firefly luciferase
-
Posts
25 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by firefly luciferase
-
-
One more for BI:
Demonstrating a broader range of interests outside of science/engineering can be a good thing, as long as taking the time to discuss these doesn't detract from your scientific BIs. For example, a small part of my personal statement described how I had volunteered/traveled extensively through several non-technical service organizations as an undergrad, and the reviewers responded positively to this. Another winning essay/review I read included having minored in some type of international/cultural studies in undergrad.
-
Great post, vertices. A few additions:
IM
- potential/preparedness to carry out proposed research
- possible pitfalls and alternatives in proposal
- "proposed graduate institution"/department is appropriate to proposed research (i.e. proposal aligns somewhat with work being done by professors in the department)
BI
- long term career goals
-
@curiousgeorgie, did you at least include the paper as a "manuscript in preparation"? I would think that would give you a few brownie points.
-
IM/BI, offered award:
E/VG
E/E
E/E
The first reviewer couldn't seem to decide whether I was a boy or girl. The second reviewer's comments were more of a summary. The third reviewer, based on his/her summary of the major BI points from my personal statement, apparently had sub-par reading comprehension.
For those preparing for next year, the only helpful critiques were that my proposal wasn't clear on anticipated research results, and that it didn't address "resource access and constraints" - although I did specifically name professors at my school with expertise in each of the various aspects of my proposal. Apparently my PI helped by addressing more of these in the reference letter, but I thought this was a weird comment. One reviewer encouraged me to go to more conferences (I'm only a first year, so I haven't yet). 2 reviewers mentioned the strength of my reference letters for IM, so choose your writers carefully!
I went through about 3-6 iterations of each essay, and each one was read by several past GRFP winners, along with my advisor and friends who are in science but in unrelated fields. Another thing that I found really helpful was having copies of past winners' essays and score sheets, as I basically used this as a template to figure out what was important to emphasize.
-
If you're just entering grad school, you can't get your funding until the fall: http://www.nsf.gov/p...f11050.jsp#a018
-
Reviews (at least mine) are up!!!, even though they're still not *officially* linked when you log in.
https://www.fastlane...hod=loadApplRev
I found this link after browsing last year's thread:
- vertices, skeebaloo and closetgeek
-
3
-
^ I think that describes most of science
-
Yep, it's down.
-
2 am ET, 11 pm PT.
-
what are the 4 tiers, as opposed to the 3 tiers that folks have discussed on this thread so far?
The 4th tier is people who have more than 12 months of graduate study (who would otherwise be ineligible to apply) due to extenuating circumstances. i.e. people who wrote that extra eligibility essay on the application. Very few people fall into this category though.
I was told by a professor at my school who serves on a review panel that they do separate the applications into 3 groups (graduating seniors, first years, second years) when they review them, and that the standards are obviously higher for the later groups.
-
I am in the process of selecting possible supervisors to ask for a lab rotation; I have to do 3 lab rotations in the beginning of my PhD program. One of the adviser (an assistant professor) currently has eleven PhD students, one master student, two postdocs, and one exchange scientist. This particular lab's research output is, uhm, impressive in terms of quality (i.e., high impact journals) and quantity. I am just surprised with the number of advisees (s)he has. It got to the point, which I wonder if (s)he has enough time --or even any-- to advise my lab rotation. Is it normal for having that many advisees? Maybe (s)he is that good, such students flocked to his/her lab?
Is (s)he a good choice for a lab rotation? Any ideas? Note that (s)he is NOT yet tenured!
P.S. Sorry for posting yet another topic. I just have too many questions! Yes, I am the type that needs to do excessive planning about every single detail of my future.
If you're asking if s/he has enough time to even take you on as a rotation student, just ask him/her!
If you're asking if s/he will have enough time to mentor you as your advisor, that's the whole point of doing the rotation - to get a feel for his/her style/lab.
I don't think it's problematic that the professor is not yet tenured - shouldn't be a problem if the lab is consistently putting out good work. (And has the money!)
