Anticipating holes in my application

[omoplata]

I'm not immediately applying as I am hopefully doing an NIH postbac fellowship first for a couple of years (given that my offer is not rescinded because of sequestration), but by the time I apply, my application will look something like this: 

 

-Institution: Northwestern University

-Majors: Biology + Film

-GPA/Biology Major GPA: 3.63/3.66

-GRE: 164Q/166V (no subject test) 

-Research Experience: NIH postbac, 1.5 years RA in lab at NU (I tend to discount this because this time was spent inside a psych lab), one summer at NIH as undergraduate intern

-Teaching Experience: one summer as intro biology sequence TA, one quarter as TA for a unique and experimental "science education through art" class

 

I've been keeping in touch and intend on maintaining my relationships with my undergrad professors, so I should be okay on LORs. For my SOP, I intend on describing the questions I seek to explore in my pursuit of research in traumatic brain injury. 

 

Do you all see any cracks in the app that I should be wary of patching up and addressing to best merit consideration from some of the highly competitive programs that I am looking to apply to for TBI research (which include UCSF, Columbia, and WashU)? I've been advised to retake the GRE, since I went in the first time without studying. However, I believe my time would be far more productively spent elsewhere and have little regard for standardized testing. Additionally, I've been told that the fact that I took a year off after graduating to work a corporate job (I graduated last year) could be a red flag in regards to my dedication to science.

 

Thank you for all your help! 

[BeakerBreaker]

Your GRE is absolutely fine, unless your AW score is low. I wouldn't bother with it.

 

Taking time off to work in a corporate environment isn't a red flag, especially with the horrible economy these days -- sometimes finding a decent research position takes quite awhile. FWIW, I took a year off working random jobs while I waited for my fiancee/gf at the time to finish college, and then spent 3 years in an academic research lab. No one ever asked me about it.

 

The only thing I would give serious consideration is that your research interests (and presumably your SoP) are very narrow.  This is slightly problematic, since schools will assume you will be unhappy if the handful of professors doing that research at their university are unable to take you.  You could mention it in your SoP, but to make it the entirety of it might be somewhat risky.  

 

Would you be interested in working on anything else? How many faculty at each school are performing this research, and have you talked to them about funding?

 

Similarly, three schools will likely be too few, given your narrow research and the unpredictability of the application process -- although I assume you have at least a couple more you are considering.

 

How long is the NIH postbac? If you can make a good impression there, a LoR from a PI there will likely bolster your application.  Grad schools are mostly interested in seeing people who can speak to your ability to do serious research, and it is often good to diversify the source of LoRs you have.

[ion_exchanger]

Who advised you to retake the GRE? Did they do so because your writing score was low? If your writing score is at least a 4 then I wouldn't retake your GRE. Extra money and you don't need it. I would say that overall, your stats are pretty strong, and you should definitely be able to get into graduate school, provided the research interests of you and the faculty match up. An NIH postbac will enchance your file significantly, and the connections that you make with PI's/staff scientists/postdocs/grad students can help tremendously. They will also come from a wide variety of graduate schools and can recommend specific programs and PI's for you to look for, and PI's that can potentially help you. I just wrapped up a two year postbac at NIH, so if you have any additional questions, just let me know!

[omoplata]

@BeakerBreaker -- Very glad to hear that taking time off to work won't be looked down upon. The NIH doles out $79 million in TBI research every year, so there are quite a few professors across the nation researching that. The schools I mentioned were a subset of a list I compiled consisting of places that had faculty receiving NIH money for TBI.

 

@ion_exchanger -- I would like to learn some comp neuroscience in grad school for the sake of being able to model, and was told that my quant score was a scratch too low for people to take that interest seriously. Did you apply after your first year at NIH and in the midst of your second year? 

[ion_exchanger]

The math score on the old scale is a 790, and the percentile is 90%. Again, who is this person advising you to retake it? The decision is ultimately up to you, but I would worry about potentially scoring lower on a retake. It does happen, sometimes. Fortunately for you, if you do decide to retake it and score lower, you can choose which score you would like to send now, thanks ETS. Yes, I applied to NIH during my second year. I started in January of 2011, and applied last fall for graduate school.

Edited May 22, 2013 by ion_exchanger

[omoplata]

Dang, my official scores finally came in (I'd been relying on my post-test scores), and my Q score actually dropped by a point. My AWA turned out to be a 5. I see that my Q of 163 is now (slightly) below the averages of some programs I'm looking at. Should I be looking at a retake in the future in this case?

[risingsun11801]

I'd say your stats are fine and you don't need to take the GRE again. If you are worried, make sure to apply to plenty of schools with TBI research clusters- Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Kentucky, Uniformed Services University, Emory University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University