UCSD vs. Boston University for Bioinformatics/Systems Biology PhD (would really appreciate any thoughts!)

[SysBio42]

Hi All,

I'm trying to decide between going to BU for their Bioinformatics Program, or UCSD for their Bioinformatics and Systems Biology program. Both have several pros and cons for me personally, but I was wondering if anyone has general thoughts about these programs and how they are perceived by others in the field (rankings aside)? I would really appreciate and thoughts or advice on this!

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[obot]

Hi, I worked in Boston (Broad Institute) for a year after undergrad and am attending UCSD in the fall. BU's connection to the Broad is pretty amazing, but there's only a few faculty that you can take advantage of there. UCSD is overall well-respected in Bioinformatics and has much deeper program than BU. I'd suggest talking to your PI about this. What kind of job do you see yourself doing? I told my PI that I wanted her job and she said I should go to UCSD. For reference, I was deciding between UCSF Bioinformatics, Cornell Tri-institutional Computational Biology and Medicine, and UCSD.

Good luck!

[prasadg]

Hi all,

 

I am currtenly pursuing my masters in Bioinformatics and compuatational biology from Univeristy of Delaware. I wanted to know where do I stand to get admit from Standford or UCSD, UCB and UCLA.

[bamafan]

Hi all,

 

I am currtenly pursuing my masters in Bioinformatics and compuatational biology from Univeristy of Delaware. I wanted to know where do I stand to get admit from Standford or UCSD, UCB and UCLA.

 

I hate to be a jerk, but you dug up an old thread that's only marginally related to your question. And also, "what are my chances" is a question no one can conclusively answer ever, further complicated by the fact that you haven't actually posted anything that could even let us give you an educated guess (GRE, GPA, research, etc). 

 

It's really as answerable as if I had just asked, "what are the chances for me to get drafted by the New England Patriots or the SF Niners?"

[powderpig]

I hate to be a jerk, but you dug up an old thread that's only marginally related to your question. And also, "what are my chances" is a question no one can conclusively answer ever, further complicated by the fact that you haven't actually posted anything that could even let us give you an educated guess (GRE, GPA, research, etc). 

 

It's really as answerable as if I had just asked, "what are the chances for me to get drafted by the New England Patriots or the SF Niners?"

What are your strengths on the football field? The Patriots are in dire need of a productive wide receiver, while the niners have a glaring hole in the place kicker spot and an aging center. If you're a defensive secondary player with strong pass defense skills, I'd say you're a good fit for both teams. As a drafted player, salaries and location are not really a factor until your initial contract expires.

[bamafan]

What are your strengths on the football field? The Patriots are in dire need of a productive wide receiver, while the niners have a glaring hole in the place kicker spot and an aging center. If you're a defensive secondary player with strong pass defense skills, I'd say you're a good fit for both teams. As a drafted player, salaries and location are not really a factor until your initial contract expires.

 

I'm actually a slot receiver in the mold of Wes Welker/Edelman except with the hops and size of Megatron/BMarsh who can also place kick as well as play shutdown corner and safety. And that whole quarterbacking thing too.

 

Which means I'll be drafted by the Browns. 

[prasadg]

I am sorry for being jerk but its the first time I came across this site . So I was skeptical to post profile. My GRE is 1200 (720+480) Thinking of giving again. My current GPA is 3.7. I feel it will go up. Have worked on couple of good projects( Skatebase protein annotation project). Currently I am working on my thesis, trying to get publication from it.

 

Thanks

[bamafan]

I am sorry for being jerk but its the first time I came across this site . So I was skeptical to post profile. My GRE is 1200 (720+480) Thinking of giving again. My current GPA is 3.7. I feel it will go up. Have worked on couple of good projects( Skatebase protein annotation project). Currently I am working on my thesis, trying to get publication from it.

 

Thanks

 

No, not at all, I'm the one being rude, I just thought you posted an unanswerable question. It's hard to say, honestly, your GPA is more than fine (I have ~3.2, though that's admittedly on the very low end), but I'd get your verbal GRE up. Rep your research, write a good statement, get good recs, and you should have a good shot at least 2 of the 4. UCB is a extremely competitive as far as acceptances go, I've yet to meet a single person who got in.

[budgie]

I attend UCSD as an undergraduate in bioengineering and am familiar with the bioinformatics program. It's huge at UCSD and very multi-disciplinary; many of the faculty in bioinformatics are also faculty members in bioengineering, biological sciences, and/or in the med school. I know nothing of BU, but I do know the fact that UCSD has a med school on site and is opening a clinical research hospital soon, which makes it a pretty stellar place for implementing bioinformatics right now. If you have any questions about particular labs at UCSD, I may be able to give you some hearsay, PM me.

[biotinman]

Can I piggy-back this thread to ask if anyone has an idea how many new PhD students the Bioinf and Sys Bio program at UCSD accepts? Also their interview weekend is for that program only or the whole bioengineering department?

 

Thanks