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Henry13579

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  1. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from Alycia in 2023 Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD Admissions   
    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.
  2. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from MavisLiang in 2023 Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD Admissions   
    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.
  3. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from Cheese_Black_Grape_Tea in 2022 Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD Admissions   
    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.
     
     
  4. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from justfiguringitout in 2022 Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD Admissions   
    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. 
  5. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from Bioenglover in MSSM Biomedical Sciences PhD program   
    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.
  6. Like
    Henry13579 reacted to pompompurin in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    Hello, I am an international student. Recent graduate from an international institution. I got an interview invitation from Columbia CMBS Umbrella Track on Dec 18th and I interviewed end of January. We are supposed to hear back soon about final decisions. I did apply to Penn BioE and I am pretty sure I have been rejected since I did not hear back and some friends of mine from the US have already interviewed and gotten offers. Hope this helps! Good luck!
  7. Like
    Henry13579 reacted to amaward1 in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    Hello. I applied to Columbia Systems Biology which is part of CMBS. Got a rejection. I emailed the program coordinator and got a reply saying unfortunately I'm not chosen. Have yet to receive the official rejection from the school itself.
  8. Upvote
    Henry13579 got a reaction from EmmaMoon in Master programs in Molecular biology/ biomedical science suggestions?   
    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.
  9. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from L-Dopamean in Master programs in Molecular biology/ biomedical science suggestions?   
    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.
  10. Upvote
    Henry13579 got a reaction from foreverontheQ in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    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. 
     
  11. Upvote
    Henry13579 got a reaction from PCR_Nami in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    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. 
     
  12. Upvote
    Henry13579 got a reaction from jakeperalta in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    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. 
     
  13. Like
    Henry13579 reacted to Overextracted in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    Thank you! Good luck on your interview!
    I applied to the general program. According to what they told me in the email, they are sending invites until the end of January. "Please understand that "no news does not mean bad news", as our Admissions process will not conclude until later this month.  So, please keep this in mind when sharing your good news with others."- excerpt from my email.
    I am from Thailand.
    Thank you! 
  14. Like
    Henry13579 got a reaction from Overextracted in 2021 International Biomedical Applicants   
    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.
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