Honest Feedback on my chances please

[HopefulPHD14]

Hey guys,

I just finished my applications and I am feeling a bit anxious.  Obviously, like many of you, I really want to get into grad school and the thought of having to take another year off sounds pretty miserable.  I recently finished my applications and I was just wondering if you guys think I have a decent chance of getting into my programs.  I will be applying to doctorate programs in cellular/molecular biology (or similar programs depending on the location).  I am from CA and really want to stay in CA so all of my schools are CA schools (luckily there are lots of them).

The schools I am applying to are

UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
Scripps Research Institute

Anyways,

My UG GPA was 3.2 overall (but 3.4 my Jr/Sr year).  I got a 160/156/4.0 on the GRE and didn't take the subject test.  I come from a smaller school that isn't super well known for science.

I do have 3 years of undergrad research experience.  During those 3 years I received a grant in my name, presented at multiple conferences (3 posters at UG conferences, 1 ASM poster, 1 oral at UG conference), and was received awards for one of my UG posters and my UG oral.  I have one first author manuscript published in a peer reviewed (but not well known) journal.  

I graduated in 2014, and a month after graduating I got a research assistant position in industry.  Because of this I have over a year of experience post- undergrad research in industry (however not much in the way of manuscripts or presentations to show for it, most of my work was internal R&D that is hard to really demonstrate to the people reviewing my application).  

I also have 4 LOR (1 from my current boss/PI, 1 from my UG PI, and 2 from professors who knew me really well, both actually encouraged me to pursue grad school).  I would expect all 4 letters of rec to be very good.

I know I applied to some really good schools, but do you guys think I have a decent chance of at least getting an interview or two?  I just keep worrying that my low GPA and lack of anything to show for my gap year (other than that I held a research job) are really going to hurt me.  

Thanks guys!

[BiochemVitD]

I'm in a fairly similar situation to yourself, I graduated with about a 3.2 GPA (3.5 Jr/Sr years), but my GRE scores were 166/164/4.0, so only slightly higher. I've also worked for a year post grad, however, as an undergrad I worked at the same company part-time (so about 2.5 years experience). Thus all of my research has been in industry, and internal. From my understanding and conversations with advisors, this isn't viewed as a negative at all (some may even view it positively, a position within industry speaks to your ability to produce meaningful work). The fact that you have an undergrad publication goes a long way as well. 

I applied to similar schools as yourself, so here's to hoping we're both successful. 

[Ferroportin]

I think you have a decent shot at getting interviews at most of your schools. I applied to many of the same schools as you did with a higher GPA/GRE but your UG research experience seems much better than mine is (which I think weighs pretty heavily). I think you probably won't run into much trouble with UCI, UCR, and UCSB with your stats but UCLA, Cal, and TSRI may be more difficult. 

[onceinalifetime]

Damn I applied to a very similar lot of schools as the OP: UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and Caltech. However at USC and UCI i applied to the chemical biology program (which is in the Chemistyr PhD) as well as the molec bio programs. I was a bio major too, 3.62 GPA. At UCLA I applied to the BBSB home area, which is a new thing from what i can tell, but exactly the kind of program I'm looking for.  All my apps are in as of a few days ago - UCR was my last one and the deadline is Jan 5.

But I haven't heard a thing from any of these places yet. I'm very worried about my chances at UCI since I know LOTS of people have been getting interview invites there as early as 2 weeks ago. Caltech has also informed me that many of their interview invites have been sent out, but won't be completely done until Jan 6....

My confidence has slowly been waning over the past week. I'm gonna start applying for full time jobs in anticipation of being rejected everywhere, just to be safe.

[HopefulPHD14]

On 1/2/2016 at 9:11 PM, PlanB said:

IMO,

Yes for 

UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC Riverside

No for

Berkeley, UCLA, and Scripts.

 

 

Pretty good guesses so far.  I ended up applying to 2 extra safety schools by the way, but...

So far I have interviews at UCI, UCSB and UCR but haven't heard from the other 3 on that list.  Only time will tell if that I get a late interview or if I get a rejection.  All in all I am happy where I am.  I guess I didn't even need to apply to those last 2 safety schools.  

