glasscandie

Just my two cents. I've been planning to apply for a fall 2010 entry for the whole time I've been an undergraduate, and recently decided to wait and apply for fall 2011 instead for personal reasons, but anyway - all the preparation I did was for fall 2010. I started off by obviously narrowing my schools, then looking at researchers I was interested in working with (behavioral neuroscience/pharmacology is my focus), and reading all the papers I could. I started contacting researchers in early 2009 - most of them were happy to talk with me, and returned my e-mails promptly. At least 4 of the researchers I e-mailed invited me down to see their labs and to discuss my interests further. I just recently met with one about 2 weeks ago. I think it's critical not just to get your name out there, but to make sure this researcher is really someone you'd want to work with. One of them had behavioral work listed on the Web site and in published papers, but when I got to the meeting his lab had changed focus to more molecular studies which isn't really my area of interest. One researcher told me he'd love to have me in his lab, but I'm just taking comments like that with a grain of salt lol Bring a list of questions, make sure you've read their literature. I brought my CV with me (and had e-mailed it to them as well, in my initial contact e-mail) so they could see the research I'd been involved in, etc.

I agree that mostly everything I'm learning in tutoring can be found in one of the practice books. However, my time is constrained - 3 year old daughter, one almost full-time internship (plus a recently accepted summer internship, which'll make 2), plus f/t school - it's nice having tips and tricks laid out for me and specific answers to questions as I come across them for problems. I'd do it again.

I'm taking a Princeton Review tutoring course, and I'm finding it to be helpful for me. I need to get my quant. up, so basically my classes are tailored to the quant. section, and I'm just memorizing words. There are some helpful tips that a tutoring class gave me on the verbal section that I hadn't been able to find in a book (e.g. what to do if you don't know any of the words, of if you only know 1 of the words, etc.). I've also been going to freerice.com. It's kind of addictive, and it's for a good cause - and a lot of the words that show up on that site I've found in my GRE books.

Actually, that is a thought, for him to do an earlier or later shift. I'm not really sure how it works for his job - he's military working in federal right now, but will be civilian (probably) working in contracting for at least a year, and then hopefully civilian in federal after that. All I know is right now he's on a ridiculous 4am-1pm shift, which is just impossibly awful lol

Ah, that sucks. I'm not too familiar with this area, I've only lived here for a few years and mainly stay north of DC. I'm from NJ originally. Well, I hate to cross a great school off my list, so I guess I'll see how it works out after this round of applications. Thanks for the input

I'm looking at the Virginia Commonwealth University at their behavioral pharmacology program, and I'm really excited about it. More than 4 researchers there do the type of research I'm interested in, and I have extensive lab. experience doing the types of studies they do (discrimination, novel object, etc.). However, right now I live in Maryland, between DC and Baltimore. If I were to stay in the DC/MD/VA area for school, my husband would be getting a job in DC or at the NSA in Maryland. Conversely, if I ended up getting accepted elsewhere (Emory, for example) we'd be moving there. I was looking at Fredericksburg, VA to move to if I got accepted at VCU. It's about an hour away from VCU, and an hour and a 1/2 away from the DC/MD area my husband would work in. There's really no jobs for him in VA, except maybe the FBI, but his skill set is very specialized, which is why he'd end up staying in DC. Is it feasible to make that type of commute daily to grad. school? Any experience here?

So the meeting went really well She unfortunately confirmed what I already knew - there's no graduate program at the behavioral biology lab. there. She did suggest American, which is high on my list - I've met with the one researcher there who does what I want to do, and work with 3 of his students at my current internship. It's just a matter of getting accepted lol She did suggest a researcher at the School of Medicine, but he takes more of a molecular approach than a behavioral approach. On a happier note, I suggested using a fairly new behavioral economics logarithm to analyze the results of one study I'm involved in and she was very supportive of that. I was nervous about suggesting it, but I know it would work well, and she apparently thinks that too! I also recently (today lol) got asked to help pilot a (small) study in the rat lab. (I'm already involved there, this is sort of an extension of one of the projects we're doing); and was offered the chance to write and first-author a paper on a study I've been solely doing the observations for! So that's exciting. Nothing to do with my meeting though lol

Oh great, now I'm thinking the mid-700's would be less than stellar. lol I think the average GRE quant. score for most of the schools I'm applying to is around the mid-700's. U MD College Park is between 700-760, American U's BCAN program is about 700, too. I'm applying to behavioral neuropharmacology programs, so I assume the GRE quant. is going to be weighted more than the verbal, unfortunately; but I'm directly interning in the exact field at the moment, and we've never used any of the math that's on the GRE. What we do use from algebra is logs, but mostly it's statistical work which I'm fine with. Hm. I'm still undecided whether I should re-take the class or not. I don't want it to affect a funding decision.

