Applying for Neuroscience/Neurobiology Ph.D. programs for Fall 2015

[bsrhng]

Somewhat unrelated question (reading this made me think of it) that may be better placed elsewhere:

Are applications reviewed in the order in which they were received? (At non-rolling admissions schools?)

You might want to check out this:

 

http://graddecision.org/

 

It explains a lot about the admission process at different schools.

[gliaful]

http://www.sfn.org/~/media/SfN/Documents/Professional%20Development/NDP/SurveyReportAY20102011.ashx

 

Stats, because I love stats, and I love legitimate, anxiolytic stats from SfN most of all.

 

Snapshot:

The average neuroscience program receives 88 applications/season, with median 69. Note that the schools that participated in the survey are listed at the end of the report.

Average number of acceptances per programs surveyed is 20, for an acceptance rate of 23% -- on average, 12.8 of those 20 students matriculate. (Feels really high, doesn't it? )

The number of applicants to neuroscience programs is NOT on the rise, and has remained stable for at least the last 15 years.

Average GRE scores are stable at 156 Verbal (72%ile), 154 Quant (67%ile), 4.4 AW

Time to completion 5.5 years, with 15% of students needing a 7th year.

 

I will look to see if there has been a more recent edition of this report.

 

EDIT: You can see older reports here http://www.sfn.org/careers-and-training/higher-education-and-training/training-program-surveys

but there haven't been any reports following the 2011 report posted above.

Edited December 3, 2014 by pasteltomato

[thindust]

Thanks for sharing the SfN stats and the nifty snapshot. I love stats too
Although really if the stats considered only the top and even mid-tier universities, I suspect the stats have limited anxiolytic effects. 
 
I've been lurking for a while, so here I am. Just a snapshot as I am not too keen on sharing all the details.

I do have cumulatively 2.5 years of full-time research experience (1.5 months of neuro, 1 year cell & molecular, upcoming 0.5 years of computational neuro), 2 low-impact non-first-author papers in microbiology.

Undergrad Institution: UK university (2nd in the world for neuroscience according to US News/Thomson Reuters methodology)

Major: BSc Neuroscience

GPA: First Class Honours (average grade can be calculated but not reported in transcript)
Position in Class: top 3 in a very small class of 30+
Type of Student: International Female
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 163 - 86%
V: 166 - 96%
W: 5.5 - 98%

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Granted external PhD Fellowship for 5 years, university of choice
Graduation award for best performance (one of two awards given) in neuroscience cohort

Deans list each year

 

LORs:

Probably good, but will not say they are particularly strong

Applying to Where:

MIT BCS

Stanford Neuroscience

UCSD Neuroscience

Northwestern Neuroscience
Harvard Neuroscience

Columbia Neurobiology & Behavior

Johns Hopkins Neuroscience

UPenn Neuroscience

 

In the case of UCSD and MIT, I know I could have applied to umbrella Biology programs at the same time given my predominantly biology background, but what is very important to me is to be part of a neuroscience community with people studying neuroscience on all scales.

 

I am also aware that I am aiming rather high - all excellent for neuroscience - especially as an international, but applying for more is a real financial constraint, and I have considered fit of my interests very rigorously.  

I must confess I am not all too confident especially looking at everyone with great stats out there. Although I very much want to train in the US, my contingencies (which I feel very safe and more confident for) will be back in the UK where my degree is probably a lot better regarded and where I believe being funded also means a lot more. Fingers crossed. All the best everyone!

Edited December 3, 2014 by thindust

[gliaful]

Thanks for sharing the SfN stats and the nifty snapshot. I love stats too

Although really if the stats considered only the top and even mid-tier universities, I suspect the stats have limited anxiolytic effects. 

 

I found them soothing because an average 23% acceptance rate sounds really high compared to other values I've heard (and I'm not applying to top-tier schools, either). 

My top choice has a 7% acceptance rate according to Peterson's...

[noguarantee777]

Well, I've enjoyed reading these threads so I may as well contribute.

