2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[Yuanyang]

On 8/19/2016 at 3:53 PM, Bioenchilada said:

What about your SOP? Did you have people look at it and tell you their most honest criticism? Do you think that it was an accurate and honest reflection of yourself and your research? Were you close enough to your recommenders for them to tell you how much of a good letter they could write? 

I had hired Signet Education to get one of their tutors to help me with the SOPs for 10 of the applications. Cost me I think at least $600 in fees to the tutor. I was certain at that price I would at least get some constructive criticism and I did have to rewrite them several times. If the SOPs were good, then they clearly were not good enough.

One of my recommenders was my supervisor whom I was very close and had very good experiences with (I also was a co-author with her). The next one was from PI of the lab at MIT which probably was, though from a very influential scientist, was likely a xerox copy with blanks filled in with my name. The third was a professor from a summer program and was sent late to a few programs. Needless to say, I think that was the weakest of the 3 letters.

 

[Kinetic Isotope Defect]

On 8/18/2016 at 8:12 PM, fitzgradschool said:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Going to have about 5 letters of recommendation

 2

You should really just choose the three letter writers that will give you the best recommendation imo. If you send in more than that, the adcom will likely either 1) read all of them less carefully or 2) just read three of them anyways. They have a lot of applications to get through, so that limits the amount of time they can spend on a given application. The goal is then being able to convince them that you are going to be a successful student in their program within a short timespan, and that means focusing on quality over quantity.

[NCspawn]

Undergrad Institution: State School
Major(s): Microbiology
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: 3.1ish
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 159
V:159
W: 4.5
B:


Research Experience: 

8 months in a microbiology lab undergraduate university

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 2X Deans list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

1 Semester TA position in lower biology class

Full time lab technician at startup biotech company for 3 months of summer 

Currently a Research associate at medium sized biotech company (2months now)

Special Bonus Points: 1 great letter from former PI, 1 great letter from previous micro prof, 1 great letter with current boss with PhD, have 4th letter available

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

Applying to Where: All PhD

1. UNLV - Biological Sciences
2. UNReno - CMB
3. Colorodo State - CMB
4. UConn - CMB
5. UCRiverside - CMB/Bioengineering
6. Oregon State - CMB
7. UCSanta Cruz - CMB
8. UCBerkeley - CMB (But I mean....cmon :P)

 

Lets be real. I know my stats are not great at all but at least I will try to get into a relative lower tier PhD program. I am excluding masters because my former PI has stated that they would take me back for a masters at my undergrad university (I didn't even need to take GRE for this :D). I will probably stay at my current RA job for the time being, I know grad schools like the 40hr/week commitment doing research. Do I even have a remote chance at an interview this cycle? I am now in my gap year working full time so I will theoretically have 8 months undergrad and about a year of work in industry before I start a program (theoretically in F17). 

[jumbo1177]

On 2/24/2016 at 0:37 AM, bdnf_13.1 said:

I applied to 12 and have 6 interviews (would have 7 if school #7 was willing to give me an alternate date but they could not), and I have to say that money aside, I don't regret it at all but I think I could have eliminated 2 of them before I applied. I have a broad range of interests and five of my schools were ivies- so REALISTICALLY I thought I had a shot at 7 of the 12 although I was fairly competitive for all of them (3.8 GPA, 2 publications, started doing research in high school), and one of my invites was at one of the schools I thought wouldn't be interested in me.

I was interested in ALL of the programs- I asked myself "If this is the only school I get into, will I be happy there science/life wise?" and didn't apply if the answer was "no." I only applied in the northeast and only to schools within an hour and a half of a major city, and made sure I could find 5+ POIs I liked at each. That said, I applied broadly ranking and size wise to give myself options, but this was not the first priority in choosing schools. 

I  emailed probably around 75 POIs last spring/summer/fall to get responses from 2-3 from each school to get a feel for the environment and chat about their research and I DID NOT email a single person I was not interested in working with. This was the most time consuming part of the application process so I suggest you START NOW- if you are lucky you will find a couple people on adcoms who will remember you! 

Yes, I would have taken the 7th interview if I could have. Yes, I am exhausted, I have had one weekend WITHOUT an interview since the semester started and won't be done till after next week. But I have learned things on these interviews about myself, my future peers, the field I am going into, and even was able to rule a school out completely during the interview. 
Also, I feel great in business casual and suits now instead of like a kid playing dress-up so that's a plus. 

I have heard mixed reviews about emailing POIs, what do people think?

[sqxz]

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the 2017 application cycle! Since the new school year has begun (at least for me), I'm expecting things to pick up here pretty quickly. As in years past, I will be monitoring posts to this topic to see if there is any advice/questions I can provide/answer. I'm now a third-year Biophysics and Quantitative Biology PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and I would describe my specific field as computational molecular biophysics. A copy of my stats (i.e., the form that current applicants have been posting), as they stood when I applied can be found on my profile, along with a list of the programs to which I applied and my results. I have also included my results list at the bottom of this post. There are many things I wish I had known when I was in your shoes, but I'm going to limit myself to two pieces of unsolicited advice, lest this post go on forever.

