The Awkward Question: What should I do if I don't get in?

[yash13177]

Alright everyone,

I'm hoping that I'm not alone in this but I can't help but be filled with anxiety with waiting. I applied to many top programs, and I know that sometimes it's a roll of the dice as to whether you can get in or not because there's just so many amazing applicants! 

So far, I've received only 1 formal interview invitation (University of Virginia) and 1 official rejection (UCSF...sob sob). I am guessing that I'm not getting many invites because I didn't reach out to enough professors... Will follow up with programs after receiving formal decisions.

Now I'm facing the dreaded question: What if I don't get any other interview invitations? Should I try applying next year? I feel like being a second-time applicant is not favorable, especially since I am applying as a current Master's student. 

Any advice/fellow freak-outs are welcome!

My Background:

Undergrad Institution: State University well-known for undergraduate student research (attended 2011 – 2016)

Current Institution: Went international to get a Master’s at a University ranked #3 in Asia (2016 - currently attending)
Undergrad Major(s): Neurobiology, MCB
Undergrad Minor(s): Biochemistry, Music Performance
Undergrad GPA in Major: 3.86 (Neuro)/ 3.511 (MCB)
Undergrad Overall GPA: 3.622 (Had a rough first semester, luckily my last 2 years are 4.0)
Current Major: Life Science

Current GPA: 3.767/4.000 (major GPA: 4.167/4.000)

Position in Class: Graduated cum laude, current position unknown
Type of Student: Domestic White & Asian Female, currently abroad

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160 (76%)
V: 158 (80%)
W: 5 (93%)
B: ---


Research Experience: 

1) Undergrad lab experience: started in Spring 2013

• two labs where I stayed a year each, was looking into getting different types of neuroscience research experience. One was neuroanatomy/neuro-evolution the other was computational neuroscience
• Most significant undergraduate lab: 2.5 years. Absolutely loved it, mainly dealt with neuron-glia networks and my PIs were just phenomenal!

2)    Masters lab experience: started in September 2016

• Working on a “high risk high reward” project that is very creative... it is related to mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease

3)    Research output:

• Undergrad:
  • One paper; authorship: 2^nd / 8
  • SFN poster presentation 2015
  • Many University level poster presentations
• Masters
  • SFN poster presentation 2017
  • Manuscript in preparation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

1)    During undergrad I managed to snag about ~10 research awards/poster winning stuff/travel grants and I was also recognized by my university for outstanding undergrad research ?

2)    Also have grade-based awards (ex deans list) from 2014 – 2016 for undergrad

3)    Current awards: I have a research and teaching studentship award as well as received a travel grant for 2017 SFN
 

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

1)    A lot of teaching experience: preceptor for 4 neuroscience classes during undergrad and presently a graduate TA for intro bio lab course

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

1)    Very active in music, both during undergrad and Master’s

2)    Professional Development activities: very active in undergrad

• Student club with longstanding leadership role
• Nu Rho Psi:
  • active in undergrad chapter with leadership role
  • active in NRP at SFN
• university research programs that provided funding and neuroscience training bootcamps

3)    Outreach activities: again…very busy in undergrad!

• have some mentions in interviews (news articles/radio shows) about research and/or neuroscience outreach events
• Summer counselor for a research camp for middle/high school students at a research center (this was between undergrad and masters)

4)    Will be attending SFN 2018 (no poster though) so I will definitely take the chance to network/visit posters of potential labs/meet with PIs of potential labs (hopefully)... etc.

 

Special Bonus Points: 

1)    I will have a Master’s degree! Yay! Obtained this because I was interested in gaining international research experience.

2)    My mentors at my undergrad institution and current PI can write me very strong LORs

3)    Active attendee to various academic workshops/conferences

4)    I have been fortunate to gain very diverse research experience from being active in labs starting from 2013!

5)    I have done a lot of networking and my past/current PIs are also well-known and well-connected. 

 

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

1)    Like I said, first semester of undergrad was rough…ended with a 2.0. Worked hard to turn it around but it still weighs down my cumulative GPA. Good news: I was in an upwards trend from there.

2)    I am worried about my GRE score…particularly my Quant is lower than I would like. I know that a student is more than a score and I have a decent amount of research experience but I’m still worried!

3)    I am currently abroad which makes me worry about whether schools would be willing to invite me for interviews…I’ll make it clear in my application that interviewing in-person is something I really want…but I’m scared it’ll be a turn-off.

Applying to Where:
Research interests: neuron-glia interactions, neuro-degeneration

But, my goal is to find a really great mentor... not as concerned what type of neuroscience it is... I find most things exciting! ?

 

 

tldr; should I re-apply if I don't get enough interview offers? that would mean asking my current PI for an RA job. that means...5 years UG, 2.5 years for Masters, and 1 year RA before applying in Fall 2019 for Fall 2020

[BabyScientist]

First, it's still very early, you already have one interview invite and you could get more. You're freaking out too early. 

Contacting professors isn't required and likely isn't the problem, so don't worry about that.

Your GRE scores are fine and no one cares about the GRE anymore anyway.

You asked if you should reapply if you don't get enough interview offers, but it should be "should I reapply if I don't get the right admissions offer". You only need to get into one school, and you only need to really like one school. UVA is amazing if you're interested in neuron-glia interactions, and I absolutely loved it when I interviewed. It could be the one.