Thanks for the quick response I'm estimating somewhere in the high 600's/low 700's for quant. unless something magical happens that throws me in the high 700's lol (based on my tutoring and the ETS practice scores I've gotten). I'm applying to behavioral neuropharmacology programs...so I'm assuming they'll look at quant. more than verbal (I got a 670 on verbal w/out studying, so I'm not worried there - my scores have always been lopsided in favor of verbal). I'm taking stats this semester (A so far, don't anticipate anything lower); and I'm taking a research methods class over the summer. I wasn't really planning on taking physics or calculus or anything, though. Would you take a higher level math, or would you re-take algebra? This C really annoys the heck out of me, it was the first semester I got lower than an A - there's just a giant drop in my scores for that one awful semester.

I ended up with a C in college algebra last semester (owch). It was basically a bad semester for me - I was juggling two internships, my daughter was sick (genetic disorder), I'm the editor for my school's psych. newsletter, and I just took too many classes. I didn't spend the time I should have on the course. However, I'm fairly confident I'll get a decent GRE quant. score (estimating by my GRE tutoring and my practice scores from ETS tests), and in my current semester (5 classes, including stats) I'm getting all A's. I'm debating re-taking it over the summer, because I know I can do better - I just didn't put the effort I should have in the class. But, I don't want to waste the $700 on the class if it won't really matter in the long run. I have research experience (2 internships, one at a leading research university), a publication, a great GPA (minus the stupid C), assume good GRE score, 2 senior theses (one under IRB review and one which will begin within the next few months), great recs, etc. I should mention I got a C in my astronomy class that semester, which is another example where I didn't put my efforts - in my defense, that teacher was teaching a 100 level class like it was a 400 level class. Anyway. If you were in my situation, would you re-take it? Or would you let the subsequent great grades coupled with a brief explanation (or no explanation) about the situation speak for itself? I need to make a decision, b/c I'm taking summer classes regardless, and it would be one of the classes I'd need to sign up for...

Wish me luck, I have a meeting on Tuesday with the head of the department that I was so intimidated by

Damn, I just paid a bunch of money for a tutor at Princeton Review. Well, I suppose I could supplement with Kaplan's stuff...I would be doing outside studying anyway. Shoot.

I would really love to go to Hopkins (wouldn't anyone? lol). I'm going to have to do some further research into the researchers in the psych. department. At first glance, most of them don't seem to be doing anything with neuropharmacology - mainly communication and aggression studies. The School of Medicine does have some, but they seem less focused on the behavioral. I suppose it couldn't hurt to e-mail and see if they would consider branching out in their lab. One of my supervisors there suggested talking to the head of the behavioral biology department, but she is SO intimidating to me - she knows everyone, she's like the queen of the BB center. lol. I've been in a few collaboration meetings with her, but that's about it. Thanks for your advice! I'm definitely going to look up Amherst. I wish I could find more than only 2 or 3 in the Maryland area, I'd really like to stick around here!

AU is definitely at the top of my list - I work with a lot of the AU researcher's students at Hopkins (doing an internship in their behavioral biology lab) and it's exactly what I want to do. I'll have to check out UMass, thanks! I was looking at UMass Boston and Boston U, but ultimately cut them from my list b/c it wasn't exactly where my research interests were headed. I'm disappointed - there was a researcher at Hopkins who does exactly what I want to do, but his research has turned more towards people than in a drug lab which was disappointing. The most frustrating thing is the behavioral biology lab. at Hopkins doesn't have a graduate program out of it - it's loosely connected with the School of Medicine, and there is a PhD program in behavioral neuroscience at the SOM, but none of the researchers work out of the lab. I'm interning at. I'm trying to find a researcher who would be willing to do a joint project, I've already been told at the lab. that they'd be willing to work with me in grad. school by two different researchers - just have to find the right avenue! I know AU would be one of those avenues. I know at least one of the grad. students at AU tried to the same thing I'm trying (researcher at SOM + working at behavioral biology) but it didn't work out.

A little bit, yes, and all of the labs I'm interested in are drug labs - my interests are mainly in behavioral studies, such as discrimination or taste aversion, though. For example, the main drug I've been researching, and would probably want to continue research for graduate school, is MDMA (e.g. is it reinforcing?) but a lot of it is also looking at seroternergic neurotoxicity and 5-HT. What schools would you suggest?

Not this year, but I will be for 2010, for behavioral neuropharmacology. Could I ask where you're applying? I'm trying to put together my final list, and I feel like I might not have researched all the schools I possibly should have. Some of the programs that I'm interested in are at American U., U Pittsburgh, UNC Chapel Hill, Emory, UCLA, Oregon Health+Science...there's a few others, 12 altogether. Good luck to you!

