Need suggestions based on my application status uptill now

[Ronak Dave]

Hey friends,

Here are the details of my profile and universities which I have applied for Cancer Biology Program (Fall 2012). Please suggest me some more universities which I need to apply as I already had 4 rejections, so as to get definite admission in atleast 4 to 5 universities.

GRE : 1430/1600

GRE-V : 660

GRE-Q : 770

AWA - 3.5

TOEFL iBT- 113/120 (Reading: 29, Listening: 28, Speaking: 26, Writing: 30)

M.Sc.Microbiology - 71.84 %

- 1 gold medal (1st rank in the university)

- 7 awards/honors/scholarship for academic merits

B.Sc.Biotechnology - 81.14 %

- 1 gold medal (1st rank in the university)

- 4 awards/honors/scholarship for academic merits

CSIR - 2 times qualified

National presentations : 2

Local presentations : 3

Research/Job experience:

1. Dissertation : 1 yr 5 months

2. Post M.Sc. research : 1 yr 9 months

3. Post M.Sc. job experience : 9 months

*** No research publications

Research interests :

Cancer Biology and Immunology

Universities ----- Program ----- Decision

Univ of Texas-M.D.Anderson ----- Immunology ----- Awaited

Ohio State Univ ----- Cancer Biol ----- Awaited

Univ of Southern Cali ----- PIBBS-Cancer ----- Awaited

Emory Univ ----- Cancer Biol ----- Rejected

Stanford Univ ----- Cancer Biol ----- Rejected

Memorial Sloan Kettering ----- Cancer Biol ----- Rejected

Univ of Texas - Southwestern ----- Cancer Biol ----- Awaited

Albert Einstein Coll of Med ----- Cancer Biol ----- Awaited

UMASS - Worcester ----- Cancer Biol ----- Awaited

WashU ----- Cancer Biol ----- Awaited

Rutgers,NB -New Jersey ----- Cancer Biol ----- Awaited

Univ of Maryland, Baltimore ----- Mol Micro and Immuno ----- Rejected

Please evaluate my admission chances for the remaining universities.

-Hemant Patadia

(India)

[Neuropsychologist]

Hey Hemant!

Boss, you profile is too good. Only for one thing, you don't have publications. I think you must have lost your chances there. Well, publications are not mandatory for getting admitted but they are a booster to you profile bro!

Another thing, the schools where you've applied to are very big schools. Mark my words, very big schools. But you still have good chances of getting an admission. You can expect to hear from UMASS Worcester, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. I was wondering why on earth didn't you apply for the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio?

If you don't hear from any university this time, don't take it to heart. Even I was rejected the first time I applied. I worked two years, researched on the good schools to apply and then went forward with applying.

And by the way, if you need any help, please do let me know. I would be extremely glad to help!

[Ronak Dave]

Hey Hemant!

Boss, you profile is too good. Only for one thing, you don't have publications. I think you must have lost your chances there. Well, publications are not mandatory for getting admitted but they are a booster to you profile bro!

Another thing, the schools where you've applied to are very big schools. Mark my words, very big schools. But you still have good chances of getting an admission. You can expect to hear from UMASS Worcester, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. I was wondering why on earth didn't you apply for the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio?

If you don't hear from any university this time, don't take it to heart. Even I was rejected the first time I applied. I worked two years, researched on the good schools to apply and then went forward with applying.

And by the way, if you need any help, please do let me know. I would be extremely glad to help!

Hi dude....

Thanks for your reply. Well the statistics have just increased on the rejection side. To add to the list I also got rejects from UT-Southwestern, UT-Houston:M.D. Anderson, Ohio State and UMASS-Worcester (I never expected the last one though). So only 4 more left to go. I thought my list id include some of the safer schools but what a pity ! I dont know what to do now. Will be glad to talk to you if you are still in the country. Where are you located and what is your email id? I would like to talk to you further in this matter. I guess, this profile might not have been good for the graduate counselors.

And regarding , UT-SanAntonio, I got a word of the mouth that it is not a very good school to apply for the program I was targeting. Do you think I made HUGE mistake in preparing the final list of schools where I have applied ???

[Neuropsychologist]

Hello Ronak,

My email id is kartikangara@yahoo.com and I am still in India. So, you can feel free to email me anytime! I would be happy to help. I can't tell you for sure, but you can expect to hear from University of Southern California and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

I suppose we can talk on the mail.