On 1/2/2016 at 5:00 PM, onceinalifetime said:

Damn I applied to a very similar lot of schools as the OP: UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and Caltech. However at USC and UCI i applied to the chemical biology program (which is in the Chemistyr PhD) as well as the molec bio programs. I was a bio major too, 3.62 GPA. At UCLA I applied to the BBSB home area, which is a new thing from what i can tell, but exactly the kind of program I'm looking for.  All my apps are in as of a few days ago - UCR was my last one and the deadline is Jan 5.

But I haven't heard a thing from any of these places yet. I'm very worried about my chances at UCI since I know LOTS of people have been getting interview invites there as early as 2 weeks ago. Caltech has also informed me that many of their interview invites have been sent out, but won't be completely done until Jan 6....

My confidence has slowly been waning over the past week. I'm gonna start applying for full time jobs in anticipation of being rejected everywhere, just to be safe.

And don't get worried or give up too soon.  I have a friend who last year had similar stats as me.  She didn't get a single interview until January and then suddenly got 4 in a week.  She was accepted to 3/4 schools.  

Also I heard back from UCSB and UCR but I got both of those in really early (like mid November) so maybe that helps.  

[onceinalifetime]

6 hours ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

Pretty good guesses so far.  I ended up applying to 2 extra safety schools by the way, but...

So far I have interviews at UCI, UCSB and UCR but haven't heard from the other 3 on that list.  Only time will tell if that I get a late interview or if I get a rejection.  All in all I am happy where I am.  I guess I didn't even need to apply to those last 2 safety schools.  

And don't get worried or give up too soon.  I have a friend who last year had similar stats as me.  She didn't get a single interview until January and then suddenly got 4 in a week.  She was accepted to 3/4 schools.  

Also I heard back from UCSB and UCR but I got both of those in really early (like mid November) so maybe that helps.  

What program did you apply to at UCR and UCI? I applied to chemical biology (and CMB at UCI). Wow you applied extremely early, and I've noticed many others did as well. I'm hoping that's part of the reason so many are hearing back before me!

[HopefulPHD14]

5 minutes ago, onceinalifetime said:

What program did you apply to at UCR and UCI? I applied to chemical biology (and CMB at UCI). Wow you applied extremely early, and I've noticed many others did as well. I'm hoping that's part of the reason so many are hearing back before me!

I applied to CMDB at UCR and CMB at UCI.  I know that UCR had an early decision deadline of Dec. 1 which is why I applied so early.  

If it makes you feel better, I haven't heard back from UCR since receiving the original email in December.  My guess is they closed down the office for winter break and didn't worry about emails and contacting people/setting up travel.  The email said something about being out of the office until January 4th.  I have been a bit nervous since I hadn't heard anything at all from them after that first email inviting me to visit.  I am figuring (and hoping) that it just means they have a lot going on and will be back communicating with potential students soon.  I have a few interview invites but don't have any travel actually booked yet....so I am still anxious until I get plane tickets booked and travel arrangements made.    

[onceinalifetime]

11 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

I applied to CMDB at UCR and CMB at UCI.  I know that UCR had an early decision deadline of Dec. 1 which is why I applied so early.  
  

Shit I saw nothing about a Dec 1 deadline for UCR. All I saw was Jan 5th... Damn thats frustrating cus I had other apps due Dec 1 so my SoP and stuff was all ready to go. I easily couldve gotten UCR in by Dec 1 if I had just known

[HopefulPHD14]

5 minutes ago, onceinalifetime said:

Shit I saw nothing about a Dec 1 deadline for UCR. All I saw was Jan 5th... Damn thats frustrating cus I had other apps due Dec 1 so my SoP and stuff was all ready to go. I easily couldve gotten UCR in by Dec 1 if I had just known

I called a few days before submitting to make sure the rest of my materials were in on time and they made it sound like it wasn't a big deal if I didn't make it by the dec 1 deadline.  I would't worry about it.  I think the dec 1 deadline was just a deadline they put for the ad com to go through the first set of apps.  My guess is that they still are going to extend invites in the next few weeks to additional people that were between the dec 1 early deadline and the jan 5th deadline.  I am not even completely sure what the early deadline was for.  

