jefferson.bean

Thanks for the advice! I will be writing a one-page research review and will be contacting professors directly. I was unsuccessful last time around, but only applied to some prestigious scholarships (Wellcome Trust, NIH-GPP). I will take a different approach and figure in the end I may have to suck up some of the financial burden myself. The nice part is, if I start my PhD somewhere here in the US, it is a guaranteed 4-5 years even though I have my master's. In the UK, it seems that 3 years is standard since I have this degree and this is cheaper and more reasonable. Also, tuition versus tuition, the UK is a bargain!

I am an American with a BSc in Chemistry (fair GPA, great university) and a MSc in Biological Sciences (good GPA, good university) with over 7 years of full-time research experience in drug discovery and stem cells, with several publications and great references who wants nothing more than to move to UK and finish my PhD. While I could do this for free in the US, thanks to NIH, I truly desire to go to the UK and finish it at UCL, Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh, or Cardiff (to name a few schools I will be applying to). I will be applying early and for all possible scholarships, but it seems like as an EU-outsider, I am ineligible for A LOT of funding. My questions are as follows: 1) How difficult is it for an American to get into biosciences graduate programs at top UK universities and get funding? 2) Are there any significant differences in the UK application/interview process? With respect to application essays, should I take a more formal approach as opposed to an "attention-grabbing"/dramatic technique as is sometimes suggested for US schools? Should I address my "fair" GPA from undergraduate in application essays? 3) How important are individual application features for UK school admissions committees? Is it really all about grades/honors in the UK even for someone with 7+ years of experience? I would love to get the perspective of UK bioscience students in UK/US, any students in UK grad programs, or anyone with some perspective on being an American student abroad. Thanks for your help!