2019 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Monochrome Spring]

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd pop in and say good luck with this year's application season. My experience is in the ecology/plant biology/forestry side of applications, so I can provide a lot of detailed feedback for anyone applying to those kinds of programs. I also have general knowledge about applications, like transcripts, GRE's, interviews, etc., after watching several application cycles through this site. If you don't feel comfortable putting your information in the general forums for whatever reason, feel free to PM me with questions. I try to respond to all messages within 48 hours.

[StHoly]

3 hours ago, BabyScientist said:

If you're at Brown now and want to go to Brown, maybe try to get in touch with the program people and discuss your application with them? Or any faculty you'd be interested in working with?

Your GRE scores are low, but many PhD programs are de-emphasizing it, so it may not harm you too much (ask any contacts you have at the program). Your undergrad GPA doesn't help either, but your CV is great and you'll have to really emphasize that strength on your application. You'll need a really strong SOP and great LORs if you can get them.

Thank you, I believe I can get strong LORs and work on my SOP. I have contacted the DEAN of biotechnology in my school and they mentioned a first author of a publication would definitely help with my application. I do have one that's been submitted but I'll have to confirm with my PI again. My community college score was 3.5GPA before going to my undergrad university (but that one doesn't count I guess..)   My advisor didn't really help me at that time, so I really struggled. 

[BabyScientist]

1 minute ago, StHoly said:

Thank you, I believe I can get strong LORs and work on my SOP. I have contacted the DEAN of biotechnology in my school and they mentioned a first author of a publication would definitely help with my application. I do have one that's been submitted but I'll have to confirm with my PI again. My community college score was 3.5GPA before going to my undergrad university (but that one doesn't count I guess..)   My advisor didn't really help me at that time, so I really struggled. 

It will probably help that your masters GPA is better and your research life has been active. The first authorship is good even if it hasn't been published yet - you can still put it on your CV as submitted and maybe ask your PI/mentor to mention it in your LOR.

Im happy to help review your SOP when you're ready. 

[lmb123]

On 8/13/2018 at 8:50 AM, Phageboy48 said:

I have reviewed some schools: Cold Spring Harbor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYU Slacker, Stower Institute.

This seems to me like a good group of schools to add to diversify your list!

[mcfc2018]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 US School
Major(s): Neuroscience
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.9ish
Overall GPA: 3.88
Position in Class: No clue
Type of Student: Asian American male
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 169
V: 164
W: idk (probs 3 or 4). 
B:

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Been doing neuro research since spring of freshman year in one lab. 5 semesters, 2 summers in the lab. 

Spent past summer doing research at the NIH. Will be graduating this fall and returning to the NIH for the spring semester

1. Neuro research in one lab: 5 semesters, 2 summers. 1 1st author paper that's still under review. Poster presentation at SfN, 2 poster presentations at undergrad college. 

2. Neuro research under the same PI at the NIH: 1 summer, will be returning in January for another semester. NIH Summer poster presentation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

NIH Summer Student Award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

1. TA for introductory Chemistry Lab (5 semesters)

2. TA for mid level physiology class (1 semester)

3. TA for advanced bio class (1 semester)

4. TA for freshman seminar (1 semester)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

4 Letters of recommendation:

1. My PI (Should be fairly strong)

2. My advisor

3. Professor of lab class I took and will be TAing for

4. Professor of class I'm TAing for.

Applying to Where:
Looking to get into a top tier school (Harvard, UCSF, Hopkins) in Neuro but haven't exactly settled on a comprehensive list. 

[squigglyface_emoji]

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 US Public School
Major(s): Cell and Developmental Biology
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: 3.13
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Female

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Retaking in October for better quant and writing score.. but not sure if I can get it up significantly. I have a really poor affinity for standardized testing
Q: 157
V: 158
W: 4.0
B:


TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

• Lab Assistant --> Research Associate 2 at Medical Diagnostic Biotech Startup (2.5 years).
  • Not really sure how to categorize the field of assay development. Probably closest to microbiology/biochem
  • 1 patent pending, 2nd patent currently being written
  • Currently helping write up paper to submit to scientific journal (probably nature biotech) for first ever product release. Definitely not the first author on this, but I'm going to be an author nonetheless
  • Holding a company-wide seminar talk about the development of a novel AMR detection method
  • Presented data weekly to CEO and CMO on various projects
• Undergraduate researcher at undergrad university (1 year)
  • Basic genomics lab studying unicellular eukaryotic organisms
• Visiting Undergraduate Researcher: Arizona State University Biodesign Institute (2 summers)
  • Early cancer detection research, biomarker discovery and diagnostic method development
     

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

• Graduated undergrad with distinction in major (Honors)
• Not sure how to really go about talking about awarded grants when I'm not listed as the PI, but I'm a major contributor. Anyways, here they are:
  • NIH SBIR Phase II
  • AMR Challenge step 1 semi finalist (BARDA)
    • Primary researcher for step 2 submission

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

• Mentor in undergraduate mentorship program for underclassmen majoring in biology

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

• In a few months, I can say I'm a key player in bringing my company's first ever product from R&D to market. I'm employee #18 and company is now over 70 people.