1. Look at individual professors' lab pages to decide how well your research interests fit with a program's. When I applied, I initially relied on program websites to determine what kind of research was being done. This was a mistake. Such information on program websites quickly becomes out-of-date when professors move to/from a university, and such information can also represent a program director's hopes rather than present realities. There is also a lot of room for misinterpretation when using the information on program websites. For example, several programs I looked at had titles like "Biophysics and Computational Biology" and stated they were doing research to figure out the mechanisms of proteins. That means they must be doing computational molecular biophysics, right? Wrong! Turns out, that stated research goal is only experimental, and the computational biology done in the program is all systems biology. When I applied, I didn't start looking at professors' lab pages until after I had written my SOP template and was trying to fill in the details for each program. Because of this, I had to scramble and swap out three of the programs to which I had originally been planning to apply...in October. (Coincidentally, the three programs I swapped in ended up being the three into which I was accepted, so these decisions really do matter.) Don't be like me. If you have not already done so, start looking at lab pages now! This is a lot of work, so plan accordingly.

2. You are (most likely) currently eligible and should apply for graduate fellowships. No one told me this until I was already interviewing, and it was far too late to apply at that point. There are many field-specific fellowships that you should all look into (this list is as close to comprehensive as any: <https://www.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship/>), but there are four general national US fellowships that I want to mention in particular (below). I will immediately note that you must be a US citizen, a US national, or a permanent resident to have a chance of being eligible for these fellowships, but there are many listed on the website above where this is not the case. In the past, three of these fellowships were open to applying graduate students (e.g., undergraduate seniors) and first- and second-year graduate students. In recent years, however, two of them have changed their eligibility such that you are eligible to apply once as an applying graduate student and once as a practicing graduate student. This past spring, I was fortunate enough to receive one of these fellowships (NSF GRFP), but this was only possible because I had already applied once before and was able to utilize the feedback/experience I received in that process. It is very much in your best interest to apply now if you are able!

Applying to these fellowships requires a lot of work on your part, but that workload is reduced because you are also applying to graduate school. You already have the references, materials, and the information you need on-hand, and you have already thought a lot about what motivates you as a scientist and the kind of research you want to do. Unlike most program applications, you will have to write a short research proposal for these fellowship applications, which will help you immensely when you go to your interviews. You should apply even if the fellowship stipend is smaller than what you would receive from your target programs. Many such programs will pay you the difference and even an added bonus because these fellowships are such a big deal in terms of prestige, both for you individually and for your university/program/lab.

These websites (<http://www.pgbovine.net/fellowship-tips.htm> and <http://www.alexhunterlang.com/nsf-fellowship>) are good starting points for information and advice on applying to the four fellowships to which I have alluded. You can also find a ton of information on "The Bank" forum <http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/17-the-bank/> for these and many other fellowships. While there are a few things I want to highlight about each fellowship below, you should definitely visit the fellowship websites for definitive information on eligibility, award, deadlines, etc. I will also note that I have only included the stipend in the information below, but there are other elements to each of these fellowships awards, both financial and opportunity-based.

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) <https://www.nsfgrfp.org/> - Stipend: $34,000, 3 years - Deadline: 10/24/2016-10/28/2016 (depending on your specific field) - Open nationally to most STEM PhD and Master's graduate students. You are allowed to apply once as an applying graduate student and once either as a first-year graduate student or as a second-year graduate student. This is new, and you are the first group of students to whom this eligibility requirement applies. Eligibility is more complicated than this (see their website), but I will highlight that you are most likely ineligible if (1) you plan to pursue applied biomedical research or are applying to MD/PhD programs or (2) you already have or will be receiving a Master's degree and are applying to PhD programs.

• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG Fellowship) <https://ndseg.asee.org/> - Stipend: $34,000, 3 years - Deadline: mid December - Open nationally to PhD graduate students in many STEM fields (including "biosciences"), but your research must tie into one of the Department of Defense's research goals in national defense. You are allowed to apply as an applying graduate student, a first-year graduate student, and a second-year graduate student.
• Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Research Fellowship (DOE CSGF) <https://www.krellinst.org/csgf/> - Stipend: $36,000, 4 years - Deadline: late January - Open nationally to PhD graduate students in many STEM fields (including "life sciences") whose research heavily utilizes computation. You are allowed to apply as an applying graduate student and a first-year graduate student.
• Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship <http://hertzfoundation.org/dx/fellowships/fellowshipaward.aspx> - Stipend: $32,000, 5 years (though there are alternative options) - Deadline: 10/28/2016 - Open nationally to all PhD graduate students in "the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences or mathematics" whose research will "generate solutions to problems of comparatively near-term, widespread human interest." You are encouraged to apply as an applying graduate student and a first-year graduate student. (You may continue to apply after your first year, but only 3 such people have won in the past 10 years).

If you have questions about any of the programs or fellowships to which I applied (especially my current ones), my field, graduate school in general, or anything you think I may know about, please feel free to get in touch with me. Since the GradCafe no longer allows me to get email notifications when I receive a new message (*grumble, grumble*), posting your questions to this thread (or just quoting this post saying that you've messaged me) will ensure the most timely response from me, as I am able to get email notifications for each new post to this thread.

Good luck with this process, everyone!  I wish you all serenity, patience, and good fortune over the next several months.

