which is much needed in this pandemic. But recently a PI I have been in contact with reached out to me and said that that they "highly recommend taking the GRE/ submitting scores" if I have them. My math score was just slightly below the average for this school (and since this PI seemed very adamant that they wanted the scores) so I went ahead and sent them, but now I'm rethinking what "optional" means and whether or not I should send my scores to all my schools now? Any thoughts?

To second what was already said, I spoke to my PI and advisor about this and they both said that unless your score is at or significantly above the school's average then don't send it. Clinical programs (as you know) are very competitive and receive a large number of applications, so they will try to look for any reason not at accept you and if your GRE is the weakest part of your application than it could be the breaking factor. This is just the advice I was given though!

I currently have a list of 10 programs that I applying to that I've received confirmation from PIs that they will be accepting. I see that you've applied to 8 before, and I wanted to see if you feel like 10 isn't enough? I've tried to not be too stingy with where I want to apply but also still keep it within my interests with COVID a lot of the schools I originally had on my list are unable to accept students this run. Did you regret only applying to 8 schools last cycle? Should I aim for more? If you don't feel comfortable answering this question I completely understand, thanks in advance!

@La Cosmopolitan thanks for your comments! I know the purpose of the grad coordinator is to help in these situations but this whole process has really made me so self conscious that I’m even over thinking reaching out to the grad coordinator (which I definitely will now- thanks!)

Hi everyone! This is the first time I've every used grad cafe so I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong location. One of my LoR writers asked if I could send her links to all my applications ASAP, as she is just wants to make sure she has all of them set and ready to go. For one of the programs I am applying to their application has no place to upload transcripts, personal statements, or even request letter writers despite instructions on their website saying all of this can be done through the application. Is it possible that once I submit application I will receive a link to another portal? I double and triple checked to make sure there isn't a link to a supplementary website to upload my materials and I can't find any information besides a link to the application I filled out already. I wondering if I should reach out to the grad admissions coordinator? I don't want to ask any stupid questions but I also don't want to prematurely send in application that literally has none of the required materials attached. Any thoughts?