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

• Great LORs from CEO, CFO, Director of R&D Assay, and PI of summer cancer research lab
  • CEO is well known. Previously Stanford associate professor in cancer lab. Forbes 30 under 30.
  • CMO is well known Stanford MD. Currently emeritus professor at Stanford with an active infectious disease research lab.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

• There's an upward trend in my undergrad transcript.... managed to pull a 2.79 to a 3.13. I really screwed up for one quarter (winter junior year) because of burn out. Learned how to study smarter and better coping/resting mechanisms from that point on.

Applying to Where:

• UCSF - BMS Cancer Biology and Cell Signaling
• Stanford - Cancer Biology
• University of Washington - MCB
• MDAnderson (UTHealth) - Cancer Biology
• UCSD - BMS Cancer Biology
• University of Michigan - MCP
• University of Chicago - Biosciences Cancer
• UCLA - Biosciences, molecular, cellular & integrative physio
• UCI - MCB

 

My goal is to specialize in early cancer detection research. Liquid biopsy, circulating tumor cells/DNA/exosomes, biomarkers are all of interest to me and I understand that it's fairly broad. Any suggestions on which schools/labs are good for this are greatly appreciated!

 

[Phageboy48]

On 8/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, lmb123 said:

This seems to me like a good group of schools to add to diversify your list!

Thank you for the comments.

[bkhmo]

Undergrad Institution: University of Melbourne 
Major(s): Agri-food biotechnology 
Minor(s): Japanese 
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.3
Position in Class: Not stated
Type of Student: International, Asian male

Graduate Institution: Kyoto University
Major(s): Industrial Microbiology
GPA in Major:4
Overall GPA:3.85
Position in Class: Not stated

GRE Scores:
Q:163(83rd)
V:163(93rd)
W:4.5(84th)
B: No subject

Research Experience: 
-Half year undergrad research project on plant gene expression with oral presentation
-2 and half years graduate school research on campus. (6 lab oral presentations, 1 master’s thesis poster presentation, 1 master’s thesis defense)
-1 presentation at a national conference 
-1 poster presentation at a national conference 
-No publications because the lab is focused on industrial research (Might hurt my application?)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: -Full scholarship from industry for Masters, only 4 awarded that year

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
-Tutor to one Doctoral and two Master’s students 
-TA (4 months/year for 3 years) to the undergraduate course (Applied Microbiological experimental methodology and techniques)
-Coordinator for multiple lab events 
-Weekly seminar chair

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Special Bonus Points: Asian minority, but apparently being a minority doesn't help if you're Asian

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
-Upward trend in undergraduate GPA

Applying to Where:
(Subject to change, would appreciate recommendations on microbiology labs focusing on microbiome research)
MIT
Harvard
UCSD
UCSF
Yale
NYU
University of Chicago
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Emory 
University at Buffalo
Northeastern 

Edited August 17, 2018 by bkhmo
Paragraph spacing

[BabyScientist]

8 hours ago, squigglyface_emoji said:

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 US Public School
Major(s): Cell and Developmental Biology
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: 3.13
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Female

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Retaking in October for better quant and writing score.. but not sure if I can get it up significantly. I have a really poor affinity for standardized testing
Q: 157
V: 158
W: 4.0
B:


TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

• Lab Assistant --> Research Associate 2 at Medical Diagnostic Biotech Startup (2.5 years).
  • Not really sure how to categorize the field of assay development. Probably closest to microbiology/biochem
  • 1 patent pending, 2nd patent currently being written
  • Currently helping write up paper to submit to scientific journal (probably nature biotech) for first ever product release. Definitely not the first author on this, but I'm going to be an author nonetheless
  • Holding a company-wide seminar talk about the development of a novel AMR detection method
  • Presented data weekly to CEO and CMO on various projects
• Undergraduate researcher at undergrad university (1 year)
  • Basic genomics lab studying unicellular eukaryotic organisms
• Visiting Undergraduate Researcher: Arizona State University Biodesign Institute (2 summers)
  • Early cancer detection research, biomarker discovery and diagnostic method development
     

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

• Graduated undergrad with distinction in major (Honors)
• Not sure how to really go about talking about awarded grants when I'm not listed as the PI, but I'm a major contributor. Anyways, here they are:
  • NIH SBIR Phase II
  • AMR Challenge step 1 semi finalist (BARDA)
    • Primary researcher for step 2 submission

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

• Mentor in undergraduate mentorship program for underclassmen majoring in biology

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

• In a few months, I can say I'm a key player in bringing my company's first ever product from R&D to market. I'm employee #18 and company is now over 70 people.

