Henry13579
-
Posts
12 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Henry13579
-
-
Hi! I am an international with no green card applying to bioinfo this around.
Unfortunately, it is extremely hard for international to get a PhD in bioinformatics in the States, since lost of bioinformatics programs receive training grants not available for internationals without permanent residence.
The first thing that I would say is try not apply to the bioinformatics programs that receive NIH/NLM training grants:
https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/instpredoc/pages/PredocInst-Bioinformatics.aspx
U Arizona, UCSD, UCSF, Georgia Tech, JHU, BU, MIT, Duke, UNC, Brown
Harvard BIG usually does not take many internationals as well.
Penn GCB, Stanford Biomedical informatics are difficult for internationals as well.
Many Chinese people get in Yale computational biology and bioinformatics by getting China Scholarship Council - Yale World Scholars Program, but you have to be nominated by these 9 Chinese top universities.Sometimes these schools have 1-2 positions supported by private foundations, and you can try the chances of winning lottery.
See. The top 20 are almost there.
My suggestions would be: try to establish connections within WashU and you might get a better shot there.
Search for more programs that accept internationals and good luck. -
Does anyone know when CMU-Pitt would be sending out final decisions? It seems like most people got either interviews, admissions without interviews or rejections around this time for the past few years. I understand that some get interviews this year. Has anyone received either rejection or admission decisions? Thanks.
-
2 hours ago, please_admit_me said:
-
Hey. I got waitlisted after interview by Mount Sinai Immunology MTA last round but did not get admissions eventually.
I have no US citizenship/no green card, and I am an Asian male with no US/European degrees.
I am now working as a postdoc at another US top school.I would say it depends on what your interest is, but to me Mt Sinai Immunology is undoubtedly one top PhD Immunology program for people interested in Immunology, and especially human immunology and translational applications of immunology.
The faculties were very friendly. Most PhD students expressed positive experiences about their studies, and they said their mentors really cared about students' personal development . The outcomes of their Immunology graduates are quite diverse: industries, academia, or even having a startup with their PhD advisors. The best things about research at Mt Sinai Immunology are: clinical sample access, flexibility, and supportive members. The graduates also get their own credits: most graduate with around 2 first-authored in nice journals (eg, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Nature Communications, PNAS, JI).
Now the field of immunology is simply crazy and extremely competitive because of cancer immunotherapy and COVID, so it is tougher and tougher to get in a top Immunology PhD program in the US.
One thing that I really like Mt Sinai Immunology is that they value diversity a lot: faculties and students from diverse cultural backgrounds and from all over the world (US, European, African, Asian countries.)
Invitations are usually sent during the first 2 weeks in January. Good luck.
-
5 minutes ago, Sky_china said:
nah I feel its too late. With a rejection from sinai, I am holding a record of 1/8 itnerview to offer. I just seriously want to know if anyting in the interview I was so wrong
Hey. I only got two interviews this year, and got rejected from another already. I am only waiting for this now.
Chill out man.
If they have their decisions, they'll let us know.
-
10 minutes ago, justwanttogosomewhere said:
I hope everything is going great for everyone. I currently work at Weill Cornell and this application season was good for me. I am just putting out here what my current PI told me this past week.
Weill Cornell has collaborated with Houston Methodist and this year they are starting a joint PhD program. Essentially you will be working under a PI at Houston Methodist but will receive graduate degree from Weill Cornell. Application deadline for Fall 2021 is March 15th if I am not wrong. Here is the link with detail info: https://www.houstonmethodist.org/weill-cornell-phd-program/
Hope this helps. Cheers!!
For US undergrads only?
Feeling sad as an international applicant
-
Hi
Has any international applicant heard back (even rejections are nice) from these programs: UPenn Bioengineering, Yale Immunobiology, Columbia CMBS and Harvard BBS?
Thank you.
-
21 hours ago, EmmaMoon said:
Hello
I am looking for master programs in molecular biology or biomedical science for the Fall 2021 semester. Do you have any suggestions?
I have applied to Ph.D program in this cycle as well, but got rejected mostly. So, I thought I should look for master programs.
I am an international student, currently studying biology in liberal art college in the US.
Thanks in advance and good luck to anyone applying in this cycle.
Hi,
I understand that this might be too realistic, but I think this somehow reflects part of the truth.
After GRExit, it is extremely difficult for international students to get admission to US BioMed PhD programs, especially during this pandemic.
Lots of domestic students are now doing research assistants at top schools (Ivy, UC), getting co-authorships in top tier journals, and getting strong letters from professors from these schools.