[souparno123]

Hiiiii Hemant,

I am souparno from Kolkata, India. I have got admits from 3 schools so far University of Cincinnati Biomedical Flex program, UT SouthWestern Medical center biomedical sciences PhD program and University of Miami Biomedical science program. Apart from that I have interviewed with Vanderbilt University Medical center IGP program ( the results would be out next week). I have been wait listed in Indiana Purdue University IBMG program and U mass Medical school at Worcester ( I think so). So, I think I am in a position to comment on your thread. I think academically you do have a very good profile ( clearing CSIR NET twice is not a matter of joke, I know that even if the Americans don't know that..lolz). In fact my GRE ( 1400, V-650, Q-750, Ana- 4.0) and TOEFL score ( 114/120) is lower than yours and while I do have some research experience in Indian Institute of chemical biology ( for 1 year or so) and IISER-Mohali ( IAS fellowship) I do not think it is as extensive as yours, and also I have a job experience ( but that is in structural Biology field) only for 6 months ( I joined in Nov, 2011, so while applying my experience was only for 2 months). So as you can see my profile is no way better than yours. Also I do not have an publication but I addressed this short falling in my SOP explaining how difficult it is for Masters students ( I completed M.Sc in 2012) to have a publication in biomedical science ( my field is immunology) involving loads of in vivo work. If you permit me I just want to ask you some questions, which might be helpful if you plan to apply next year.

1. Did you plan early that you want to apply for PhD in US? The application procedure is different from it is in India and it involves a lot of planning and finding out your weaknesses early and try to work upon that. For e.g lots of schools value research experience abroad. Since I did not have a publication I tried to gain some research experience abroad and last summer I was fortunate enough to have a fellowship to work in Max Planck Institute of infection Biology and Humboldt university, Berlin. In fact i was asked about this experience in all the interviews I had during this admissions process I looking at the list of your universities I just have a feeling you did not do a great job while searching for schools. These are all big names and in my opinion you should have included some relatively safer schools ( although in PhD there is no guaranteed safe schools, esp. for int'l students) like say University of southern Illininois at carbondale or university of Arkansas Medical School).

2. Is your research experience relevant to the field u r applying? What about the job experience?

3. Did you write a good SOP? In India, we just do not give a damn about SOPs but in US they value SOPs more than GPA or GRE score, which are just used as filter some applications in the first round. Our writing would not be as good as the Americans but still what matters is whether you have written it in a coherent way, you have clear ideas about your research goals and how the graduate school would help you achieve your goals. I have written my SOP in 3-4 days and i just used 2 drafts, did not get it checked by someone else for that matter but I was quite sure i put in the best effort in accordance to my ability. So if you intend to reapply please draft your SOP carefully, address your weak points first, mention how you have overcome it, and do brag about your strong points and achievements a bit, it won't hurt.

4. what about the LORs, did you submit the LORs from the people who have known you long enough to judge you in an academic environment. Did the research supervisor of yours gave u a LOR? For my case I choose my research supervisor in IICB ( a quite famous scientist who I am working under for last 1 year), my guide at IISER-M ( I worked there for 2 months in 2010, but i have been in touch with her since then, because i always knew I would be applying abroad, Sent her gifts, thank you emails and notes everything, these things matter) and the head of the dept in my college 9 who taught us immunology and I am quite close to her). Are you sure that your referees have submitted really positive letters?

5. Finally the name of your previous academic institutions do matter. If you have done your B.Sc, M.Sc from quite a famous college or universities it would definitely help u.

By the way from your list I did see you applied to Albert einstein Coll of medicine. Did you hear something from them yet? They are really lousy in responsing to emails. i haven't heard a thing from them yet.

Best of luck mate, just dont lose hope yet...hang on and the good news might come...u can send an short email to schools asking for your application status..it does help.

[virion]

I have written my SOP in 3-4 days and i just used 2 drafts, did not get it checked by someone else for that matter

To the OP, make sure you have your SOP drafts checked by someone else. I'm sure souparno wrote a fine statement, but judging by the grammar used here it probably shouldn't have gone unchecked (hopefully that's not taken with any offense). Of course, for a forum user of any nationality posts online will be sloppy compared to actual work to be submitted professionally. Still, there are phrasings which (in some cases) may not be technically incorrect but will stand out as extremely awkward.