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

• Great LORs from CEO, CFO, Director of R&D Assay, and PI of summer cancer research lab
  • CEO is well known. Previously Stanford associate professor in cancer lab. Forbes 30 under 30.
  • CMO is well known Stanford MD. Currently emeritus professor at Stanford with an active infectious disease research lab.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

• There's an upward trend in my undergrad transcript.... managed to pull a 2.79 to a 3.13. I really screwed up for one quarter (winter junior year) because of burn out. Learned how to study smarter and better coping/resting mechanisms from that point on.

Applying to Where:

• UCSF - BMS Cancer Biology and Cell Signaling
• Stanford - Cancer Biology
• University of Washington - MCB
• MDAnderson (UTHealth) - Cancer Biology
• UCSD - BMS Cancer Biology
• University of Michigan - MCP
• University of Chicago - Biosciences Cancer
• UCLA - Biosciences, molecular, cellular & integrative physio
• UCI - MCB

 

My goal is to specialize in early cancer detection research. Liquid biopsy, circulating tumor cells/DNA/exosomes, biomarkers are all of interest to me and I understand that it's fairly broad. Any suggestions on which schools/labs are good for this are greatly appreciated!

 

Your GRE scores aren't that bad considering most programs are de-emphasizing it.

I think you need fewer top tier schools and more mid/safe tier schools. You have a good deal of research experience, but your GPA is low and it will be harder for you to get through the first admissions filter at most schools. That isn't to say that you have no chance at the top tiers, just that if you really want to do a PhD program, diversifying your list will increase your chances. 

[BabyScientist]

2 hours ago, bkhmo said:

Undergrad Institution: University of Melbourne 
Major(s): Agri-food biotechnology 
Minor(s): Japanese 
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.3
Position in Class: Not stated
Type of Student: International, Asian male

Graduate Institution: Kyoto University
Major(s): Industrial Microbiology
GPA in Major:4
Overall GPA:3.85
Position in Class: Not stated

GRE Scores:
Q:163(83rd)
V:163(93rd)
W:4.5(84th)
B: No subject

Research Experience: 
-Half year undergrad research project on plant gene expression with oral presentation
-2 and half years graduate school research on campus. (6 lab oral presentations, 1 master’s thesis poster presentation, 1 master’s thesis defense)
-1 presentation at a national conference 
-1 poster presentation at a national conference 
-No publications because the lab is focused on industrial research (Might hurt my application?)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: -Full scholarship from industry for Masters, only 4 awarded that year

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
-Tutor to one Doctoral and two Master’s students 
-TA (4 months/year for 3 years) to the undergraduate course (Applied Microbiological experimental methodology and techniques)
-Coordinator for multiple lab events 
-Weekly seminar chair

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
Special Bonus Points: Asian minority, but apparently being a minority doesn't help if you're Asian

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
-Upward trend in undergraduate GPA

Applying to Where:
(Subject to change, would appreciate recommendations on microbiology labs focusing on microbiome research)
MIT
Harvard
UCSD
UCSF
Yale
NYU
University of Chicago
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Emory 
University at Buffalo
Northeastern 

5 top tiers is a lot to apply to. If you have the money for the application fees, go for it, but I would replace 1 or 2 of those with mid tiers

[bkhmo]

2 hours ago, BabyScientist said:

5 top tiers is a lot to apply to. If you have the money for the application fees, go for it, but I would replace 1 or 2 of those with mid tiers

Thanks for the advice! I agree with you that 5 top tiers are more than what normal people apply for, but I had the impression that the admission rate for internationals is lower than domestic students, so I chose to apply to more reach schools than the average applicant to maximize my chance of getting accepted to one of them. I am going to add a few mid tiers on top of that though.

[squigglyface_emoji]

5 hours ago, BabyScientist said:

Your GRE scores aren't that bad considering most programs are de-emphasizing it.

