In the final hours... Would love your opinions ;_;

[gyrase]

I realize this is super late, but I'm finishing things up VERY late and would super appreciate any input on the decisions I've made!

thanks so much in advance if anyone takes the time to read through this and comment!! And good luck to all applying.

--

Undergrad Institution: Huge state school... top 80 nationally according to US News 
Major(s): Genomics/Molecular Genetics (BS), Global Public Health (BS)
Minor(s): Bioethics and Japanese (two, separate)
GPA in Major: 3.98/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.99/4.0
Position in Class: top 1%
Type of Student: Domestic / Asian American / female (no points here)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 158 (71st ish. not happy about this but no more time to remedy obviously)
V: 166 (94th!)
W: Just took so not sure... but pretty sure >4.5 at least
B: Didn't take (kicking myself for this)

Research Experience: Have been working in the same lab for 4 yrs; started w/ molecular bio work on cell lines but have since transitioned into biostats/large database analysis. Have 1 prominent pub in Scientific Reports (second author, through Nature Communications), and another has been submitted to a lower impact journal. 

Have also done research in global health - through geography dept. - but doubt that this will actually make a big difference in biology grad programs 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Rhodes Finalist, Goldwater Honorable mention, prominent academic merit award for top undergrads studying cancer biology, Deans list for all semesters, microbiology/molecular genetics department award, Student leadership award for extracurricular involvement (1 student/year), 3 research grants for undergrad research from home uni, research awards for poster presentations at undergrad research conferences, full ride academic merit scholarship to university (8 semesters for room and board + tuition), Honors College 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: founder and co-president of a prominent organization organizing conferences on campus (ok... it's the resident TEDx org), interned in international health dept. for ~1 year, eboard member for global brigades org (~2 yrs), secretary for science/engineering outreach org

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: have studied abroad multiple times... not sure if this helps b/c none was specifically tied to research in bio. But for what it's worth: Japan, Mexico (for medical observations), and Honduras (volunteer)

Special Bonus Points: Will have taken 3 grad-level classes by end of undergrad. Also have strong public speaking skills & experience in front of large audiences in multiple settings... 

LORs will be strong (one from dept. head, one from research mentor who is a well known ChemE / somewhat known Cancer Biologist, and one joint-written by Cancer epidemiologists). 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Have done quite a bit of outreach evangelizing science research for the university / cancer bio in general 

Applying to Where:

(these are all PhD programs unless otherwise specified. I'm looking specifically @ places w/ strong cancer bio backgrounds which also have strong faculty bases in cancer prevention work... which is where i'm aiming to focus research)

• Stanford - Cancer Biology (why not)
• Sloan Kettering - Cancer bio/genetics
• WUSTL - Human Genetics
• University of Washington - dual MS in Epidemiology and PhD in MCB
• Cleveland Clinic/CWRU - Molecular Medicine
• UCSF - Tetrad
• UChicago - Cancer Biology
• UPitt - Biological Sciences (sort of a safety)
• UC Irvine - Biological Sciences

Thinking about/solidifying opinions on:

• Vanderbilt - Interdisciplinary Grad program, focus on Human Genetics
• MD Anderson/UT Houston - Human Genetics
• Columbia - Integrated Cell/Molecular Bio
• UCSD

[partydon'tstarttillIwalkin]

You've done a lot of work. I think at this point letters of recommendation and your statements of purpose will matter the most. Keep working till the very last moment! :)

[adiJ]

I like dolan duck avatar. But yeah, perfect GPA with exceptionally strong research and other things (SOP/LOR etc.) means you will be competitive anywhere.

One qualm is that in graduate school, you shouldn't really have a "safety" school at least like back when we applied for college, but a fit school. That is, somewhere you feel that you will be happy and do well. As for cancer biology, why not UCLA (where I am currently at right now)? I know a couple that are pretty great, or at least working on stem cells that might have some potential for cancer treatment I guess.

You also have a ton of schools, and considering your application, you should get enough interviews. Do you think you should drop some?

Edited November 24, 2015 by adiJ

[StrongTackleBacarySagna]

Chill you fool. Everything about your profile is perfect, and your quantitative score isn't going to hurt you because of that. If you still have time run your SOP through some reputable people to see if it's spot on

[Gram Positive]

Your application looks very strong! As an Ohioan, I've got to recommend Case/Cleveland Clinic .  Are you close to there now? 

Have you considered Michigan, UT Southwestern, or UNC? All those places seem like they would be strong in cancer biology. 

[gyrase]

Hey @Gram Positive Thanks so much!! I'm a Michigan native so I am very close  I'm actually trying to get out of state and Case was at the top of my list during undergrad, so I'm definitely trying hard to up my chances for the MM program there  I'm applying to Vanderbilt!! 

On 11/24/2015 at 8:25 AM, StrongTackleBacarySagna said:

Chill you fool. Everything about your profile is perfect, and your quantitative score isn't going to hurt you because of that. If you still have time run your SOP through some reputable people to see if it's spot on

Thank you @StrongTackleBacarySagna (hell of a username you've got there!) - honestly your post was really encouraging to me as I've been slogging through my SOP hahah. Appreciate it!!

On 11/23/2015 at 11:34 PM, adiJ said:

I like dolan duck avatar. But yeah, perfect GPA with exceptionally strong research and other things (SOP/LOR etc.) means you will be competitive anywhere.

One qualm is that in graduate school, you shouldn't really have a "safety" school at least like back when we applied for college, but a fit school. That is, somewhere you feel that you will be happy and do well. 

You also have a ton of schools, and considering your application, you should get enough interviews. Do you think you should drop some?

Hi @adiJ - thank you for the encouragement! I actually repeated your statement about "safety" schools when discussing w/ some people this week... It made a lot of sense to shoot for places with best fit rather than chance (since chance is, as I've seen, pretty unpredictable...) 

I did end up dropping a few schools from the list... but not many. I'm pretty excited about most of the schools so I didn't want to completely give them up. yeah, my bank account won't be happy, but I'm thinking of it as an investment in the future. Gooby pls. 

On 11/23/2015 at 9:01 PM, partydon'tstarttillIwalkin said:

You've done a lot of work. I think at this point letters of recommendation and your statements of purpose will matter the most. Keep working till the very last moment!

Thank you @partydon'tstarttillIwalkin ! Lol these usernames make replying so much fun. I've been working on those so it's just fingers crossed very tightly and making sure I don't make any dumb mistakes from here on out!!

I've said thanks many times, but I appreciate all your responses! This is by far the nicest forum I've been on to compare chances haha. Will update in the main thread and contribute as the path continues! ❤️

[Extra Espresso]

I'm going to second everyone in this thread and say I'd love to have your stats.  Good luck running up to the deadline! I'm cleaning my last SOP (for tonight's application round) and procrastinating on here, so I totally know your feeling!