PHD Bioengineering/Biomedical engineering applications Fall 2014 profiles

[T.J]

Hi, 

 

Lets keep in loop and be motivated.

 

GRE:

Domestic/International (TOEFL/IELTS):

 

UG GPA:

(If you did Masters)

Masters GPA:

 

Research experience:

 

Research publications, patents, conferences:

 

PHD intended specialization: 

 

University list:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[T.J]

GRE: Q:160, V: 155, AWA-waiting.

Domestic/International (TOEFL/IELTS): International; waiting

 

UG GPA: 7.11/10 (top ranked school in my country)

(If you did Masters)

Masters GPA: 3.5/4 (Top ranked school; Materials science & Engineering)

 

Research experience: 1 year internship during my masters and 2 years post masters research experience related to my intended specialization. Work experience in top cancer institutes in US.

 

Research publications, patents, conferences:

Conference presentations: 20 in total (5 first authored and I presented them; rest are second and third authored).

Conference publications (published in peer reviewed journal as an abstract) : 4 (1 first, second, third and fourth author each)

Research articles/journal publications: (1) - first author submitted to publisher and in review. 8 more - in preparation and 6 of which will be submitted to publisher by nov-dec 2013.

 

PHD intended specialization: Tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and biomaterials.

 

University list: (BME/BioE PhD programs)

Georgia Tech University

Johns Hopkins University

University of Pennsylvania 

Cornell University

Columbia university 

University of California San Diego

Harvard University

Northwestern university

Univ of Pittsburg

Purdue university

Brown university

University of California Davis

Virginia polytechnic institute and state university

 

TJ

[tuckbro]

GRE: Q:169, V: 162, AWA 5.5

 

UG GPA: 3.96/4.0

 

Research experience: 3 years experience in University lab,  2 Summer REUs and one summer  industry internship

 

Research publications, patents, conferences:   Conference presentations: 2 major.

 

Conference publications:    1 peer reviewed journal as an abstract

 

Research articles/journal publications:  1 in preparation

 

PHD intended specialization: Tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and biomaterials.

 

University list: (BME/BioE PhD programs)

 

Duke

Hopkins

MIT

UPenn

Rice

Columbia

U Mich

Wake Forest/Va Tech

WashU

[gungun1010]

holy shit.. not sure why any school on earth would reject you ...

[TheOrange]

holy shit.. not sure why any school on earth would reject you ...

Hate to be that guy...but those stats are pretty typical for some of the top schools.

[gungun1010]

Hate to be that guy...but those stats are pretty typical for some of the top schools.

GPA and GRE scores are typical , sure, but how can a undergraduate student get to publish paper...

[TheOrange]

GPA and GRE scores are typical , sure, but how can a undergraduate student get to publish paper...

Again, hate to be that guy, but in my experience last year most of the successful applicants will have published at least one paper. Depending on what subfield you work in, even 5 or 6 (computational work, for example, typically publishes faster).

[tuckbro]

I agree with TheOrange, besides I hear that the most important thing is "fit"...so we will see what happens.

 

Good luck everyone!

[BeamMeUp]

GRE: 160 V/164 Q/ 3.0 AW (abysmal, I know. Previous: 4.0 which is also not that great)

 

Status: International, TOEFL: 115

 

UG GPA : 70% (we have percentages). Roughly translates to 3.2-3.4 I guess

 

PG GPA: 9.53/10

 

Research Experience: 1.5 years Computational work in Systems Biology.

 

Intended Specialization: Systems and Synthetic Biology, Neuroengineering

 

Universities in sight:

 

U Minn Twin Cities

Duke

Johns Hopkins

U Penn

UCDavis

UC San Diego

 

Going for some top universities. I hope they do recognize, I have attended really some top universities in my country.

Suggestions welcome.

[T.J]

UPDATE: Univs list changed in november.

GRE: Q:160, V: 155, AWA-4.0.

Domestic/International (TOEFL/IELTS): International; 110/120.

 

UG GPA: 7.11/10 (top ranked school in my country)

(If you did Masters)

Masters GPA: 3.56/4 (Top ranked school; Materials science & Engineering)

 

Research experience: 1 year internship during my masters and 2 years post masters research experience related to my intended specialization. Work experience in top cancer institutes in US.

 

Research publications, patents, conferences:

Conference presentations: 20 in total (5 first authored and I presented them; rest are second and third authored).

Conference publications (published in peer reviewed journal as an abstract) : 4 (1 first, second, third and fourth author each)

Research articles/journal publications: (1) - first author submitted to publisher and in review. 8 more - in preparation and 6 of which will be submitted to publisher by nov-dec 2013.

 

PHD intended specialization: Tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and biomaterials.

 

University list: (BME/BioE PhD programs)

Georgia Tech University

University of Pennsylvania 

Cornell University

University of Washington-Seattle

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Carnegie Mellon University 

Univ of Pittsburgh

Clemson University

Rutgers University

Virginia polytechnic institute and state university & Wake Forest University

 

TJ

[ghanada]

 

UPDATE: Univs list changed in november.

GRE: Q:160, V: 155, AWA-4.0.

Domestic/International (TOEFL/IELTS): International; 110/120.

 

UG GPA: 7.11/10 (top ranked school in my country)

(If you did Masters)

Masters GPA: 3.56/4 (Top ranked school; Materials science & Engineering)

 

Research experience: 1 year internship during my masters and 2 years post masters research experience related to my intended specialization. Work experience in top cancer institutes in US.

 

Research publications, patents, conferences:

Conference presentations: 20 in total (5 first authored and I presented them; rest are second and third authored).

