What do I need for a competitive neuro PhD application (obligatory personal stats topic, oops)

[mockturtle]

I hope 2 threads in a row aren't unbearably annoying, but I've never posted my stats anywhere before and I'd really appreciate some perspective on where I stand. I legitimately can't tell if I'm acting crazy and being hard on myself, or if my fears are right on target and my hopes of getting into any top programs (now or later) are a pipe dream. Any advice would be fantastic!

 

Me: Rising senior, double major in neuroscience and biology

School: Private, smallish, semi-prestigious (?? I think), research-heavy university

Was a transfer student, so... Freshman year school: Small, private, liberal arts college

Current Institution GPA: 3.84

Previous Institution GPA: 3.55

I recently calculated my combined GPA at ~3.75, but I'm not 100% sure if I was doing it the way my school eventually will, so take that with a grain of salt.

Haven't taken GRE yet, but am good with standardized testing, so hopefully this will be an asset?

Honors: Will probably be magna cum laude (unless I bodyslam the coming year, in which case summa)

Will also probably have departmental honors in neuroscience

Dean's List, why not

 

Lab Experience: Will be ~2.5 years by graduation, but read on....

1 semester & 1 summer: Work study lab tech in a genetics lab, almost all frog-feeding and glassware-sterilizing. Not the lab for me, and I didn't learn a great deal apart from how to scrub a feces-encrusted tank in a minute flat and how to fear your PI.

1 school year so far, will be 2 years by graduation: Research assistant in a new EEG lab, studying social interaction, motor resonance, and self control from a neuropsych perspective. The particular subject matter isn't very career-relevant for me, but I'm learning a lot and have made a point to be active in a bunch of projects and help out everywhere, I love the PI, and could definitely get a strong letter of rec.

***Will be performing a senior thesis here!*** Still in planning stages, but is predicted to be in self-control depletion and the tradeoff between empathy and restraint in joint complementary action. This is almost definitely going to earn me departmental honors on my neuro degree, not sure how much that counts for, but hey! I'm pumped!

1 summer (this upcoming one): Volunteering in a neurobiology lab on home campus (because the above lab is undergoing construction... like I said, new), which studies the development of motion sensitivity. I'll be working on a few people's projects, though I've barely gotten started so I can't quite comment yet. But I'm very excited! This could also be a good letter of rec, and is closer to my personal interests.

 

Extracurriculars: They exist, but they aren't overwhelmingly career-relevant or brimming with demonstration of leadership potential and whatnot, so I don't know if they should even be included (I have a life and hobbies and stuff, I promise)

 

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Discussion: If I said "~3.75 GPA, 2.5 years lab experience" I think it would conjure up a different image in your head than what the reality of my situation actually is. Starting out at a school without a neuroscience program delayed the discovery of my interests, and as a result my experience has been very scrambled. I'm grateful for the experience that I do have, it's more than a lot of people have the opportunity for, but if I want to get into somewhere like, knock on wood, Stanford neurobiology, then I think I need more than this backing me up.

 

My thesis will certainly be an asset, but my interests lie in the neurobiology of sensation/perception, as well as a bunch of other specific things (ranging from circadian rhythms to the neural control of camouflage, I'm slightly all over the place), none of which are dry-lab human psych, all of which are more biological. I'm coming from a school full of opportunities for neuro work at least somewhat closer to these interests, I just couldn't make it happen, and my thesis lab was the only one I was able to find with the space for another undergrad project. I've been told that the proximity of your undergrad research experience to your PhD goals is less important than having done research, period. But I still feel that what I have is less-than-impressive for a top program, and that I'm ill-prepared for admissions into any good PhD program in biology or neurobiology.

 

If anyone actually read the entirety this monster, you da best. Any light you could shed would be highly appreciated 

[eeee1923]

I've been told that the proximity of your undergrad research experience to your PhD goals is less important than having done research, period. 

 

 

This is absolutely true. You have a solid GPA and it seems like you'll be able to get some strong letters of rec. Make sure that you aim for the 85-90+ percentile when you take your GRE. 

 

No matter how impressive one's credentials are it boils down to research fit at the PhD level, especially at top programs that receive ~1000 applications. This will be conveyed in your statement of purpose, followed by your LORs. GPA and GRE scores provide a measure of some standardization but they are not the most important components of your application package. 

 

Keep your grades up, do good research/science and present your work. Apply to a good spread of programs (7-10) where you can realistically see yourself attending and where at least 3-5 PI's are doing research that you find interesting. Make sure to show your PI and other profs your SoP and don't overstress - the application cycle is quite a long process  .

Edited May 13, 2015 by eteshoe

[mockturtle]

This is absolutely true. You have a solid GPA and it seems like you'll be able to get some strong letters of rec. Make sure that you aim for the 85-90+ percentile when you take your GRE. 

 

No matter how impressive one's credentials are it boils down to research fit at the PhD level, especially at top programs that receive ~1000 applications. This will be conveyed in your statement of purpose, followed by your LORs. GPA and GRE scores provide a measure of some standardization but they are not the most important components of your application package. 

 

Keep your grades up, do good research/science and present your work. Apply to a good spread of programs (7-10) where you can realistically see yourself attending and where at least 3-5 PI's are doing research that you find interesting. Make sure to show your PI and other profs your SoP and don't overstress - the application cycle is quite a long process  .

I'm not even sure how well I could represent my research fit with any given program, this fall, if I'm being honest with myself. Even within neurobiology I have a truckload of specific interests, as well as some broad ones, and probably a vaguer grasp on what I need from a PhD program than I should have. I find so many things interesting. And I don't even know where my 3rd LOR would come from... And these are the kind of problems I would expect gap years to help with, to connect back with my other thread.

 

I'm considering contacting a few POI's at programs I'd like to attend in the future to ask what kind of experience they'd like to see out of an applicant / what specifically *I* could do, is that a normal practice? I know emails to POIs are recommended, but I don't know if that's too demanding.

[SublimePZ]

I'm considering contacting a few POI's at programs I'd like to attend in the future to ask what kind of experience they'd like to see out of an applicant / what specifically *I* could do, is that a normal practice? I know emails to POIs are recommended, but I don't know if that's too demanding.

I would advise you to establish dialogue with the POI before asking about your chances if you think that questions about the competitiveness of your application are too intrusive. Emails to POIs are indeed very helpful and I would say that most POIs give very solid advice about your chances (which, just based on stats, look to be very good!).

[mockturtle]

I would advise you to establish dialogue with the POI before asking about your chances if you think that questions about the competitiveness of your application are too intrusive. Emails to POIs are indeed very helpful and I would say that most POIs give very solid advice about your chances (which, just based on stats, look to be very good!).

Well I mean, I don't know if those questions are too intrusive   Because I'm not sure if that's totally common and acceptable, or if it'd kind of come out of left field to be contacted by someone who doesn't intend to apply to your program yet, but demands career advice nonetheless. I wouldn't be sure what else to say, though...

 

(And thanks, I hope you're right. It's just that despite my bio major and minor bio lab experience, I feel like I'll come off a bit like a psych researcher who's utterly unprepared to be a bio researcher)