Themistocles

I'm sorry, I don't quite have an answer for you. I would imagine it's not a huge deal, but then again if there's a lot of competition it might put you at a disadvantage. I'm interested to see what other people say.

Hey all, I have a quick question. I have solid recommendations for two of the three LoRs that I need: the first from a professor who taught me a course that I was top of the class in and another from my long term research advisor/director of a very prolific laboratory. Since my institution is small, I'm really limited in the number of faculty in my area that I've worked with. The professor who taught me a course was very impressed and has followed my work and my applications to grad programs, serving as a mentor and unofficial research advisor. Both of these letters are from professors who are very well respected and published in their fields. My problem is with the third letter; I could go to my academic advisor, but we're not that close and he doesn't really have a strong interest in my future. I have a handful of coordinators from volunteer organizations that I could ask, but they're hardly academic or research sources. I could ask a post-doc at my lab that I'm familiar with, as I've helped out with several of his courses over the past two years, however I'm not sure that he would be able to write a very in depth recommendation about research work, although we have been part of several projects together. If anyone could help me piece apart the benefits of picking one of these sources, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.

Hey all, I've been wondering about what, exactly, a good fit is. I've read everywhere that a good fit is one of the most important aspects of being accepted into a program. Try as I might, I can't find a definition of this. Does this mean your research interests (in my case, life sciences) line up exactly with your background and the advisor you want to work with? Does it mean you fit with the 'culture' of the program? It seems so vague, and searching these forums doesn't help much. In my case, I'm asking because my background in research as an undergrad is very extensive at a small institution without many faculty options. I'm wondering if my research background is really going to determine what sort of programs I can get into, because otherwise I'd be considered a 'bad fit'. I'm talking about staying within the same field (ecology) and subfield, but simply having interests in different aspects, model systems, or approaches. If anyone with some experience can help out, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

Is there a consensus on what it means (in terms of admission) when a potential graduate adviser will accept you into his lab and/or under his funding? I have a mix of advisers for phD and master's programs in biology willing to accept me, but I'm very curious about how much a willing adviser will affect my chances at admission. I understand that this might vary from discipline to discipline, but I feel that someone might have some helpful advice. Thanks!

Hey everyone, I posted this in the applications forum as well but I'd appreciate anyone taking a look at my resume and giving me some guesses as to what my chances are at the programs I've listed! I'll be applying to various fish biology programs soon and I was wondering if anyone could chance me or suggest new programs. At this point, I'm only solidly interested in a few doctoral programs, and I'll most likely be applying to CUNY, American Museum of Natural History, Columbia, and Scripps Institute of Oceanography. I'm considering UW - School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences as well. I have no idea how I would fare applying to these programs, so any idea would be a lot of help. In addition, I definitely feel that I should apply to more programs, so any help there would be great as well. My GPA is pretty low; 3.36 overall and 3.5 in major. This is mainly due to the standard story (I played a little much as a freshman/sophomore), however I'm also at a relatively well-known college with hard grading policies. I haven't yet taken the GRE or GRE Biology, but practice tests suggest something around ~650 verbal and ~720 quantitative. I have 1 yr of paid work as a research tech in ecology/ichthyology, won a research grant for a few thousand dollars, am currently working on an honors thesis, and I've started working on study that won't be submitted/published by the time I apply. I also did some manual writing on field methods that might be published by a federal/state agency and I have some experience working in a museum collection. I'll have very solid recs from well-known researchers in their fields, although one will only be from a professor that taught me a class (the others from researchers/professors I've worked under). Outside of these, I'm very solidly bilingual (I've heard this can be a bit of a boost) and I've volunteered ~200 hours as a tech at an aquarium, dealing with the fish in about every aspect you can imagine. I'm also a member of a professional organization dealing with scientific work in diving. If you guys could help me out, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.

Hey everyone, I'll be applying to various fish biology programs soon and I was wondering if anyone could chance me or suggest new programs. At this point, I'm only solidly interested in a few doctoral programs, and I'll most likely be applying to CUNY, American Museum of Natural History, Columbia, and Scripps Institute of Oceanography. I'm considering UW - School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences as well. I have no idea how I would fare applying to these programs, so any idea would be a lot of help. In addition, I definitely feel that I should apply to more programs, so any help there would be great as well. My GPA is pretty low; 3.36 overall and 3.5 in major. This is mainly due to the standard story (I played a little much as a freshman/sophomore), however I'm also at a relatively well-known college with hard grading policies. I haven't yet taken the GRE or GRE Biology, but practice tests suggest something around ~650 verbal and ~720 quantitative. I have 1 yr of paid work as a research tech in ecology/ichthyology, won a research grant for a few thousand dollars, am currently working on an honors thesis, and I've started working on study that won't be submitted/published by the time I apply. I also did some manual writing on field methods that might be published by a federal/state agency and I have some experience working in a museum collection. I'll have very solid recs from well-known researchers in their fields, although one will only be from a professor that taught me a class (the others from researchers/professors I've worked under). Outside of these, I'm very solidly bilingual (I've heard this can be a bit of a boost) and I've volunteered ~200 hours as a tech at an aquarium, dealing with the fish in about every aspect you can imagine. I'm also a member of a professional organization dealing with scientific work in diving. If you guys could help me out, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.