[souparno123]

Virion, you are right. Ideally one should have their SOPs checked by someone else. But in my case ( I am sure that applies to most of the students from India) I did not have any academic adviser in my current school who had enough time to check my SOP and make the necessary corrections. And yes, my English is not great but in my opinion what matters most in a SOP is whether one can express his/her ideas clearly, justify his/her choice and have a clear idea about what they want to do in and after the grad school. It does help if you have a very good hold over the language, but since my English is not great I just wanted to express my ideas clearly...the challenge I faced so far and how I overcome it, my future goals etc. In the first draft i wrote everything ( it was more than 6 pages) and in the second draft I did some editing. I did try to change something even after the second draft but these were very minor changes, according to the need of different schools. I'm not recommending this method for everyone, but I think there is a general idea, that you have to work on your SOP and make so many drafts....I'm sure it is a good way of doing this. But I wanted to keep things as simple as possible and somehow it worked for me because I have got admits from 4 of the 6 schools I applied to with a pretty average profile

But I agree with Virion that I might have made some grammatical mistakes in my SOP ( don't blame me...blame my "workable" knowledge of English) and it really helps if you can get it checked by someone at least to eliminate these errors.

[virion]

Right, as I said, no offense intended. I agree that the most important thing is of course the content: your experiences and your ability to understand why you did what you did, as well as your future intentions. That's not to say, however, that someone reading it won't be turned off by bad grammar. If another student from your country with a similar background had their SOP edited by someone with a better understanding of English it might give them the leg up. It's not fair, but any help you can get will go a long way. The application/interview process has really shown me how much more difficult this is for you international applicants. I spoke to one professor on an admissions committee (not the one I was interviewing for) who told me how incredibly difficult it is to choose international applicants based on their applications and, ideally, a skype interview. She said they were picking a single international student (most likely).

[souparno123]

Yes, absolutely. I can understand how difficult it is for the AdCom to judge international students based on the applications...especially since the grading system is totally different from ( at least in my country). But I think that is where the interview is very important. In all the schools I have got admit from, I was interviewed by more than 1 faculty ( in average 3 faculties asking questions for 1 hour) and it was pretty intense. But I think this intense sessions help the faculties to have a fair idea about the students's standard. But it is also difficult for int'l students to decide which school would be the best fit for them especially when one have multiple offers. I am really having a hard time in term of deciding where I should go. Yes, I know School A has better ranking in my field compared to other schools but i have never actually visited the schools myself like the domestic students did during the interview weekends. So for us also, it is quite a difficult task to choose one school over another.

[Ronak Dave]

Hiiiii Hemant,

I am souparno from Kolkata, India. I have got admits from 3 schools so far University of Cincinnati Biomedical Flex program, UT SouthWestern Medical center biomedical sciences PhD program and University of Miami Biomedical science program. Apart from that I have interviewed with Vanderbilt University Medical center IGP program ( the results would be out next week). I have been wait listed in Indiana Purdue University IBMG program and U mass Medical school at Worcester ( I think so). So, I think I am in a position to comment on your thread. I think academically you do have a very good profile ( clearing CSIR NET twice is not a matter of joke, I know that even if the Americans don't know that..lolz). In fact my GRE ( 1400, V-650, Q-750, Ana- 4.0) and TOEFL score ( 114/120) is lower than yours and while I do have some research experience in Indian Institute of chemical biology ( for 1 year or so) and IISER-Mohali ( IAS fellowship) I do not think it is as extensive as yours, and also I have a job experience ( but that is in structural Biology field) only for 6 months ( I joined in Nov, 2011, so while applying my experience was only for 2 months). So as you can see my profile is no way better than yours. Also I do not have an publication but I addressed this short falling in my SOP explaining how difficult it is for Masters students ( I completed M.Sc in 2012) to have a publication in biomedical science ( my field is immunology) involving loads of in vivo work. If you permit me I just want to ask you some questions, which might be helpful if you plan to apply next year.

1. Did you plan early that you want to apply for PhD in US? The application procedure is different from it is in India and it involves a lot of planning and finding out your weaknesses early and try to work upon that. For e.g lots of schools value research experience abroad. Since I did not have a publication I tried to gain some research experience abroad and last summer I was fortunate enough to have a fellowship to work in Max Planck Institute of infection Biology and Humboldt university, Berlin. In fact i was asked about this experience in all the interviews I had during this admissions process I looking at the list of your universities I just have a feeling you did not do a great job while searching for schools. These are all big names and in my opinion you should have included some relatively safer schools ( although in PhD there is no guaranteed safe schools, esp. for int'l students) like say University of southern Illininois at carbondale or university of Arkansas Medical School).