 

Graduate School Application Results:
2014 Application Season: Applied (8/8) - Interview/Visit Offered/Attended (7/8) - Rejected (5/8) - Accepted (3/8) - Admitted (1/8)

• Carnegie Mellon University-University of Pittsburgh - Computational Biology 
  (1/22/2014, email; 2/20/2014-2/22/2014) (2/28/2014, unofficial email; 3/18/2014, official email)
• Johns Hopkins University - Molecular Biophysics
  (4/11/2014, email)
• Princeton University - Quantitative and Computational Biology 
  (12/30/2013, email; 2/6/2014-2/8/2014) (3/11/2014, email)
• Rutgers University - Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics 
  (2/18/2014, email; 3/26/2014-3/27/2014) (2/18/2014, email)
• University of California, San Francisco - Biophysics 
  (1/13/2014, email; 2/13/2014-2/15/2014) (3/3/2014, website)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Biophysics and Computational Biology 
  (1/10/2014, email; 3/20/2014-3/22/2014) (1/10/2014, email) (4/10/2014, website)
• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - Molecular Biophysics 
  (1/2/2014, email; 1/9/2014-1/11/2014) (1/13/2014, email)
• Washington University in St. Louis - Computational and Molecular Biophysics 
  (12/19, phone, email; 1/30/2014-2/1/2014) (3/12/2014, email)

 

Fellowship Application Results:

2015, 2016 Application Seasons: Applied (4/4, 2/2) - Rejected (3/4, 1/2) - Honorable Mention (1/4, 0/2) - Awarded (0/4, 1/2) - Accepted (0/4, 1/2)

• DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowship
  (4/1/2015, email) (4/1/2016, email)
• DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship
  (4/15/2015, email)
• Hertz Fellowship 
  (11/12/2014, email)
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program 
  (3/31/2015, email) (3/29/2016, email) (4/4/2016, website)

[ImmunoB]

Undergrad Institution: Top science & engineering school in South Korea. (Ranked #1 in South Korea, #8 in Asia in Asia University Rankings of Time Higher Education)
Major(s): Life Sciences (Biology)
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.05/4.30 (3.98/4.00)
Overall GPA: 4.05/4.30 (3.94/4.00)
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International male student

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 161
W: 3.5
B: Not taken (and will not take)


TOEFL Total: 109

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

1. Worked in the Immune Cell Biology lab in my school for 6 weeks  (Summer research internship)

2. Worked in an immunology lab in UCSF for 4 months 

3. Worked in two bioinformatics lab in South Korea for 1.5 months each. (Winter research internship)

4. Doing my undergraduate thesis research in the Immune Regulation lab in my school since March 2016 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University Dean's List in every semester I attended. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Internship in a pharmaceutical company in South Korea (4 weeks)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Study abroad program in UC Berkeley for two semesters (MCB / GPA: 3.71)

Applying to Where: A LOT ( due to difficulty in getting admission as an international student holding non-American degree ) 

Harvard - Immunology

Johns Hopkins - Immunology / Pathology

Yale - BBS (Immunobiology)

WashU - DBBS ((Immunology)

UPenn - BGS (Immunology)

Duke - Immunology 

Stanford - Biosciences (Immunology)

UCSD - BMS (Immunology)

NYU Sackler - BMS (Immunology)

Icahn School of Med. - BMS

UAB - Immunology

Weill Cornell - IMP 

Pittsburgh - IBGP (Immunology)

Chicago - BMS (Immunology)

MSKCC - Gerstner

And maybe more

 

 

[Bioenchilada]

7 hours ago, dudwns217 said:

Undergrad Institution: Top science & engineering school in South Korea. (Ranked #1 in South Korea, #8 in Asia in Asia University Rankings of Time Higher Education)
Major(s): Life Sciences (Biology)
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 4.05/4.30 (3.98/4.00)
Overall GPA: 4.05/4.30 (3.94/4.00)
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International male student

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 161
W: 3.5
B: Not taken (and will not take)


TOEFL Total: 109

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

1. Worked in the Immune Cell Biology lab in my school for 6 weeks  (Summer research internship)

2. Worked in an immunology lab in UCSF for 4 months 

3. Worked in two bioinformatics lab in South Korea for 1.5 months each. (Winter research internship)

4. Doing my undergraduate thesis research in the Immune Regulation lab in my school since March 2016 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University Dean's List in every semester I attended. 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Internship in a pharmaceutical company in South Korea (4 weeks)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Study abroad program in UC Berkeley for two semesters (MCB / GPA: 3.71)

Applying to Where: A LOT ( due to difficulty in getting admission as an international student holding non-American degree ) 

Harvard - Immunology

Johns Hopkins - Immunology / Pathology

Yale - BBS (Immunobiology)

WashU - DBBS ((Immunology)

UPenn - BGS (Immunology)

Duke - Immunology 

Stanford - Biosciences (Immunology)

UCSD - BMS (Immunology)

NYU Sackler - BMS (Immunology)

Icahn School of Med. - BMS

UAB - Immunology

Weill Cornell - IMP 

Pittsburgh - IBGP (Immunology)

Chicago - BMS (Immunology)

MSKCC - Gerstner

And maybe more

 

 

I feel that though your numbers are great, you are lacking ample research experience, particularly for the caliber of schools you are applying to. I feel that maybe you should try to get more before aiming so high, but I still think that you should give it a shot. 

[MeghanSiobhan]

Applied before (2x) didn't get in. Any advice appreciated!!

Undergrad Institution: UCSC (CA- UC)
Major(s): Molecular, Cell and Dev Bio
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.37
Overall GPA: 3.31
Position in Class: probably average to high lower
Type of Student: domestic female

Masters Institution: SJSU (CA- CSU)
Major(s): Molecular and Microbiology, CIRM Bridges Program
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.92
Overall GPA: 3.92
Position in Class: probably high-ish?

