Molecular Biology/Cancer Biology - where can I reasonably expect to get in?

[kayjayz]

I know these posts get old, but I would really appreciate any super brutal honesty that anyone can throw at me.

I'm 24 (I started college when I was 20), white, female. 3.29 GPA at University of Kentucky (second two years), 3.89 during my associates degree (first two years), 165V and 168Q on GRE. Second author on a total of 4 papers during the last 2 years with an average IF of 4.0, third and fourth author on two finished book chapters, and I have submitted a first author paper for review which (fingers crossed) should be published by the time I submit applications, plus I'm 1/4-1/2 way finished with another first author manuscript. 4 posters - 3 in the last 2 years, one presented at an international conference (I received a competitive travel grant for this one), two at regional conferences (one during my associates, one during my bachelors), and I've done two short talks at my home University - one each of the last two years of my undergrad. I have worked as a technician full time for the last 2+ years (last 2 years of my undergrad), and I worked 3 jobs during my first two years of undergrad - tutoring (both through my college and privately) bio/physiology/chemistry/physics/math, working as a student lab tech for my associates degree, and working as a proctor for disability support services. I've mentored 2 high school students, 3 undergraduates, and 2 medical students while working as a technician. I know I can expect fantastic LOR's from several of my class professors as well as my PI and the Assistant Professor in my lab.

So that being said, I think I have quite a bit of research/lab experience which is definitely beneficial for marketing myself as a graduate student. However, I'm concerned that my not so wonderful GPA is going to hold me back from more competitive programs. I can explain away the GPA a bit -- my mother is an unemployed drug addict, I spent all but the last semester of my undergrad financially supporting her an myself (she currently lives in a different, very southern state at a recovery program) and in addition to that, I've had some pretty severe medical issues during undergrad, including two auto immune diagnoses (both have been mostly controlled by medication) and 3 surgeries (knee, spine, and heart surgery). I think I've done pretty well in spite of all of my struggles, but I do not want to seem like I'm leaning on a sob story to get myself through to the next step, period.

That being said, I have no idea where I can expect to get in to graduate school. What I do know is that I need to get as far away from my current situation as possible so that I do not fall back in to the trap of taking care of my mother if/when she returns home from recovery for the sake of my future. My sister lives in the DC area, which is appealing to me, but I am interested in programs in the northeast and northwest corners of the country --- just not south. I understand I can't ask anyone to pick programs for me, but I would really appreciate any insights anyone might have about where to start looking, and what types of programs I can reasonably expect to get in to.

[BeakerBreaker]

On 7/7/2018 at 12:15 AM, kayjayz said:

I have worked as a technician full time for the last 2+ years (last 2 years of my undergrad)

You were working ~40 hours/week as a technician while finishing undergrad? That would be a good bit of experience.

I think you should shoot for the top. Your GPA isn't stellar but won't prevent you from getting into good schools. Having good LORs will certainly help, but otherwise you look good to go.

For your personal statement, you want to be able to express clearly why you want to do research full time at the doctoral level (so, independent thinking), what kind of projects you are interested in working on, and why the school you are applying to is the right fit. Grad schools want to see someone who knows what they are getting themselves into and has a clear and realistic vision for what they want to do with their career, and project someone who will thrive in a graduate environment. All of this is crucial.

For the rest -- you can work in the hardship statements, but don't be defensive about yourself. Graduate school is basically a job interview and you don't want them looking at you like a charity case. If you expound on your medical issues, you sound like a liability -- this is not a good thing and they don't need to know. On the other hand, if work your family situation into it (don't make this the focus, though), you will sound like someone with grit which is one of the most important characteristics an incoming grad student can have.

Do you have a good sense of the sorts of things you want to study? You should be going through the labs of the programs you might be interested in and seeing who you might want to work for. As a general rule of thumb, find schools with multiple options for mentors so you don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Start with the top schools and make a spreadsheet of programs/labs and just work your way down until you feel like you have a large list, then whittle it down to ~10 schools for applications at the very least. On the coasts, places like UCSF/MIT/Harvard/UWashington/Etc... Mix some of those with schools in the middle-brackets. Think about what those environments might be like. The classes won't be the challenge, but the atmosphere/culture will be demanding and require hard work. You should be able to get some financial assistance for the application fees themselves.

Anyway, you sound pretty inspirational. If you want further advice on whittling things down, narrowing down the choices, or crafting the personal statement, poke around here or shoot me a PM. Good luck!

[BabyScientist]

At some schools, a sub par GPA can be outweighed by strong research experience. Schools like Harvard, Yale, UCSF, MIT, etc are more likely to filter you out in their first round based on GPA alone (more competitive schools can afford to do that), but I think you'd have good odds at places like Boston University, UPittsburg, UWisconsin Madison, Northwestern, NYU, USC. Really, you should be deciding where to apply based on faculty with your research interests, so just think of schools that might be in your range and see if they have faculty working on something you're interested in.

As for your sob story - it's not your sob story, it's your reality. Your statement of purpose should be focused on why you would make a good researcher and why you want to do it. I would advise focusing on that in your SOP, with maybe a little reference to having a tough family situation in your intro, and writing something up separately that you can upload as supplemental information explaining your situation. I knew someone with a 2.9 undergrad GPA with an honestly less terrible sob story who got into both USC and NYU for cell/molec bio.

Focus on writing a strong statement of purpose that really shows you have what it takes, getting strong letters of recc, and applying only to schools that really match your research interests.

I'd be happy to help with all this - feel free to message me.

Edited July 19, 2018 by BabyScientist

[lmb123]

If I'm reading this correctly, it seems like your overall GPA for undergrad is a 3.6 and your GRE scores are above the 90th percentile. Of course keep a range of schools in mind, but I don't think a 3.6 GPA will be a real hindrance, and it will definitely not get you screened out of top schools (I know from experience). Once you look through possible PIs at different schools, we get let you know if you have the right balance of schools on your list. 

[kayjayz]

It has been a long time since I posted on this thread, but I wanted to share the list of schools I plan to apply to in case anyone had some last minute advice! I'm still not sure I'm applying to the right range of schools.

• University of Wisconsin-Madison (Cellular and Molecular Biology)
• University of Washington (Molecular and Cellular Bio, Cancer Bio Concentration)
• University of Pennsylvania (Cell and Molecular Biology, Cancer Bio Concentration)
• Weill Cornell Medical College (BCMB Allied Program)
• Vanderbilt University (IGP, Cancer Bio Concentration)
• UNC at Chapel Hill (Biological & Biomedical Sciences Program)
• University of Colorado Boulder (Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology)
• Case Western Reserve University (Biomedical Sciences Training Program)
• University of Pittsburgh (Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology or Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program)
• University of Colorado Denver (Molecular Biology)
• University of Cincinnati (Cancer & Cell Biology)