I think you need fewer top tier schools and more mid/safe tier schools. You have a good deal of research experience, but your GPA is low and it will be harder for you to get through the first admissions filter at most schools. That isn't to say that you have no chance at the top tiers, just that if you really want to do a PhD program, diversifying your list will increase your chances. 

Thanks for taking the time to evaluate my profile! I'm trying to have the perspective of finding the best fit to train vs. just trying to get a phD. Additionally, with encouragement from the people writing my LORs, I threw out the notion of high-tier/ mid-tier/ safety somewhere along the way lol. However, I completely understand what you mean. The worry lingers in the back of my mind and I'm still looking at more schools to add to my list.

So far, my criteria for choosing schools includes positive stance towards industry collaborations, opportunities for students to take classes outside of their formal field, ties to medical facilities, location (fairly diverse populations), and of course, potential PIs and their lab cultures. Unsurprisingly, this fits most of the Californian schools haha. If you have any suggestions on mid-tier/safe schools I should consider, I'm definitely taking them!

 

[escafe]

Undergrad Institution: #4 worldwide in Pharmacy and Pharmacology, in Europe.

Major(s): Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)

GPA in Major:  -
Overall GPA: 3.32 (I know it might sound in the low side, but it is actually not in Pharmacy School. Not sure if it will help, but I have a letter of the University stating that I am on the highest rank of the class)
Position in Class: ?

Type of Student: European Female

GRE Scores :
Q: 164
V: 158
W: 3.5 

Thinking about retaking it, but my native language is not English so I honestly don't know if it will get any better.

TOEFL Total: 104 (They ask for 100, should I retake?)

Research Experience:

• 6 months in Cancer Bio lab in the US as an exchange student
• 4 months as an undergrad research assistant
• 4 months in a Pharmaceutical Company
• 6 months in a Hospital as a clinical pharmacist intern (it is not strictly 'research', but I did work in the lab preparing chemotherapies, parenteral nutrition, magistral formulas, etc. medication in general, and keeping everything sterile).
• 1 year at UMich (PIBS) at a Cancer Bio lab (6 months as a research assistant/6 months as a research fellow) - one publication in brain tumor & one manuscript in preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

 St. Baldrick's Fellowship (REALLY happy about this one, really prestigious and only 25 awards in the U.S. and only one per institution!) to do pediatric brain tumor research.

Assistance to international mobility students with academic recognition ($1,500 scholarship for my exchange program)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• Retail pharmacist in Europe (almost 1 year)
• Clinical pharmacist intern in a European Hospital
• Clinical trials data analyst (for a small start-up company)
• Research Fellow
• Research Assistant 
• Administrative assistant

Courses:

• Pharm.D. (Pharmacology & therapeutics, microbiology and parasitology, toxicology, organic, inorganic, analytical chemistry, physiology and physiopathology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, genetic engineering, immunology... Many other. All relevant to research.
• HMX - Harvard Medical School - Immunology and Genetics
• Johns Hopkins - Introduction to Cancer Biology

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Poster presentations:

- 1 at Umich (breast cancer)

- 1 at a St. Baldrick's event (brain cancer)

- 1 poster presentation at a Geriatric Congress for pharmacy

- 1 poster presentation at the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists 

- 1 poster presentation at my home university in Europe.

Publications:

- One publication in a journal for continuous education for physicians and pharmacists in Europe (NOT in PubMed though)

- One publication as a co-author at the Umich.

Talks:

- 1 in my Exchange program

- Many conference-invited participant. I just got a scholarship and got invited to Boston for a Harvard-MIT-Duke conference. Not sure if I should mention that.

Special Bonus Points:  LOR are strong and I will probably submit more than 3 as I have done many things. I also speak 5 languages, don't think that would help at all though.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 

Lots of volunteering and shadowing at different hospitals and neuro-surgeries. All cancer-related. Also I got the best final thesis of my class and it is being formatted for publication. Also started 2 cancer fundraising, collecting more than $20k by myself in one.

Applying to Where: PhD Biomedical Science - Cancer Biology (I want to focus on neuro-oncology)

• Rockefeller University
• Harvard BBS
• Yale BBS
• UMich PIBS
• NYU
• UTexas - Austin
• Cornell
• BostonU
• UChicago
• Duke
• UC San Diego 

Please I really need advice. This is my first time ever applying to an American University, so any help is more than welcome. Being an international student makes everything 100x harder... Also, any suggestions of good Cancer-related schools are more than welcomed (I might be aiming too high). Thank you so much!

 

[escafe]

Undergrad Institution: #4 worldwide in Pharmacy and Pharmacology, in Europe.