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160/ 78%
V: 159/ 81%
W: 3.5/ 48%
B: (guessing this is subject) took in 2011, expired, not going to retake

Research Experience: Basic molecular bio/yeast in Undergrad (2 years- publication); Stem cell, CRISPR/Cas9, neurodiff, RNAseq research in Masters (probably publish, but not before apps due- will be about 2 years by the time i move on to Ph.D.)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: intro bio lab TA, poster presentations this year

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Getting an MS degree currently, David Haussler is my PI/rec letter (if you don't know, he pioneered the Human Genome Browser, Cancer Genome Browser), currently funded by CA Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

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

Applying to Where: Uni's w/ Medical Schools
(in order of current preference)

UPenn- CAMB/Cancer Bio

UPitt- IBGP/Cell and Molecular Pathology

Tufts- Biomedical/Cell, Molecular Dev/Cancer Bio

U Chicago- Biomedical/ Cancer Bio

U Washington- Cell and Molecular/Cancer Bio

OHSU (Oregon Health and Science)- PMCB/Cancer Bio

Temple- Biomedical/Cancer Bio and Genetics

UCSD- Biomedical

UCI- Biomedical/Cell and Molecular/ Cancer

(if you can't tell, I want to research cancer- mostly novel therapeutics)

Edited August 24, 2016 by MeghanSiobhan

[MeghanSiobhan]

On 4/20/2016 at 5:00 PM, Smoop said:

Undergrad Institution: Big state school
Major(s): Dev Bio

Overall GPA: 3.16

Type of Student: 

Domestic white female
GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160
V: 161
W: 4.0

Research Experience: 

 

1.5 years as a undergraduate in an evolutionary genetics lab, completed a senior honors thesis

2 years as a RA post-bacc in another evolutionary genetics lab at an ivy league school, (will be 3 by the time I would start)

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Distinction in major

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Will be co authored on a paper by time I apply. Hopefully will also have a first author paper submitted by time I apply

Special Bonus Points: 

Strong letter from undergrad PI, strong letter from 1 famous PI and another prominent PI in the field 

 

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Mentoring high school students in STEM fields

 

Applying to Where:

 

Still figuring out a complete list but tentatively so far:

 

Stanford - Biology

UCSF - TETRAD

UCB - IB

UCD - Integrative Genetics & Genomics

UCLA - Genetics & Genomics

UCSD - Biology

NYU - Biology

UW - Genome Sciences

 

If you're into Genomics, you might want to consider UCSC. Not as top-tier as what you have listed, but David Haussler and Josh Stuart are really big in genomics and bioinformatics. Plus, we have the Human Genome Browser and Cancer Genome Browser here. I work in David Haussler's lab and i swear, all anyone wants to do is sequencing and genomics  

[Bioenchilada]

52 minutes ago, MeghanSiobhan said:

Applied before (2x) didn't get in. Any advice appreciated!!

Undergrad Institution: UCSC (CA- UC)
Major(s): Molecular, Cell and Dev Bio
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.37
Overall GPA: 3.31
Position in Class: probably average to high lower
Type of Student: domestic female

Masters Institution: SJSU (CA- CSU)
Major(s): Molecular and Microbiology, CIRM Bridges Program
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.92
Overall GPA: 3.92
Position in Class: probably high-ish?

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160/ 78%
V: 159/ 81%
W: 3.5/ 48%
B: (guessing this is subject) took in 2011, expired, not going to retake

Research Experience: Basic molecular bio/yeast in Undergrad (2 years- publication); Stem cell, CRISPR/Cas9, neurodiff, RNAseq research in Masters (probably publish, but not before apps due- will be about 2 years by the time i move on to Ph.D.)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: intro bio lab TA, poster presentations this year

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Getting an MS degree currently, David Haussler is my PI/rec letter (if you don't know, he pioneered the Human Genome Browser, Cancer Genome Browser), currently funded by CA Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

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

Applying to Where: Uni's w/ Medical Schools
(in order of current preference)

UPenn- CAMB/Cancer Bio

UPitt- IBGP/Cell and Molecular Pathology

Tufts- Biomedical/Cell, Molecular Dev/Cancer Bio

U Chicago- Biomedical/ Cancer Bio

U Washington- Cell and Molecular/Cancer Bio

OHSU (Oregon Health and Science)- PMCB/Cancer Bio

Temple- Biomedical/Cancer Bio and Genetics

UCSD- Biomedical

UCI- Biomedical/Cell and Molecular/ Cancer

(if you can't tell, I want to research cancer- mostly novel therapeutics)

What schools did you apply to previously? Who wrote your rec letters? 

[MeghanSiobhan]

11 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

What schools did you apply to previously? Who wrote your rec letters? 

Last time(s) I didn't apply to Biomedical (I finally figured out what I want to research, so that's new), but I applied to UW, UCSC, UCSD, UCI... you know what, it was so long ago, I blocked most of them out haha. I might have reached too far. First time around, I got interviews at UCSC and UCSD, but was denied after the interviews.

Previous letters were from my PI and 2 professors I took classes with. I think I've gotten a general consensus that was my weak point. This time around I have my current PI (doing much better in this lab than previous lab), my program advisor/coordinator person with whom I took a stem cell lab/class, and a professor I TA'd for for a year.

