2020 Neuroscience PhD Applicants and Admission Results

[Syesdnil11]

Stats:

Undergraduate Institution- State School

Major/Minor: Psychology/Biology

Degree: B.S. (graduated 2010)

GPA: 2.96 overall, 3.89 in Major/Minor courses

GRE: didn’t take, not required

Undergrad Experience:
-2 semesters of undergrad research experience, travelled to Experimental Biology annual meeting for poster presentation  (2nd author)

-2nd place award in student research day
 

Post-Bac experience:

-2011-2017: executive director of a non-profit organization (a small animal shelter, but definitely provided plenty of leadership experience)

-2017-present: Researcher at an R1 university (SIU) in neuroscience lab. We study alterations in glutamate neurotransmission throughout stages of AD progression. PI’s are well respected in their field, known for expertise in real-time recording of in vivo neurotransmitter activity using enzyme coated ceramic micro electrode arrays. Have 2 sfn abstracts (2nd and 3rd author), 1 ad/pd abstract (2nd author), 1 manuscript that will be submitted for review next week (2nd author). Current project is a collaboration with a very distinguished PI (widely known for his research in aging and longevity, over 400 publications, 30 years of continuous NIH funding, etc...). I will be 2nd author on publication that comes from this. 

Research interests:

-successful aging and neurodegenerative disease

-altered neurotransmission in age-related neurodegenerative disease

-Optogenetics in the study and characterization of age-related neurodegenerative disease

-neuroendocrine changes associated with age-related neurodegenerative disease

-cellular senescence and the role of senescent cells in age-related neurodegeneration

LOR’s: one from each of my PI’s and one from collaborator mentioned above. Have worked with all 3 very closely, expecting strong letters. 
 

I am applying to 3 programs: Michigan State University, U of Michigan, and SIU. I have corresponded with potential advisors from MSU and U of M, all have expressed interest in my research experience and encouraged me to apply to program and name them on my apps. 
 

MSU is my first choice as their program strongly focuses on age-related neurodegenerative disease and labs are doing work that line up very well with my research interests. U of M is more of a long-shot, and has fewer labs I’m interested in, but the PI I collaborate with has strong connections to labs that study aging. 

SIU is a fallback, the PI’s I work for have already offered me an RA spot in the lab (already funded through current R01) and have a project lined up for me if I decide to study there. I would be admitted as off-cycle, so I can start research right away and take required courses the following year. (SIU usually only admits in odd-numbered years for the neuroscience program, but will make an exception in my case). The only reason I am not choosing this program as 1st on my list is bc my SO moved to Grand Rapids, MI earlier this year for work and I’d like to be able to be closer to him. The research being done in labs at MSU is very similar to what we are doing here except they look at tau, while we look at abeta (not joking, it’s kind of scary how similar the labs are to my current one).

My Personal Statement and Academic statement are pretty strong (I think). Had them reviewed by my PI’s and collaborator (he used to be on admissions committees for SIU, so I trust his judgement) and they approve. 

Oh, and I’m a white female, figured I’d throw that in there since it seems to be what everyone else has been doing.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Syesdnil11
Added research interests

[gaultiero]

International here, applying with my partner. I hope to get advice on whether I am too specific with research interests OR ambitious with schools? Thanks!

• International, asian male from Singapore
• B.Sc. in Life Sciences (from the top college here)
• GPA: 4.65/5.0 (summa cum laude)
• GRE: 163V 165Q 4.0W
• Interests: Optical methods to understand primate/mice vision (i.e. 2P, Ca2+ imaging, optogenetics)
• Research Experience: 4 years in a human vision lab (behavioral psychophysics), 1 year in a primate prefrontal working memory lab (microelectrodes).
• Publications/Posters: 1 first author publication in eNeuro (accepted), 1st author preprint (primate work), 1st author poster at SfN 2019 (primate work)
• Letters: 3 strong letters from local faculty who got PhDs from US Ivies.
• Applying to (preferred): UT Austin, UCSD/Salk, Stanford, Columbia, MIT (most concerned about these, in that order)
• Applying to (less-preferred): UT Health @ Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, UCLA, Caltech,  NYU, CSHL, Harvard, UChicago.
• Grappling with: Crafting SOPs (not sure if mentioning optical methods to study vision is too specific). I'm also applying together with my partner for Texas, Cali, NY, Boston schools. We gotta get into schools in the same area, not necessarily same school.

