Airwalker

The Cell Biology textbook that they are using is probably one of the best available. The boss I currently work for says that if you know at least 50% of each chapter your GBO will be a breeze. So it is probably worth it to just get it done, and the core course is going to help us along.

Ah, yeah! I just got it lol. I was at the first interview, so they probably didn't have any of the info at all yet. Looks pretty intense, I'm not looking forward to all the reading...

Uhhh... I haven't gotten any contact about the Summer reading assignment lol. The only thing I have gotten so far is the Packet pertaining to hiring information to fill out for payroll, etc. Who did you get it from? Maybe something in my email is filtering it out...

PhD.

Yo, I'm in the PhD program in Mol Med. I'll see you there.

Your not applying to undergrad. They arn't going to ask for a full updated grade report. The only thing they may need is a completion of degree certification. They probably won't even know you got those grades. Relax and go outside.

Its after the 15th of April, you didn't get in man. Sorry.

Uh, all three are tied for Number 14 in the country... I would stay in Maryland so you don't piss your fiance and family off. Thats often more important. Plus, you will want the family support during a PhD program. All the people on here are pro california for some reason.

Sounds like you have some mental health issues you need to work out... You rather not take the final and get a C than get a B - in the class because of some professor... Who cares about the person, you probably won't talk to them in a year anyways. You have to worry about yourself in Undergrad. And you can easily get into an MS program in fisheries with a 3.1. If you have research experience it will not be a problem. Stop retaking courses and wasting your time and graduate. And why do I know this? Because I coasted by on grades (3.0) and got into a Tier 1 research PhD because of my research, publications, and drive. Stop worrying about grades and get a publication out there. You are obsessing about things that don't matter. I don't know what schools have fishery programs, but I can't imagine having to worry like crazy about having a 4.0... your going into ecology, not trying to get into Harvard Med. You sound like a dedicated individual. Just get a good GRE score and it won't matter.

Same stuff as everything else other people have said. Nobody cares about your grades so long as your overall is above 3.0 due to funding requirements by the federal government. I did terrible in Chemistry because it just isn't my thing, but did fine if Biology and Biochem. No grad school where you are applying to a mol bio program or something of the like is going to reject you because of chemistry grades... They would eliminate a lot of their good app pool if they did that. Just work hard, and best of all, if you can publish at least one thing, you will be set.

Yea, I accepted. Got into the other Major Maryland Research schools as well. Wanted to stay in state. They entertain Internationals because they still want some to diversify their students, but they can only afford to fund 1 or 2 of the top tier because the NIH (US Government Life Science Funding Agency if you didn't know) won't pay for non-US citizens. So it's funding based, not anything to do with how good or bad internationals are. A lot of internationals that would qualify for tier one research schools if they were US citizens have to settle for smaller state/private schools because the funding just isn't there. Most of the grad students at my undergrad were internationals for this exact reason. Thanks for the support. Best wishes to you as well, maybe I'll see you at Maryland in the fall.

Just accepted to UMD's GPILS program. They are only looking for about 10-12 students in Mol Med, IDK about the other programs. I'm not sure about international students, but I didn't see any at my interview weekend. Good Luck.

Go Miami, don't hang around hoping for an MS to turn into a PhD. If you want a PhD, do the program that is giving you a PhD. Plus Miami is a better school in my opinion, with better name recognition. Anytime people here a cardinal direction (i.e. south, east, west, north) + University name, they sort of wonder what is going on.

Yeah, What they told me is that PI's can be a part of every program if they just fill out a short form. So a PI that is currently part of Mol Micro & Immuno but not part of Mol Med and wants to open up a new research area with a Mol Med student like ourselves would fill out a quick one page form, and then they can take that student. So its a no hassle policy for the PI that allows students to work with pretty much anybody willing to accept them. And in the end it is all about who you Pick as your PI. There are going to be slave driver PIs everywhere that don't care about the people in their lab, it's just up to the student to pick out the PI that does care.

Well, If you go to Molecular Medicine at Maryland, Ill be your classmate, so that is a plus... Joking aside, I choose Maryland over the other programs I got into because of the wide range of choices available there for students to take part in. You have the Hospital, Institute for Genome Sciences, Aquatic Biology Center, Schools of Dentistry/Medicine/Pharma. I think you have a misconception about the size of labs at Maryland because when I visited I saw labs running all the way from one or two people, all the way up to the 20-30 range that you described. So you have a choice between labs in the size that you want. Also, I think I was told by the program director they only expect 8-12 students in the Mol Med program this year, so there will be plenty of space to make yourself stand out. I think there are way over at least 50 labs to choose from, so you can really pick what you want. I'm in the same boat as you, I currently work in a small lab, and I love the atmosphere it generates, where I know I can always have a chat with my boss. I wouldn't have chosen Maryland if I didn't think I could continue to have that experience. Plus, funding at Maryland is EXCELLENT. And sad to say, but good funding makes a world of difference. I don't know Drexel's program, but Maryland is top in terms of funding. Also, I'm from the Baltimore area, and I choose to came back after studying out of state for Undergrad. So I think it is a great area. Just my opinion, but make a good decision for yourself.