[hopefulbiograd]

Here's my app:

Undergrad Institution: UC Santa Cruz
Major(s): Biochemistry; Ecology & Evolution
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.92
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160, 78%
V: 161, 87%
W: 4.5, 80%
B: didn't take

I'm thinking of taking the GRE again, and am hoping to do better on math.  I am not a fan of standardized tests :/

Research Experience: 1.5 years in microbiology lab in undergrad at UCSC, no publication unfortunately (I was promised primary or co-primary authorship at one point, but I don't know the current state it's in).  I am currently working as a research assistant in a biochemistry/cell biology lab that I have been with for 2 years now (for anonymity's sake it is either Harvard, MIT, or Stanford); I have been working closely with a post-doc and we hope to publish by December or early next year on which I will be a second author.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Highest honors in both majors, summa cum laude, phi beta kappa, several scholarships, dean's list 11/11 quarters.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Same as research experience entry.  I also worked as a lab assistant for 2 years in an environmental science lab.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I wrote a senior thesis in my undergrad.

Special Bonus Points: My current professor is highly regarded and I am told his letter of rec carries a lot of weight; it should hopefully help a lot with the school I currently work at.

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

Applying to Where:

MIT - Biology

Harvard - Molecules, Cells & Organisms

Stanford - Cancer Biology

UC Berkeley - Molecular and Cell Biology

UCSF - TETRAD

UC San Diego - Biology (It is a good mid-tier safety school I am told)

 

Honestly I am worried that my GRE scores are sub-optimal, especially math for these schools.  My professor recommended I get 90% on everything to be safe.  I'm not sure how big of a deal breaker this is, and I also don't know how much I can improve those scores.

Also, in terms of letters of rec, I was thinking of putting my current professor, my undergrad professor, and the post-doc who I have worked closely with...should I not include the post-doc?  I thought it would be good to have someone who knows what I'm like in the lab.  Otherwise, I could put a senior scientist from my current lab or even another professor from my undergrad who knows me well.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my profile and comment!!

[Bioenchilada]

48 minutes ago, hopefulbiograd said:

Here's my app:

Undergrad Institution: UC Santa Cruz
Major(s): Biochemistry; Ecology & Evolution
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.95
Overall GPA: 3.92
Position in Class: near top
Type of Student: domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160, 78%
V: 161, 87%
W: 4.5, 80%
B: didn't take

I'm thinking of taking the GRE again, and am hoping to do better on math.  I am not a fan of standardized tests :/

Research Experience: 1.5 years in microbiology lab in undergrad at UCSC, no publication unfortunately (I was promised primary or co-primary authorship at one point, but I don't know the current state it's in).  I am currently working as a research assistant in a biochemistry/cell biology lab that I have been with for 2 years now (for anonymity's sake it is either Harvard, MIT, or Stanford); I have been working closely with a post-doc and we hope to publish by December or early next year on which I will be a second author.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Highest honors in both majors, summa cum laude, phi beta kappa, several scholarships, dean's list 11/11 quarters.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Same as research experience entry.  I also worked as a lab assistant for 2 years in an environmental science lab.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I wrote a senior thesis in my undergrad.

Special Bonus Points: My current professor is highly regarded and I am told his letter of rec carries a lot of weight; it should hopefully help a lot with the school I currently work at.

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

Applying to Where:

MIT - Biology

Harvard - Molecules, Cells & Organisms

Stanford - Cancer Biology

UC Berkeley - Molecular and Cell Biology

UCSF - TETRAD

UC San Diego - Biology (It is a good mid-tier safety school I am told)

 

Honestly I am worried that my GRE scores are sub-optimal, especially math for these schools.  My professor recommended I get 90% on everything to be safe.  I'm not sure how big of a deal breaker this is, and I also don't know how much I can improve those scores.

Also, in terms of letters of rec, I was thinking of putting my current professor, my undergrad professor, and the post-doc who I have worked closely with...should I not include the post-doc?  I thought it would be good to have someone who knows what I'm like in the lab.  Otherwise, I could put a senior scientist from my current lab or even another professor from my undergrad who knows me well.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my profile and comment!!

If you get rejected from the schools you applied to, it would most certainly not be because of your numbers. I think you have a competitive application and encourage you to maybe apply to 2 more schools (?) it just feels like your list is rather short and entirely top tier. Also, don't ask the post-doc nor the senior scientist for the letter if you're already asking the PI, get another person.

[Sinji]

Really excited I found this forum :).

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 University in Texas
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.1
Overall GPA: 3.15
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Hispanic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160
V: 160
W: 5

Research Experience: Four years of research experience, two as a computational biologist. 4 publications as first author (2 under submission).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Computational Biologist for 2 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have extensive grant writing experience as a grant writer for a computer science non-profit organization. I've written grants that have successfully accumulated over 500k towards our program development.

Special Bonus Points: My current PI is well known in his field. I have reached out to a lot of faculty at interested schools and they have all responded very well offering rotations. One very famous PI I e-mailed went as far as to CC the program director.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Probably doesn't matter for the actual application, but i'm actually fairly good at interviews and have a lot of presentation experience because my current PI is constantly having me present research with his grad students and asking me to submit to conferences.

Applying to Where:

1. MIT - Computational Biology - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
2. University of Washington - Genome Sciences - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
3. University of Michigan Ann Arbor - Bioinformatics - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
4. UT Southwestern - Cancer Biology with a Computational Biology sub-specialization - Genomics 
5. Case Western - Computational Biology - Genomics
6. Northwestern - Computational Biology - Genomics (This is the school where the big name PI CC'd the program director)
7. Georgia Tech - Computational Biology - Genomics

I'm interested in adding three more schools to my list. Right now i'm researching UCSF, and UCSD for professors who's research interests align well with mine, but any other suggestions are welcome!