If you don't get in anywhere: re-evaluate your SOP - that and LORs are the most important component and a lot of people unknowingly throw red flags into their SOPs. 

But again, you're worrying about this wayyyy too early. I continued to get interview invites until mid January. Just because people have started to get them and some people have gotten so many doesn't mean there aren't still so many more to come. Chill. You got this. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by BabyScientist

[yash13177]

@BabyScientist

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have to admit I've been a little gradcafe crazy... seeing everyone get offers and not hearing anything has just made me really anxious thus the post above. I so very much appreciate your reply. For now, I'll try to keep it cool. I'm just worried that I won't be even able to check out the programs I'm interested in because I won't get an interview... time will tell! Thank you so so much!

[BabyScientist]

5 hours ago, yash13177 said:

@BabyScientist

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have to admit I've been a little gradcafe crazy... seeing everyone get offers and not hearing anything has just made me really anxious thus the post above. I so very much appreciate your reply. For now, I'll try to keep it cool. I'm just worried that I won't be even able to check out the programs I'm interested in because I won't get an interview... time will tell! Thank you so so much!

No problem. Gradcafe isn't very healthy for this phase in the application process. Happy to chat whenever. 

[katcz324]

Actually same here! I got a formal invite from UVA as well! ?This is my first time applying to any grad school programs, so I’m actually pretty excited to get an invite at all! And I’ve also been pretty anxious seeing all the other invites and whatnot, but your resume looks really good! Wishing you the best! ?

[fortsibut]

Good luck!  I've been wondering the same thing myself.  I finished my MA up in February and it took me nearly nine months to find a job in my geographical area (for a long list of reasons) and it's retail hell.  Really hoping these applications work out, and if not I think I've got one more application season in me before I opt to move on which would be really tough.  Can't justify staying in limbo for years on end doing this though.

[dontor]

how many places do people apply on average to have the best chance of getting in? I applied to 13, a lot of them in top 25 ranked (5 or so in top 10), cause my friend said you really want a phd, just go ahead and apply to as many to give it your best shot getting in somewhere.

Edited January 4, 2019 by dontor

[ASDadvocate]

14 minutes ago, dontor said:

how many places do people apply on average to have the best chance of getting in? I applied to 13, a lot of them in top 25 ranked (5 or so in top 10), cause my friend said you really want a phd, just go ahead and apply to as many to give it your best shot getting in somewhere.

I applied to 9 very different programs but all with research and POIs interested in the population I'm interested in. I'm an older applicant and I either want to do research/clinical work in what I'm interested in or not at all. For me, fit was extremely important- it's minimum 5 years of life! Then again some people may think I made my interests way too narrow. I applied to 9 because I wanted to increase my chances (psych programs, especially clinical psych, are very competitive) but also because these were the only ones I found matching my interests and in locations I'd be willing to relocate my family to. At this point only time will tell. I think we ultimately end where we're meant to be. Good luck to you all!! 

[Dwar]

2 hours ago, dontor said:

how many places do people apply on average to have the best chance of getting in? I applied to 13, a lot of them in top 25 ranked (5 or so in top 10), cause my friend said you really want a phd, just go ahead and apply to as many to give it your best shot getting in somewhere.

I applied to five Schools. Over the summer I spent months looking through both ratings of schools and various rankings. I went from like 35 schools down to five. I picked only schools that I can actually see myself attending, and that I have a shot at getting into. So in the end I applied to two reach schools (Top 20) two match schools (20-50) and a safety school (50-100). The costs for applications do add up, so if you don't have a lot of money to spend on those I suggest limiting your applications! 

[fortsibut]

15 hours ago, dontor said:

how many places do people apply on average to have the best chance of getting in? I applied to 13, a lot of them in top 25 ranked (5 or so in top 10), cause my friend said you really want a phd, just go ahead and apply to as many to give it your best shot getting in somewhere.

I applied to 4 but only because I missed the deadline for one because stupid and wasn't sure about three others.  If everything had played out like I had hoped, it would have been eight.  Thirteen seems high from my perspective but maybe that's just a history thing; I had trouble finding a ton of schools that had POIs that I felt were really good matches for my research interests.  I guess it's probably an individual thing-if you found 13 programs that were good fits for you than that's great!

[yash13177]

I applied to 11 and I've only heard from 2... which cued the anxiety-ridden original post...

I've taken @BabyScientist's advice and have tried to relax... but it really is tough!! I have no idea whether I should re-apply or not.

[yash13177]

On 1/4/2019 at 7:39 AM, fortsibut said:

Good luck!  I've been wondering the same thing myself.  I finished my MA up in February and it took me nearly nine months to find a job in my geographical area (for a long list of reasons) and it's retail hell.  Really hoping these applications work out, and if not I think I've got one more application season in me before I opt to move on which would be really tough.  Can't justify staying in limbo for years on end doing this though.

My fingers are crossed for you!!! That's really what I'm worried about is appearing to be in limbo.. especially if I decided to re-apply next cycle...it'll put even more time after my bachelor's degree on top of my master's degree........ 

Let's stay strong!  

[BabyScientist]

It's not really about quantity of schools applied to if none are a good fit. You want to make sure the schools align with your interests. Adcomms can tell if they don't.

Again, there's still plenty of time and there's no need to worry until like March, and even then there's still a chance! But I'm happy to look at people's applications and give my input for what you can do to improve your application for next time if it comes down to it.