2. Is your research experience relevant to the field u r applying? What about the job experience?

3. Did you write a good SOP? In India, we just do not give a damn about SOPs but in US they value SOPs more than GPA or GRE score, which are just used as filter some applications in the first round. Our writing would not be as good as the Americans but still what matters is whether you have written it in a coherent way, you have clear ideas about your research goals and how the graduate school would help you achieve your goals. I have written my SOP in 3-4 days and i just used 2 drafts, did not get it checked by someone else for that matter but I was quite sure i put in the best effort in accordance to my ability. So if you intend to reapply please draft your SOP carefully, address your weak points first, mention how you have overcome it, and do brag about your strong points and achievements a bit, it won't hurt.

4. what about the LORs, did you submit the LORs from the people who have known you long enough to judge you in an academic environment. Did the research supervisor of yours gave u a LOR? For my case I choose my research supervisor in IICB ( a quite famous scientist who I am working under for last 1 year), my guide at IISER-M ( I worked there for 2 months in 2010, but i have been in touch with her since then, because i always knew I would be applying abroad, Sent her gifts, thank you emails and notes everything, these things matter) and the head of the dept in my college 9 who taught us immunology and I am quite close to her). Are you sure that your referees have submitted really positive letters?

5. Finally the name of your previous academic institutions do matter. If you have done your B.Sc, M.Sc from quite a famous college or universities it would definitely help u.

By the way from your list I did see you applied to Albert einstein Coll of medicine. Did you hear something from them yet? They are really lousy in responsing to emails. i haven't heard a thing from them yet.

Best of luck mate, just dont lose hope yet...hang on and the good news might come...u can send an short email to schools asking for your application status..it does help.

Dear Souparno,

Thanks for your reply.

I get your point that there could be flaws at several points in the application package. But, I am quite sure that I have taken care of all of them. I have started the preparation of GRE in March 2011. And then onwards, I also started searching about the universities. So it was a very well planned decision. If I remember correctly, I have made 8 odd drafts of my SOP until every logical, lexicographical or grammatical fallacies were rectified. Moreover, I think the LORS were quite good. As far as the previous names and the brand image of my academic affiliations are concerned, I cannot help in that matter. But many people from our institution have successfully got admitted in some good places. Being the best of the lot, I was very confident about my acceptances at a few good places of the list. I have also edited my university list several times before finalizing them. And, everyone said that based on my profile and credentials it did contain 4-5 safe schools. But somehow, things dint turn out as predicted. One more thing I can think of is that, my stint at NII (National Institute of Immunology) was as a PhD student and I have justified the reasons that persuaded me to leave the place and choose a better option for my career. Moreover, the other reason could be that I have passed MSc in 2009. So, I am not a fresh bud. I think that might have cased a negative shadow on my profile (although it seems highly unlikely though).

Somehow, due to the advent of unfortunate turn of events, I have received a total of 9 rejections now. So only 3 more places are left now : USC- PIBBS, Rutgers -NB and Albert Einstein. I cannot trace back what has went wrong in the application process after taking care of all possible problems. Let me know if you think that any effort directed in this direction might help me achieve atleast one I20. Any help will be highly appreciated...The silence is becoming deadly now for the whispers are ghastly !

Thank you all again,

Hemant...

[Ronak Dave]

Yes, absolutely. I can understand how difficult it is for the AdCom to judge international students based on the applications...especially since the grading system is totally different from ( at least in my country). But I think that is where the interview is very important. In all the schools I have got admit from, I was interviewed by more than 1 faculty ( in average 3 faculties asking questions for 1 hour) and it was pretty intense. But I think this intense sessions help the faculties to have a fair idea about the students's standard. But it is also difficult for int'l students to decide which school would be the best fit for them especially when one have multiple offers. I am really having a hard time in term of deciding where I should go. Yes, I know School A has better ranking in my field compared to other schools but i have never actually visited the schools myself like the domestic students did during the interview weekends. So for us also, it is quite a difficult task to choose one school over another.

Right, as I said, no offense intended. I agree that the most important thing is of course the content: your experiences and your ability to understand why you did what you did, as well as your future intentions. That's not to say, however, that someone reading it won't be turned off by bad grammar. If another student from your country with a similar background had their SOP edited by someone with a better understanding of English it might give them the leg up. It's not fair, but any help you can get will go a long way. The application/interview process has really shown me how much more difficult this is for you international applicants. I spoke to one professor on an admissions committee (not the one I was interviewing for) who told me how incredibly difficult it is to choose international applicants based on their applications and, ideally, a skype interview. She said they were picking a single international student (most likely).

