aberrant

When I was an undergrad, there are only two conditions that I would pull all-nighters -- midterms for biochemistry and running experiments overnight. Otherwise, I insist to have a minimum 3 hours of sleep. Now that I'm in grad school, I try not to pull all-nighters. I almost pull all-nighter twice (one was two days ago) just because of experiments. Pulling all-nigher for graduate level courses as a grad student, to me, is unnecessary.

I can't give much value info here but when I was new into the program, I just keep myself opened regarding this particular matter. In the end, I joined a lab where the PI is more established and with some reputation in the field, who is easy going yet determined. So, "too old, and too established groups are easier to get lost in... being a disposable worker and never have a good connection to the faculty member who will be writing you a very personal LOR once you graduate" really depends on the individual, not necessarily the established ones. ps. I did state clearly what my career goal is and addressed my expectation from the lab, my research, and my PI -- when I'm about to join a lab (following the end of my lab rotation in this lab)

I would agree most of the advice mentioned above. First thing you need to be able to do is multitasking. It is very common that you need to run 2 or more experiments at the same time. Such as growing cells + running gels + running column (or purifying proteins). If you ever find down time during your experiment(s), then you can keep your report updated while you are waiting for your experiment(s) to be done. If you are good at efficient at multitasking, you definitely want to have a countdown timer than can do 4 countdown at the same time (e.g. VWR Four-Channel Alarm Timer) because it helps a lot. If you are not good at literally writing your lab notebook (like me, because I write poorly and extremely slow), you can talk to your PI and see if s/he is willing to let you write your lab notebook electronically, which saves a lot of time (for me at least). If you need a physical copy of your lab notebook, you can simply print it out. In terms of individual experiments and techniques, you can always talk to friends, colleagues, students or postdocs from next door and see how they do their experiments. While people do things differently, they do what they do because "it is working (for them)". I personally find it extremely helpful to talk to postdocs from other labs to exchange ideas, as someone here mentioned that working efficiently is related to experience. As a result, what I disagree slightly here is that "timing" -- it isn't about timing per se, to me it is more about how your schedule your time to get your things done. Whether you go into the lab early or late, as long as you have a plan / agenda for the day, you will get things done before you leave. A lot of the time, you know how long it would take you to finish an experiment (including sample prep) when you are familiar with each experiments and techniques.

not true. it totally depends on your field and IF this is for a science program, $16K is extremely low. For science programs, I know that it can range from $20K to $36K, depends on school and location.

I would say it may only be true if this LOR from "outside the field" (w.r.t. the admission committee) is not well known, then they may have to put extra effort to evaluate the value of this LOR. It cannot hurt you if you are applying to applied physics(bio. conc) and getting a LOR from someone who is extremely big (internationally known) in biology, thought (for example).

Hah! That maybe true in your field, your program, and your school, but that is definitely not expected for all grad students (I can start an essay and whine about individuals that I know). I had a similar experience as yours, yet, instead of thinking "this person is gonna give my school a bad name, and depreciate the value of my PhD degree", I was simply thinking "why the hell this person is here" and "this person comes to grad school for all the wrong reasons". After sharing my thoughts with some friends of mine, I no longer bothered by this person, all because of 1 thing and 1 thing only -- if this person doesn't have what it takes to get a PhD, this person will get kick out anyway, whether it be the lab or the program). TL;DR -- ain't got no time for these insiginificant things but my research

And how do they evaluate students with lower GPA are "high performing", aside from the "numbers" (or from Harvey Mudd College)? I agreed with a professor who once said that "you would rather be a big fish in a small pond, and not the small fish in a big pond" just because it would be extremely easy to compare small fish with the others (i.e. big fishes) in a big pond. Here, your big pond is *insert top 50 school*. ps. I graduated from a *top 50 school*, or a *top 10 public school*.

For IGP, I would suggest you to contact the program coordinator (IGP Program Coordinator) instead of the director / admin. Typically, director / admin don't response to e-mail from applicants.

What is biophysics? Published article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/13 Website from Biophysical Society: http://www.biophysics.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/WhatisBiophysics/tabid/2287/Default.aspx

I believe that interdisciplinary programs that consist of faculties and research from multiple departments may not offer master's degree in that interdisciplinary field. In my school, my program doesn't offer a MS degree, although you can choose to drop out from this program and get a MS degree from the department of your advisor (ps. you'll still need to fulfill and complete the MS requirement for that particular department, which could be different that the original program).