[hopefulbiograd]

3 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

If you get rejected from the schools you applied to, it would most certainly not be because of your numbers. I think you have a competitive application and encourage you to maybe apply to 2 more schools (?) it just feels like your list is rather short and entirely top tier. Also, don't ask the post-doc nor the senior scientist for the letter if you're already asking the PI, get another person.

Ok, I will do a little more research and look into a couple more mid-tier schools to apply to.  And thanks for the tip about the rec letter, I think I will ask the environmental science professor I worked for in my undergrad instead.

[Edotdl]

On 8/23/2016 at 6:09 PM, jumbo1177 said:

I have heard mixed reviews about emailing POIs, what do people think?

I think it depends on the program. If the program does rotations, it is probably not necessary to contact POIs. However, if candidates are admitted directly into a lab, it is probably beneficial to contact POIs to have them support your application (although even if this happens, it still might not guarantee acceptance). FWIW, I did not contact any professors during the application process, but if you have the time I don't think contacting them would hurt (assuming you don't end up annoying them/giving a bad impression).

[Pepperoni]

On 8/19/2016 at 1:13 AM, Pepperoni said:

Hi everyone!

Hoping to get some feedback on my stats and the kinds of schools I should be looking at. Per below:

Undergrad Institution: Mediocre (top 100) private catholic university
Major(s): Biology (biological chem/molecular bio track)
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: 3.98
Overall GPA: 3.96
Position in Class: unknown, expecting to graduate near the top/Summa Cum Laude
Type of Student: International Asian female

GRE Scores:
Q: 168
V: 159
W: 3.5
B: N/A


TOEFL Total: waived

Research Experience: 

Freshman Year Summer - Summer job at a governmental research institute in Korea (agricultural bio) as an RA and the project I was involved in was focusing on plant breeding where I was trained basic laboratory techniques.

Freshman Year Second Semester to Present - 2.5 years in school molecular bio lab, was involved in a graduate student’s project nuclear-mitochondrial communication in fungi. Leading role in qPCR experiments. 

Prepared for student experiments which deals with human mitochondrial DNA amplification, restriction digest, and gel electrophoresis – gave a mini presentation at lab meeting 

No publications or presentations .. but at least expecting some decent LoRs from my PI and employers/professors

· 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Vice Presidential Scholar (half off tuition), Academic honors society (Phi Beta Kappa), Biology honors society (Beta Beta Beta), Dean's list every semester

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Teaching assistant for a semester for sophomore biochemistry/molecular biology class

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: President of Korean Student Association (?)

Special Bonus Points: I am an international student, but completed high school and undergrad in the US. I'm graduating this December, 1 semester early, primarily due to financial reasons, as well as completing my course work early.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Graduating 1 semester early, father is PhD and researcher in Korea (?)

Applying to Where:

UPenn - BGS - Cell and molecular biology
WashU - DBBS - Molecular cell biology
UChicago - Molecular Bioscience- Cell and molecular biology
Northwestern - DGP - Cell and molecular biology OR Chemical biology and drug discovery
UIC Med - Biochemistry and molecular genetics OR Pathology

 

My biggest concern is my lack of publications/presentations/posters, and perhaps weaker than average research experience overall. It has been difficult getting a lot of support from my PI for doing any kind of poster or presentation.

 

A few more specific questions: Does graduating early help/hurt? Should I be looking at Masters programs/gap years to bolster my research, or will PhD programs be in my reach straight from undergrad? Was wondering if the schools listed above are about right for my stats, or if I should be aiming lower? I'm looking to stay in the Midwest area primarily, but open to East Coast. 

 

 

Hi all, hoping to get some feedback on this - please let me know if my goals are reasonable. Thank you!

[Edotdl]

23 minutes ago, Pepperoni said:

 

Hi all, hoping to get some feedback on this - please let me know if my goals are reasonable. Thank you!

I don't think graduating early will impact your application much since you'll have submitted your applications already. I think you should be able to get into a PhD program, but not necessarily the ones you listed (not in the field, but they seem to be generally top ~20 programs). If you are ok with going to a lower ranked school for a PhD, I'd recommend you add some mid-tier options that you'd be comfortable going to. Otherwise, if you're aiming for top programs, doing research for a year at a top school should help your application. Although your research experience is reasonable, without a publication, since most of it was done at your school, the admission committee may question its quality (unless your PI is relatively well known). Sorry if this is a bit harsh, but hopefully it's helpful. Also, as always, these are just my opinions and I have not been on the adcom before.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Edotdl

[Bioenchilada]

11 hours ago, Pepperoni said:

 

Hi all, hoping to get some feedback on this - please let me know if my goals are reasonable. Thank you!

Overall, I think you have a pretty good application number and research-wise, in terms of length of involvement in research. My main concern about people that have only had one long research experience is that I feel that rec letters will hurt your application if only one person has been actually your PI, or someone that can attest for your research capabilities. Who is writing your rec letters? 

Also, I only think you should aim lower if you will honestly be happy at the "lower-tier" school you're applying to. No point in going to a school where you'll be miserable at, and it is probably to your best interest to get your PhD from a reputable institution if you plan to stay within research/academia. 

[Sinji]

17 hours ago, Sinji said:

Really excited I found this forum :).

