2016 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[ilovelab]

17 hours ago, ImmunoXX said:

San Diego is also expensive relative to stipend amount. 

San Diego has nothing on SF. The stipend at UCSF doesn't not reflect the cost of living in the area. Especially if you are trying to live close to the Parnassus campus. 

[StrongTackleBacarySagna]

41 minutes ago, ilovelab said:

San Diego has nothing on SF. The stipend at UCSF doesn't not reflect the cost of living in the area. Especially if you are trying to live close to the Parnassus campus. 

Can't you just find somewhere cheap in Oakland or somewhere and commute? I know for a fact there are good deals in the area if you look. Though I don't know what other city-specific costs there are

Btw I agree with your username ;3

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by StrongTackleBacarySagna

[Ferroportin]

This might be a dumb question...but is it fine to start sending my transcripts in even if my application isn't fully finished?

[Gram Neutral]

4 hours ago, Ferroportin said:

This might be a dumb question...but is it fine to start sending my transcripts in even if my application isn't fully finished?

Yes. I would encourage it if you know you are applying there. That way you know it will get there in time. Same with GRE scores. They will keep it on file. I would at least start the application, but I figure that isn't necessary either. 

I must say though, applying for the first time since 2013, they really allow attached unofficial transcripts and GRE scores a lot more than they used to. 

[123hardasABC]

Kinda in a panic. My third letter writer went AWOL and I've asked three other potential people to replace him but I'm still waiting on confirmations.  Damn. The final month to deadlines is coming up.

[Infinito]

4 hours ago, 123hardasABC said:

 

Kinda in a panic. My third letter writer went AWOL and I've asked three other potential people to replace him but I'm still waiting on confirmations.  Damn. The final month to deadlines is coming up.

Contact their department, or their lab manager, or someone in the lab instead of them directly. Also call if necessary. I reached out to my PIs lab manager, and they have been handling all contact with my PI. 

[hoste058]

Undergrad Institution: UMN
Major(s): Neuroscience and German Studies
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: 3.25 
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 158 (71%)
V: 153  (59%)
W: 5.0 (93%) 
B: Not taking 


Research Experience: 

Spring 2012- Research project at UMN College of Pharmacy, 1 credit. Studied transport of a BRAF mutant inhibitor with a post-doc.

Spring 2014- Research project at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany), 3 credits. Studied abroad to finish German major and did research on retinal degeneration with a PhD candidate. 

Fall 2014, Spring/Summer/Fall 2015- Directed research and UROP project at UMN on characterization of the methyltransfersase SETD2 in chick embryonic development. Presented research in Summer 2015 at UROP Summer symposium. 
 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I study German and conducted research abroad in Germany! 

Special Bonus Points: .

Applying to Where: 

UC Boulder- behavioral neuroscience 

UC Denver- neuroscience

U Washington- neuroscience 

Oregon HSU- behavioral neuroscience 

Vanderbildt- behavioral neuroscience  

UC Riverside- behavioral neuroscience 

West Virginia U- neuroscience 

BU- neuroscience

 

Not the best gpa or GRE, but I have six semesters of various research experience and will have 2/3 strong LOR. 

[HoneyBee2918]

Undergrad Institution: A liberal arts university after leaving medical school
Major(s): Biophysics with chem and math minors
GPA in Major: Not sure. I've taken classes that might or might not count to my major (I def. didn't need phys chem for my degree)
Overall GPA: 3.0 (explanation later)
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Asian female

GRE Scores:
Q: 168
V: 165
W: 5.5
B: Not taking 


Research Experience: 

Summer 2011 to Now: Genetic research on zebrafish, some in vitro and some in silico. Mapping promoters right now.
Summer 2011 to Winter 2013: Specific relativity research

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I organised an ESL learning scheme at the writing center, was a concertmistress of the orchestra (which I did not join voluntarily), TAed Japanese for four semesters, tutored Physics for a semester. I'm probably going to get two good LOR, and the research LOR is a wildcard.

Special Bonus Points: .I wouldn't consider them bonus, but I was diagnosed with depression after having a massive breakdown that apparently got exacerbated by 3.11. I lost a friend and two relatives. I also had a 3 hour commute and had very course-heavy semesters.