Better: I thought Vandy was pretty helpful since (the people who are responsible for the corresponding graduate program) replies my e-mail very quickly. I was applying to 2 programs at Vandy and I got to communicate with them closely. That's also true for Purdue, where they make me a recommendation to apply another program for better fit (although I didn't not and eventually was rejected). I applied to a lot of schools for Fall 2012, and I find it difficult to pick which ones are the best, but I do remember the worst: Yale -- I was actually trying to switch program (from BBS) after submission due to a POI recommendation, but they replied my e-mail response late (weeks). The BBS people are OK, graduate admission are the worst. Hardly provide any meaningful response. I, at some point, was suspecting that the person who replied my e-mail was a cynical undergrad. Columbia -- Sofa king slow response (~ 2 months). Actually, they wouldn't send me a rejection letter until June, after I inquired about my application status (given that I knew the interview weekend(s) dates).

grad student housing is affordable. you will, however, expect to share an apartment with other people if you wanna keep your rent low (ps. "high rent " is a relative term, I would consider $600/mo for a bedroom in a 3bed/2ba apartment near UCSD cheap, as opposed to the equivalent price in West L.A., which has lower quality (wear and tear). I do assume and understand that $600/mo for 1 bedroom in multi-bedroom apartment, for most people, is expensive tho. I'm now paying $440 for a 1 bed apartment somewhere in the East.

I would say your degree means less compare to your relevant research experience. It sure will help if you have biochemistry courses, but you will definitely want to have research experience in biochemistry lab to show that you are ready for a biochemistry program, as a biology major. (I'm in a biophysics program and was a chemistry major).

Will undergrad volunteer(s) help? Also, just because you have other lab work, I'm sure there are things (or projects) that get higher priority than the other (i.e. the one that in need of preliminary data for grant application/renewal). you'll also have to work even more efficiently than you are -- if nobody can help you.

to my surprised, I'm the second person who has a profile @ researchgate. I guess that there aren't too many science students cast their votes yet.

No. Just... no. Super Perro's is the best? I'm not sure about that. Cut to the chase -- they served a lot of hot dogs that are small portion and overpriced. Other items on the menu have good portion, but the environment (cleanliness) is questionable. That one time when my friends and I went there to try out restaurants in Tally, there was a giant cockroach on the wall that was creeping up to this group of people that were sitting at the booth. Long story short, a woman freaked out and cried, a man slammed the roach with his bare hand, and we were looking at them the whole time while during our dinner. Not to mentioned that horchata that they served was a trap -- for $3.50 (they tried to charge me $4.00 before I confront the waitress with the menu on my hand), they gave me a box of ready-to-drink horchata that is available in Walmart for less than $2.00. The place is quiet for reasons. Pho7 is reasonably price. If you know how a "house fried rice" should taste like, then do not order their fried rice -- it was a disappointment. Your safe bet is always the pho. ps. If you have relatively authentic Pho elsewhere, such as California, you may find it unimpressive. However, this is the best you can have in Tallahassee. Never been to Kool Beanz, although I have been told that they serve good food, it's just too expensive for me ($12-$20 per plate). Never been to Siam sushi neither, but I have a scout from MD to determine whether there are good Japanese restaurants in town (aside from Osaka); my other friend from New York concluded that "there's no good sushi in this place". If you are looking for Chinese food, I would recommend either China Delight (walking distance from campus, they serve good combo fried rice; they serve more dishes from the Northern China than the South), Bamboo House (buffet, pretty much all the dishes and soup are homemade-like [a.k.a. food that are commonly consumed in a dinner at home, as opposed to restaurants]), or AZU Lucy Ho's (they actually serve both Chinese and Japanese food; items on the chinese dinner menu are usually filling; fancy place, good dining place for a date). You can expect to spend anything above $9 for a quality meal.

I think the question here is rather simple -- are there any questions (that are still in your head) regarding this topic, after you have read through all the literature? I don't think that those papers answered every single detail regarding this topic. Otherwise, you are suggesting that this topic has been studied thoroughly and there is no reason for anyone to continue their research in the same topic. You'll have to be creative regarding the "follow-up experiments", which isn't usually called as is, but rather "Alternative Strategies" or Future Direction. You can certainly redo some of the experiments, as Leuco suggested, but typically if those papers were published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal, then there's not much to "fix" or elaborate about. As you may also aware that there should be tons of data in the supplementary information, that probably covers most of the things that they need to answer their specific questions.

There is one and only dream job that I have, and it is unrealistic... A professor in the department of biology/biochemistry/chemistry that is tenure guaranteed and sufficient funding that I don't need to write any research proposals to renew my grants. Well, I don't think it exists even for a professor who's a HHMI investigator.

Did not watch the draw, but know the results (no time for watching the draw). Brazil, Mexico; Spain, Netherlands; Colombia, Japan; Italy, England; France, Switzerland; Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Germany, Portugal; Belgium, Russia

For overpopulation reasons (and the fact that I do not have to go through the pain of giving birth), two kids would be enough, 1 would be fine too. I would also consider in vitro fertilization if necessary. But no... not getting married shortly after grad school, or shortly after starting grad school (and I'm in my 2nd year). In fact, I'm indifferent whether to get married during/after grad school, so long that I am in a stable environment (life and research) (e.g. not within a year after starting grad school, or after starting a new postdoc position).

