Improving my application for PhD in neuroscience

[euqirnezenitram]

Hello, I'm a fourth year medicine student in UABC (university in Tijuana, Mexico) and I am looking forward to get on a graduate program in neuroscience, with specific interest in neurodegeneration and aging. My carrer goes for 7 years (no "undergrad" studies requiered, you get there out of high school) and have been trying to get as much research experience as posible, but there is no active neuroscience (or any field really) research around, so I just have a couple of unofficial summers at UCSD doing research in a lab in a non-neuroscience field (endothelial effects of chocolate-derived substances), a summer in UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, the best research center in Mexico) working on Parkinson's dissease models.

 

Other than reaserch I have 2 small books of biochemistry and other of physiology for medicine students, one book about statistics for medicine students and one paper on way of publishing at UCSD about the chocolate thing. Also have been teaching the neuroscience class at my university for one year, but it's not official, I'm not officialy the teacher but I give all lectures, create and grade test, and submit all the gradings, but my name is not on the university's books. I had a job that consisted on redacting research protocols for clinical trials, but I'm not on the publications or anything.

 

I never took official classes in the fields of physics, math or chemistry, but I have taken them unofficially (atending to lectures, self-studying) on those fields, being an active learning of physics (currently working in theory with a physicist [long distance, via email] on quantum field theory aplied to electron transfer chains in mytochondria) and mathematics (I have taken unofficial courses in calculus up too multivariate and complex variable).

 

About merits I am an official member of the physiology academy of my university (only student there, the rest is faculty) and got into the physiology national olympics (won 3rd place).

 

I'm currently a resident of the US, so I would be applying as a resident.

 

What do you recomend me to improve my application for a grad program in neuroscience?  Thank you!

Edited April 24, 2014 by euqirnezenitram