Chances for top PhD programs

[Kyle_22]

Hey y'all. As you can see from the title, I'm interested to see what you all think about my chances are for getting into top PhD programs around the country. This is my first post, and may very well be in the wrong category so please redirect me if so...

Below is a LONG list of my credentials, please let me know your thoughts! (Top schools interested in include Stanford, UCSF, UC Berkeley, JHU, Harvard, UPenn)

BIOGRAPHY

-Junior at a small private university in Iowa
-Earning BS in Biochemistry and BA in Biology
-Would like to get into translational research eventually (intrigued by stem cells, gene editing, cancer)

STATS

- 4.00 cumulative GPA
- Haven't taken GRE yet

RESEARCH

- Participated in a NSF-funded REU at the University of Oklahoma during the summer of 2017, where I conducted research on CRISPR
- Participating in another summer research opportunity this upcoming summer at either Johns Hopkins (Project is focused on stem cell based applications for translational research
- By the time I graduate I will have had two full years conducting research at my home university in the biochemistry department
-One project working on enzyme engineering (junior year)
-Other project involves analyzing nuclear hormone receptors (senior year, upcoming)
-In the fall of 2018 (senior year) I will also conduct a semester worth of research in the biology department (project is TBD)
- I have analyzed and published two genes to the NCBI
-Work in the chemistry department where I supervise NMR use, as well as care take the instrument
-Present 3 posters at home university (2 before hopeful application)
-Present 2 posters at national conferences by the time of graduation (1 before hopeful application)
-Presented poster at University of Oklahoma symposium and another at either JHU this upcoming summer


EXTRACURRICULARS

-3 years of serving on the university’s student government
-Helped start two clubs on campus related to science, one received national accreditation by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
-Volunteer as assistant football coach for my high school team
- Tutor students for 3 years on campus by the time of graduation
-Serve as an unpaid TA for 3 semesters (hold a class once a week and go over problems answer questions), for both organic chemistry I and II as well as genetics

SCHOLARSHIPS AND HONORS SOCIETIES

-Many scholarships (although probably doesn’t matter too much at this point)
-National honor society for the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

VOLUNTEER

-Assistant football coach
-Judge many science fairs for elementary and middle schools
-Looking for more opportunities currently

Edited April 4, 2018 by Kyle_22
fixed "ya'll" to "y'all"

[Kyle_22]

bump

[lmb123]

I think you generally check the boxes of what is necessary to be considered for these programs (with the caveat that you need to clear the ~80th-ish percentile on your GRE). I think it will largely come down to how well you can write and talk about your research and your letters of recommendation. You want to make sure you pick people to write letters who know your research skills and will write you a glowing letter. You also want to make sure that your essay(s) make it clear that you understand the broad goals of your project, how the experiments you did fit into the big picture, and that you understand the techniques you are doing (both the how and the why).