Applying to Where: 

BU - Neuroscience

JHU - Neuroscience

Northwestern: NUIN

Brown: Neuroscience

Michigan State: Neuroscience

NYU: Neuroscience

Maryland: Neuroscience

 

I kind of wish more lower-tier schools did the research I want to do. I picked these schools after matching them to a research query I want to conduct and only big names seem to do it. My GPA is giving me nightmares.

[ilovelab]

On 11/2/2015, 9:31:33, StrongTackleBacarySagna said:

Can't you just find somewhere cheap in Oakland or somewhere and commute? I know for a fact there are good deals in the area if you look. Though I don't know what other city-specific costs there are

Btw I agree with your username ;3

 

Oakland isn't that much cheaper (well the nice parts at least) and the commute can be a nightmare. There is also no parking at UCSF for grad students... well not really. When my lab at ucsf I had to bike to Parnassus, driving there wasn't worth it. 

[neuroVg]

Undergrad Institution: Anna University (India), Masters- Northwestern, Evanston 
Major(s): Undergrad- Electrical Engineering, Masters-Biomedical Engineering 
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: Undergrad- 7.76/10, Grad- 3.367/4
Position in Class: 
Type of Student: International Male 

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 150 
V: 161
W: 3.5 
B:

Research Experience: 

Summer 2013- Intern at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (worked in a famous neuroscience lab). Assisted a PostDoc and worked on predicting the human acoustic intensity using the conditional CDFs.  

From September 2014 (22 months) - Working on my Master's thesis. Independent project to understanding tactile perception in rats, using electrophysiology! 

~12 months during undergrad, did signal and image processing work

2 posters and 1 conference paper (co-author)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nominated for the Outstanding Undergraduate student award (16/1500)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

Tutoring basic calculus, physics and programming at Northwestern.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Involved in quite a lot of outreach activities both at Northwestern and back in India! 

Special Bonus Points: 

2 strong recommendations (one from Northwestern and one form India). One medium recommendation form a very well know neuroscience professor. Met with 5-6 prospective PI at SfN. 

Applying to Where:

Northwestern - Neuroscience 

UChicago - Computational Neuroscience 

Stony Brook - Neuroscience 

BU - Neuroscience 

UUtah - Neuroscience 

Emory - Neuroscience 

UCLA - Neuroscience 

UWashington - Neuroscience 

NYU - Neuroscience 

Columbia - Neuroscience

CMU/UPitt - Neural Computation

JHU - Neuroscience 
 

My GPA turned out to be low since I took only graduate level neuroscience classes at Northwestern without any biology background. I am really worried as both my GRE and GPA scores are below average! I would greatly appreciate profile evaluation and general suggestions! 

Edited November 4, 2015 by neuroPravin

[123hardasABC]

On 11/1/2015, 2:34:49, blinchik said:

Also, one final tidbit of advice, which is probably obvious to most, if not all of you: do consider cost-of-living and stipend amounts/other benefits (e.g. subsidized housing) when considering where to apply - 25k+ will get you a lot farther in some cities than in others (I'm looking at you, NYC + San Francisco), and this is especially important to consider if you have dependents (family/pets) or even if you just want to save and enjoy a slightly higher quality of life for the 4-5+ years you are in grad school.

 

I couldn't agree more. I wish someone had told me this during undergrad, honestly. I did my undergrad in the SF-Bay Area. To keep under $1000/month rent, I had to share a room (ended up to be $750/mo). Right now, I'm doing my Masters in New York and live in Manhattan. I got an absolute STEAL for my rent....at $1200/mo for a closet-sized room. This is just rent alone, not including food, utilities, and transportation. 

I don't want to sound like a downer but unless you commute far, it's really difficult to live within the means of your stipend. And before you start getting wide-eyed and optimistic about surviving by living far (because I was and did), it's really exhausting. But more power to you if you have the endurance for it!

Anyway, I don't want to deter people from applying to schools in especially high cost-of-living areas (because sometimes it's unavoidable), but please be prepared to have a financial source besides your stipend. 

 

PS. For the love of all that is holy, keep your heater set to 68 degrees and just wear a sweater indoors. One of my former roommates wanted our house to be tropical during the winter. We racked up a $300 gas bill that month. 

