Neuroscience fall 2021 Application Advise

[NeuroProspects]

Hello everyone! 

This is my first time using this site so I hope I am going about this question correctly - I'm currently an international applicant looking to apply for a PhD in Neuroscience in the United States for Fall 2021 entry.

I know this is early but I would like advise early if possible from other applicants, since most colleges state they are unable to let me know of my competitiveness for their program.

My background:

I am currently about to graduate from a university in the UK you will not have heard of with a 4.0 GPA in Medical Science 

I've just been accepted into a 1-year MSc Translational Neuroscience at Imperial College London for Fall 2020 entry.

I know my GPA is competitive and I will not be required to sit the TOEFL as I'm British.

But I'm worried about my experience, in the UK we do not often publish as undergraduates and I have no publications.

I've worked on one independent research project for 8 months as part of my course and I'll be conducting one for my masters, however I doubt either will publish.

The rest of my experience is clinical - I have worked in the Emergency Department doing patient triaging and worked in palliative care for 4 years each. 

I'm looking to apply to John Hopkins, UPenn, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill.

If you have any recommended programmes that may be less competitive but respectable please let me know. 

Will I be a likely contender for the spaces on those programs? I know my experience is lacking and I cannot take time to get more before that's suggested. Please be honest as an application would cost time and money.

Thankyou all!

[ocelli]

I sent you a message and would be happy to speak more about my personal experience applying!

[LilAstro]

19 hours ago, NeuroProspects said:

Hello everyone! 

This is my first time using this site so I hope I am going about this question correctly - I'm currently an international applicant looking to apply for a PhD in Neuroscience in the United States for Fall 2021 entry.

I know this is early but I would like advise early if possible from other applicants, since most colleges state they are unable to let me know of my competitiveness for their program.

My background:

I am currently about to graduate from a university in the UK you will not have heard of with a 4.0 GPA in Medical Science 

I've just been accepted into a 1-year MSc Translational Neuroscience at Imperial College London for Fall 2020 entry.

I know my GPA is competitive and I will not be required to sit the TOEFL as I'm British.

But I'm worried about my experience, in the UK we do not often publish as undergraduates and I have no publications.

I've worked on one independent research project for 8 months as part of my course and I'll be conducting one for my masters, however I doubt either will publish.

The rest of my experience is clinical - I have worked in the Emergency Department doing patient triaging and worked in palliative care for 4 years each. 

I'm looking to apply to John Hopkins, UPenn, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill.

If you have any recommended programmes that may be less competitive but respectable please let me know. 

Will I be a likely contender for the spaces on those programs? I know my experience is lacking and I cannot take time to get more before that's suggested. Please be honest as an application would cost time and money.

Thankyou all!

Those are all pretty competitive schools & this year they all had a ton of applicants. I would throw in some more safety schools as well!

[NeuroProspects]

1 hour ago, LilAstro said:

Those are all pretty competitive schools & this year they all had a ton of applicants. I would throw in some more safety schools as well!

Thank you for your advise! I know I've chosen some quite ambitious schools, however, I'm currently enrolling in Imperial College London which is the 9th in the world ~ so whilst I really would love to study in the US and I'm willing to go for some slightly less prestigious schools, if they aren't highly regarded I may as well continue my studies at a top university in the UK ?

Do you have any in particular you would advise I check out?

[balisticFeanor]

4 hours ago, LilAstro said:

Those are all pretty competitive schools & this year they all had a ton of applicants. I would throw in some more safety schools as well!

If you are an international deff try and A) contact professors ahead of time and B.) apply to more than three schools. You seem like a great candidate but I agree with the above poster, apply to more schools. Unfortunately there is no real such thing as a safety school for international applicants (or even domestic I was rejected from a school after an interview I thought I would 100% get into because the bio fields have become so competitive). Tbh you seem like you are on the right track, literally just apply to more schools!