Edited November 23, 2019 by gaultiero

[phd2020]

Feedback appreciated! Here's my stats:

• undergrad GPA: 3.6 double major psychology and philosophy, university and psychology honors programs 
• postbac GPA in the general sciences (I didn't take many of them as an undergrad since majors were psych and phil): 3.9
• part-time grad studies in pharmacology at top grad school - no grades yet, just started in the fall 
• Research Experience: 2 years in a behavior lab as an undergraduate - independent research as an honors student, 1 year research tech at a neuroscience/pharm lab at R1 institution with a well-known professor
• 1 co-author publication in top journal, 2 papers co-author under revision (one of my letter writers states which journals in her letter). 
• 12 posters at big conferences, 3 first-author 
• Letters very strong 
• Applying to: UNC BBSP, Yale BBS, Duke Pharmacology, UMD Neuroscience, Tufts Neuroscience, Vanderbilt IGP - have reached out to professors and gotten a lot of interest
• Research interests: affective disorder circuitry, neuropharmacology 

[nrf4611]

Hi everyone! Just finished submitting all my applications today so of course I am already very anxious about hearing back ?

My list (in order of preference): Princeton (Psych PhD), Harvard (PiN), Brown-NIH (Neuro), UPenn (NGG), Northwestern (NUIN), Georgetown (IPN)

Undergrad

Trinity College, CT

GPA: 3.9

Majors: Psychology and Philosophy 

Research Experience: (Epilepsy and Metabolism) Worked in a Neuroscience research lab for 2 1/2 years (behavioral neuroscience) with both clinical and rodent experience. 

Publications: 1 second author pub in Epilepsia and a 3rd author pub in review that will be in JAMA (based on my thesis research done in coordination with the Karolinska Institute)

Presentations: NEURON, Society for Neuroscience and other smaller presentations.

Post-Grad

NIH Postbac IRTA (2 years)

Research Experience: (Neurogenesis) Extensive rodent experience (surgery, behavioral paradigms, etc.), Stats/Computational experience, Immunohistochemistry training, and Confocal microscopy.

Publications: None as of yet ? but I have ran and completed 5 studies with publishable data so its likely something will eventually be published. I also recently was able to propose a study of my own idea/design to my PI that is in the process of completion.

I have had good communications with professors in all of these programs, however the Brown program seems to be the most "guaranteed" given that my current PI is on the admissions committee and wants me back in her lab. I am confident my letters of rec are very strong, as are my statements, however my GRE wasn't great (159V, 159 Q, 4.5 AW), and given that it is no longer required for many programs I did not submit it to many programs. Did anyone else choose not to submit scores since they are not required? 

I hope this helps anyone else who is applying

Edited November 26, 2019 by nrf4611

[D2R]

Hi! Just wondering did everyone applying to UCSD NGP received a email survey asking their interested research area?

[Logic]

7 hours ago, CHRISZ531 said:

Hi! Just wondering did everyone applying to UCSD NGP received a email survey asking their interested research area?

I applied to UCSD NGP, and received it.

It’s weird... I wonder why they would ask that when they already have our applications.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Logic
Saying it’s weird

[D2R]

2 hours ago, Logic said:

I applied to UCSD NGP, and received it.

It’s weird... I wonder why they would ask that when they already have our applications.

I heard some words about they compare applicants within similar research interest area...but I'm not sure tho, Idk why they don't put that question on the online application. Now it just made me start to overthink everything lmao.

[Logic]

On 11/25/2019 at 4:57 PM, nrf4611 said:

Hi everyone! Just finished submitting all my applications today so of course I am already very anxious about hearing back ?