 

Undergrad Institution: Large State University

Major(s): Psychology
Minor(s): Biology & Chemistry
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.63
Position in Class: Not given


GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 165 (90^th) 
V: 167 (97^th) 
W: 5.5 (98^th)


Research Experience: 1.5 years in a genetics lab, senior honors work in a chromatin & molecular biology lab, a few semesters in unrelated work (ecology etc).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated with University Honors for successfully defending my senior honors thesis; it was unpublished though.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: The time in the genetics lab has been paid. Was hired fulltime by the lab as soon as I graduated so I suppose that’s a good sign.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had no clue what I wanted to do for the longest time so the first two years of my transcript are all over the place. Last 4 semesters I had a 3.93 though and since we don’t have an undergraduate neuroscience degree I tried to build my own. One thing I’m worried about is that I only got to take one semester of physics before I needed to graduate for financial reasons and I never officially took calculus despite teaching myself some. I’m hoping my quantitative score will assuage fears surrounding my limited math coursework. LOR should be solid.
 

Applying to Where: Neuroscience
UPitt
UPenn
Vanderbilt
UAB
Northwestern
Florida
MIT (Biology)
Emory

All the programs have a great fit with my interests so I’ll be happy as long as a get a couple of interviews. Good luck everyone!

[faroscience]

Hey all!  I just wanted to say howdy.  Following this discussion is a great way to freak myself out, which is exactly what I need at this already very stressful time of my life!

 

I don't feel comfortable sharing all my details, but here's the gist of it.

 

Major(s): BS Math, BS Neuroscience

Minor(s): Physics, Statistics
GPA in Major: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.99
Type of Student: Middle-class white male

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 92%
V: 95%
W: 93%

Research Experience:

4+ years in in five different labs, three publications in preparation, nothing published yet.  Research abroad experience.  Four UG research grants ranging from $2000-$5000.

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Two-year Goldwater, [another national UG research award]

 

Letters:

One from an administrator (who is also one of my PIs), one from a tenured PI, and one from my Neuro I professor.

Any Miscellaneous info that Might Help:

• Very strong computer programming background.
• Very specific research interests (most schools don't have anyone studying it... my UG school certainly doesn't)

 

Applying to Where:

Madison

Yale

SUNY-SB

UCSD

Princeton

JHU

MIT

Edited December 4, 2014 by faroscience

[chibimolinero]

Copying and pasting from the thread in the Biology forum.

 

Undergrad Institution: Very large state school
Major(s): Biomedical Engineering
Minor(s): Neuroscience
GPA in Major: 3.93
Overall GPA: 3.98
Position in Class: At least in the top 1/5th of my BME class
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 169 (97%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
B: N/A

Research Experience:

-Summer research (~4 months) at my school; analysis of miRNA expression in prostate cancer patients; got a poster out of it (presented twice, both just at different symposiums within my school); paper currently in preparation

 

-(technically ~1-1.5 years) Volunteer in an injury biomechanics research lab within my school; helped instrument cadavers for impact testing, cleaned tools, prepared instruments, etc.

 

-(ongoing) ~9 months of volunteering in a motor neuron disease lab at my school; work with mouse models, learned how to do a wide variety of wet lab techniques

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Merit-based scholarships, Dean's List every quarter/semester

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Anatomy TA and (one-time) calculus tutor

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: I'm an engineer! Trying to spin my quantitative skills as a unique perspective for neuro, as an interdisciplinary field

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Various campus involvement: leadership roles in students organizations (BMES and AEMB)

Applying to Where:

Interests include adult neurogenesis/stem cells, Alzheimer's/Parkinson's, depression, and anxiety. (All programs are Neuro PhD)

 

Harvard University

Columbia University

University of Washington

UC San Francisco

Stanford University

University of Wisconsin

Northwestern University

 

 

Lots of upper-tier schools, but I'm hoping my combination of good scores/GPA and moderate research experience help me get my foot in the door. Almost all my apps are in (just finishing up my SOP for Columbia).

[melc_hammer]

Also freaking out after reading all of these, but I want in on this convo.

 

School: Big New England State School

Major(s): BA Honors Psychology

Minor(s): Neuroscience
GPA in Major: 3.97
Overall GPA: 3.73

Position in Class: Magna cum laude
Type of Student: Minority (hispanic) female

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 84%
V: 78%
W: 38%

Research Experience:

4 projects as an undergrad in the health sciences, one of them was my Honors Thesis in behavioral neuro.

