PhD Biosciences - International student

[chacha]

Hi guys,

this fall I'm planning to apply for graduate programs in the US starting in fall 2011.

I'm an international student doing my BSc in Molecular Biology at UCL (University College London) in the UK and am planning to apply for the following programs among others:

MIT (Biology graduate program)

UCSF (Tetrad Biochem and Mol Biology)

UC Berkeley (MCB)

Stanford (Biochemistry)

Johns Hopkins (BCMB)

I have/expect to get a first class degree (A, im not sure what the equivalent GPA is but I would guess around 3.7-3.8) and hope for a GRE score of around 1400. My letters of recommendation should be pretty good and I have decent lab experience (internships in the last 3 summers). Something else which also may be worth noting is that im only 18 years old and will be until my final exams as I skipped 2 classes in school due to academic achievements.

Would you think that I have chances of getting into any of the above/similar programs?

Am I at a disadvantage by not being American/ being an international student? Are there any universities which have ok acceptance rates for international students?

And would you have any suggestions in terms of top programs in biochemistry/molecular biology/biomedical sciences.

Any feedback would be most appreciated

Thanks,

chacha

[Sum]

Hi guys,

this fall I'm planning to apply for graduate programs in the US starting in fall 2011.

I'm an international student doing my BSc in Molecular Biology at UCL (University College London) in the UK and am planning to apply for the following programs among others:

MIT (Biology graduate program)

UCSF (Tetrad Biochem and Mol Biology)

UC Berkeley (MCB)

Stanford (Biochemistry)

Johns Hopkins (BCMB)

I have/expect to get a first class degree (A, im not sure what the equivalent GPA is but I would guess around 3.7-3.8) and hope for a GRE score of around 1400. My letters of recommendation should be pretty good and I have decent lab experience (internships in the last 3 summers). Something else which also may be worth noting is that im only 18 years old and will be until my final exams as I skipped 2 classes in school due to academic achievements.

Would you think that I have chances of getting into any of the above/similar programs?

Am I at a disadvantage by not being American/ being an international student? Are there any universities which have ok acceptance rates for international students?

And would you have any suggestions in terms of top programs in biochemistry/molecular biology/biomedical sciences.

Any feedback would be most appreciated

Thanks,

chacha

Hi Chacha, it's hard to tell since you only have your GPA and research experience listed here.

Have you taken the GRE's yet? My advice as a fellow-international-biology Ph.D.-seeking student would be to take the GRE subject test as well, since these programs can't really know how strong of a training you received at your home univ.

Good luck!

[chacha]

Hi Chacha, it's hard to tell since you only have your GPA and research experience listed here.

Have you taken the GRE's yet? My advice as a fellow-international-biology Ph.D.-seeking student would be to take the GRE subject test as well, since these programs can't really know how strong of a training you received at your home univ.

Good luck!

Hey, thanks for the reply. I just took the GRE a few days back and got:

Q 800

V 730

I guess that should be good enough right?