My list (in order of preference): Princeton (Psych PhD), Harvard (PiN), Brown-NIH (Neuro), UPenn (NGG), Northwestern (NUIN), Georgetown (IPN)

Undergrad

Trinity College, CT

GPA: 3.9

Majors: Psychology and Philosophy 

Research Experience: (Epilepsy and Metabolism) Worked in a Neuroscience research lab for 2 1/2 years (behavioral neuroscience) with both clinical and rodent experience. 

Publications: 1 second author pub in Epilepsia and a 3rd author pub in review that will be in JAMA (based on my thesis research done in coordination with the Karolinska Institute)

Presentations: NEURON, Society for Neuroscience and other smaller presentations.

Post-Grad

NIH Postbac IRTA (2 years)

Research Experience: (Neurogenesis) Extensive rodent experience (surgery, behavioral paradigms, etc.), Stats/Computational experience, Immunohistochemistry training, and Confocal microscopy.

Publications: None as of yet ? but I have ran and completed 5 studies with publishable data so its likely something will eventually be published. I also recently was able to propose a study of my own idea/design to my PI that is in the process of completion.

I have had good communications with professors in all of these programs, however the Brown program seems to be the most "guaranteed" given that my current PI is on the admissions committee and wants me back in her lab. I am confident my letters of rec are very strong, as are my statements, however my GRE wasn't great (159V, 159 Q, 4.5 AW), and given that it is no longer required for many programs I did not submit it to many programs. Did anyone else choose not to submit scores since they are not required? 

I hope this helps anyone else who is applying

Nice application. Looks like you'll have good chances.

Are you considering studying philosophy alongside neuroscience in graduate school? I ask because I was a physics major in undergrad but I took all the coursework for a second major in philosophy. (During my senior year, I found out one of my classes wouldn't count for the philosophy major so I ended up graduating only with a Physics major). 

You can see my stats and where I applied in this thread, but, if things work out, I'm definitely considering performing philosophy research alongside neuroscience in graduate school. I worry that I'm already so niche (in mathematical/computational neuroscience) that it'll be difficult. But whatever happens happens.

[nrf4611]

On 11/30/2019 at 3:12 AM, Logic said:

Nice application. Looks like you'll have good chances.

Are you considering studying philosophy alongside neuroscience in graduate school? I ask because I was a physics major in undergrad but I took all the coursework for a second major in philosophy. (During my senior year, I found out one of my classes wouldn't count for the philosophy major so I ended up graduating only with a Physics major). 

You can see my stats and where I applied in this thread, but, if things work out, I'm definitely considering performing philosophy research alongside neuroscience in graduate school. I worry that I'm already so niche (in mathematical/computational neuroscience) that it'll be difficult. But whatever happens happens.

Thank you, seems like you have a very strong application as well!

Yes, I am planning on trying to continue my philosophy studies if possible, but if it's not possible through actual coursework I have been collecting many books from various fields/time periods in philosophy that are already taking me forever to get through. I think it will depend on the program I do but yes whatever happens happens! 

[pipettestan]

And the waiting game begins! Good luck everyone!

[Genom3]

5 hours ago, pipettestan said:

And the waiting game begins! Good luck everyone!

Rejection mails nightmare ruined my sleep last night xD The next few months are going to be like this I guess. 

[pyruvate]

I finally came around to applying for graduate programs because the GRE is no longer required for many of them!
I told myself that I wouldn't scour this site, but here goes my attempt to ease the stress while we all wait. Fun times.

Undergrad: Top Canadian School
Major: Neurobiology & Biochemistry
Major GPA: 79% (which apparently translates to 3.6 according to the university's table)
Overall: 78% (apparently 3.5)

Research experiences:

• 3 years during undergrad. 1 first author publication in a good journal for the field. It's received 30 citations in the past 4 years.
• 1 year full-time co-op at a top European research institute in a well known Neuroscience lab.
• 2 years of full-time research since graduating, working at top European research institute in our field.