Graduated in May and have since been working in a neuroscience lab that utilizes optogenetics

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

multiple scholarships, a research grant as an undergrad, multiple academic awards, Honors commencement speaker

 

Letters:

My Honors Thesis advisor, an undergrad professor who let me enroll in his graduate courses (Neuropsychology, Neuropsychopharmacology), and my current PI

Any Miscellaneous info that Might Help:

-Socioeconomically disadvantaged (Mother made ~10k a year to support three daughters)

-was a student athlete (NCAA D1)

 

 

Applying to Where:

UCSF-Neuro

UC Denver- Biomed

UPenn- Neuro

UNC-CH - BBSP

BU- Neuro

Drexel- Neuro

UAB- Neuro

[sxk055]

Invited for interview at UTSW Division of Basic Sciences! Submitted app around Nov. 15. Good luck to everyone else!

[fluttershy]

Since I am constantly lurking this thread, might as well join the conversation too. Good luck everyone.

 

Undergrad Institution: Top Public School

Major(s): Neuroscience
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: This is tricky, I'm a nontraditional who transferred junior year from CC. 
Overall GPA: 3.5 combined (3.76 at CC and overall 3.37 at my university - but >3.7 for last 4 semesters)
Position in Class: Not known.
Type of Student: Domestic female

 

Graduate Institution: Same school (MS)

GPA: 3.93

 

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 153
V: 155
W: 4.5
B:

Research Experience: 5 years total: 3 years in a biopsych lab with a senior thesis and co-authored conference poster, masters work w/ third author pub, and 2 years as a research technician with 2 pubs in review at top journals, one first author poster presentation at a conference, and another poster co-author

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University honors 2x

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: (hopefully) strong PS explaining circumstances for why I had to go to CC, and successfully transferred to a top university, should have 3 strong LOR's from PI's

 

Applying to Where:

UWisconsin - Neuro and Physio

Northwestern

UMICH - PIBS

University of Washington

Cornell BBS

Yale BBS

Harvard Neuro

Columbia Neurobiology

Rockefeller

 

Hoping my strong research experiences, graduate school success, and LOR's will make up for lower GRE scores and slight hiccup in grades first year after transferring - it was just 2 semesters but it destroyed my overall GPA since the transferred grades weren't included in the calculation.

[gliaful]

OHSU (Neuro Grad Program) is reviewing applications on December 15th.

[NWFreeheel11]

OHSU (Neuro Grad Program) is reviewing applications on December 15th.

It's starting! I'm getting excited.

[bsrhng]

I'm curious, did anyone email faculty at your chosen universities before you applied?

 

Also does it in general make a huge difference?

Edited December 5, 2014 by bsrhng

[chibimolinero]

I'm curious, did anyone email faculty at your chosen universities before you applied?

 

I did, and got nearly every type of response you could imagine. Some didn't respond, and others briefly confirmed that they were taking new students, but told me to just apply to the program. One professor was super encouraging, and offered to look over my CV for me. And two others arranged phone calls with me to talk about their research/my grad school plans. We'll see if any of this matter though, haha.

[bsrhng]

I did, and got nearly every type of response you could imagine. Some didn't respond, and others briefly confirmed that they were taking new students, but told me to just apply to the program. One professor was super encouraging, and offered to look over my CV for me. And two others arranged phone calls with me to talk about their research/my grad school plans. We'll see if any of this matter though, haha.

Oh, great that you had phone calls with those professors. Did they say anything more about the application after talking with them, if it's not too much to ask?

 

I contacted only one, a professor at NYU, and I received I guess the mid-range answer on your scale, though I emailed him 3 days before the deadline. He was teaching at a summer school I went to and he said he looks forward to my application and that he remembered me from the school, which was surprising since I didn't talk to him.

[chibimolinero]

Oh, great that you had phone calls with those professors. Did they say anything more about the application after talking with them, if it's not too much to ask?

 

I contacted only one, a professor at NYU, and I received I guess the mid-range answer on your scale, though I emailed him 3 days before the deadline. He was teaching at a summer school I went to and he said he looks forward to my application and that he remembered me from the school, which was surprising since I didn't talk to him.

 

Nah, they didn't really discuss the actual application with me. Just encouraged me to apply to whatever programs they were affiliated with.

 

That's great that he remembered you! Hopefully that gets you some bonus points

[neuro4life]

After looking through several posts, I fear that I may not be accepted to any of programs...

 

Undergrad Institution: McGill

Major(s): B.A. Psychology
Minor(s): Behavioral Science
GPA in Major: 3.64
Overall GPA: 3.64
Position in Class: Top 25%, but not top 10%

Status: International Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 159 (74%)
V: 156 (74%)
W: 4.0 (54%)


Research Experience: 1 year and 3 months (and counting...)