Major(s): Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)

GPA in Major:  -
Overall GPA: 3.32 (I know it might sound in the low side, but it is actually not in Pharmacy School. Not sure if it will help, but I have a letter of the University stating that I am on the highest rank of the class)
Position in Class: ?

Type of Student: European Female
 

I want to add that a lot of lab mandatory coursework is needed in my Pharmacy school (more than 1,500 hours in total). I don't know if that would help, but I put a document together with all the projects/classes. We pretty much had lab every afternoon.

GRE Scores :
Q: 164
V: 158
W: 3.5 

Thinking about retaking it, but my native language is not English so I honestly don't know if it will get any better.

TOEFL Total: 104 (They ask for 100, should I retake?)

Research Experience:

• 6 months in Cancer Bio lab in the US as an exchange student
• 4 months as an undergrad research assistant
• 4 months in a Pharmaceutical Company
• 6 months in a Hospital as a clinical pharmacist intern (it is not strictly 'research', but I did work in the lab preparing chemotherapies, parenteral nutrition, magistral formulas, etc. medication in general, and keeping everything sterile).
• 1 year at UMich (PIBS) at a Cancer Bio lab (6 months as a research assistant/6 months as a research fellow) - one publication in brain tumor & one manuscript in preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

 St. Baldrick's Fellowship (REALLY happy about this one, really prestigious and only 25 awards in the U.S. and only one per institution!) to do pediatric brain tumor research.

Assistance to international mobility students with academic recognition ($1,500 scholarship for my exchange program)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• Retail pharmacist in Europe (almost 1 year)
• Clinical pharmacist intern in a European Hospital
• Clinical trials data analyst (for a small start-up company)
• Research Fellow
• Research Assistant 
• Administrative assistant

Courses:

• Pharm.D. (Pharmacology & therapeutics, microbiology and parasitology, toxicology, organic, inorganic, analytical chemistry, physiology and physiopathology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, genetic engineering, immunology... Many other. All relevant to research.
• HMX - Harvard Medical School - Immunology and Genetics
• Johns Hopkins - Introduction to Cancer Biology

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Poster presentations:

- 1 at Umich (breast cancer)

- 1 at a St. Baldrick's event (brain cancer)

- 1 poster presentation at a Geriatric Congress for pharmacy

- 1 poster presentation at the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists 

- 1 poster presentation at my home university in Europe.

Publications:

- One publication in a journal for continuous education for physicians and pharmacists in Europe (NOT in PubMed though)

- One publication as a co-author at the Umich.

Talks:

- 1 in my Exchange program

- Many conference-invited participant. I just got a scholarship and got invited to Boston for a Harvard-MIT-Duke conference. Not sure if I should mention that.

Special Bonus Points:  LOR are strong and I will probably submit more than 3 as I have done many things. I also speak 5 languages, don't think that would help at all though.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 

Lots of volunteering and shadowing at different hospitals and neuro-surgeries. All cancer-related. Also I got the best final thesis of my class (cancer-related as well) and it is being formatted for publication. Also started 2 cancer fundraising, collecting more than $20k by myself in one.

Applying to Where: PhD Biomedical Science - Cancer Biology

• Rockefeller University
• Harvard BBS
• Yale BBS
• UMich PIBS
• NYU
• UTexas - Austin
• Cornell
• BostonU
• UChicago
• Duke
• UC San Diego 

Please I really need advice. This is my first time ever applying to an American University, so any help is more than welcome. Being an international student makes everything 100x harder... Also, any suggestions of good Cancer-related schools are more than welcomed (I might be aiming too high). Thank you so much!

Edited August 17, 2018 by escafe

[BabyScientist]

18 hours ago, squigglyface_emoji said:

Thanks for taking the time to evaluate my profile! I'm trying to have the perspective of finding the best fit to train vs. just trying to get a phD. Additionally, with encouragement from the people writing my LORs, I threw out the notion of high-tier/ mid-tier/ safety somewhere along the way lol. However, I completely understand what you mean. The worry lingers in the back of my mind and I'm still looking at more schools to add to my list.

So far, my criteria for choosing schools includes positive stance towards industry collaborations, opportunities for students to take classes outside of their formal field, ties to medical facilities, location (fairly diverse populations), and of course, potential PIs and their lab cultures. Unsurprisingly, this fits most of the Californian schools haha. If you have any suggestions on mid-tier/safe schools I should consider, I'm definitely taking them!

 

I had a lot of mentors tell me I could reach higher than I could. Grad schools have become a lot more competitive since they applied (even my young new PI).