[StrongTackleBacarySagna]

On 11/3/2015, 8:00:32, ilovelab said:

Oakland isn't that much cheaper (well the nice parts at least) and the commute can be a nightmare. There is also no parking at UCSF for grad students... well not really. When my lab at ucsf I had to bike to Parnassus, driving there wasn't worth it. 

Well did you like my doggies at least

[123hardasABC]

On 11/3/2015, 7:00:32, ilovelab said:

Oakland isn't that much cheaper (well the nice parts at least) and the commute can be a nightmare. There is also no parking at UCSF for grad students... well not really. When my lab at ucsf I had to bike to Parnassus, driving there wasn't worth it. 

 https://i.imgur.com/64Pgcgl.jpg

[Halanow]

Undergrad Institution: International
Major(s): Medicine ( MD ) 
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: Excellent with honor ( I just sent my transcript to a company to evaluate it and convert it to US. GPA. 
Overall GPA:
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: International graduate, Green card holder. 

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:159
V: 153
W:4
B:


TOEFL Total: Taking it this week

Research Experience: U.Penn ( two years ), Immunology, one publication at JEM ( third author). 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Top National Scholarship for Medicine, 6 years. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Clinician, Internal Medicine. 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying to Where:
Immunology 

NYU

Columbia

Harvard

Iowa 

Washington - Seattle 

Michigan 

[brainsandeggs]

Undergrad Institution: Ivy, Graduated in 2011
Major(s): Neuroscience and Behavior
GPA in Major: 2.9
Overall GPA: 2.5
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Minority (africanamerican) Female

Master's Institution: Good State School, Finishing up December 2015 

Major: Neurobiology

MA GPA: 4.0 (in fact, all A+s) 

GRE Scores:
Q: 163 (91%)
V: 155 (61%)
W: 4.5 (78%)
B: Not taking 

LORS: Are superlative - this is because my PI made me write the letter for him, and he even changed it to be even more enthusiastic than even I could manage. Have another one from the other PI, his will be excellent, and a third from the prof who teaches the hardest class at my MA institution, where I did very well, and am currently rocking his seminar class.

Research Experience: 

Aug 2011 to Present: Neurohistology Laboratory Research Director at undergrad Ivy- I've been running this lab for the past 4 years (started as a volunteer and worked my way up within a year to running the lab and doing independent research) - this includes writing NIMH grants (R21 and R01), writing publications (authorship on 4 papers, 1 first to decent impact journals), managing the budget of 2 NIH grants, conceptualizing and executing Neurohist protocols - several of which have never been done in monkeys before. Also did a ton of work with the monkeys- all kinds of medical and surgical procedures, behavioral ratings, fMRI etc. Main work is studying neurogenesis, ELS, depression, SSRIs etc. 
The new R21 I'm working on is studying a really cool protein involved in a certain brain process, and have assistance from PI who discovered it. My master's thesis is along this same vein. 

My PI is pretty well connected at my undergrad Ivy, he's got me a couple interviews here with truly perfect fit faculty...Those are this week. EEK. 

I am terrified about my low uGPA. I am not sure exactly how to address it in my SOP. The honest reason is that my best friend committed suicide the month before I left for college, and I was just devastated and pretty lost I guess...it took me until the summer before senior year to really figure out what i actually wanted to do (my GPA rose from like 2.0s to 3.4/5 senior year). BUT I really don't want to bring this up in the SOP - it feels really distasteful to me for some reason to use that as an excuse. But anyway, I was pre-med at the time so I just kept registering for all these crazy hard classes that I KNEW I wasn't going to actually be able to use - orgo/calc etc. and bombing them. Not until I decided I wanted to do research that I finally wised up and got down to bizness. After graduation I applied to the lab, worked my ass off, and then determined to prove that my uGPA wasn't representative of my academic capabilities. This meant applying for non-degree status at Hunter, acing those first two classes (while working full time) and then hoping against hope for Spring admission. I got it, and then continued to work as hard as possible to make sure I kept that 4.0. 

I am trying so hard to not lose hope, but the current grant that funds my research is up this fall, so I really need to get in somewhere this year (my PI is personally providing my salary until the R21 gets thru fingers crossed). If anyone has any advice or was in a similar situation - please let me know what you did or what I could do to help! I am considering applying to a few MA programs in a slightly different field (computational neuro) to try and increase my chances next year if I need to...but I really don't want to have to do that. 