- 3 months in drug addiction lab

- 1 year in behavioral neuroscience lab (currently working here)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduation Honor

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Currently full-time R.A. in a lab that I previously worked as an undergrad

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

- 2.20 GPA during my very first semester (I explained this in my SOP.)

- Strong LoRs (?) -> All three profs who submitted a letter for me said that they wrote me a "glowing" or "good" recommendation letter.

   However, they are not famous in the field. One professor is actually a prof in psychiatry.
 

Applying to Where: Neuroscience
Princeton

Columbia

UPenn

UW - St. Louis

Duke

Brown

NYU

UMich

Emory

McGill

 

Is there any school that I have a real shot at?

 

Thanks!!

Edited December 5, 2014 by JasonYneuro

[melc_hammer]

Is there any school that I have a real shot at?

 

Of course there is! There's not one thing in your bio that is a red flag. It's not just about the numbers, it's about your character substance that's expressed in your LORs and SOP, in addition to how well your interests match your potential PIs. I wouldn't worry- I honestly think numbers get you looked at by admissions committees (yours are fine) and your interests and letters and statement will be what gets you actually noticed by the good programs to which you applied.

 

BTW, I also had a low first semester GPA (2.6) and ended with a 3.73. Your gap was even more impressive than mine and, I too, explained it in my SOP.

 

Best of luck!

[Chrissymisha]

Also just got an invite to UPenn Neuro! I'm so excited. I was starting to feel kind of depressed that others had started to get invites, but at least I have one now! Good luck everyone!

[Dedi]

I'm curious, did anyone email faculty at your chosen universities before you applied?

 

Also does it in general make a huge difference?

Yes. In fact, I'm only applying to places where I received very positive feedback from the professor. I got phone calls from three professors, and I spent a summer working in the POI's lab of my top choice program.

Some programs only accept you if a supervisor decides to take you into their lab.

 

Does it make a difference? It depends on how involved the professor is with applications, and how your relationship with the professor developed. For example, my application contains a very strong (apparently. I haven't read it) LOR from the POI I mentioned. It does not guarantee admission, of course, but it may help having a professor advocate for your application.

[gliaful]

Also just got an invite to UPenn Neuro! I'm so excited. I was starting to feel kind of depressed that others had started to get invites, but at least I have one now! Good luck everyone!

Congrats!!! So exciting!

[melc_hammer]

Also got an invite to UPENN! I'm so happy, I'm crying. 

[SingingInTheColdRoom]

I'm in the Master's portion of my combined Neuroscience BA/MS, and I'm applying to Neuroscience PhD programs along with you wonderful people. My school's MS in Neuroscience is basically all research, so I spend much of my day waiting for things to run. I used to spend that time reading or, more recently, working on applications, however yesterday I discovered this thread. Now all I do is wait for y'all to post, hoping that your insight with respect to the ongoing drama of this shared experience will somehow help to abate my crushing anxiety. I think it's helping. Please post more.

[Dedi]

I'm in the Master's portion of my combined Neuroscience BA/MS, and I'm applying to Neuroscience PhD programs along with you wonderful people. My school's MS in Neuroscience is basically all research, so I spend much of my day waiting for things to run. I used to spend that time reading or, more recently, working on applications, however yesterday I discovered this thread. Now all I do is wait for y'all to post, hoping that your insight with respect to the ongoing drama of this shared experience will somehow help to abate my crushing anxiety. I think it's helping. Please post more.

Glad it's helping!

 

I don't have much news to report. My PI/POI sent in his LOR, making my first application complete.

This was the email I got when he sent in the LOR (which still makes me flustered every time I read it):

 

Submitted. I basically told them you walk on water (so don't let me down if you come here!). As I said, it is difficult to know what chance you have in this competition, but I gave it my best shot.

 

My advisor is freaking out, under the impression that I'm going to be accepted into the program. I'm just relieved that he turned in the LOR on time.

[gliaful]

...so I spend much of my day waiting for things to run...Now all I do is wait for y'all to post, hoping that your insight with respect to the ongoing drama of this shared experience will somehow help to abate my crushing anxiety. I think it's helping. Please post more.

UGH THIS IS MY LIFE. hahahahaha.

I am on here all the time, and sometimes I post responses to things just in the hopes that it will alert others and then they'll get on and post stuff and I won't be so lonely.