I do know for sure the office was closed last week.  They reopened today and are probably looking at additional applications this week.  I wouldn't worry if I were you.

[onceinalifetime]

4 minutes ago, HopefulPHD14 said:

 

I do know for sure the office was closed last week.  They reopened today and are probably looking at additional applications this week.  I wouldn't worry if I were you.

Yeah I can tell they're working on processing apps again now, because as of this morning my status page said my official transcripts still hadnt been received, even though I sent them in a good 6-8 weeks ago. But just checked now and they are all showing as received. I guess they haven't even taken a look at my app yet, or have just started.

[HopefulPHD14]

6 minutes ago, onceinalifetime said:

Yeah I can tell they're working on processing apps again now, because as of this morning my status page said my official transcripts still hadnt been received, even though I sent them in a good 6-8 weeks ago. But just checked now and they are all showing as received. I guess they haven't even taken a look at my app yet, or have just started.

They certainly have a lot going on.  I wouldn't worry.  

They told me to get back to them ASAP to set up travel, which I did (Dec 23rd), and they haven't even contacted me back yet to finalize the details of travel.  I wouldn't worry if I were you.  My application status still says under review anyways (which worries me...but I shouldn't worry too much about it).

 

[onceinalifetime]

Cool. Yea I'm not too worried cus they obvs have just now put gotten my entire package together and who knows if they've even looked at it yet. Any word on whether they're going to pay for your travels? How far away are you?

[HopefulPHD14]

1 minute ago, onceinalifetime said:

Cool. Yea I'm not too worried cus they obvs have just now put gotten my entire package together and who knows if they've even looked at it yet. Any word on whether they're going to pay for your travels? How far away are you?

Im in Northern CA.  They didn't talk specifics at all but indicated that some of the expenses would be covered.  

[onceinalifetime]

Cool, so are u gonna fly? I'm coming from near Wash DC lol, so it'd be a hefty plane ticket for them if they invite me out lol...  Btw, since you're from CA, does UCR have a reputation out there? Honestly the only reason I know of it is because one of my LoR writers  went to Stanford so he knows that area, and he said UCR was a good LA-area school. So is that true, whats its reputation? I know NoCal and SoCal are considered prettydifferent areas right? But thought maybe you'd sistill know something

[HopefulPHD14]

7 hours ago, onceinalifetime said:

Cool, so are u gonna fly? I'm coming from near Wash DC lol, so it'd be a hefty plane ticket for them if they invite me out lol...  Btw, since you're from CA, does UCR have a reputation out there? Honestly the only reason I know of it is because one of my LoR writers  went to Stanford so he knows that area, and he said UCR was a good LA-area school. So is that true, whats its reputation? I know NoCal and SoCal are considered prettydifferent areas right? But thought maybe you'd sistill know something

I haven't decided on how I will get there.   I will have to talk to them and see what would be best for them and for me.  I am still awaiting an email from them about travel specifics.  I might drive since it's only about 6 hours from me and I could make a long weekend out of it and visit friends from college in the area either before or after, but we will see.

I went to undergrad near UCR.  It is a decent school but certainly not the best in CA (Stanford, UCSF, Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD all come to mind).  With that being said, UCR has a good reputation.  I believe according to US News Reports UCR is top 75 in the nation for Bio (for whatever that's worth).  Also, the CMDB dept is very small.  Looking at their faculty and current students, I am assuming they only admit 5-8 students a year or so (give or take obviously)

I guess what I am saying is that there are schools in CA that I did not apply to since they were not to my personal standard for myself but UCR clearly met all of my personal requirements for a school.  I have pretty high standards and I would be very happy to go to UCR and am very excited to attend the UCR interview/visitation weekend.  

It should also be noted however that UCR is also not one of my reach schools, I felt more comfortable about being able to get into UCR than some of the other schools. 

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