Hello Ronak,

My email id is kartikangara@yahoo.com and I am still in India. So, you can feel free to email me anytime! I would be happy to help. I can't tell you for sure, but you can expect to hear from University of Southern California and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

I suppose we can talk on the mail.

Hello guys,

Thank you so much for a thorough discussion of my problem.

As I have just posted earlier that I have my rejection toll has raised to 9/12. Now only USC, Albert Einstein and Rutgers are left.

I dont know what should be done now. Hence, I have been suggested by many that I apply to MS programs and then toil hard enough and get a transfer in the PhD program there. Do you guys think it as a viable option ? Also, I have passed my MSc in India in 2009. And have extensively engaged in research since then. Will that be a negative point in getting admitted to Masters program.

And if this sounds as a safe option, please suggest me some "decent" (the definition of this has definitely changed for me now) MS PROGRAMS whose deadlines are still OPEN. Also direct me as to what should I take care of while applying to the Master's program. And, if I apply to the MS program and shift for a PhD will my years be counted for PhD or do I have to start all over again for it ?

Guys, I am highly frustrated as of now and I hope you will spare some time and direct ways to resolve this scenario.

Thanking you in anticipation and please reply soon.

Hemant !

[souparno123]

Hiii Hemant,

I am really sorry to hear that till now you have not got an acceptance offer. As I have said earlier that your stats are awesome ( its way better than me). And from your last post I got the idea you did everything you could to the best of your ability to make your application look perfect. Well.. Sometimes it is just bad luck, that the applicant pool is stronger in all the universities you applied to and being international students we always start in back foot.

I want to suggest you something

1. Do not go for second M.S. It would be really expensive ( in this funding situations the chances of international masters students getting scholarship is very low) and secondly you would struggle to get the F1 Visa if you intend to go for a 2nd M.S

2. Do your PhD in India. If you are in NII, then I am sure you are in a pretty good place. It is a damn good institute ( It is not US, I know) but after your PhD from NII you are sure to get good post Doc offers from US.

3. You can apply to some of the schools in europe ( their deadline is in late April and May). If you need any help with the probable places you can apply to please let me know. I had a list ready for myself in case I did not get any acceptance offer from US. You can also apply to Singapore ( NUS and NTU), these are good world class universities. If you want to apply to US for the spring entry, I can suggest you apply for the spring admission atUniversity of Arkansas medical School integrated Biomedical science program.

4. Have you heard anyting from Albert einstein coll of medicine? I applied there but have not got any clue whether I have been rejected or waitlisted. They don't even reply to emails.

Best of luck mate...Hang on.

[Airwalker]

You are also International. I know at most good PhD programs they accept one, two, and MAYBE three internationals in the entire program any given year. As an example, Johns Hopkins only accepted 2 internationals out of 20 or so students for the 2011 Recruitment class.

[Suleman10]

Hello guys,

Thank you so much for a thorough discussion of my problem.

As I have just posted earlier that I have my rejection toll has raised to 9/12. Now only USC, Albert Einstein and Rutgers are left.

I dont know what should be done now. Hence, I have been suggested by many that I apply to MS programs and then toil hard enough and get a transfer in the PhD program there. Do you guys think it as a viable option ? Also, I have passed my MSc in India in 2009. And have extensively engaged in research since then. Will that be a negative point in getting admitted to Masters program.

And if this sounds as a safe option, please suggest me some "decent" (the definition of this has definitely changed for me now) MS PROGRAMS whose deadlines are still OPEN. Also direct me as to what should I take care of while applying to the Master's program. And, if I apply to the MS program and shift for a PhD will my years be counted for PhD or do I have to start all over again for it ?

Guys, I am highly frustrated as of now and I hope you will spare some time and direct ways to resolve this scenario.

Thanking you in anticipation and please reply soon.

Hemant !

Hey Hemant,

In my opinion you should not apply for Masters as your profile is very strong, you probably know more what a Masters can teach you;-), and taking the Masters to PhD route will delay you getting a doctoral degree. As sugested by souparno123, you should definitely consider doing a PhD in India or some other good place and can apply for a Post- Doc in the US. My only concern is, Running behind an admission in the US, you will be delaying your career path.

Also, I am very positive that you will still get an admit this Fall considering your strong application.

