2015 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Gvh]

i think the exact opposite - i feel that people UNDERESTIMATE their gre scores. unfortunately i did not get accepted to any of the programs that I applied to, i spoke with professors and admissions at most of the programs that I applied to and the common thing i was told that held me back/want to see improved was my gre scores. advice coming from someone whose application process didnt go too well - EVERYTHING COUNTS, dont underestimate any part of your application because although you have worked hard to get where you are, there is someone with a stellar application and you will unfortunately be compared to them. i did not at all think i would be rejected from every school i applied to and neither did my advisors, but it happened, and unfortunately it may happen to you too - but apply smart, dont apply to only top 10 apply to a spectra of schools and programs, and if you dont get what you want, dont wallow in pity - take some time to let it sink in (i made sure to have some time for myself after this ordeal because honestly, it does hurt) but use it as your motivation to come back with an even stronger application.

 

best of luck to everyone!

 

I have a couple friends who had an across-the-board rejection cycle, and received similar feedback regarding their GRE scores. I don't think they are something that will get you into grad school, but it seems they can keep you out.

[glow_gene]

Deleted to avoid heart attacks. Thoughtless post on my part ><.

Edited July 18, 2014 by glow_gene

[tuckbro]

I think GREs can eliminate you but cannot get you in alone. In my field if you want to go to a top program you need a quant of 95% or better. Just look at the results page and you'll see the pattern for your schools.

[Monochrome Spring]

A note: GRE scores can influence funding, as can GPA and other aspects of your application that rely on a numbers game. So, even if your scores won't keep you out, think about how important they are for your department for funding and such. You can ask someone in admissions and they should be able to tell you what they general process is.

[Vene]

A note: GRE scores can influence funding, as can GPA and other aspects of your application that rely on a numbers game. So, even if your scores won't keep you out, think about how important they are for your department for funding and such. You can ask someone in admissions and they should be able to tell you what they general process is.

That's a good point. I can say that where I applied the programs provided funding to all grad students but it can vary based on specialty.

[Monochrome Spring]

That's a good point. I can say that where I applied the programs provided funding to all grad students but it can vary based on specialty.

 

My program provides funding to all students in the form of an RAship or TAship. But the fellowship I got, which allows me to focus on research without those extra hours and for higher pay, was based a lot on numbers. Like you said, it'll vary a lot based on the program, field, etc.

[alanfv91]

On 7/16/2014 at 9:53 PM, VLSB4Life said:

Hello everyone-First post, hoping to get quality feed back about all this stuff. 

 

Undergrad Institution: Highly Ranked Public School, strong bio programs

Major(s): Molecular Biology

Minor(s):

GPA in Major: 3.9 Upper Div, 3.69 total

Overall GPA: 3.45

Position in Class: Not Sure. Above average but not quite near top. 

Type of Student: Domestic, nothing notable or interesting about my demographics. 

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Have not taken yet, practice tests I have been scoring 75-85 percentile

Q:

V:

W:

B:

Research Experience: 5 months at a hospital research lab doing immunology. By time of application 2.5 years of bacterial pathogenesis research at home institution. 1 regional poster presentation, 1 university wide. 1 oral presentation university wide. Enrolling in honors thesis in the fall. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 2 summer fellowships to do research at my home institution. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in a public health clinic for 2 years during undergrad. 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: GPA is an upward trend. I have done very well in upper div vs lower div ones. 

Special Bonus Points: Recommenders have a lot of connections at the schools I am applying to. I don't know how much this really means but I'd like to think it helps a bit. 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: I want a good range of schools both geographically and admissions wise.I'm applying to mostly umbrella programs but gearing my application towards working in host-pathogen interactions. Please let me know what you think of this list and if I should consider some other schools!

Harvard-BBS

UPenn-CAMB.

Rockefeller

BCM-MVM/umbrella

UW-MCB

WashU-DBBS

UTSW-Basic Science

UCSF-BMS

NYU-Sackler

Tufts-Merge ID/Microbio

Emory-IMP

 

I agree with the statement about UW.  I applied to their immunology program but they only took in about 4-5 students out of an application pool of 120.  However with your stats, I'm sure you will get in at least one of those places since you are definitely in a better starting position compared to me!  Good luck!