Also wanted to add - it's not like rotation advisors typically stand over you and watch you pipette or whatever - on a day-to-day basis you'll most likely be mentored by a postdoc or senior grad student.
-
I was personally asked by one of my programs several times by several different professors. Though this may not be universally true, if they have already accepted you, they will likely try to convince you of the superiority of their school over your other competing choices. I am not sure how it can hurt you in any way to answer such a request.
Agreed, almost every professor who has interviewed me at 4 different visiting weekends has asked me what other schools I'm looking at. They want to know who their competitors are, and generally their intentions are only to help address any questions you might have about their/other programs. Assuming you applied with the same interest areas, the professors probably know your POIs at other schools who are in their field. That and the adcom chairs do sometimes talk to their counterparts at peer institutions, as one of them told me.
-
Thanks so much for your reply !!! - I saw that interview post on 18 FEB - also I saw some rejections came out this week - did you apply to caltech bioeng? ...thanks a lot..
Nope, I didn't apply there.
-
Anyone got response from Caltech bioengineering? - I emailed Linda last week she said no decision had been made on my app - but I saw one acceptance on the forum -
Thanks a lot....
I met a bunch of people who had interviewed there around the end of February.
-
You applied for masters-only programs? I was under the impression that MS's are typically unfunded while usually only PhD students get a stipend. If that's the case, any stipend at all (even if it's on the low side) is a pretty good deal. Maybe it's different in mechanical engineering, though...
-
I didn't apply, but Northwestern ChemE's recruiting weekends were last weekend and this weekend. I'm guessing that chances are pretty slim at this point, unfortunately.
-
Thanks Medievalmaniac, I like these ideas!
Anyone have an idea on thanking parents?
How about treating them to a nice dinner at their favorite restaurant?
-
Heard from Penn today. They were very confusing as to whether it's an acceptance (according to the decision posted by SEAS on ApplyYourself) or just an interview (separate e-mail invitation from the dept), but visiting weekends are February 24-26, March 3-5, and March 17-19.
-
How many people got UW rejections recently? Has everyone heard something at this point?
I haven't gotten anything. There was a handful of internationals rejections earlier on, but only one domestic rejection posted earlier today. I don't think they're done reviewing applications yet. I heard the adcom meets every other Thursday, so maybe more news next week...
-
I'm crossing my fingers that there will be more UW interview invites.
Also saw in the results section that someone got an invite from MIT BE... anybody know anything about that?
-
Speak of the devil, just got my Boulder acceptance. Woot!
-
I applied to CU Boulder in early December. The silence is driving me nuts - so much for having a rolling deadline!
-
Penn: http://www.be.seas.u...earch/index.php
Rice: http://bioengineerin...ocus_areas.aspx
Caltech: http://www.be.caltec...arch/index.html
I don't claim to be an expert on any of these schools - I've spent the most time looking over Penn's program, followed by Rice, and know close to nothing about Caltech. Also, my particular interests are in drug/gene delivery and cell/tissue engineering, so I might be biased.
Penn spans a wide range of research areas and also has a particularly large number of faculty (and more in other depts who are members of the Graduate Group). I know they have an HHMI program in biomedical imaging. They also seem to have fairly good ties to the med school for the translational aspect.
For Rice, Antonios Mikos and Jennifer West are a couple of the big names, and I think the department as a whole has traditionally collaborated with MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor, and Texas Medical Center, which if I remember correctly is one of the largest medical centers in the country. Actually, I just saw on their website that they recently got a big grant for cancer diagnostics with a bio-nano-chip - see http://bioengineerin...ent.aspx?id=223 - cool.
I'm not really familiar with Caltech's department except that it's a relatively new and interdisciplinary department. Most if not all faculty have primary appointments in other departments (chemistry, chemical engineering, biology, etc).
-
The invitation looked like a mass e-mail with registration requested by Feb 1. Sorry, I think additional invites are probably unlikely. =/
NSF GRFP 2011-2012
in The Bank
Posted