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 University in Texas
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.1
Overall GPA: 3.15
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Hispanic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160
V: 160
W: 5

Research Experience: Four years of research experience, two as a computational biologist. 4 publications as first author (2 under submission).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Computational Biologist for 2 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have extensive grant writing experience as a grant writer for a computer science non-profit organization. I've written grants that have successfully accumulated over 500k towards our program development.

Special Bonus Points: My current PI is well known in his field. I have reached out to a lot of faculty at interested schools and they have all responded very well offering rotations. One very famous PI I e-mailed went as far as to CC the program director.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Probably doesn't matter for the actual application, but i'm actually fairly good at interviews and have a lot of presentation experience because my current PI is constantly having me present research with his grad students and asking me to submit to conferences.

Applying to Where:

1. MIT - Computational Biology - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
2. University of Washington - Genome Sciences - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
3. University of Michigan Ann Arbor - Bioinformatics - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
4. UT Southwestern - Cancer Biology with a Computational Biology sub-specialization - Genomics 
5. Case Western - Computational Biology - Genomics
6. Northwestern - Computational Biology - Genomics (This is the school where the big name PI CC'd the program director)
7. Georgia Tech - Computational Biology - Genomics

I'm interested in adding three more schools to my list. Right now i'm researching UCSF, and UCSD for professors who's research interests align well with mine, but any other suggestions are welcome!

 

[AGradStudentHasNoName]

On 8/27/2016 at 8:23 PM, Sinji said:

Really excited I found this forum :).

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 University in Texas
Major(s): Biology
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.1
Overall GPA: 3.15
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Hispanic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 160
V: 160
W: 5

Research Experience: Four years of research experience, two as a computational biologist. 4 publications as first author (2 under submission).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Computational Biologist for 2 years.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I have extensive grant writing experience as a grant writer for a computer science non-profit organization. I've written grants that have successfully accumulated over 500k towards our program development.

Special Bonus Points: My current PI is well known in his field. I have reached out to a lot of faculty at interested schools and they have all responded very well offering rotations. One very famous PI I e-mailed went as far as to CC the program director.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Probably doesn't matter for the actual application, but i'm actually fairly good at interviews and have a lot of presentation experience because my current PI is constantly having me present research with his grad students and asking me to submit to conferences.

Applying to Where:

1. MIT - Computational Biology - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
2. University of Washington - Genome Sciences - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
3. University of Michigan Ann Arbor - Bioinformatics - Genomics (This is one of my three reach schools)
4. UT Southwestern - Cancer Biology with a Computational Biology sub-specialization - Genomics 
5. Case Western - Computational Biology - Genomics
6. Northwestern - Computational Biology - Genomics (This is the school where the big name PI CC'd the program director)
7. Georgia Tech - Computational Biology - Genomics

I'm interested in adding three more schools to my list. Right now i'm researching UCSF, and UCSD for professors who's research interests align well with mine, but any other suggestions are welcome!

Your research is extensive, but your GPA and GRE are mediocre. For programs that admit people to specific labs you should have no problem if there is a research fit. And the CC to the program director is awesome. I don't know how these things work at most schools, but for the one school I am familiar with a professor can get you admitted barring serious problems with your application or character. I'm guessing that MIT and UW Seattle are committee based and you might get cut before specific research fit PI's see your application. I suggest that you email your POI's 1. when your application is in and 2. a week after the deadline. If they really want you, they will request your application.

But for 4-7 it shouldn't be a problem. And for 3 your chances are quite high. 1-2 maybe, who knows how they choose. Feel free to PM me and we can talk specific subfields/PIs if you want. UCSF is lesser in comp bio but very strong bio of course (they just got atul butte though). And given their location and biology expertise, I think they are positioned to become a top tier computational biology institution. And UCSD is very very well regarded in computational biology.

[grace@thesmokinchemist]

On 8/27/2016 at 9:51 PM, Pepperoni said:

 

Hi all, hoping to get some feedback on this - please let me know if my goals are reasonable. Thank you!

i graduated early, a full year early actually from my undergrad program & i never got any negative feedback regarding it.

[Pepperoni]

On 8/28/2016 at 11:09 AM, Bioenchilada said:

Overall, I think you have a pretty good application number and research-wise, in terms of length of involvement in research. My main concern about people that have only had one long research experience is that I feel that rec letters will hurt your application if only one person has been actually your PI, or someone that can attest for your research capabilities. Who is writing your rec letters? 

Also, I only think you should aim lower if you will honestly be happy at the "lower-tier" school you're applying to. No point in going to a school where you'll be miserable at, and it is probably to your best interest to get your PhD from a reputable institution if you plan to stay within research/academia. 

(1) PI, (2) the professor I TA for currently, and (3) probably my faculty mentor. I am applying to UIC Rush as a "back up" but I'm not sure if I'd rather do a "lower-tier" PhD or a higher-tier masters and then reapply for a higher end PhD. I'll make the push if I have a shot, just want to know if I do. I see a lot of people here that have amazing research experience, but I just didn't connect with as productive of a PI as I'd hoped. I think at this point I really need to start researching professors and perhaps reaching out to some of them? 

[Bioenchilada]

7 hours ago, Pepperoni said:

(1) PI, (2) the professor I TA for currently, and (3) probably my faculty mentor. I am applying to UIC Rush as a "back up" but I'm not sure if I'd rather do a "lower-tier" PhD or a higher-tier masters and then reapply for a higher end PhD. I'll make the push if I have a shot, just want to know if I do. I see a lot of people here that have amazing research experience, but I just didn't connect with as productive of a PI as I'd hoped. I think at this point I really need to start researching professors and perhaps reaching out to some of them? 