[ion_exchanger]

I'm still not sold on gre scores being a make or break. In a time where funding is limited, applicants are high, and everyone and their mom is a competitive candidate, someone will always get left out and someone will always wonder why. Big schools who receive thousands of applications seem to use the numbers to reduce their applicant pool to a manageable size. After that, then what? Ten years ago when money was more abundant, a school could rank their applicants and take the top ten. Now they can only take top five. I'm not sure that schools are debating over two applicants, and choose one over the other because this one scores 165 on their gre math and that one scores 163. I guess I'm just trying to remake my favorite point, don't let the scores stress you out too much. My gre scores were certainly nothing to shout about, but if I listened to the doubters I would have missed out on my dream program.

[Dedi]

I might actually be wrong about not getting into any publications from the lab I'm working in this summer. It probably won't show up in my application at all, though. Not with November deadlines.

[kravity13]

Would love to hear everyone's input, as I don't feel like a very competitive applicant at the moment

 

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 Private Liberal Arts ('13 grad)
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s): Neuroscience
GPA in Major: ... not sure, I think 3.2?
Overall GPA: 3.0   
Position in Class: School didn't give out rankings, but there was no grade inflation, if anything there was grade DE-flation. Many professors applied the bell curve (where majority of students in a class get Cs)
Type of Student: female

GRE Scores (revised/old version): considering re-taking... my practice scores were much higher.
Q: 159 (74%)
V: 161 (87%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
B: should I take this? 


Research Experience: 

-summer research internships every summer

-research with undergrad professor in genetics (she now works for the NSF, so good LOR there). One poster presentation from this. 

-took one term off of school to do an 'abroad internship' at Harvard/MGH Psychiatric Genetics Unit. Got a special grant to do this.

-one independent research project on zebrafish, for which I designed the study and even got my own small research grant for. 

-Current job: Research Assistant in a well known neurogenetics lab at UCLA. No pubs yet but hopefully a couple on the way...

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

-completed my senior thesis on an unusual accelerated schedule (had to petition to do this)

-2 small independent research grants

-outstanding biology student recognition (not sure why, given my grades...)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

-Research Position in well known neurogenetics lab at UCLA. PI is pretty well known in the field. 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

- some grant writing experience

- undergraduate independent research 

- animal colony experience 

- did a semester abroad in Cognitive Neuroscience at a European University 

-programming in Unix/Linux/R

Special Bonus Points: 

- female status (??? does this still count as a special bonus point?)

- LOR: famous current PI, previous undergrad professor now a high up at NSF, other previous undergrad neuro prof now dean of my undergrad college. 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

- bad grades   I know it's a similar sob story, but I suffered from depression/anxiety in undergrad and therefore really struggled to maintain good grades. When it's a major accomplishment just getting out of bed every day it's hard to think about acing your exams. I'm a lot healthier now than I was even a year ago, and I think I've made up for my GPA in other ways by showing a lot of initiative through undergraduate research and outside educational opportunities. 

 

However, i would REALLY love advice on how to approach discussing my mental health struggles to admissions committee without sounding like I'm making excuses or whining. Obviously my grades are totally my responsibility, but I feel like I am so much more than just that number... Likewise, all my lab grades were A's. I am a horrible test taker but I very much excel at project-oriented assignments, which is why I love research.

Applying to Where:

UCLA -- hoping that I have an advantage since I work in a lab here, and it's a great school.

UCSD

UCSF

Berkeley

University of Washington- Seattle

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU)
(I'm from MO, originally!)

University of Minnesota

University of Chicago

University of Colorado- Boulder

Northwestern

Stanford

Columbia

Harvard 

Yale 

Vanderbilt

I realize the Ivies are a long shot, but why not? My P.I. has collaborators at several of them and so may have some sway.

Halp?!

[alanfv91]

I think you are pretty competitive with these stats.  Sure your GPA isn't the highest out of the bunch, but the research experience you got is quite extensive and good!  I wouldn't worry too much about the GPA and GRE scores though, I had a GPA that is just right in the same ballpark as yours in addition to similar GRE scores and I've managed to be going to graduate school in the coming Fall (UCD).  The ivies will probably be your reach schools, but the others I see on your list are probably doable in terms of making it.  I say you may want to elaborate on your GPA a little bit on your application statements if they ask for you to talk about any discrepancies in your application.  Let me know if you have any other questions and feel free to PM me if you like.  Good luck!

[kravity13]

Wow, thanks for your optimism. It's so easy to feel super inadequate when a lot of what you see these days is people with amazing stats getting rejected everywhere :/ 

 

How do you like UCD? What do you know about their Neuroscience/Neurogenetics opportunities? 

