Nightrestr

It seems like a lot of people on here just searched "US News and Report top Neuroscience PhDs" and applied to the first ten schools they saw ? very few people get into these programs, I would suggest applying to some lesser known schools that still have great research programs as well!

Hey NutsaN!
Congrats on the PennState interview! I don't think you should worry about school rankings if there are your POIs there...
I'm also from a post-soviet country (but the biggest one), and it is my second application cycle. 
So, as I have been applying for almost two years, this is what I realized: 
being an international student, you shouldn't expect much from the very top schools (like Ivies and UC's)... Most of them have limited funding for internationals and can accept only a few, if not one, of them (I mean for a particular program). And, of course, they prefer international students having research experience in the US to those who have their research experience only outside the US. Especially if it's not a renowned university/institute... So if you really want to get into one of the top grad schools, I would suggest you find a RA position in the US to get some experience there. 
Also, have you applied only to 4 programs in the US?

I'm gonna rant here if it's not a problem as I saw international applicant getting rejected.
I myself am an international undergrad applicant from a small post-soviet country and small, new (but the best) college from my country. My major GPA is 3.96 (Biology), my minor GPA (in chemistry) is 4.0, I have three different research experience - two of them at my university labs and one of them at the most prominent research center in my country. Before applying I've contacted every school I was interested in to see what the international applicant situation was, explained my situation (new college, my country's scientific situation not being great because we have trouble recovering from post soviet environment and stuff) and all of them seemed very excited about me applying and all of them said that they don't discriminate between international and local applicants. My LoRs were pretty strong (2 from the lab heads where I worked, one from the head of my faculty). My SoPs were looked at and corrected by current Ivy neuro students. Also I've published conference speech in a national scientific journal.
However, I've already received rejection from WashU and UCSF and something is telling my that NYU is not gonna accept me either. I've got interview from PennState, but I doubt whether the neuro program there is a strong one. I've also applied for 2 masters degree scholarships in Europe and waiting for their results. It's just kinda sad, how every university during the graduate fairs and stuff like that goes on and on about how they want to diversify their environment and give everyone a chance and in reality good schools accept grads from other good schools and it's a closed circle. Like how am I gonna get a LoR from a Nobel laureate if my country never had a nobel laureate or from a top field scientist if in my country the field is represented by only like 5 scientists?
Sorry for the long comment, my romantic Hollywood movie-watching self really thought she had a chance at the grown ups table.