Gina Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I was a pretty lackluster student as an undergrad, but I've been working hard to fix that! Also, wish my GRE writing didn't stink. But I am really bad at writing quickly, so I'm not surprised if I had a lot of typos... hopefully they don't care about this score too much. Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts; well respected in the region, but not well known nationally Major(s): Biology Minor(s): NA GPA in Major: 3.5 Overall GPA: 3.7 Position in Class: Above average GRE Scores (revised): Q: 156 V: 163 W: 3.5 B: NA Research Experience: Small independent class projects as an undergrad (basically none). Did my master's thesis in a plant evolutionary genomics lab, and have been a tech since then for 1.5 years. Expecting about 3 papers out of this. Presented a poster at an international conference. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list and merit scholarship while I was in college, research grant awarded for my master's thesis. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lab tech Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Meh? Special Bonus Points: Nothing extreme, but I came from a low-income school and got through a fair amount of bullying and sexual harassment growing up, and have struggled with anxiety and depression. This motivated me to become a peer educator while I was in college working for Counseling and Psychological Services. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: One of my recommendation letters is really glowing (it was shown to me). Others, I'm sure are also very good. Applying to Where: Michigan State University - Genetics Arizona State University - MCB Washington University in St. Louis - Genetics and Genomics University of Washington - Genomic Sciences UCSD - Biology Stanford - Genetics I feel like I'm shooting a bit high with my test scores / lack of publications, but I'm hoping the type of lab experiences I've had as a technician will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glow_gene Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Woohoo! Yay for WashU applicants . Gina, if you get an interview at WashU, I'll be one of the students helping you out while you're in St. Louis. Best of luck! If anyone has any questions about WashU interviews (or applying or any other schools on my list) please feel free to shoot me a message! I know how scary this process can be and would love to help in any way I can! ~glow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohopeful Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Ew, Packers fan. Go away. Just kidding, I'm from Chicago and am just bitter about yesterday. Haha, it's all good. Thankfully I'm not a "rabid" Packers fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jatomolo Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Large Private Institution - Top 50 Major(s): Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Minor(s): Mathematical Statistics GPA in Major: 3.95 Overall GPA: 3.93 Position in Class: Top 5% (summa cum laude) Type of Student: Domestic female, non-minority GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 163 (88%) V: 157 (73%) W: 4.5 (72%) Biochem: 680 (93% - with subsections of 93/95/85%) Research Experience: Undergraduate Research at my university (3yrs), 1 internship at biotech company (8wks), 1 fellowship at top medical school (10wks), and Postgraduate Research at top medical school (5 months and counting). 10+ conference posters (3 first author) and 2 papers in preparation (1 first author). Awards/Honors/Recognitions: At University: Honors/Distinction (from 1yr senior research project), awarded prize for being at top of my major (2nd overall), Phi Beta Kappa Member, Summa cum laude honors, various merit scholarships. Outside University: Research Award from American Cancer Society Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Undergraduate Research Assistant (3 years), Teaching Assistant (2 semesters), various volunteer work Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Senior Thesis Project (Written paper, oral defense), won small grant from my university to support my senior year research Special Bonus Points: Took 5 graduate classes (3 biology/chemistry, 2 mathematics), research connections in one of the programs to which I am applying Applying to Where: Harvard - Biological and Biomedical Sciences - Cancer Biology UPenn - Biomedical Graduate Studies (CAMB) - Cancer Biology (Also, HMGS Certificate Program) Stanford - Biosciences - Cancer Biology My list is a tad short as I am also applying to 10 MD/PhD programs. jatomolo and Cookie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piano5115 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Top public university (go bears!) Major(s): Integrated Bio Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.00 (so low ;_ Overall GPA: 3.23 Type of Student: Permanent resident GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 167 V: 162 W: 5.0 B: 800 (87%) Research Experience: 1 year at molecular bio lab, summer industry internship, 1 year in signal transduction lab (which is what I want to do in grad school), no publications tho >_< Awards/Honors/Recognitions: High Honors (clearly before I took organic chem ; Pertinent Activities or Jobs: member of women in science, Language tutor for 2 years, PR assistant for 3 years Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Young Artist Diploma in Piano (prob not going to help, but was a huge part of my life ) Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Really good undergrad, good rec letters Applying to Where: 12 schools including top choices UCSF, Stanford (Really would love to stay in the bay area!), UChicago and of course in compliance to every Asian parent.... Harvard At the risk of sounding really nerdy, I'm glad this site exists so that we can all talk to each other about our experiences! I thought that doing the apps was the hard part but I'm finding that the waiting part is much more emotionally taxing >_< good luck everyone! And hopefully we won't spend all of