If you're looking at California, you should add UCSB and UC Davis to your list as more mid tiers.

[StemCellFan]

On 8/14/2018 at 9:50 AM, StHoly said:

Undergrad Institution: Good engineering/ life sciences degree University in Texas
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): Biological Chemistry
GPA in Major: 2.89 / 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.12/ 4.0
Position in Class: Struggling because I took 2 years in community college and took the heavy classes in University which kinda screwed me a little. (And I was young...  )
Type of Student: Green Card holder - domestic? Asian female 

 

Graduate Institution : Ivy League

Major : Biotechnology

GPA : 3.75 (Got a B in a really hard Chemistry Class - Nanoscale Materials) 

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 153
V:139 
W:3.5 
B:


TOEFL Total: 118

Research Experience:

1. Undergrad researcher on protein characterization with NMR and 2D NMR (1 semester) in Undergrad University,

2. Organic Chemistry undergrad researcher (2 semesters) in Undergrad University, 

3. Undergrad Teaching position for Veterinary microbiology (2 semester) in Undergrad  University,

4. Associate Scientist for Medicinal Chemistry (4 years) in MD ANDERSON, (Intern for 3 months that led to permanent position)

5. Intern in R&D Assay development in IDEXX (1 summer)

6. Graduate Student Researcher for Master Thesis (1 year)

Publications : 2 patents and 2 publication (not first author) with MD Anderson, 1 book chapter in Translational Medicine (co-author), and I will be presenting in a conference soon on Orthopaedics biomaterials. I have one paper that I am first author that's been submitted and waiting. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: AFS Junior Scholarship in Texas A&M University and Scholarship in Tomball college (my community college before I transferred to my university) 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Shadow many veterinarians during their work in the clinics, volunteers in many animal shelters, AVON 39 miles walk for breast cancer, Tutor high school chemistry for 1 semester, I worked as student worker in my Undergrad University  for a few semesters 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have travelled to Costa Rica/ Europe and Japan (I think Travelling is important part of self-development  )

Special Bonus Points: Female, minority (asian), non-traditional student? 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

MIT - Biological Engineering

Brown - Biotech

I would like to look for more schools around Boston / Rhode Island area. I am very interested in development/ application of biomaterials into bones (This is what my masters' thesis is about) 

I am in Brown right now for my school, so I hope I can get into Brown Biotech PHD program. But do you think it's possible? I do not really want to take GRE again ? I hated the testing. I almost always do better during my practice but then my nerves just got on me when I did the test. (I have done it 3 times ) 

Hi, I'm late to the party, but I wanted to mention that there are a number of PhD programs in biomedical sciences/biology that are waiving GRE requirements. 

This link will give you more information on that:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MYcxZMhf97H5Uxr2Y7XndHn6eEC5oO8XWQi2PU5jLxQ/edit#gid=0

I know Brown isn't on the list, but I think it's worth it to apply.  See if you can make a connection with someone there since you will be an alumnus, as BabyScientist suggested.

I'm not familiar with your field, but other schools in the area I know of are Harvard, Tufts, Boston U, UMass Medical School (Worcester), and Northeastern U that all have PhD programs.  Whether there are faculty doing research you are interested in, I'm unsure about that.

Good luck!

Edited August 20, 2018 by StemCellFan

[BabyScientist]

1 hour ago, StemCellFan said:

Hi, I'm late to the party, but I wanted to mention that there are a number of PhD programs in biomedical sciences/biology that are waiving GRE requirements. 

This link will give you more information on that:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MYcxZMhf97H5Uxr2Y7XndHn6eEC5oO8XWQi2PU5jLxQ/edit#gid=0

I know Brown isn't on the list, but I think it's worth it to apply.  See if you can make a connection with someone there since you will be an alumnus, as BabyScientist suggested.

I'm not familiar with your field, but other schools in the area I know of are Harvard, Tufts, Boston U, UMass Medical School (Worcester), and Northeastern U that all have PhD programs.  Whether there are faculty doing research you are interested in, I'm unsure about that.

Good luck!

Out of curiosity, did you put that list together? 

[StemCellFan]

11 hours ago, BabyScientist said:

Out of curiosity, did you put that list together? 