Also - are there any other schools I should be looking at outside the NY area? Particularly schools that might look at only last 60 credits, or most recent degree GPA etc.? 

Thank you!!

Applying to Where: I guess its obvious where I am from my list of schools and everything but...

SUNY Downstate: Neuroscience

CUNY Grad Center: Cellular, Molecular, Developmental Bio (this program has the same exact core that I've taken already as a Master's student, so I''m hoping strong LOR from one of the profs who teaches one of the more difficult classes there will help, and demonstrate that I am academically able to handle the coursework). 

Columbia: Neurobiology and Behavior

NYU: Neural Science

These apps are in already, but I want a few more schools: 

Considering: 

SUNY Upstate/ Albany

One of the Cal-State Unis 

One or two more reach schools (I have pretty good research fit with labs at harvard and stanford. I know it's like buying a 200 dollar lottery ticket but....)

Edited November 7, 2015 by brainsandeggs

[nicedogs]

Hello fellow biology nerds.

Undergrad Institution: Large Public University, Low-tier.
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s): Psychology, Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.6
Position in Class: No idea. Probably top 25%.
Type of Student: Domestic male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): 
Q: 161//80%
V: 165//95%
W: 5.0//93%

Research Experience: 

1.5 Year Undergrad, 1 Year as a PRA, both in Neuro research.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

Active researcher as a PRA in a Neuro lab.

Applying to Where:

(Systems or Computational Neuroscience for all of these):

Univeristy of Colorado Denver, Cornell, Duke, UMaine, Vermont, Yale, OHSU, Washington State, Brown-NIH.

//

I'm slightly worried because one of the professors I researched with will not be writing a LOR, so I was forced to turn to a professor I only know through a single class. My quant GRE could be better but I think it won't hurt for the moment. I think my biggest weakness is that I initially attended college for an arts degree, but dropped out and took a couple year break before returning for biology...

Edited November 8, 2015 by nicedogs

[ajcastrog]

Here is my current profile, I want to start on the Spring Semester.

 

Undergrad Institution: International, South America
Major(s): Civil Engineering 
Minor(s): Construction Management
GPA in Major: 3.65
Overall GPA: 3.4
Position in Class: Top 10%, Perfect score for the graduation project. Got a research award upon graduation for being among the best projects in the University
Type of Student: International graduate

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:156
V: 152
W: 4


TOEFL: 109

Research Experience: Graduation Thesis research, laboratory internship. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Construction supervisor. 
 

Applying to Where:
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (Transportation) (Second best in the country)

University of Texas at Austin (Transportation) (Top 10 program)

Auburn University (Pavements and Materials) (Top 50 program, but among the best in the specific field of Asphalt and Pavement Technology)

 

Got in to UIUC with no funding at least until the fall. Got rejected at University of Texas. Still waiting on Auburn. Illinois was my dream school and was stunned when they sent their admission, will probably go there unless Auburn comes up soon with some amazing funding offer.

 

[Ash04]

Undergrad Institution: SRM, INDIA 8.75/10 BIOTECHNOLOGY-Domestic
 

Grad Institution: UT DALLAS, USA 3.75/4 BIOTECHNOLOGY-International



GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:159
V:155
W:4
B:


TOEFL Total: 105 - Have a masters degree from USA

Research Experience: 

Bioprocess projects - undergrad thesis

1 year-during masters

3.5 years - cancer genomics - co-author on 3 publications (2-nature genetics, 1-LANCET ONCOLOGY

1 year and going - influenza research 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: N/A

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: trained new technicians, fellows and travelled to korea for training staff in Cancer genomics protocols

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

2 recommendations from HARVARD (CHIEF OF DEPT)

2 FROM UMASS MEDICAL CENTER (CHIEF OF DEPT)

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

Applying to Where:
Interdisciplinary programs (Cancer biology) 

1	Harvard University
2	MIT
3	University of Chicago
4	SCRIPPS Research Institute
5	DUKE University
6	Northwestern University
7	University of North Carolina
8	Vanderbilt University
9	University of Arizona
10	University of Southern California
11	Boston University
12	Tufts University
13	University of Massachusetts, Worcester
14	University Miami,  Coral Gables

Hope to get in Fall 2016

 

Could anyone please comment on my university selection.