Unless admission at the school is not committee based, contacting professors really doesn't increase your chances, at all. It's still a nice excercise, but I don't think it gives you an advantage.

[rojano]

On 7/22/2016 at 4:28 PM, laxgoal100 said:

Hey, 2017 cycle peeps! 

I thought that I would make a general post here to just lay out some of my thoughts on applying to grad programs (to be clear PhD programs - not masters). I spent a lot of time comparing myself to other people on this website, and in retrospect, it didn't really do much good. However, here are some points that I picked up along the way that I think are worth sharing: 

• GRE: try to get both the verbal and the quant section ~80th percentile for any school. Some highly competitive programs look for better, but I think this is a good rule of thumb. I had to take the test twice to get those scores. If you are below the 70th in either of these areas, I would seriously consider retaking the test. If you can't get that score don't be discouraged. People have been accepted to great programs with lower general GRE scores. To be clear, I think that this test is total bullshit - it is truly a measure of your test taking abilities and not really how 'smart' you are. But it is a major weed out point. Scores are an easy metric to toss applications in the first round of reviews. Don't get yourself tossed. On the flip side, a good/great general GRE score is not going to ensure your admission to any top program. Unless you are trying to be competitive at the ridiculously selective programs (MIT, UCSF, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc...), there is no reason to take the subject test. If you do want to get into those schools, a good subject GRE score will certainly boost your application. Be aware, the biochem subject test is the most ridiculous thing I have ever laid eyes on. Focus on getting a good general GRE score. 
• Grades: This isn't medical school - you don't need a 3.95 to be competitive at top programs. My cumulative GPA was 3.45. However, my last 3 years were a 3.82 (you can do the math on my freshman year ). The point is that professors on the admission committee want to see that you can achieve in upper division classes, where the advanced material is. In general, any GPA over a 3.4 is competitive. If you are over a 3.6 you are golden. Less than a 3.3 can really start to hurt your application, especially if your grades are on a downward trend. If you have to explain bad grades in your SOP spin it in a positive way and don't dwell on it. Acknowledge it and move on. The SOP is your time to shine. 
• Statement of Purpose (SOP):  You may want to use up the entire two-page limit that you are given - don't. PI's are busy people and don't want to read your fluffy soliloquy. Make each SOP tailored to the specific school. Most of its content you will not need to change, but let them know you have done your research and your application is not just a shot in the dark! Furthermore, start it NOW. Have your PI edit it. Have other PI's edit it. Have your parents, friends, edit it. Read it to your dog. You should be so sick of reading and editing that page and a half before you send it off. I was told by multiple PI's that they were impressed by my (ahem, all the people I had edit) writing skills. Here is a great general way to structure it:
  • P1: How has your college academic and research experience led you to choose to apply to graduate school? Why that specific program? What broad area are you interested in. Show that you are flexible and open to learning new things. 
  • P2: Describe your research experience in general terms, explain its significance, what you gained from it, and how that will benefit you as a graduate student in their program.
  • P3: Talk about presenting at a conference, or communicating your work somehow, and what insight you gained from that process
  • P4: Name 3 PI's that you are interested in working for and an area of their work that most interests you.
  • P5: Concluding paragraph, aspirations, future jobs, etc... 
  • Notice that I didn't talk about my grandmother having cancer and wanting to attend a graduate program to cure it.... or wanting to be a scientist since I was 4 years old and collecting bugs in my back yard. Or anything about high school. You are applying to go to school for a doctoral degree - PI's don't care about these things. Your job is to convince them that you would be a great independent scientist. Keep it to what you have done in your time at college. Unless you published a paper in high school. If that is the case you can go away.
• Contacting professors: Out of all the schools that I corresponded with potential PI's from, I got interviews and acceptances (except Yale, meh). If you want to contact them, do it early. Don't make it look like a desperate afterthought. I think the best time is before applications are due, but not so early that they forget about you. October/November are good months to consider this. Write them a short email with (1) who you are and who's lab you work in at what university. (2) a brief bit about your research experience. (3) what you are interested in about THEIR WORK SPECIFICALLY. Generic emails are obvious and not tolerated. Spend some time researching!!! (4) let them know that you are applying to their program and are wondering if they are taking students for rotations or mentoring. This can be incredibly helpful. One professor even offered to have a skype chat with me. It was a great experience. Networking is important - even in science. 

I know that this post was long, but I feel like I owe it to you guys. If you disagree with anything that I said, I am probably wrong and feel free to ignore me. I also want to just say that I don't have the magic recipe for getting into grad programs. It really is about how well you fit into their vision. For example, I can't explain why I got into UW and U Michigan and not even an interview at Colorado or Northwestern. Most single things will not make or break an application. You don't need a first author publication - or any publications for that matter. But it looks good to go above and beyond (conferences, posters, talks, honors theses, etc...). Applying to grad school was one of the most terrifying, exciting, and rewarding experiences of my academic career. Interviews were SO much fun. If you have any questions for me please feel free to shoot me a message. I would love to help! 

       

Hi, thanks for the helpful email. Don't you think  October/November is late for this? Will you please say if we need to ask for empty positions in  the email or not? I mean what the content and the subject of the email should be to persuade a professor to open and read it?