I didn't, and another user made a topic and posted this link here.  The individual who did is Dr. Joshua Hall at UNC (Who directs admissions to the BBSP program there).  His contact information is at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Edited August 20, 2018 by StemCellFan

[glialstar]

Undergrad Institution: Big state school
Major(s): Clinical Neuroscience 
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.05 ish
Overall GPA: 3.3
Position in Class: I graduated this spring in 3 years, but I think probably average-definitely not top
Type of Student: Domestic, female, Puerto Rican & African American

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 156/61%
V:  159/83%
W: 4.5/82%


Research Experience: 

• 1 year as a volunteer in an addiction research lab at the medical school/research institute (freshman)
• semester marketing research class-wrote a paper on consumer bias but didn't publish
• 1.5 year in a glial biology lab with a pending publication- at medical school/research institute-professor associated with my university  (middle author, end of sophomore-junior/final year).
• Summer molecular biology fellowship at Notre Dame
• summer neuroscience fellowship to continue research in the glial biology lab 
• Attended 4 conferences, presented at 2. Won poster award at ND summer REU, and a poster award at ABRCMS for neuroscience
• Worked as a biochemistry lab technician for a year during undergrad
• receptionist for student conduct for a semester
• project assistant for transportation research at my university for a year

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

• university travel award & ABRCMS travel award
• 2 poster awards
• minority foundation scholarship
• deans list 3 times (infrequently, so nothing special)
• recognized at graduation for completing undergraduate research excellence program
• recognized in university & local newspapers for research 
• Recognized at fall undergrad excellence ceremony for college of science


Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• notetaker for disabled students in cell & molecular neuroscience
• ambassador for office of undergrad research
• student conduct committee member
• team leader for study abroad in Spain
• office of undergrad research-founding member of undergrad research blog & science editorial board writer

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Special Bonus Points: female/minority, pretty solid LOR-1 well known in field
 

Completing NIH postbacc Mayo Clinic for the next year-option to stay another year should this application cycle not go well

Applying to Where: Neuroscience focused PhD

• Mayo Clinic Neurobiology
• Yale BBS
• Northwestern
• Brown
• USUHS
• Princeton
• Cornell
• Dartmouth
• Columbia
• NYU
• Boston U
• UVA
• NIH-Brown Neuroscience PhD

I am aware this list looks crazy-I figure the worst they can say is no, in which case I take the feedback and spend a second year in the postbacc

[glialstar]

On 8/16/2018 at 3:39 PM, mcfc2018 said:

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 US School
Major(s): Neuroscience
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.9ish
Overall GPA: 3.88
Position in Class: No clue
Type of Student: Asian American male
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 169
V: 164
W: idk (probs 3 or 4). 
B:

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Been doing neuro research since spring of freshman year in one lab. 5 semesters, 2 summers in the lab. 

Spent past summer doing research at the NIH. Will be graduating this fall and returning to the NIH for the spring semester

1. Neuro research in one lab: 5 semesters, 2 summers. 1 1st author paper that's still under review. Poster presentation at SfN, 2 poster presentations at undergrad college. 

2. Neuro research under the same PI at the NIH: 1 summer, will be returning in January for another semester. NIH Summer poster presentation.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

NIH Summer Student Award

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, SPS officer etc...)

1. TA for introductory Chemistry Lab (5 semesters)

2. TA for mid level physiology class (1 semester)

3. TA for advanced bio class (1 semester)

4. TA for freshman seminar (1 semester)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

4 Letters of recommendation:

1. My PI (Should be fairly strong)

2. My advisor

3. Professor of lab class I took and will be TAing for

4. Professor of class I'm TAing for.

Applying to Where:
Looking to get into a top tier school (Harvard, UCSF, Hopkins) in Neuro but haven't exactly settled on a comprehensive list. 

I would look into applying to some of the NIH partnered programs as well, since you already have contacts there. NIH-Brown, NIH-Oxford/Cambridge, NIH-Karolinska (Sweden). Your state are pretty great so I think youd have a good shot!

[Renalee]

Undergrad Institution: Large state school, nothing special
Major(s): Double in Biology and Environmental Studies
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 3.89 (Biology)
Overall GPA: 3.93
Position in Class: Unsure but I graduated summa cum laude
Type of Student: domestic, white, female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 157 (65th %)
V: 163 (93rd %)
W: 4 (59th %)
I took this in late 2014 (graduated in 2015). At this point I don't think I'd really do any better on it so I'm hesitant to spend the money retaking it.

Research Experience:

1 year of undergrad research in a plant genetics lab, but nothing significant came of it.

Have been working as a research specialist for the past 2.5 years (will be 3 years in February) at an institution associated with Emory University. I will be promoted to lead research specialist next month. I have done a poster presentation at one conference, have one paper published (3rd author), 1 paper submitted (3rd author), and 2 papers in the pipeline (one 2nd author and one middle author). My research is focused on genetics and immunology and I do a lot of single cell sequencing.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated summa cum laude, was on the President's List for 5 semesters and Dean's List for 3 semesters. Was also a National Merit Scholar but that was a pretty long time ago so it doesn't really matter.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Nothing besides my current job as a research specialist.

