lab ratta-tat-tat

@ original poster- I posted this on another thread but an undergrad degree in psychology does not hurt your chances in neuroscience graduate programs. In my department/program, many neuroscience students were originally psychology students, zoology students (interested in animal behavior and molecular biology of those underlying behaviors). Some of the students only had 1 or 2 biology classes, and it did not hurt their chances of getting into the program and did not hurt them in terms of succeeding in the program. Any deficiencies in hard sciences can be remedied the first year in the core courses and the labs you rotate in and eventually join are all up to you- if you want a lab with more molecular biology, or less that is up to you. To be honest- I saw many students come into our program with a psychology degree, insist they wanted to do mostly cognitive psych research, and eventually ended up in a molecular biology lab and excelled in those labs. Good luck!

Congrats for getting to the interview stage! Don't talk to the students about your low GPA or GRE or else when the faculty members ask the students what they thought, if they had no interaction besides talking to you about low GPA GRE, then thats all the info they will be able to pass forward. Play up your strengths and just be genuinely enthusiastic about research. If you ever get in a position where you don't really understand someones field, ask them about their project, the limitations, what techniques they most enjoyed learning, etc. Have fun AND DO NOT GET DRUNK! I cannot tell you how awful and how many interviewees come through and get wasted, sleep with each other, with a student in the program.. ugh.... gross. I am not joking. Keep us updated

Sop are very restrictive in word limit as is. I was told by adcom members to not waste that word space highlighting your flaws. Highlight all the positive attributes instead.

My day today consisted of an important experiment- Hypothesis: Investigating the inverse relationship between optimal tasting dipping sauce for tater tots and least soggy-ness Prep time: 5 minutes- experimental design 5 minutes- deciding which sauces to try 25 minutes for the damn tater tots to cook 15 minutes to eat all tater tots with different sauces 20 minutes to write this post Experimental design: Sriacha Chili garlic sauce Jack daniels BBQ sauce Results: Sriacha, sweetest of the 3, made tater tots most soggy over all taste ranking 2/3 Chili garlic sauce, best flavor, least sogginess, over all taste ranking 1/3 BBQ sauce, its just damn BBQ sauce...sigh.... smoky flavoring though. overall taste ranking 3/3 OK thats how I deal with anxiety after submitting my applications.

About UW- I actually inquired about their program this time last year. They told me they get about 900 applications every year, and they are lucky if they can even get through half of them. They were pretty curt with me, telling me they know of students who have published in Neuron and been rejected from their program. The additional response I got was "Seattle is a desirable place to live, attracting many people form all over the world, therefore we have to be incredibly selective and can't possibly get through all the applications". My Spouse and I considered moving there for postdoctoral opportunities and the students I met hated the program and were very unhappy with their projects/mentorship. They LOVED the area but hated going to work. We knew faculty members who had gone there for postdoctoral opportunities and felt the same. BTW- not sure if you know this but University of Wisconsin poached a lot of UW's faculty, 4 of them have moved there in the past 4 years and they just keep poaching. So you can always apply to UW. PM me about your Utah interviews, I was there for 5 -6years and my spouse graduated from that program. Good luck!

7 schools is a lot of work, so you can titrate your gift based on how well you know your recommender personally I sent all my recommenders alcohol, except one whose state does not allow me to mail them alcohol, I bought him a starbucks gift card (since he was obsessed with coffee) and before I moved from that state to a new state across the country, I gave him a bottle of scotch for his years of mentorship. I had worked with my recommenders for four years so I knew them pretty well and knew this would not be offensive. No matter what you send, make sure you include a hand written thank you note! Good luck this application season! May the odds be in your favor!

Make sure you convey to the adcom that you won't be able to attend due to schedule conflict but you are still interested. You can ask if there are other weekends available, or a phone/skype interview. Good luck!!

I could spend hours analyzing that and come up with several different outcomes each time. The waiting makes us all crazy!

First of all, I am sorry you are going through this. I had a close friend go through this recently and he told his advisor (who is also the director of the program) about his divorce because he was married to another student in the program and they worked on the same floor, and he wanted to be upfront about the issue. If your divorcing someone who happens to be in your program I would let your advisor know. Also, when my friend went through this, his advisor was super supportive and another student in the same lab (Female) was also going through a divorce (not to someone married in the program) and the advisor (male) knew about that as well and asked each of them what type of mentorship they thought they might need during this stressful time. They both said they would need their PI to be more hands on an continue to push them (as they were both 6th year grad students) and he did help them out with no judgement. bottom line- it depends on your specific situation. it depends on your relationship with your mentor. Good luck and focus on your goals!