Not sure where you get this idea from, but this is what I know: Friends of mine who were in the 2nd year college in Hong Kong (that was a 3-year college system) can easily get +90% in Chemistry GRE practice test. No master degree whatsoever, all they have completed at that point of their education was first year college (they learned the basic organic chemistry, biochemistry, physical chemistry, and inorganic/chemistry during the last two years of secondary school. Thermodynamics and OChem I would be part of the first year curriculum.) Friends of mine who are in their 50s, 60s, professors from Hong Kong who did their PhDs in the U.S. -- according to them -- typically get a +95% in the chemistry GRE exam. Some have masters degree, some don't. The general trend is that international applicants are expected to do well and better than the domestic applicants in subject GRE test. 70% is almost a minimum requirement, as oppose to "50% is okay" for domestic applicants (taken from my LOR at my alma mater, public university in southern california). I would simply not reporting it unless the program requires my score. And, of course, you can always compensate the low score by your other stats and, more importantly, your letters, statements, and possibly publications.

You got me confused. I do not think those 2 were "stupid mistakes" nor this person is a "really nice girl" solely based on her not showing any respect to others. While I never heard of any grad student try to fight a position for another grad student to join his/her lab, I just don't see the point here. Why wouldn't you do the same for the other person, who is supposedly "a guy you never met"? What exactly does she say in Mandarin? And how do you know that she is calling you lazy and stupid in mandarin? From the think about it, I'm actually delight that someone who can spend all day by calling you names while still being a responsible / productive postdoc in a research lab.

I didn't take linear algebra and I'm doing just fine. I do think that knowing some linear algebra and differential equation may help. I would say that for the most part -- you use calculus the most. for example, fourier transform, convolution, patterson function and so forth will be introduced when you are taking a technique-related biophysics class -- those are predominantly calculus based. realistically, you just press a freaking "FT" button and do the magic.

i don't know about bioengineering but i'm believe that the engineering department at UCLA will accept their students for their MS program if they have +3.3 or +3.5 GPA if they apply for the MS within 1 year after they get their BS, without having to take GRE. I'm not sure how bioengineering, neuroscience, ecology are "similar". Also, the fact that you limit yourself in SoCal greatly reduced the number of options you have. Your GPA can only reminded me of possibility to be admitted by these MS programs at Cal State (Yes, CSU), and they are not necessarily bad neither, but you can imagine that they generally have much less resources than most UCs or USC. Not sure how hospital volunteer hours will help you here, nor your unspecified research experience would make you a good candidate for all 3 (or more) different fields ("bioengineering, neuroscience, ecology"). If you are just another pre-med (offense intended) then you better get a MS that has more to do with the curriculum / material taught in med school or, at the very least, related to your MCAT materials (natural / physical science). Boost your GPA, write good SOP/PS, get good LORs (you need 2, I think), great GRE scores, steep upward trend for your last 2 years in college may give you a shot for a MS program. Even better if you start to do research in a lab that does what you wanna study in your MS. Chances of getting into a MS program isn't minimal, but your GPA for med school, at this moment, is an infrared flag (so red that you can't even see it.)

We are talking about science program(s) that generally requires money to get pricey materials, instruments, or tools -- no matter if you are doing bench work or computational work. I hardly ever heard of an unfunded PhD Chemistry program in the U.S. who is willing to take someone that is willing to pay for his/her own expenditure that includes tuition fee, let alone stipend. Abundance of schools doesn't make a program easier to get in -- to a point where the general minimum requirement can be abolished (as pointed out by some posts above). I'm not saying that you can't get into programs with a sub-3.0 GPA (in fact, I know someone who had a sub-3.0 GPA and is now in the 4th year PhD at Scripps), but you are also competing with other international applicants who are beyond 3.0 GPA, whether with or without incredible credentials. [This discussion is solely based on the GPA problem.] Self-funded MS program can definitely be an option if money isn't an issue. But your plan B doesn't seem coherent with your plan A, which makes me wonder how deeply interested and passionate are you to do research on " nanomedicine, nanomaterials, and nanotechnology" for multiple years. I really doubt that there are STEM PhD programs would "only calculate the last 2 years of coursework into the GPA". True, some schools may tolerate applicants who did poorly in their early years in college, but that doesn't mean they do not consider them. Many factors will be considered when one reviews an application, but obviously, GPA is one of the first filters (if not actually the first) among all the factors. As for the OP, why don't you fully prepared yourself (including your GRE, SOP/PS, LOR) before you bring this question up again? I just thought that people who are very determined to do a PhD in any field would be extremely prepared for that, even if he/she has to take a little detour.