 

Letters of Recommendation: Will be getting a strong letter from my PI and potentially from his colleague who knows me and is quite well known in the HIV/AIDS field. Considering whether a letter from the postdoc I work under or the lab manager of my lab would be better for my last letter (both should be very positive, I'm just not sure if one would "look" better than the other?).


Applying to Where:

Rockefeller

Emory

University of Chicago

Harvard

Cornell

Boston University

 

I know my list is pretty top heavy and I've been looking for other schools to apply to but I think I'm too picky. I'm really interested in vaccine development and anything with single cells, but kind of want to get away from the HIV/AIDS field. I'm partial to moving to the Northeast.

[BabyScientist]

12 hours ago, StemCellFan said:

I didn't, and another user made a topic and posted this link here.  The individual who did is Dr. Joshua Hall at UNC (Who directs admissions to the BBSP program there).  His contact information is at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Gotcha! That's a cool resource. I was just wondering because making a spreadsheet with info like that is the crazy kind of thing I would do lol

[BabyScientist]

9 hours ago, leecy77 said:

Undergrad Institution: Big state school
Major(s): Clinical Neuroscience 
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.05 ish
Overall GPA: 3.3
Position in Class: I graduated this spring in 3 years, but I think probably average-definitely not top
Type of Student: Domestic, female, Puerto Rican & African American

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 156/61%
V:  159/83%
W: 4.5/82%


Research Experience: 

• 1 year as a volunteer in an addiction research lab at the medical school/research institute (freshman)
• semester marketing research class-wrote a paper on consumer bias but didn't publish
• 1.5 year in a glial biology lab with a pending publication- at medical school/research institute-professor associated with my university  (middle author, end of sophomore-junior/final year).
• Summer molecular biology fellowship at Notre Dame
• summer neuroscience fellowship to continue research in the glial biology lab 
• Attended 4 conferences, presented at 2. Won poster award at ND summer REU, and a poster award at ABRCMS for neuroscience
• Worked as a biochemistry lab technician for a year during undergrad
• receptionist for student conduct for a semester
• project assistant for transportation research at my university for a year

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

• university travel award & ABRCMS travel award
• 2 poster awards
• minority foundation scholarship
• deans list 3 times (infrequently, so nothing special)
• recognized at graduation for completing undergraduate research excellence program
• recognized in university & local newspapers for research 
• Recognized at fall undergrad excellence ceremony for college of science


Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• notetaker for disabled students in cell & molecular neuroscience
• ambassador for office of undergrad research
• student conduct committee member
• team leader for study abroad in Spain
• office of undergrad research-founding member of undergrad research blog & science editorial board writer

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Special Bonus Points: female/minority, pretty solid LOR-1 well known in field
 

Completing NIH postbacc Mayo Clinic for the next year-option to stay another year should this application cycle not go well

Applying to Where: Neuroscience focused PhD

• Mayo Clinic Neurobiology
• Yale BBS
• Northwestern
• Brown
• USUHS
• Princeton
• Cornell
• Dartmouth
• Columbia
• NYU
• Boston U
• UVA
• NIH-Brown Neuroscience PhD

I am aware this list looks crazy-I figure the worst they can say is no, in which case I take the feedback and spend a second year in the postbacc

I think you have a few more Ivies than are worth applying for on there... If you have the money then there's definitely no reason why you shouldn't go for it, though.

I applied for 5 of those programs and am attending one of them, in case you want to know any specifics. 

Edited August 21, 2018 by BabyScientist

[glialstar]

11 hours ago, BabyScientist said:

I think you have a few more Ivies than are worth applying for on there... If you have the money then there's definitely no reason why you shouldn't go for it, though.

I applied for 5 of those programs and am attending one of them, in case you want to know any specifics. 

I have fee waivers to all thanks to ABRCMS so the app fees at least wont be an issue-which would you reccomend droppng though? I was unsure which schools have the automatic sort/drop based on low gpa’s.

[lmb123]

10 minutes ago, leecy77 said:

I have fee waivers to all thanks to ABRCMS so the app fees at least wont be an issue-which would you reccomend droppng though? I was unsure which schools have the automatic sort/drop based on low gpa’s.

I've never heard of any schools that strictly reject based on numbers alone (like the automated kind I've heard about for med schools). I think you might as well apply!