Advice for an International Student

[alpwiz]

Hello,

A brief introduction before I get into my point:

I am a fresh graduate from a private University in Indonesia (used to be in national top 10 but now it's just top 30 and I believe top 5000 worldwide). I took biotechnology as my subject and I graduated with final GPA 3.8.

During my 4 years as an undergrad, I managed to work as a lab assistant in several labs (microbiology, biochemistry, animal cell culture) and do a little bit of extracurricular activites in my early semesters. I did my undergrad thesis (6 months) in a US-owned medical laboratory on a type of arbovirus and also managed to do a 6-month internship in a stem cell laboratory in Singapore (still doing it, my last month).

I've been thinking of applying to grad school for a long time; but it's only during my internship here I realize that I want to do a PhD in Developmental Biology. The thing is, I never attend a DevBio class because there's no such class in my faculty. All this time I've been learning by reading textbooks on my own without any exams.

I've done the general GRE (V: 580, Q:800, still waiting on AW but anticipating it to be 4.5 tops), and I'm thinking of taking the subject GRE.

My question is: do I have a good chance of being accepted in a good university for PhD in DevBio (with funding)? I don't have any publications. One might be coming out in a few months, but it's still uncertain and only as 3rd, 4th, or maybe 5th author.

Here are several schools that I'm thinking of applying to:

-Rockefeller University

-University of Pennsylvania

-MIT or UC Berkeley (incredibly long shot, but I'm somehow curious)

-UIUC

-UW Seattle

-?? (still looking for more options)

I'd really appreciate your advice and please do tell me if I'm thinking a bit unreasonable here.

Thank you in advance!

[Astaroth]

Applications are very expensive and very time consuming, and the sad truth is that at most of the schools you mentioned you would not have good chances of getting in. I wouldn't bother with a subject GRE unless you are applying to a school that specifically requires it or says that it would be beneficial to your app, as most of them don't pay attention to it anymore. I would look at some slightly lower tier schools where you know you would have a good chance of getting in so that you don't waste time and money (as I did) on applications where you never really had a shot. With your credentials I think you would have a reasonable shot at excellent schools such as UT Austin or UNC Chapel Hill and schools at around the same tier, and you should aim for at least 2 safety apps.

Remember that USNews rankings are extremely arbitrary and very often miss excellent schools so only take them as a very rough guide. If you've heard something about a school that gets a low ranking, find out more about it instead of ignoring it because of the ranking. I got into UVM which ranks very low in Biology, but when you find out about the university and look at the labs and their publications it becomes clear that its ranking makes no sense at all. i think the problem is that some biology departments are closely associated to medical schools (as is the case at UVM) and the publications coming out of those labs may not get properly attributed to the biology department as far as USNews is concerned. In any case, the most important thing is to find a school with as many labs you would gladly do your thesis in as possible. There is no point going to MIT if it turns out you have no common interests with any of their labs, plus school prestige is a lot less important than lab reputation and reputable labs are by no means confined to prestigious schools.

I would say these are the things you need to consider when applying:

- Research interests

- Possibility of acceptance

- Location

- What your current professors know about the school

[alpwiz]

Ah yes,

I did get most of them from the rankings. My assumption all this time has been that their labs have a slightly higher possibility of being better (a very broad generalization). I do know the most important things in the end will be my lab and my PI. The thing is, I'm a little bit lost here. How do I know a certain lower-tier University has a better, reputable lab (approachable colleagues, more supportive PI, good publications)?

Furthermore, not counting my SoP and Reccomendations, what part of my application would you say is the weakest?

Thanks!

[Astaroth]

Ah yes,

I did get most of them from the rankings. My assumption all this time has been that their labs have a slightly higher possibility of being better (a very broad generalization). I do know the most important things in the end will be my lab and my PI. The thing is, I'm a little bit lost here. How do I know a certain lower-tier University has a better, reputable lab (approachable colleagues, more supportive PI, good publications)?

Furthermore, not counting my SoP and Reccomendations, what part of my application would you say is the weakest?

Thanks!

Ask your professors at your university. Just email any of them that you trust and ask them to mention 2-3 universities they think you would be a good fit for. Alternatively, you said you read on dev bio in your spare time, why don't you look up the names of some of the authors of what you have been reading and find out where their labs are and what they are doing these days. If they are getting published in textbooks/good review journals, it suggests they are leading their field and their lab would be an excellent one to join (but make sure the labs are still relatively "young" and active, don't pursue a lab that's going to shut down in a couple of years).

Your GRE Verbal isn't amazing but it's not a big deal as they only really use the GRE to get you past an initial cutoff. You have some experience by the sounds of it but remember that at places like MIT, UCB and Rockefeller you will be usually competing with other international applicants who have many years of post-degree research experience. Your SoP and recommendations are EXTREMELY important, make sure they are all amazing. Also, it would be good if your transcript shows either consistently excellent grades or at least an upwards tendency. Also make sure you are translating your grades to GPA properly, this usually quite tricky.