 

Question about SOP- Do I have to be very specific about the research topic I want to work on?

Thank you so much!

Edited November 8, 2015 by Ash04
typo

[AtomDance]

3 hours ago, Microburritology said:

Balls. My best recommender finally replies, and his response:

"Nice to hear from you. Been busy between conferences, and anticipate a lot of travelling coming up. You can frame a LoR yourself an i'll be happy submit that or make changes if needed. All the best".

How the f*** am I supposed to write my own LoR? In a supreme state of panic mode now. Can someone please give me some go-to guidelines, points and maybe an outline of how professors write recommendation letters? Would love to hear it from someone who's been in this situation and has had to do this one. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank god for grad cafe.

I bookmarked this article in fear of this very situation. Luckily, I haven't had to write my own LoR (yet?), but my current advisor recommended that if ever need to, to keep it very factual and to leave a blank (or a suggested adjective) so the real writer only has to pick the adjective they really think, but have the rest of the content available to them. 

E.G. "Microburritology spent X months in my lab doing [good/solid/creative/etc.] work on Y project..."

[Ragneo]

On 10/28/2015, 11:56:02, jayelko said:

Undergrad Institution: UT Austin
Major(s): Human biology, concentration in pathogenesis and immunology 
GPA in Major: 3.71 / 4.0 
Overall GPA: 3.73 / 4.0 
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 163 (86%) 
V: 158 (79%) 
W: 5.0 (93%) 
B: Not taking 


Research Experience: 

This is what I'm worried about. 

August 2014 - June 2015: volunteered in a pharmacology lab studying the emotional responses to drug use and drug addiction in rats. This one was pretty cut and dry, I went in every night of the week to give them alcohol and end their recording sessions. Also did some analysis in excel.

August 2014 - Present: Initially started off volunteering in a nutrition lab but I got hired and promoted when I graduated (in May), and now I'm in charge of our entire animal study, which looks at how macronutrient composition and timing of diet affects circadian rhythm and microbiome diversity in mice. I've got a ton of experience in lab work from this (PCR, DNA/RNA extraction and quantitation, cell culture), and I've also become really involved in the study's design and implementation (I wrote and designed the protocols for our experiments, and I'm responsible for all the planning and troubleshooting for them). However, I don't have any presentations or publications and I'm really worried about it. 
 

What do you guys think? I'm really worried about the lack of presentations or publications and since I've only gained my research experience over the past year, I'm worried if it'll be enough. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated, because I'm naturally in a bit of a panic 

Your research experience is enough. I started my research experience in January 2014, and turned in my grad school applications in December 2014.  Got accepted into one of the programs you applied to. My GRE scores and GPA were a bit better, however. But don't think your research experience is meaningless! Also, I went to the same undergrad as you, so I'm rooting for you! Good luck. 

[123hardasABC]

23 hours ago, Microburritology said:

Balls. My best recommender finally replies, and his response:

"Nice to hear from you. Been busy between conferences, and anticipate a lot of travelling coming up. You can frame a LoR yourself an i'll be happy submit that or make changes if needed. All the best".

How the f*** am I supposed to write my own LoR? In a supreme state of panic mode now. Can someone please give me some go-to guidelines, points and maybe an outline of how professors write recommendation letters? Would love to hear it from someone who's been in this situation and has had to do this one. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank god for grad cafe.

 

If it makes you feel any better, the letter writer who knows me the best pulled this on me too. I wrote him a draft of my LOR and he still hasn't submitted the letter.

So yeah. I take classes with him, speak with him constantly, remind him all the time, have sent numerous letter forms, AND wrote him the letter....but he still hasn't submitted it. This has been going on for just over a month now. I'm pulling my hair out.

[123hardasABC]

47 minutes ago, Microburritology said:

@123hardasABC LMFAO I'M IN THE SAME F*****G SITUATION! Dang, like how and why would you do that to me 20 days before the deadline. Hey, nonetheless, since you've already written him a draft, give me some pointers on my questions above please? I promise i'll fedex you like 10 boxes of ferrero rocher.