the holiday season thinking about this lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassish101 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Large public research university (top 100) Major(s): Biochemistry Minor(s): Chemistry GPA in Major: 4.00 Overall GPA: 4.00 Position in Class: top 1% Type of Student: male, asian/white, domestic GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 164/90% V: 165/95% W: 4.5/73% B: biochem taken, scores not up yet Research Experience: Molecular Genetics lab for more than a year and a half in college (and still working there), and about one year of research in a molecular neurobiology lab in high school. In my current lab, we are preparing to submit our results for publication (I will be 2nd or 3rd author on the paper, depending on how you look at it, I am immediately after the two co-first authors), and I am first author (out of two) on a textbook chapter that is in press. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa, this past summer of research was supported by a research grant I was awarded from my college Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Two semesters orgo TA Special Bonus Points: Undergrad lab PI (who is writing a good letter for me) is in the NAS Applying to Where: interests are molecular biology, genetics, and development UC Berkeley MCB UC San Francisco TETRAD Rockefeller Columbia Harvard BBS MIT Biology Biology@Princeton UChicago UPenn Biology Hopkins CMDB Yale BBS I am very stressed out about this whole process... I know that I'm applying to all super competitive programs, but I was told that these are the types of programs to which I should be applying. What do you think about all of this? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porge1991 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hi, as far as i'm aware i'm the first UK student posting into this thread. Whilst i'm applying to very competitive institutions in the UK and am hopeful I will get offers, i'm completely pessimistic about my US applications, purely because the process is so different and seems so streamlined for US students. Undergrad Institution: University of Oxford Major(s): Biochemistry GPA in Major: First class marks in finals (the top degree classification) Overall GPA: Position in Class: top 10% Type of Student: male, white, international GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 156 V: 164 W: 4.0y (totally underestimated the GRE - thought it looked easy when I skimmed through the book and, in all honesty, the content is, but I really should've practised at doing it faster/ the types of questions that come up) Research Experience: 2 months in structural biology lab (GPCR) with very successful lab group at Oxford Uni. 2 months in molecular biology lab at the institute of Cancer Research, London. Currently doing 4th year research project in membrane protein crystallography lab - hoping to publish later in the year. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Domus Scholarship (for finals marks), 2 research funding packages for above projects Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Special Bonus Points: Very working class background (although no real allusion to that in application so doesn't really make a difference) Applying to Where: Biochem-related programs at The Rockefeller Cold Spring harbor Weill Cornell Like I said, i'm really not hopeful about getting into these programs because I just think, as far as US admissions are concerned, that i'm not a strong candidate. Nevertheless i'll see how it goes and if I get rejected from all i'll do a PhD in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMcrumble Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts College (somewhat unknown but received undergrad neuroscience program of the year at SfN this year) Major: Chemistry Minor: Biology Overall GPA: 3.01 Position in Class: ? Type of Student: Domestic White Male GRE Scores: Q: 156 (68%) V: 166 (96%) W: 4.5 (73%) B: - Research Experience: 2 semesters and a summer REU in molecular biology 2 semesters and a summer working on an original thesis project in medicinal chemistry 2.5 years as a full time research associate in neuropharmacology, working completely independent on projects for a reasonably well known PI Publications: 1 first author, 1 first author in late stages of review (both journals with impact factors >3.5), 2 first authors in prog, and a second author in prog. Presentations: Once at an ACS regional meeting, Twice at National neuroscience meetings, several local institutional poster and oral presentations. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Won a small grant for my undergrad thesis project Several schollerships Special Bonus Points: Will have very strong LORs, come from a “disadvantaged background”, took two grad courses and got As in both (trying to make up for my dismal GPA), made contact with several PIs and met with several more at SfN national meeting this year. Applying to Where: Neuroscience or Neurobiology programs at each institution JHU UPenn UTSW Georgetown Emory U Chicago Drexel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SynBio1 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I am uber stressed this grad app season, because I am interested in a fairly narrow bit of biology( Synthetic Biology), so am applying to only a few(7) programs Undergrad Institution: Large public research U Major(s): Biochemistry Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.6 Overall GPA: 3,67 Position in Class: ????? Type of Student: male, white, domestic Q: 166/94% V: 163/91% W: 5.0/92% Research Experience: 2 summers doing iGEM( synthetic biology research competition). Got a best of track award 1st year, 2nd year won it all( first american team to do so). Got a first Author publication in ACS synthetic biology for 2nd year's research Applying to: Top synthetic biology programs: MIT microbio UC berkley Bioengineering UT austin Cell BIo Northwestern Interdepartmental biosciences UW Biological physics, structure and design rice Physical, systems, and synthetic biology Boston