All the best, and am sure you will do great; be it US or India:-)

[Suleman10]

Hiiiii Hemant,

I am souparno from Kolkata, India. I have got admits from 3 schools so far University of Cincinnati Biomedical Flex program, UT SouthWestern Medical center biomedical sciences PhD program and University of Miami Biomedical science program. Apart from that I have interviewed with Vanderbilt University Medical center IGP program ( the results would be out next week). I have been wait listed in Indiana Purdue University IBMG program and U mass Medical school at Worcester ( I think so). So, I think I am in a position to comment on your thread. I think academically you do have a very good profile ( clearing CSIR NET twice is not a matter of joke, I know that even if the Americans don't know that..lolz). In fact my GRE ( 1400, V-650, Q-750, Ana- 4.0) and TOEFL score ( 114/120) is lower than yours and while I do have some research experience in Indian Institute of chemical biology ( for 1 year or so) and IISER-Mohali ( IAS fellowship) I do not think it is as extensive as yours, and also I have a job experience ( but that is in structural Biology field) only for 6 months ( I joined in Nov, 2011, so while applying my experience was only for 2 months). So as you can see my profile is no way better than yours. Also I do not have an publication but I addressed this short falling in my SOP explaining how difficult it is for Masters students ( I completed M.Sc in 2012) to have a publication in biomedical science ( my field is immunology) involving loads of in vivo work. If you permit me I just want to ask you some questions, which might be helpful if you plan to apply next year.

1. Did you plan early that you want to apply for PhD in US? The application procedure is different from it is in India and it involves a lot of planning and finding out your weaknesses early and try to work upon that. For e.g lots of schools value research experience abroad. Since I did not have a publication I tried to gain some research experience abroad and last summer I was fortunate enough to have a fellowship to work in Max Planck Institute of infection Biology and Humboldt university, Berlin. In fact i was asked about this experience in all the interviews I had during this admissions process I looking at the list of your universities I just have a feeling you did not do a great job while searching for schools. These are all big names and in my opinion you should have included some relatively safer schools ( although in PhD there is no guaranteed safe schools, esp. for int'l students) like say University of southern Illininois at carbondale or university of Arkansas Medical School).

2. Is your research experience relevant to the field u r applying? What about the job experience?

3. Did you write a good SOP? In India, we just do not give a damn about SOPs but in US they value SOPs more than GPA or GRE score, which are just used as filter some applications in the first round. Our writing would not be as good as the Americans but still what matters is whether you have written it in a coherent way, you have clear ideas about your research goals and how the graduate school would help you achieve your goals. I have written my SOP in 3-4 days and i just used 2 drafts, did not get it checked by someone else for that matter but I was quite sure i put in the best effort in accordance to my ability. So if you intend to reapply please draft your SOP carefully, address your weak points first, mention how you have overcome it, and do brag about your strong points and achievements a bit, it won't hurt.

4. what about the LORs, did you submit the LORs from the people who have known you long enough to judge you in an academic environment. Did the research supervisor of yours gave u a LOR? For my case I choose my research supervisor in IICB ( a quite famous scientist who I am working under for last 1 year), my guide at IISER-M ( I worked there for 2 months in 2010, but i have been in touch with her since then, because i always knew I would be applying abroad, Sent her gifts, thank you emails and notes everything, these things matter) and the head of the dept in my college 9 who taught us immunology and I am quite close to her). Are you sure that your referees have submitted really positive letters?

5. Finally the name of your previous academic institutions do matter. If you have done your B.Sc, M.Sc from quite a famous college or universities it would definitely help u.

By the way from your list I did see you applied to Albert einstein Coll of medicine. Did you hear something from them yet? They are really lousy in responsing to emails. i haven't heard a thing from them yet.

Best of luck mate, just dont lose hope yet...hang on and the good news might come...u can send an short email to schools asking for your application status..it does help.

Congrats on your acceptance!!! :-)

[Ronak Dave]

Hiii Hemant,

I am really sorry to hear that till now you have not got an acceptance offer. As I have said earlier that your stats are awesome ( its way better than me). And from your last post I got the idea you did everything you could to the best of your ability to make your application look perfect. Well.. Sometimes it is just bad luck, that the applicant pool is stronger in all the universities you applied to and being international students we always start in back foot.

I want to suggest you something

1. Do not go for second M.S. It would be really expensive ( in this funding situations the chances of international masters students getting scholarship is very low) and secondly you would struggle to get the F1 Visa if you intend to go for a 2nd M.S

2. Do your PhD in India. If you are in NII, then I am sure you are in a pretty good place. It is a damn good institute ( It is not US, I know) but after your PhD from NII you are sure to get good post Doc offers from US.