I really hope someone replies to this, b/c I'm starting to get anxious. Where can I find a ranking for behavioral neuroscience (usually in the psych. department) programs? I'm sort of just flying by the seat of my pants here looking at schools - mainly by faculty matches. Location isn't really an issue, though I'd rather stay on the east coast. I have good grades, guessing I'll get good GREs, 2 great internships, great LOR...I've been in touch with a few researchers, and that seems positive. Here's my list. Anyone want to comment on the difficulty in getting in? And more importantly, where I can find a list of tiers for schools? lol 1. University of Wisconsin-Madison 2. University of Maryland-College Park, NACS Program 3. American University 4. Washington University in St. Louis 5. Howard University 6. Johns Hopkins University 7. University of California, Davis 8. George Mason University 9. Emory University 10. University of California, Los Angeles 11. Oregon Health and Science University 12. University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Thanks for the quick reply! That's a relief to know that I'm on the right track. I'm getting great research experience at my internship, I'm at Hopkins, but it's purely in the psycho-neuro pharmacology field - not neuroimmunology. I have been speaking with a researching in the neuroimmunology field who seems interested, and I was afraid of sounding like I was flip-flopping when I was asked if I was married to the idea of drug research. My main specification is that I want to work with animals, particularly primates - I have experience with baboons and rats. I'll have to look at UCSD a little closer, and see if they have any research interests that match mine, thanks!

I suppose for those who have gone through the process of graduate applications, but other opinions are welcome as well. I'm undecided if my interest range is too large, and I was hoping to get opinions. I'm interested in neuropsychopharmacology, as well as neuroimmunology. I know 100% I'm interested in studying the CNS, and it fascinates me the changes of behavior the different agents introduced into (or depleted from) the brain can have. Is this too broad of an interest for grad. school? Forget credentials for right now, I have a great GPA, great internships, great references, senior thesis, etc. It's really about school matching and interest areas for me at this point in time - I'm applying for a fall 2010 entry. I know specifically I'm interested in MDMA, but I wouldn't really be able to pinpoint an example for neuroimmunology because I haven't had research experience in that specific area. Any opinions?

I got a tentative invite from a faculty member at UMD to do an (unpaid) summer internship (have to re-contact him in a few months to make sure the spot is still available). Currently, I am interning at Hopkins working with 2 researchers and on 3 different studies; in addition, I am doing my senior thesis there. I was recommended to apply for a fellowship, which would fund me over the summer to continue there, and I literally just started getting paid for my hours. I guess I'm just that awesome :mrgreen: Anyway. So I don't really want to leave Hopkins, I feel like I'm getting a really in-depth look at researching in the field of neuroscience - I'm part of planning meetings, meeting with collaborators, analyzing data, brainstorming when issues come up with projects, etc. Not to mention - possible funding. My main supervisor there has been incredibly helpful, she's always pushing me to think outside the box, letting me bounce ideas off of her, giving me the chance to take on some aspects of her projects, etc. However, at this point in time, I only have two PhD letters of rec - my two supervisors from Hopkins. The other letter I have secured is from a clinical/research internship I did at a psychiatric rehab. facility, where I did some research and some clinical stuff - but she's an LCPC, and it doesn't have much to do with neuroscience. The letter would be great, she wrote me one when I applied to Hopkins for my internship and it was outstanding. Is it better to do the summer internship, so I would possibly be able to have 3 letters of rec's from PhDs and a wider range of research experience? I suppose I could ask one of the collaborators on the projects I'm involved in for a letter, right? Or is that not something you do? I'm not very close with any of the faculty members at my school, though I do know 1 who'd be willing to write me a letter, but it'd probably be very general.

That I have also done. I didn't say it was the only way I researched schools.

I need to add, this is really flipping hard, cutting down schools! My research interests are pretty specific (social communication/cognition in animal subjects via the nervous system - which is generally neuroethology; and I'm additionally interested in how environmental factors i.e. iron or antioxidants would weigh in). The most basic way I've been doing a search for schools is googling different key words with "edu" in them. Haven't had too much success elsewhere.

I'm not counting on anything!

I actually didn't choose the schools based on safe vs. reach. I originally had a list of about 25 schools, and did a whole bunch of research on them, talked to some professors, etc. Then I cut the list down based on what I thought my chances were of getting in. For example, U of Maryland Baltimore County asks for a 3.0 GPA and their GRE scores are about average (high 500 area for V and Q); as opposed to say, Johns Hopkins where the average GPA is 3.7+ and GRE's are around 700's. All the schools that are on my list are schools I'd want to go to. I know it's really a crap shoot, I could get rejected from my safety school and accepted at one of my reaches. I always hear about people applying to only Ivy League or something and getting rejected from all. I personally think I have a strong application - 2 internships at Johns Hopkins, 1 internship doing clinical/research, 2 independent theses which will be finished this year, 3.7 GPA, good LOR, and a publication. I've been talking to researchers at the schools I'm looking at and have had some great feedback. All the schools on my list I'd be happy to go to, but some are more competitive programs than others - which is what I mean by reach vs. safety. I didn't think that this was an unheard thing to do, am I wrong?

So in looking for a summer research position, I contacted a professor who said that he would probably be able to give me an unpaid position in his lab as a research assistant, and to e-mail him in March. Great. Now, I'm beginning to contact professors that I'm interested in working with for graduate school, and the researcher who offered me the position is on my list for that school. Should I contact him, as I am contacting other researchers, or should I wait until over the summer when I'm (hopefully) working in his lab?