[alanfv91]

Wow, thanks for your optimism. It's so easy to feel super inadequate when a lot of what you see these days is people with amazing stats getting rejected everywhere :/ 

 

How do you like UCD? What do you know about their Neuroscience/Neurogenetics opportunities? 

 

Well when I got the chance to check out the campus during my interviews, I liked the overall atmosphere and vibe of the campus.  My graduate program will be in Immunology so the administrative home will be at the veterinary school which is sorta isolated from the rest of the main campus.  I like the city of Davis as a whole.  Sure downtown is lively and can be full of students during the weekends or nighttime but there are areas in which it is more family-orientated and are much quieter than the rest of town.  It's also close enough to Sacramento, and not too far from the bay area so it's a nice thing to know that I can also enjoy the city life via a short drive.  In terms of their Neuroscience opportunities, I know there is an entire graduate group that focuses on Neuroscience so maybe you may want to check out their site or speak with some of their staff/faculty to know more about it.  They also have their website which you can find through the UCD grad studies webpage.

[Dedi]

-one independent research project on zebrafish, for which I designed the study and even got my own small research grant for. 

 

Sounds eerily like me (also designed an independent project on zebrafish and got a small research grant). What did you study, exactly?

[Vene]

For your gpa and depression did you Hades increase as you went through undergrad. Because it shouldn't be hard to spend a couple sentences saying that you suffered from depression early in undergrad and as you adjusted and got treatment your grades improved and you now have it under control so you have full confidence in your academic abilities.

[ion_exchanger]

My first semester as a freshman in undergrad was abysmal. I received a 2.3 GPA. I touched on it, but didn't dwell on it, in my SOP, citing a period of adjustment and sought the help of tutors, and then when I mastered the subjects I served as a tutor for other struggling students. They seem to like the upward trend. 

[acetylcholine]

I'm gonna go ahead here and say that out of UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, UW Neuro (admits only 6 people a year out of... 150 or so applicants), WashU, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, and Yale, pick two.  I didn't even get an interview at Columbia, Harvard, or UCSD, and I have a 3.69 GPA (I graduated in May), 163Q/167V/4.0A, 3 summers of research, a poster presentation, an oral presentation, and a second-author publication.

 

Also, apply to as many umbrella programs as you can that still have the neuroscience professors that you want to work with.  They're less competitive than the neuroscience programs.

[bsharpe269]

I think you have a good application but I do think that you are applying to way too many top schools. You might have a tough time with top 20s with your GPA. I don't think you should avoid applying but I do think that it might be a bit safer to apply to a larger of mix of school rankings. I would consider mixing more schools in the 20-50ish rank in there. If you apply to wide range of rankings then I am sure you will have some luck with all of research experience!

[kravity13]

I'm gonna go ahead here and say that out of UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, UW Neuro (admits only 6 people a year out of... 150 or so applicants), Wash U, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, and Yale, pick two.  I didn't even get an interview at Columbia, Harvard, or UCSD, and I have a 3.69 GPA (I graduated in May), 163Q/167V/4.0A, 3 summers of research, a poster presentation, an oral presentation, and a second-author publication.

 

Also, apply to as many umbrella programs as you can that still have the neuroscience professors that you want to work with.  They're less competitive than the neuroscience programs.

 

Can you clarify what exactly means umbrella programs? Does that mean general biology programs? Or interdisciplinary programs? Sometimes the nomenclature is confusing for me. I realize that my list is a little ambitious, but so many people tell me don't go to grad school if it's not in a program that is worthwhile to you. These schools are the only ones that have a strong emphasis on psychiatric genetics, which is what I'm interested in. (unless you count applying abroad, which I would have no chance in with my GPA- I wouldn't get funding for sure).

 

Sounds eerily like me (also designed an independent project on zebrafish and got a small research grant). What did you study, exactly?

 

I looked at the role of aquatic probiotics on zebrafish fecundity. We unfortunately didn't have enough time/money to analyze any molecular aspects (would have loved to look at levels of LNRH or something), so it was mostly behavioral (ie tracking spawning cycles and embryo mortality rates). You could say it was a very loose collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, as that is where I got my fish from. 

 

For your gpa and depression did you Hades increase as you went through undergrad. Because it shouldn't be hard to spend a couple sentences saying that you suffered from depression early in undergrad and as you adjusted and got treatment your grades improved and you now have it under control so you have full confidence in your academic abilities.

 

The issue is that I can't even argue an upward trend, really  . My depression was very intermittent and definitely got worse in the winters. For example even if my overall senior year grades were good, the winter was still pretty rough. 

