Advice?

[lilly15]

Any advice for a current undergrad junior? I will be graduating around a 3.1 with over two years of research experience at my undergrad institution as well as at Boston Children's Hospital with 2 independent research projects. I know my GPA is low for admissions and am not opposed to working as a research tech after undergrad to supplement my application. I am just starting to look into graduate programs and any help is appreciated. 

Edited February 18, 2016 by lilly15

[jaesango]

I think you have a good shot at great grad school programs with your research experience. It would be awesome if you could get a first author publication or two from your independent projects at Boston Children's Hospital. Make sure to get glowing recommendations from the PI's you work with since those are the best indicators for your potential to succeed as a graduate student. Does your undergrad major let you take time off to do a co-op internship or honors senior thesis? That would also bolster your application if you lack publications. I wouldn't worry too much about your GPA since at this point it's not going to change too much, although a comfort zone for top 10 programs would be at least 3.2-3.5 (depends on the grading strictness at your undergrad institution). Also since you have a couple years of lab experience under your belt, what areas of biology interest you? These interests are very important to highlight in your SOP and will also be reflected in which programs you apply to (large umbrella vs specific departments). 

[lilly15]

51 minutes ago, jaesango said:

I think you have a good shot at great grad school programs with your research experience. It would be awesome if you could get a first author publication or two from your independent projects at Boston Children's Hospital. Make sure to get glowing recommendations from the PI's you work with since those are the best indicators for your potential to succeed as a graduate student. Does your undergrad major let you take time off to do a co-op internship or honors senior thesis? That would also bolster your application if you lack publications. I wouldn't worry too much about your GPA since at this point it's not going to change too much, although a comfort zone for top 10 programs would be at least 3.2-3.5 (depends on the grading strictness at your undergrad institution). Also since you have a couple years of lab experience under your belt, what areas of biology interest you? These interests are very important to highlight in your SOP and will also be reflected in which programs you apply to (large umbrella vs specific departments). 

I am not too worried about LORs from my PI's (both have expressed that writing me strong letters would not be an issue). I was curious if the graduate students I work closely with were able to write letters and how admissions committees look at these letters. Are letters restricted to faculty members? My undergrad has a co-op program and also requires a senior thesis which is where most of my experience is coming from. The two labs I work in are microbiology and neurobiology labs so they are pretty different, but there is some overlap I am finding. I am very interested in these areas (I think I would like to pursue molecular biology). Thanks!

[adiJ]

19 hours ago, lilly15 said:

I am not too worried about LORs from my PI's (both have expressed that writing me strong letters would not be an issue). I was curious if the graduate students I work closely with were able to write letters and how admissions committees look at these letters. Are letters restricted to faculty members? My undergrad has a co-op program and also requires a senior thesis which is where most of my experience is coming from. The two labs I work in are microbiology and neurobiology labs so they are pretty different, but there is some overlap I am finding. I am very interested in these areas (I think I would like to pursue molecular biology). Thanks!

Professors' LORs hold a lot more weight than that of graduate students or post-docs, mainly because they actually have more experience leading a lab and know what they are saying when they recommended you. It would be preferable to get another one from a professor (maybe one that taught you?) that you are close with or someone who you talked extensively about, sort of like a research mentor.