U bioengineering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohopeful Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I've altered my schools a little bit. My stats are on the first page. I decided to give up on Pitt and apply to U of Iowa instead (I think they'd be a better fit for me research wise, and their requirements on GRE/GPA are a little more lax). Also, anyone notice the flood of rejections from U of Washington's Cell and Molecular program yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virion Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) I've altered my schools a little bit. My stats are on the first page. I decided to give up on Pitt and apply to U of Iowa instead (I think they'd be a better fit for me research wise, and their requirements on GRE/GPA are a little more lax). Also, anyone notice the flood of rejections from U of Washington's Cell and Molecular program yet? I'm a Pitt student and, while the scores aren't great, I say you should still apply if it's somewhere you want to go. I had a good application with one somewhat ugly flaw which fortunately didn't totally screw me over. Good recommendations will get you far. Edit: different program, though. UW had a very early wave of rejections last year, which bummed me out as it was the first thing I had heard back about. Fortunately I heard back from Pitt the next day. The rest were a somewhat longer wait. Edited December 7, 2012 by virion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piano5115 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've altered my schools a little bit. My stats are on the first page. I decided to give up on Pitt and apply to U of Iowa instead (I think they'd be a better fit for me research wise, and their requirements on GRE/GPA are a little more lax). Also, anyone notice the flood of rejections from U of Washington's Cell and Molecular program yet? Ugg I saw I'm actually kinda happy that I took that school off my list (Love seattle tho!) It's gotta be discouraging to hear a reject this early on in the game. I have friends who are hearing back about interviews from rolling admin schools, ahh I just want news already lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faraday Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 The flood of rejections from Washington this time of year is nothing out of the ordinary. They have a very harsh filter they put all their applicants through. If you don't come out on the other side of a certain formula of GPA/GRE scores you are automaticaly rejected no matter what the rest of your application looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicroB2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 The flood of rejections from Washington this time of year is nothing out of the ordinary. They have a very harsh filter they put all their applicants through. If you don't come out on the other side of a certain formula of GPA/GRE scores you are automaticaly rejected no matter what the rest of your application looks like. Are you serious? If this is true, then the UW application process is totally bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chemaholic Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 It seems we have a rockstar applicant among us. Apparently, somebody already got interview offers from both UPenn (CAMB) and UNC-Chapel Hill (BBSP)... piano5115 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balissar Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Undergrad Institution: Large religious private university in the west Major(s): Physiology and Developmental Biology Minor(s): Microbiology GPA in Major: 4.0 Overall GPA: 4.0 GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 166 V: 166 W: 5.0 Bio: 990 (99%) Research Experience: 2 summers at Children's Hospital Boston during undergrad and 2 years as a research tech at Duke Med. No publications though which kind of worries me. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Presidential Scholarship (8 semesters 150% tuition), Deans List 8 semesters, Department Valedictorian, Honored Student Speaker at my college convocation, Phi Kappa Phi Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for a huge anatomy class for 3 years, head TA for 1 year. Grad level course TA during 1 semester. Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Seemingly really great letters. I am also a female from a school where men are higher achieving and girls major in home and family living. Applying to Where: Harvard BBS, Mount Sinai, Penn CAMB, WUSTL DBBS, Michigan PiBS, UNC-Chapel Hill BBS, and BU PiBS I have interviews at Penn, Sinai, UNC and BU so far. I got 3 of them this week and am totally freaking out. I really want Michigan and then I will be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoevosale Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) Are you serious? If this is true, then the UW application process is totally bullshit. I haven't heard of them having a strict cutoff, probably just anecdotal statements continuously passed through the grapevine. Especially since people with great numbers are also rejected early. Lower numbers is probably a reason for many to be rejected, but that doesn't mean they have a absolutely strict 'you shall not pass' line. It is a competitive program, many great applicants of a large range of stats are rejected. I also wouldn't be surprised if some of them are generic rejections handed out to files that were submitted, but still incomplete passed the deadline. Edited December 7, 2012 by pastesale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faraday Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Are you serious? If this is true, then the UW application process is totally bullshit. I recall hearing it over in the College Confidential thread from last year's applicants, so obviously it should be taken with a grain of salt the size of a sugar cube... The general consensus was that UW's program has a much more strict filter than most programs and their first week of December mass rejections is unparalelled in the world of