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I graduated this past spring with a BS in pharmacology and I'll be applying for fall 2021. I want to pursue a career in R&D in the future. I'm especially interested in joining a PhD program for neuroscience tied to pharmaceutical sciences, but I don't actually have much background in neuroscience. It would be super helpful if I could get some insight into where I would be standing in regards to applying for graduate programs.

I was a transfer so I did 2 years at a community college (got a 3.83 GPA) and then graduated from a university with a 3.83 GPA. I did undergraduate research for almost 1.5 years where my project was involved in studying a chronic disease and its metabolic changes. There is a paper still in the works that I will be published in, but not as first author. It's also been delayed due to Covid-19, but I'm hoping that it will be out before I apply. Besides this, I don't have any publications. Since graduating, I've been working as a staff research associate at my current lab, so that's what I will be doing for the next year. I have two professors who I will be asking for a letter of recommendation from. One is my PI, who I know will give me a strong letter. The other is a professor who I have taken 5 classes with (both lecture and lab courses), but they do not know me nearly as well as my PI. They basically only know my name and face, and that I have had As in all of their classes. I'm not too sure where I will get my third letter of recommendation, but I'll likely ask another professor who I've taken classes with.

I go to school and live in California, so I'd prefer to stay here. I am thinking of applying to UCSF, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, and Scripps. I will probably also apply to some out-of-state places. These are just some schools that I've been thinking about, but definitely not the only ones I'm open to applying to. I know it's hard to gauge how PhD programs will choose their applicants, but I'd like to get a general idea of what sorts of schools would be my reach schools and my safety schools. Thanks in advance. :) 

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If you want to get into RnD why aim for a niche field of neuroscience tied to the pharma? Instead a more molecular level or biological pathway sort of research may be helpful too. If you stick with the first roadblock (neuro) then it may deter from reaching to the pharma. Don't know. 

 

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