During the application and waiting process, many of us are guilty of overanalyzing emails, linked in requests from professors of the schools we've applied to, and or positive interactions with persons/faculty of interest. How many of you over analyzed sentences within emails to person of interest, or when inquiring if all your application materials were received? Like this little gem- "We'll be in touch again soon" Fire away tell us what you've overanalyzed this application season!

To the original Poster, You can gain research experience and a paycheck by working in a lab, while paying off student loan debt. This looks awesome for your CV, make sure you express to the PI//mentor when you interview that you want to manage your own project, and your career goal is to attend graduate school. THIS MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!!!!! The PI will be impressed by your motivation and will treat you more like a graduate student and less like a technician. You will be more likely to be given independence and possibly get on publications/abstracts.

Two letters is becoming the norm. for people who are not attending graduate school right after undergraduate. If you have work experience in between the time you finish undergrad and graduate school that will it self provide an explanation for 2 letters instead of three. Its better to have 2 strong letters of support vs. 3 wavering letters. I worked in a lab for 5 years and was only able to get 2 letters but the first letter was so strong, it addressed all the main points adcoms want to see in order to help them make a good decision. It's all about QUALITY not QUANTITY.

My Pi/mentor did not hold the GRE in high regard, actually when people rotated in our lab they were students who had the most research experience and not a great GRE score. Those same people also ended up publishing in top journals. He believed the people who did not do as well were more creative with problem solving since the GRE requires you to know all these cute quick tricks to answer questions correctly and quickly, rather than taking the time to examine how many different ways there are to solve a problem. I agree with your comment, I would not want a PI who views the GRE highly over actual research experience. fingers crossed this application season!

No problem- my boss/mentor actually emailed it to me when I told him I was taking some time off work to study for the GRE. Hopefully the stuff that really matters, that pertains to your intended field of study, is the stuff they really do look at and weigh more heavily

I am in the same situation. Verbal 150 Q 141 and AW 4.5 I studied for three months, at least 4 hours a day and that is no exaggeration. I have 3 publications and 5 yrs research experience managing my own project, hoping that will makeup for the abysmal score. I still think you should apply. I posted this in another thread, but my mentor sits on a neuroscience adcom and said at schools that get less than 100 applications, every application is looked at. A score of 150 in each/either category goes into a consideration pile, 155 and above goes to possible interview pile. Anything lower than 150 goes into "lets take a further look" pile, meaning, they want to see what other accomplishments you have that can help them overlook a bad GRE score. Also "nature" just published an article about what the GRE really tests http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7504-303a take a look at that. Good luck! keep us updated!

To original poster Requirements of working in a lab are that you have large blocks of time 3-4 hours several times a week. No one wants to invest time in mentoring a person who will be there an hour a day for 1 semester. It wastes your time and the mentors time and ends up making them angry so they will be unlikely to write a good letter of rec. Show enthusiasm for the subject, Inquire about reading materials such as a review on the subject matter, or a publication within your field on a particular subject. If you are genuinely engaged, willing to learn, willing to take initiative and ownership of a project, then you would be an excellent fit to a lab. Just don't show up and act like someone should hand you a protocol betty crocker recipe to do everyday and you will be fine. Good luck!

I actually think your GRE scores are fine. My boss sits on a neuroscience admission committee and informed me anything over 150 in each category is automatically looked at. Anything above 155 and they go in the potential interview pile, then they dissect the SOP and application from there, looking at research experience. I had 3 publications in top journals and over 5 years research experience in molecular biology labs managing my own project, but I didn't meet the GRE score and was not even looked at by top universities. They informed me "my application hadn't even been considered" Ouch. Even though they say its about the research, it is not exactly- not to large schools who have to meet ranking standards. Also your research experience and interests are all over the place (not that it is a bad thing, just stating the obvious). Mention how your past experiences shaped your current interests ______ e.g. Cognition, Neurodegeneration, etc. The programs are investing thousands of dollars in interviews and potentially thousands if you are admitted. They want to know their investment has some sort of direction. It's irritating when a student comes in who is interested in everything! It makes the mentor roll their eyes as well as everyone in the lab that student is rotating in. Good luck and keep us updated where you end up applying and end up getting in.

To the original poster- I worked at a large university in the Molecular biology/neuroscience dept. for the past 5 years that had an interdisciplinary neuroscience phd program. It had molecular biology, physiology, pharmacology, and neuroimaging, embedded into the same program. A lot of the students were originally psych majors and the courses during the first year of graduate school brought them up to speed in terms of cell/molecular biology, gene expression, genetics. A lot of the students had either intro level biology courses, or some had NONE. That program in particular was focused on grades and scores. I cannot tell you how many waves of applicants I saw come though, dumber than a door nail when it came to research but "they got almost a perfect GRE score and had an amazing GPA" so they were let in. Good grades and GPA does not translate to good researcher, but programs need to boost their credibility and how they are ranked. Even though they preach "research experience is important" a lot of big schools come down to the grades. Some Universities grad programs get up to 900 applications per year (crazy amount) and the only way to weed through them is GPA and GRE, the rest aren't even looked at. So publications or research experiences that would make up for a poor test score go unnoticed. PM me for info about the university I worked at and I can give you some insider advice. Good luck!