biology graduate applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamafan Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I have interviews at Penn, Sinai, UNC and BU so far. I got 3 of them this week and am totally freaking out. I really want Michigan and then I will be happy. Congrats. That Bio score is very, very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilkiyyu Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 <p>Undergrad Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology Major(s): Biology GPA in Major: 4.0 Overall GPA: 3.86 GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 168 (97%) V: 165(95%) W: 4.5(72%) Biochem: 690 (95%); Biochem: 92%, Molecular Bio: 94%, Genetics: 94% Research Experience: 4 semesters of research in a lab. Expected 2nd author in a paper publication next year Awards/Honors/Recognitions: National Merit scholar, Dean's List <span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif">Applying to Where: Stanford(Immunology), Berkeley(Immunology), UCSF(Immunology), UCLA(Immunology), USC Pibbs, UCSD Biomedical, University of Washington, Seattle(Pathobiology) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virion Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Last year, my friend also applied to this program. He had a very similar application, with higher GRE scores. He got an interview, and is now in the program. He has since told me that there is a specific GRE score cutoff (I feel like he even told me roughly what it is, but I could be mis-remembering that), where they really don't look at applications with lower scores. I don't know if it's actually fully automated filtering, but probably only the applications which are truly exceptional in other areas outweigh this criterion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lira Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Publications: 1 first author, 1 first author in late stages of review (both journals with impact factors >3.5), 2 first authors in prog, and a second author in prog. Presentations: Once at an ACS regional meeting, Twice at National neuroscience meetings, several local institutional poster and oral presentations. I'm sorry but I don't understand HOW you got so many publications out! Not all PhD students graduate with a package like this. As far as I understand you don't have grad eucation. Did you take some time off after your undergrad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porge1991 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I have a question that some of you may be able to help with. I was originally going to apply to memorial sloan-kettering also for the biomedical sciences PhD. I didn't in the end because i'm also applying to quite a lot of places in the UK in addition to the current 3 i've applied to in the US and didn't want to spread myself too thin (/spend too much money on applications). I recently keep getting emails from the associate dean stating that they've extended the application deadline until next week for me to submit my application. Is this a good sign? I'm actually really interested in the cancer focus of the institution (I did previous research at big cancer research institution in London) and some of the faculty's research interests me (the structural biology focus) and so if this email is an indication that they are potentially interested in me as an applicant I would go ahead and submit it. However, the pessimist in me thinks that this is probably just a generic email they use to get more money from those who have made an application but not submitted it. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMcrumble Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I'm sorry but I don't understand HOW you got so many publications out! Not all PhD students graduate with a package like this. As far as I understand you don't have grad eucation. Did you take some time off after your undergrad? Yeah, quite a bit of time actually, I graduated in May 2010 and started working for my PI immediately. We had to take about 6 months off of work to move our lab across the city, so all in all I’ve done about 2 years of productive full time work thus far. I have also had a bit of luck in that my PI has generally been correct in his hypotheses, so almost all of my work has produced publishable data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ion_exchanger Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I have a question that some of you may be able to help with. I was originally going to apply to memorial sloan-kettering also for the biomedical sciences PhD. I didn't in the end because i'm also applying to quite a lot of places in the UK in addition to the current 3 i've applied to in the US and didn't want to spread myself too thin (/spend too much money on applications). I recently keep getting emails from the associate dean stating that they've extended the application deadline until next week for me to submit my application. Is this a good sign? I'm actually really interested in the cancer focus of the institution (I did previous research at big cancer research institution in London) and some of the faculty's research interests me (the structural biology focus) and so if this email is an indication that they are potentially interested in me as an applicant I would go ahead and submit it. However, the pessimist in me thinks that this is probably just a generic email they use to get more money from those who have made an application but not submitted it. Thoughts? Hello. I also had this question, so you sort of answered it for me, and I'll do the same for you. I also applied to Sloan Kettering, and due to an unknown error, they were missing one of my documents. I received an email stating that the application would remain open until December 10. I had already submitted the application, including the fee. Either the two of us are the best of the best :-) or it is generic. I was leaning towards generic when I first received the email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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