Publications:

• 1 first author in 2015 during undergrad
• 1 recent first author preprint, another one on the way (but that probably doesn't count yet )
• Gave a talk at an SFN satellite meeting this year & at another conference this year
• Had some posters during undergrad

Awards:

• 6 month Marie Curie Fellowship after I graduated.

My LORs are supposedly very good and all of them are PIs I did research with and have good relations with. One of them is from a well known Neuroscience lab. Sent an additional LOR from a course instructor to applications that allowed greater than 3.

I targeted programs with faculty that work on circuits & behavior, which fits my research background and interests. Talked about it in my application essays.

My biggest bottleneck is that my GPA isn't that great ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Applying to (in order of preference for now):

UC Berkeley
Northwestern - NUIN program
Columbia
Johns Hopkins
Princeton
Washington University in St. Louis
UNC Chapel Hill
Rockefeller
Stanford
UCSD - applied to Neuroscience and Biology programs

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by pyruvate

[pipettestan]

8 hours ago, Genom3 said:

Rejection mails nightmare ruined my sleep last night xD The next few months are going to be like this I guess. 

I spent last night looking at the 2019 thread and seeing when decisions come out lol...

 

[Anonyneuron]

1 hour ago, pipettestan said:

I spent last night looking at the 2019 thread and seeing when decisions come out lol...

 

Omg I did this too ahaha. Also one of my LORs is still not in so there’s that....sigh 

[gene_machine509]

I haven't stopped lurking this forum since I sent in my applications but I haven't seen much overlap to where I am applying, I figured I'd post my info in case there are any other similar lurkers.

Undergrad: Decently ranked small liberal arts school

Major: Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology

cGPA:  3.2

Major GPA: 3.6

GRE: V-161 (88th %), Q-156 (60th %), AW-4.5 (81st %)

Where I have applied: Colorado - Boulder (Behavioral, Psychiatric, Statistical Genetics/neuro), Utah (neuro), Iowa (neuro), OHSU (neuro), Illinois (neuro), Rutgers (Behavioral and Neural Sciences), Dartmouth (Quantitative biomedical sciences), University of Alabama Birmingham (neuro)

Research Experience: ~3.5 years so far

* 1.5 years post-bac full-time research in a computational biology/neuro lab

* 2 years undergrad in a variety of labs: a few traumatic brain injury labs, an animal cognition lab, and a clinical psych lab

Publications: 5 posters so far, 3 of which are 1st author. 2 in a major conference, won't have a paper in press for at least a few more months.

Research interests: these have changed significantly since I graduated so I have been trying to get as much post-bac experience in the appropriate field. I am interested in finding biomarkers predictive of cognitive phenotype and risk for psychiatric conditions using genetic and neuroimaging data.

Misc.:

* Should have 3 very strong LoR, and felt surprisingly good about my SoP

Anyone applying to similar programs? Or know of other programs where there's some faculty focused on psychiatric genetics still accepting apps?

[Polar]

4 hours ago, pipettestan said:

I spent last night looking at the 2019 thread and seeing when decisions come out lol...

 

I did this too!! I was refreshing this page all the time to see if anyone's also anxious about waiting...

Looks like quite a few schools sent their interviews by mid December.

 

[EVIL GENIUS]

Refreshing this page every 5 mins. Can someone take the F5 from my keyboard?

[ManifoldsAreMadeUp]

If I recall correctly, the soonest result came in the form of a rejection from UCSF in Dec 17th. The soonest interview requests came in from Harvard PiN on the late afternoon of Dec 18th. Please don’t stress and appreciate this time now as the calm before the storm :). Enjoy being done! Spend time with friends and leave your phone at home! You really have no reason to be on this site until the week of the 15th. BU has the last interview requests and they went out early February. These next two months are going to be a fucking wild ride for a lot of you; I made a lot of friends on last years thread (some of which I later met in person) and about four of which I still keep in touch with!