I use the Kaplan GRE book (2nd edition) which is good for the practice test but not great on explanations. For great explanations and strategies I use "GRE, a strategic approach" the publishing company is REA it has great explanations and strategies for reading comprehension to minimize errors. I also use quiz let for root words, vocal words and the math equations. Numer2.com is great for vocal as it is also simulated, that is the words become more difficult as you answer correctly and if you answer wrong, it gives you the word of both the right and wrong answers so you can look at synonyms and antonyms. Hope this helps.

Based on your test prep process what worked for you and what didn't? What resources do you wish you knew about sooner? Any advice is helpful, I am applying to PhD. programs next year and already studying for the GRE.

Thanks everyone for your responses. To be honest, No... I do not want to be a part of a program that has treated me like that during the admissions process alone. If they treat applicants this way during the admission process, imagine how they treat them while they are in the program. I have several friends in the program currently who told me they do treat their students like crap even while they are in the program. This program is not a Harvard, any of the UC's, or an MIT. This school is a middle-tier school, trying to gain respectable students and year after year, I have watched them botch the application process, they interview the people who look great on paper, those people then reject, and they are stuck with either no one.... or people who applied to them as a safety school. I must admit, it was my top choice. It is a good school, not a great school and honestly I was settling, so shame on me. I live in the area, and work for the school (and one of the adcom members.... go figure) and thought it would be great since I have my foot in the door, to apply and complete the program. I did contact the graduate coordinator, they are the ones who said "we didn't have that transcript, thank you for your interest in our program" and "we had very competitive applicants this year". I am still considering working for my POI who offered me an incredible job. They are affiliated with the program loosely, very loosely, and I would have no interaction with the program, so I must weigh my options.

Although I was rejected from my top school, I was offered a position as a senior scientist by my POI. I celebrated by wandering aimlessly through the liquor store buying several bottles of wine, some gin and then proceeded to wander around whole foods doing the same. I threw a party to celebrate the end of the negativity of waiting and rejections and the beginning of positivity and a larger paycheck

So I posted a couple a days ago I was rejected form my dream school, sad? Yes, but I got over it once I was offered a wonderful salary position. I finally got my rejection letter and in hopes to strengthen my application I emailed the committee to get feedback about weak points of my application. Upon numerous emails back and forth, a large issue was my GPA, which they told me "Below a 3.0 is automatic disqualification for applicants". Ok... ? but I didn't get below a 3.0....... They told me the information they received was a 2.XX which was definitely not MY GPA. I got good grades in college, I didn't have a life as an undergrad because I wanted to go to graduate school. I frantically emailed them unofficial copies of my transcripts told them I still had the tracking number of the transcript, Its delivery date (December (early, early December mind you)) and I have a copy of the signature of the person who signed for it. After several hours they responded "This is not the transcript we had at the time we met, a lot of competitive applicants applied this year, thank you for your interest in our program". Thats it???? YOU told me you denied me admission because of my grades..... Which were NOT my grades.... I gave you copies of my transcripts in December, emailed you more, and you tell me "thank you for your interest"? REALLY???? Honestly- this is THE SECOND TIME almost this exact situation has happened with this school. UGHHH........ Sorry for the negativity but this just pissed me off.

They got all local applicants this year and I bombed the GRE. They specifically mention on their website they have NO minimum requirements and score the overall application before making any decisions. I have several publications and research experience. So for everyone who thinks the GRE isn't important...... (I was one of them and the program I applied to told me they didn't think highly of it) Watch out... it matters.

Yes I have I told the PI I was thinking about applying to another place and they asked me if it was "because of money" why I was applying to another place. (it is within the same university) I said yes, they asked me If I could meet with them this week to negotiate a salary which is great. They are desperate for good researchers and to be honest, the last time I applied to graduate school (at this school) ETS sent my test scores very very late (because it was the holiday season) and the program did not get it "On time" and removed my application. Interestingly, a PI at that time who was on the adcom read my application and hired me then. So I have had good luck and I am pretty sure it is a sign I am not meant to go to graduate school. Not in a bad way, maybe I would succeed but I would not thrive the way they would want me to or I might not be happy. Who knows... but this has worked out for the best.