3. You can apply to some of the schools in europe ( their deadline is in late April and May). If you need any help with the probable places you can apply to please let me know. I had a list ready for myself in case I did not get any acceptance offer from US. You can also apply to Singapore ( NUS and NTU), these are good world class universities. If you want to apply to US for the spring entry, I can suggest you apply for the spring admission atUniversity of Arkansas medical School integrated Biomedical science program.

4. Have you heard anyting from Albert einstein coll of medicine? I applied there but have not got any clue whether I have been rejected or waitlisted. They don't even reply to emails.

Best of luck mate...Hang on.

Hi Souparno,

Well, I havent got any reply from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. I too have mailed them a couple of times but they dont reply to mails. And I am not at NII as of now. I have left that place and am currently working at M.S.University of Baroda. My only concern here is to become stable on a career path with some degrees of financial freedom. I will be glad if you can share the list of places in Europe I can apply to. My email id is valaji_hemant2001@yahoo.com. Also, let me know what other places in USA accept international applicants for spring uptake.

So, finally which place are you heading to for your PhD ? I just hope I get in the remaining places and can fly at the same time too.

Best wishes,

Hemant...

[Ronak Dave]

Hey Hemant,

In my opinion you should not apply for Masters as your profile is very strong, you probably know more what a Masters can teach you;-), and taking the Masters to PhD route will delay you getting a doctoral degree. As sugested by souparno123, you should definitely consider doing a PhD in India or some other good place and can apply for a Post- Doc in the US. My only concern is, Running behind an admission in the US, you will be delaying your career path.

Also, I am very positive that you will still get an admit this Fall considering your strong application.

All the best, and am sure you will do great; be it US or India:-)

You are also International. I know at most good PhD programs they accept one, two, and MAYBE three internationals in the entire program any given year. As an example, Johns Hopkins only accepted 2 internationals out of 20 or so students for the 2011 Recruitment class.

Hiii Hemant,

I am really sorry to hear that till now you have not got an acceptance offer. As I have said earlier that your stats are awesome ( its way better than me). And from your last post I got the idea you did everything you could to the best of your ability to make your application look perfect. Well.. Sometimes it is just bad luck, that the applicant pool is stronger in all the universities you applied to and being international students we always start in back foot.

I want to suggest you something

1. Do not go for second M.S. It would be really expensive ( in this funding situations the chances of international masters students getting scholarship is very low) and secondly you would struggle to get the F1 Visa if you intend to go for a 2nd M.S

2. Do your PhD in India. If you are in NII, then I am sure you are in a pretty good place. It is a damn good institute ( It is not US, I know) but after your PhD from NII you are sure to get good post Doc offers from US.

3. You can apply to some of the schools in europe ( their deadline is in late April and May). If you need any help with the probable places you can apply to please let me know. I had a list ready for myself in case I did not get any acceptance offer from US. You can also apply to Singapore ( NUS and NTU), these are good world class universities. If you want to apply to US for the spring entry, I can suggest you apply for the spring admission atUniversity of Arkansas medical School integrated Biomedical science program.

4. Have you heard anyting from Albert einstein coll of medicine? I applied there but have not got any clue whether I have been rejected or waitlisted. They don't even reply to emails.

Best of luck mate...Hang on.

Hello guys. I have got a mail from Rutgers. I am both happy and nervous for the mail is a bit equivocal. I do not understand the sense of it entirely. However, I am just sensing some positive vibes. I am pasting here the partial content of the mail and hope you can interpret the way they want me to.

The mail says: "We are very pleased that you are interested in attending the Graduate Programs in Molecular Biosciences of Rutgers University. We had many outstanding candidates apply to the program this year and can only make offers of admission as we hear back from students who have been offered positions. We recognize that you may have offers pending at other institutions. We appreciate your patience as we work our way through the admissions process."

Please let me know as to what should be the most apt reply to this mail. In particular, I want to understand the part that talks about the offers from other institutions.

If you guys feel there is any positivity, I do not want to miss this opportunity.

Thanks,

Hemant !

[souparno123]

Hello guys. I have got a mail from Rutgers. I am both happy and nervous for the mail is a bit equivocal. I do not understand the sense of it entirely. However, I am just sensing some positive vibes. I am pasting here the partial content of the mail and hope you can interpret the way they want me to.

The mail says: "We are very pleased that you are interested in attending the Graduate Programs in Molecular Biosciences of Rutgers University. We had many outstanding candidates apply to the program this year and can only make offers of admission as we hear back from students who have been offered positions. We recognize that you may have offers pending at other institutions. We appreciate your patience as we work our way through the admissions process."