Edited December 4, 2019 by ManifoldsAreMadeUp

[gliagirl]

Good luck on the app cycle everyone!! It really is a great time to meet awesome scientists and get excited about the future of neuroscience  current G1 at UPenn in NGG if anyone has any questions (about Penn or applying to PhD programs more broadly)  -- I received my interview invite December 7th, so it is possible they'll go out soon, but interviews aren't until the beginning of January so they may push it back this year.

[Anonyneuron]

On 12/3/2019 at 5:49 PM, EVIL GENIUS said:

Refreshing this page every 5 mins. Can someone take the F5 from my keyboard?

100% this ?

[Aplysia]

22 hours ago, gliagirl said:

Good luck on the app cycle everyone!! It really is a great time to meet awesome scientists and get excited about the future of neuroscience  current G1 at UPenn in NGG if anyone has any questions (about Penn or applying to PhD programs more broadly)  -- I received my interview invite December 7th, so it is possible they'll go out soon, but interviews aren't until the beginning of January so they may push it back this year.

@gliagirl I'm a current undergrad at Penn (Senior BBB major), and I'd like to know what you think of the NGG program. I work in a lab with 2 current NGG students who have completely opposite perspectives (one absolutely hates the program), so I'd appreciate any thoughts you might be willing offer- thanks!

[Aplysia]

Hi all! I’ve been trying to stay away from this forum for my own sanity, but I decided I’d rather join to suffer the waiting game with all of you than keep grunting to myself ?

Undergrad: UPenn

Major: Biological Basis of Behavior

GPA: 3.56

Research Experience: all 4 years of undergrad (part-time during school year, full over summers: first two years in a cancer lab (brain tumor research) and second 2 years in a psychiatric lab (developmental neurobiology))

Publications/presentations: 4 posters presented at 8 conferences, 2 talks given at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Neuroscience Department of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Awards: A grant for my thesis project and a poster award

Applications: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, UPenn, WUSTL, Yale, U of Washington, Pitt, Northwestern, UNC Chapel Hill, U of Michigan, & Princeton (11 total)

Edited December 5, 2019 by Aplysia

[oceanofowl]

Seeing other's background and goals makes me stressed as hell...I am now thinking I am aiming to high and will end up with nowhere...How am I supposed to make through the coming stressful months... 

[ForestGreenSweater]

Hello everyone! I am excited to be done with applications! Time to wait for interview emails (hopefully haha). I'm worried that I only applied to top programs, but I want to stay in or near Boston due to ties with the community.

 

Undergrad: US Top 40 University

Undergrad Majors: B.S.(s) Behavioral Neuroscience and Chemistry

Undergrad GPA: 3.3

 

Masters: University in the top 15 Neuroscience Graduate Programs

Masters Major: M.S. Neuroscience with thesis

Masters GPA: 3.7

 

Undergrad Research Experience: 3 internships and 2 co-ops (6th month internships) in various biotech and pharmaceutical companies performing a variety of research from pharmacology to molecular/cellular work to systems neuroscience. 1 year in an academic lab at my university (brain imaging).

Post Grad Research Experience: 1.5 years at a biotech company performing pharmacology and molecular/cellular research in rare genetic diseases

Masters Research: 1.5 years in systems neuroscience lab completing a thesis

Publications/Posters: 2 co-author publications in press and 1 co-author publication under review (all from my academic lab). In terms of posters: 5 first author posters (local) and 5 mid author posters (3 local and 2 at SFN)

Awards/Fellowships: I have a small NSF grant for entrepreneurship. This does not carry over to a PhD program, I completed the fellowship.

LORs: I believe I have three strong ones: 1 from my current masters lab, 1 from my undergrad lab and 1 from my supervisor at my company

Personal Statement: I feel like it is fairly strong. I've edited 30+ times and fellow grad students and professors have edited it.

Applications: Boston University, Tufts University, Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University, New York University and Columbia University.

Should I be worried??

[Aplysia]

Let me preface this by saying I am an undergraduate here and my thesis mentor has some ties with the admissions committee, so don't fret yet if you haven't heard from the program, but I just received my invitation to interview at Penn ☺️ Hopefully they send more emails soon!