[acetylcholine]

Can you clarify what exactly means umbrella programs? Does that mean general biology programs? Or interdisciplinary programs? Sometimes the nomenclature is confusing for me. I realize that my list is a little ambitious, but so many people tell me don't go to grad school if it's not in a program that is worthwhile to you. These schools are the only ones that have a strong emphasis on psychiatric genetics, which is what I'm interested in. (unless you count applying abroad, which I would have no chance in with my GPA- I wouldn't get funding for sure).

 

By 'umbrella programs', I mean programs labeled things like 'interdisciplinary biology' or 'program in biomedical sciences' or 'biological and biomedical sciences' (similar to Harvard BBS).  They usually have faculty from most of the biological departments on campus.

 

You apply to the advisor(s), not the school, of course.  I understand you want to apply places with an emphasis on psychiatric genetics, but I'm fairly sure the list is not limited to those.  I would suggest you talk to your advisor, be very clear that a 3.0 is not likely to be competitive at many of these places (GPA is often used as an initial way to 'cull the herd'), and ask them about schools that are not top 10s in the field that nonetheless are still strong in psychiatric genetics.

[Dedi]

I looked at the role of aquatic probiotics on zebrafish fecundity. We unfortunately didn't have enough time/money to analyze any molecular aspects (would have loved to look at levels of LNRH or something), so it was mostly behavioral (ie tracking spawning cycles and embryo mortality rates). You could say it was a very loose collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, as that is where I got my fish from. 

 

That's cool. I would have been very scared if you did a similar topic as I did (the effects of a barren or enriched environment on zebrafish behavior and neurogenesis).

[kravity13]

That's cool. I would have been very scared if you did a similar topic as I did (the effects of a barren or enriched environment on zebrafish behavior and neurogenesis).

 

That's really interesting! Might I ask what you discovered? (the brief version of course  )

[Dedi]

That's really interesting! Might I ask what you discovered? (the brief version of course  )

It was my first independent project so I think there were a few errors in the design. I did not reach any significance because of high variability--however, I did find a trend in behavior (zebrafish in enriched conditions tend to recover from a stressor faster than those housed in barren conditions). As for neurogenesis, I did immunohistofluorescence. While that worked (the newly divided cells did light up), the results were inconclusive (mostly because I had a very small sample size).

 

What about you? What did you find with your project?

[kravity13]

It was my first independent project so I think there were a few errors in the design. I did not reach any significance because of high variability--however, I did find a trend in behavior (zebrafish in enriched conditions tend to recover from a stressor faster than those housed in barren conditions). As for neurogenesis, I did immunohistofluorescence. While that worked (the newly divided cells did light up), the results were inconclusive (mostly because I had a very small sample size).

 

What about you? What did you find with your project?

 

Kind of similar to your results- I didn't reach significance due to low sample size and relatively high variability, but also found a noticeable trend that aquatically dispersed probiotics increase spawning rate in zf, # of eggs laid by the female, # of eggs actually fertilized, and embryo mortality rate. I tracked all the stages of embryonic development (just me and a microscope in the basement of the biology building, ha), and found the embryos from the probiotic group to generally develop a little faster, again, with lower mortality rate. I tracked the fry up to 3 mo. and again, found a lower mortality rate among the probiotic fish. 

 

My hypothesis is that the probiotic may increase levels of reproductive hormones, and generally make the fish more resistant to common environmental stressors. However, due to my a, inexperience and b, lack of access to money, equipment, and time, I was never really able to follow up on that. I didn't even have enough fish to do another independent group to reproduce the results! My findings would have been maybe sound enough to do a poster session or something like that but certainly not an abstract or paper. 

Edited July 21, 2014 by kravity13

[Crucial BBQ]

For your gpa and depression did you Hades increase as you went through undergrad. Because it shouldn't be hard to spend a couple sentences saying that you suffered from depression early in undergrad and as you adjusted and got treatment your grades improved and you now have it under control so you have full confidence in your academic abilities.

Personally, I would not mention the depression.  On the one hand it seems like too easy of a copout and I would bet the farm that this is the #1 "reason" adcoms see in the SOP.  On the other, even though there was an upward swing in terms of GPA and productivity the adcoms might fear the depression will return.  And if they are going to (potentially) drop a few $100K on your education/research, you can see why they might choose to pass.

 

I think it would be better to say that "you" had a hard time adjusting: new city, school, people, first time away from family, and so on.  Even stating that you were unsure about college at first would be better. 

Edited July 21, 2014 by Crucial BBQ