Lol, no need for candy. I made a list about what I did with this person (classes I took with him, work I've done for him, how it links to my research goals, etc.).....and then handed it off to a close friend of mine. We sat down and wrote it together because I got paranoid that adcom could detect some kind of writing-style similarities between my SOP and the LOR.

I just wish my writer would just submit what I gave him -__- Deadlines are coming up and it's too late to ask someone new.

[Neuro PolarBear]

On 11/7/2015, 6:54:50, brainsandeggs said:

Also - are there any other schools I should be looking at outside the NY area? Particularly schools that might look at only last 60 credits, or most recent degree GPA etc.? 

Thank you!!

I'm also applying to NYU and Columbia for Neuroscience! If you wanted to stay in NYC, you could also consider CSHL and Rockefeller?

Your research experience is the most impressive out of anyone I've seen on this forum. You shouldn't be worried at all about your GPA!

Edited November 10, 2015 by Micecroscopy
typo

[brainsandeggs]

12 hours ago, Micecroscopy said:

I'm also applying to NYU and Columbia for Neuroscience! If you wanted to stay in NYC, you could also consider CSHL and Rockefeller?

Your research experience is the most impressive out of anyone I've seen on this forum. You shouldn't be worried at all about your GPA!

 

Thanks so much for replying! I appreciate your feedback on my research exp, my supreme hope is that it'll be enough to force my way past initial screenings. I'm tearing my hair out with these apps haha. I am definitely considering CSHL, I consider it in my reach-tier, but I've read on these forums that Rockefeller has this crazy high GPA cutoff rate? 

Of course I am hoping that  my Master's GPA will help compensate in some way for my insanely low uGPA. But I've ALSO read on these forums that schools don't weigh a high MA GPA that well because getting a B in graduate school is basically failing (that was not my experience however, I know a lot of kids who got Bs, and my As were a real battle it was NOT easy). 

I guess this is the wrong place to get advice on that since most people here are still applying, but I wonder if it is a common experience to have a MA GPA successfully override such a terrible uGPA? The forums seem to be divided on this, but all the advice for low uGPA people is "GET A MASTERS". 

If you are in the NYC area also, do you know anything about programs that might be more mid-tier - like Fordham/Rutgers etc.? Although I am cautiously optimistic about SUNY Downstate as a safety school, I would like to try and find more places that could be forgiving, though I know it's also a crapshoot - I've also heard that middle-ranked programs might use stats more than a top program would. 

Anyways, good luck with your apps! Neuroscience is so tough...

 

[Ferroportin]

On November 8, 2015 at 9:49:58 AM, Microburritology said:

Balls. My best recommender finally replies, and his response:

"Nice to hear from you. Been busy between conferences, and anticipate a lot of travelling coming up. You can frame a LoR yourself an i'll be happy submit that or make changes if needed. All the best".

How the f*** am I supposed to write my own LoR? In a supreme state of panic mode now. Can someone please give me some go-to guidelines, points and maybe an outline of how professors write recommendation letters? Would love to hear it from someone who's been in this situation and has had to do this one. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank god for grad cafe.

One of my recommenders also had me draft my own letter - it's definitely pretty tough, especially the first time you do it. The advice I was given from others is to write yourself a glowing letter rather than trying to stay unbiased. From my experience, it's more common that the PI has to fluff up the language in the letter rather than tone it down.

As for an outline, I would google graduate school LoRs online (even if they're not science related) and use these as a starting point. Just make sure you hit on all the important parts. Write about what your contribution was to the lab (projects, papers, posters, etc) and how you achieved those. Were you able to work independently? Did you design the project from start to finish? What was the scope of the project and how far were you able to carry it? This really should be the bulk of the letter, since it's speaking to the work that you've done and how that work has prepared you as a competitive candidate for grad school. I also think a "show not tell" approach is better here. It's one thing to say" XYZ is a great candidate and worked really hard" but it's better to say "XYZ took on a difficult project of designing ABC when they joined the lab. XYZ tackled the project with confidence and independently designed etc etc." Something to that effect. 

I would also include some character references (though this probably shouldn't be the bulk of the letter) that highlight your interactions with others in the lab as well as your aptitude for graduate study. Just some nice fluff that frames you into a normal human being that others could get along with and collaborate on projects with.

Just my two cents, but I hope it helps a bit.