Please let me know as to what should be the most apt reply to this mail. In particular, I want to understand the part that talks about the offers from other institutions.

If you guys feel there is any positivity, I do not want to miss this opportunity.

Thanks,

Hemant !

Hiiii Hemant,

This email means they have placed in their wait list and might extend you an offer of admission/interview if any of the slots become available. Possibly you will not hear from them until April 15. Best of luck dude..its not an offer of acceptance but I guess you have a good chance of getting an interview at least.

I think in your reply email you can express interest in the program and let them know that you would consider the program very seriously if an offer of acceptance is put forward. I don't know whether it is the right thing to do..but if I was you I would not tell them your current status of applications..

[souparno123]

Well, I will forward you the list of places in Europe ASAP. As far the universities in US where you can apply for Spring entry I am not sure whether there are any apart from the one I already mentioned, UAMS. I guess its not worth it to do PhD from a program which does not excite you. In that case your best chance would be reapplying in Next fall.

I would suggest you to give Albert Einstein Coll of Medicine a call.

As for my PhD in last few days I got another offer from U Mass School of Medicine but I was also rejected from Vanderbilt University after 3 round of interviews ( really gutted about that one and I think I did very well in the interviews). Vandy and UT southwestern were my top choices. Now it looks like I am going to UT southwestern at Dallas. in the last few days i talked to the dean, program director and some of the Indian ( Bengalee as well, from Kolkata) as well as American graduate students and I have received very good feedback about the place. Also the offer is quite amazing in financial terms...so I am heading for Dallas most probably.

[Sayantan Mitra]

I think You have an excellent profile. My profile was in no way close to yours. I had my MSc in Physiology, Revised GRE score (V: 153, Q:150) A: 4.0, TOEFL: 107/120

I had some research experience from IICB thanks to the IAS/INSA/NASI,2010 fellowship and cleared GATE XL with 97 percentile. Even I had no Publications.

But I have received 2 offers. One from Miami University, Ohio for PhD in mol bio and the other from SIU carbondale fro MS in physiology, both carries grad assist. and tuition waivers. Two of my friends having no publications got admission offers from U Wisconsin-madison and CUNY respectively.

I believe that although a publication does improve your chance, if you are strong in other aspects and can come out with an excellent SOP. You can easily get admission offers. Even without publications, a little bit of lab experience helps a lot when you are applying to USA

Choose wisely where to apply. Do apply to your dream universities, but at the same, choose some mid ranked universities as well which are safe bets. Email a lot of faculty members, its actually wise to apply to places from where you are getting encouraging emails.

I have seen people from India applying with more than one 1st author paper in peer reviewed journals having good impact factor and paper presentations in international conferences in UK or Japan. So yes, you will have to compete against such people, but with that kind of GRE score, i dont think you will face any problems.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Sayantan Mitra

[souparno123]

Hi Sayantan,

Congrats on your acceptances. So which school you are planning to attend? Miami U (PhD) or the MS program at SIU Carbondale? I have a senior from my lab at IICB doing her PhD in Immunology at SIU.

By the way I am curious to know which lab at IICB you did your IAS training from? I have been working in IICB for last 1 year and if you are a recent summer trainee I might have seen you in the canteen.

[Sayantan Mitra]

Hi Souparno,

Congratulations on the admission offers you got!! I worked in the lab of Dr KP Mohanakumar in the summer of 2010. I have decided to go with Miami U Molecular biology program because its direct PhD. Going into an MS would leave me with and uncertainty about PhD. The Mol bio (CMSB) program is new and I would be one of its first students, the labs and central facilities are all new, looks promising. I have some seniors in SIU bit none in Miami U, but I'll take the chances, since the program looks quite good.

My possible guide has her PhD from U Cincinnati, in fact Miami U is only 1hr drive from there

[souparno123]

Hiiii Hemant,

Any updates on Rutgers or any other schools?

[Ronak Dave]

Hiiii Hemant,

Any updates on Rutgers or any other schools?

No !!! They just mailed me back that I am on their waitlist and have to still wait until I hear back from them. Tried calling Albert Einstein but everytime it goes to their voicemail, so am not sure what to do now. By the way, you havent mailed me the Europe list. Please do that asap. I am running out of time now.

Thanks.

[souparno123]

Well I would mail you the list. I was little busy with work for last few days. But I would try to send it by the end of this week. As for the Albert einstein Coll of med..may be some of the university office staffs are on their Easter holidays....huh?