Conference publications (published in peer reviewed journal as an abstract) : 4 (1 first, second, third and fourth author each)

Research articles/journal publications: (1) - first author submitted to publisher and in review. 8 more - in preparation and 6 of which will be submitted to publisher by nov-dec 2013.

 

PHD intended specialization: Tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and biomaterials.

 

University list: (BME/BioE PhD programs)

Georgia Tech University

University of Pennsylvania 

Cornell University

University of Washington-Seattle

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Carnegie Mellon University 

Univ of Pittsburgh

Clemson University

Rutgers University

Virginia polytechnic institute and state university & Wake Forest University

 

TJ

 

 

haha I was wondering why University of Michigan wasn't on your original list. That is where I am now and tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is HUGE here. 

 

Anyways, if anyone wants to know more about UMich feel free to ask. Or even about UCLA (my undergrad) or Boston University (my Masters) that's cool too. 

[T.J]

When do they usually send out Umich interviews? I just got an interview with Penn state - Biomedical sciences (i have also applied to 5 biomed sciences for research focus in developmental biology, regenerative medicine and stem cells ). So far i had an interview with an amazing prof from clemson - bioengineering.

[ghanada]

I think UMich finalizes interviews sometime in mid to late January. Last year, there were 2 interview weekends, one in mid-February and one in mid-March. I believe on average, they probably give out like 40-60 invites. Getting invited to interview is not match based as they form committees to rank each applicant. However, once interviews are set, it becomes match based in that you will only get acceptance if one of the profs you interview with commits to funding you. 

[T.J]

Thank you! that gives a good perspective. Will keep my fingers crossed!

[riton]

Hi I'm a little 'out of the loop' as 1) I'm international and 2) I've been working for 8 years in an unrelated domain:

 

GRE: 169 Verbal 99% - 167 Quantitative 95% 4.5 Analytical 78%

 

Domestic/International (TOEFL/IELTS): International, IELTS 8.5/9

 

UG GPA: Did top 'engineering school' in France, got in 8th but got average grades while there (Polytechnique) 2.68 GPA

 

Masters GPA:Applied Math: 15.09/20

 

Research experience: none

 

Research publications, patents, conferences: none - but 8 years being extremely succesful as a team leader in an unrelated domain.

2 great LOR from my boss and ex -boss

1 great LOR from the professor I did a one year research project with in applied math

 

PHD intended specialization: biomechanics

 

University list:

MIT BME

MIT medialab biomechatronics

Columbia

NYU-Poly

 

Am I crazy?

[intirb]

University list:

MIT BME

MIT medialab biomechatronics

Columbia

NYU-Poly

 

Am I crazy?

 

By MIT BME, do you mean the HST MEMP program or Biological Engineering?

 

Edit: also, what was that unrelated field?

Edited December 19, 2013 by intirb

[riton]

By MIT BME, do you mean the HST MEMP program or Biological Engineering?

 

Edit: also, what was that unrelated field?

MIT:  Biological Engineering

Unrelated field was derivative trading / finance (started in math-heavy derivatives then branched out into portfolio management of troubled assets)

 

If I don't get in anything, some of my contacts suggested to get a job in a lab for a year, try to get my feet wet, maybe get LORs from the people in the lab and my name in a few papers - what do you think /  what would be the best way to do that?

[intirb]

Yes, I would definitely recommend getting a research job at a lab first.  It'll be pretty hard to get admitted to a PhD program without any research experience.  There are lots of labs out there that could use some math expertise, so I'd start emailing professors or looking for job openings in labs, especially those nearby.

 

Assuming you want to work with Hugh Herr, you're probably a lot better off applying to HST MEMP than BE, since the latter is more cells and molecules and synthetic biology.

[tuckbro]

Judging from last year, looks like I won't be hearing on any potential interviews until mid to late January for my schools, so I guess I'll just forget about it until after the holidays! So far I have only seen people post for interviews in BME at Cornell and Sackler.

[T.J]

Got official email from Clemson - PhD in Bioengineering that they have recommended me to graduate school and an official letter will be mailed to me. Clemson has a good bioengineering department.

 

Funding: No official funding yet. Had skype interview in early December and prof is interested in me. He is waiting on grants for funding and will then make a funding offer.

[tuckbro]

Finally heard something! PI from UPenn emailed me today saying she was excited to see my application and wants to discuss her research with me. She also mentions an additional fellowship I might qualify for.

[T.J]

Congrats tuckbro, I have applied for Tissue Engineering field as well. Haven't heard anything from Upenn yet. Looks like we have Upenn, Umich and Vtech in common. Good luck on your interview.

[tuckbro]

Thanks TJ! I noticed our schools overlap. I know you will do well, you have great accomplishments! UPenn does not officially interview until after acceptances come out, so don't worry! This PIs research differs slightly in path from my goals so she wanted to make sure I was flexible. No official invite to interview or acceptance, but hoping its a good sign!

[T.J]

Thank you. You have a great profile as well. Like you said candidate fit to a program and POI matters a lot. So, keeping my fingers crossed. I suppose the engineering results usually start coming out by Jan end till Feb end.

Thanks TJ! I noticed our schools overlap. I know you will do well, you have great accomplishments! UPenn does not officially interview until after acceptances come out, so don't worry! This PIs research differs slightly in path from my goals so she wanted to make sure I was flexible. No official invite to interview or acceptance, but hoping its a good sign!

[tuckbro]

Received an invite to interview via email from MIT BE this morning! The interview weekend is March 7 and 8th. My first official one!