No Publication, Should Worry or Not?

[th6kevin]

Hi,

 

I'd like to know if publication matters a lot in application. I am an international student and did my undergrad at one of the top UCs. My overall GPA is 3.6 and 3.75 for major. I got V:156 Q:163 and 4 on GRE. Had different research experiences in 3 labs (2 school groups and one intern at a pharmaceutical company). My research interest is also very specific but I don't have any publications. I'd like to know if this will lower my chances of getting admitted and wonder am I qualified for top 20 programs.

 

Thanks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

[biotechie]

Hi,

 

I'd like to know if publication matters a lot in application. I am an international student and did my undergrad at one of the top UCs. My overall GPA is 3.6 and 3.75 for major. I got V:156 Q:163 and 4 on GRE. Had different research experiences in 3 labs (2 school groups and one intern at a pharmaceutical company). My research interest is also very specific but I don't have any publications. I'd like to know if this will lower my chances of getting admitted and wonder am I qualified for top 20 programs.

 

Thanks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

Graduate programs don't expect you to have publications, but they do expect you to have had some solid research experience. To me, that means at least 6 months in a single lab, which is enough time to learn techniques well, learn to troubleshoot, and actually learn some of the reasoning and science behind a project. They want to know that you know what science entails and that you can handle research. However, at the top 20 molecular biology program I currently attend, there is one student who had only a single REU. I had 6 years research experience  and a publication coming in, which made up for my GPA being lower than other applicants.

 

Your grades are better than mine, but I scored higher verbal and writing on the GRE. If anything is going to hurt you, it is going to be that writing or verbal score. Many programs get so many applications that they use a GRE cutoff system to pre-screen applications. Because my verbal was below 80th percentile, I was cut from a couple of programs.

 

You shouldn't be focused on rank, though. I keep saying this over and over, but you need to focus on how you fit in a program and if there are professors you want to work with there (who are taking students). Often, the people doing the things you will want to do are not at a top 20 school. You need to pick programs with several professors you would be willing to work under. You should also be willing to expand your horizons as far as research interests. So long as you do something at least a little related as a graduate student, you can get into what you want to do as a post-doc. It is usually most beneficial to pick a PI who you work well with even if it isn't doing exactly what you wanted.

[Appsitude]

Your stats look fine. Similar GREs to what I had, so that shouldn't be a problem. I didn't have any publications and it turned out fine. It is more important that you get good letters of rec from your mentors + are able to communicate what you learned during your time in the lab. That is infinitely more helpful than being a 7th author on a publication.

[canuck02]

Hmmm....do you think I'll get auto-chopped off with a 159 in QR? (annoying because I was scoring in the mid-160s on ManhPr practice)

I'm applying to top 10 systems bio, but more on the genomic engineering/design side, less on the pure mathematical modelling. That being said, I am a co-author on three new bioinformatic platforms that are being published in fairly high-level journals. Thoughts?