Maybe you would say, 'hey! Domestic students and international students belong to different pools, sooooo I guess that would not affect my application as an international student.'
Well, this might somehow be true 2 or 3 year ago. BUT this is totally not the case now.
This year even Biomed programs of Ivy schools are recruiting a higher proportion of domestic students than ever.
It is extremely painful for international students to apply to Biomed PhD programs this year.
I've known many international students with US Bachelor degrees, no green cards and no publications having difficulty getting interviews for PhD programs this year.
So, my suggestion would be:
1. if you do have permanent residence, it is better to find a research technician position at a top school rather than getting a Master. Why is that? because it would be an disadvantage if one does have a master degree but has no publications or strong letters from renowned professors.
2. if you do not have green card or US citizenship, then getting a master degree at top schools might somehow help. Try one's best to establish connections and getting pubs.
3. This is increasingly important. Think of what you can do to contribute to diversity and take actions, and let your accomplishments be part of your CV.
I have never thought of this excruciating feeling of applying to US Biomed PhD programs this year as an international student this year, but it really hurts.
- EmmaMoon and L-Dopamean
-
1
-
1
-
So weird. Why don't these schools send out rejections to international students like us as they used to do in early Jan before? We have to keep telling ourselves "no news means good news," though we totally understand that there are high chances of getting rejections. That is such a torture.
-
Hi. I am applying to 5 schools: Harvard BBS, Stanford Immunology, Yale Immunobiology, Columbia CMBS, Penn Bioengineering, and haven't heard from these schools.
Background: Foreign MD, GPA 4.0, two first-authored publications, several research awards and grants from my home country and the UK, Strong LOR from my home country and the UK.
Have any international applicants heard from these programs except Staysane? Things are so weird this year....
-
2 hours ago, Staysane said:
Just received an interview invitation from Stanford Immunology. Super EXCITED!!!
Hi Staysane. I am also applying to Stanford Immunology-CSI track. May I ask whether you are applying to the general program or any specific track? Do they send out interview invitations in one batch? Thank you.
2023 Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD Admissions
in Applications
Posted · Edited by Henry13579
Hi! I am a PhD student in bioinformatics in one of the top 20 schools in the States.
I am an Asian male with a biomedical background, no permanent residence, not LGBT, with no governmental funding from my home country.
I applied only to the top half of Ivy (including on-par schools like Stanford and UCSF) for the first round and failed, and got an offer from an okay school in my second round.
Short answers to your question:
1. Yes, nearly all of them are hard for internationals.
2. Yes for the first one; no for the second question.
Some of your disadvantages of your CV include:
1. Not in the domestic pool:
Unfortunately, it is extremely hard for internationals to get a PhD in bioinformatics in the States, since most of bioinformatics programs receive training grants not available for internationals without permanent residence.
The first thing that I would say is try not apply to the bioinformatics programs that receive NIH/NLM training grants:
https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/instpredoc/pages/PredocInst-Bioinformatics.aspx
U Arizona, UCSD, UCSF, Georgia Tech, JHU, BU, MIT, Duke, UNC, Brown
Harvard BIG usually does not take many internationals as well.
Penn GCB, Stanford Biomedical informatics are difficult for internationals as well.
Many Chinese people get in Yale computational biology and bioinformatics by getting China Scholarship Council - Yale World Scholars Program, but you have to be nominated by these 9 Chinese top universities.
Sometimes these schools have 1-2 positions supported by private foundations, and you can try the chances of winning lottery.
See. The top 20 are almost there.
2. Not coming from a quantitative background
Bioinformatics is a field reigned by computational people, and they prefer people from engineering/math/physics/CS backgrounds.
Taking a bioinfo master means that one can either do simple bioinfo analysis, or create a simple package; for Bioinformatics professors, however, this credential is far below an applied math/statistics/physics degree with a perfect GPA with no project experiences, unless you have something like lead authorships in Nature Genetics/Nature Biotechnology/Nature Biomedical Engineering.
3. Wet bench experiences are good for personal training and for your career, but to Bioinfo professors these could be distractions.
It's okay to talk about how you become interested in bioinformatics because of bench work, but try not to talk like a bench expert who wants to master both.
Last but not least, Asians are usually not considered as minorities in academia in the States, but it is okay to talk about women in STEM.
I would also recommend you to try Oxbridge and other European top schools, which tend to care more about the potentials of people.
Try to apply for more schools, get great recommendation letters, and establish connections with professors (also try direct admission offer). Good luck.