hello, Dunhill. I am an international student too and I obtained my MS in America. I got interview invite from Mount Sinai last year and this school gets loooots of fund from NIH every year (the 3rd most as they said). In other words, I don't think they care about if you are self-funded or not. As to the other schools you are applying to, they are all prestigious in microbial research, and the application is highly competitive. So I really suggest you to retake GRE. Hope this information helpful. GL
