What should I be shooting for?

[lep245]

I wanted to get an idea of what type of schools I should apply to this coming fall. I think I'm doing okay with the exception of my GPA (I struggled with severe depression for two years early on in my undergrad and it got pretty bad, but I've since worked through it). I have been pretty determined to try to get into a top 10 school but because of my GPA I'm having a hard time gauging whether that's reasonable.

I'm potentially thinking about taking a year off to do research full time and then apply to strengthen my app, so if you think that's a good idea please let me know? I'm looking mostly at programs in neuro/cell bio

Undergrad Institution: Upper-tier State School in selective STEM scholarship program

Undergrad Major: Biology

GPA: ~3.40 by the end of this semester (~3.7 to 3.8 recently)

GRE: expecting a 165+/165+/4.5+ based on the practice exams I've done so far

Ethnicity/Gender: Caucasian Male

Research Experience: 

3 years of continuous work in a cancer lab at my home institution (~20hrs/week during the school year + one summer full time after freshman year). One paper published (2nd author) and another to be submitted prior to the start of the application cycle (likely also 2nd author). Three poster presentations, two at my home institution (won 1st place prize overall at one of these) and another at a large national conference. One oral presentation at home institution.

One summer at Harvard after sophomore year, likely returning again this summer + fall (taking semester off). PI here is a leader in his field. Presented work done here at a national undergraduate conference.

Letters of Rec:

Home Institution PI - have a strong relationship over the years, expect a strong letter

Harvard PI - don't know him that well personally (his lab is massive, so I didn't get much 1 on 1 time with him during the summer). I hope to strengthen letter by returning this summer. Also, the postdoc who mentored me offered to help write any letters I needed and just get the PI to sign off on them, which would make them more personal/strong.

Research Club Advisor - advisor for a club I helped start at my home institution, is a well known PI in his field, he's been a great mentor so I expect a strong letter

Scholarship Program Director - not sure if it's advisable to ask for one from him, but he would definitely write a strong letter (knows my research abilities well and could speak to my struggles during undergrad/how I overcame them as he helped me through that process)

Activities: 

Officer of a research-based club I helped start freshman year. We've done (what I think is) some pretty impressive work to help undergraduates in research at our school but I don't want to go into too much detail for the sake of privacy.

Chemistry tutor for one semester (~5 to 10 hrs/week)

Edited March 3, 2016 by lep245

[HopefulPHD14]

You have really similar stats to me so I will give you my experience.  

I ended with a GPA around 3.4 and got a 161/159/4.5 ish (I cant remember exactly what it was at the moment...) on the GRE. I did undergrad research at my university for 3 years (~15-25 hours a week during the school year and 40 per week during 2 summers).  I have 1 first authored paper from undergrad research and I presented my research 5 times (3 posters and 2 orals, all at undergrad conferences except for 1 poster at a large international conference).

I was a member of Beta Beta Beta and ASM as a student.  I worked as a TA for 2 semesters 

After undergrad, I worked for 2 years at a well known biotech company doing R&D.  

I had 4 letters of rec.  1 really good one from my undergrad PI, 2 good ones from undergrad professors, and 1 from my current boss (which I am guessing is good....but I don't know for sure.)

As you can see from my results, I got into all of my fallback schools as was expected.  You can also see that I didn't do so well in my top/reach schools.  Ultimately I am very happy with my results and I am ending up at a really great institution, however you stated you are interested in a top program...and I didn't do too well getting into those.

My advice would be to apply to those top schools that you are interested in but also apply to a few fallback schools.  You have good experience but sometimes the top schools have a cutoff on GPA or GRE or whatever.  Taking a year to get more experience can only help you application, but it doesn't fix everything.  Best of luck.  

[daniolabtest]

Just FYI, most top programs (maybe all of them?) will specifically state they want three recs from people who can speak to your skills and promise as a researcher. I don't know what interactions you've had with the Research Club Advisor, but from what you say they seem like someone who knows you well, so they could maybe be your fourht rec. I would try to find a third that can talk about you as who you are in the lab like your home PI and Harvard PI will.

[Immunolog]

Don't sell yourself short, I say shoot for top tier schools and maybe one or two safety schools. People told me my stats were too low, but I got plenty of interview offers at top 25 US ranked schools, and admission offers from all I chose to attend. For some perspective, I have 3.6 GPA, ~160 GRE scores, 1yr undergrad lab, 2 yr lab tech. I had 2 research letters and one from my undergrad program director. Oddly enough, I got into my reach schools and rejected from my backup schools. 

As far as taking a year off, its not a bad idea, it's actually quite common. BUT if you have the time/money then why not apply this year. Most grad schools offer financial aid for applications if you apply early enough. 

[stygldbby]

I think that your stats are "good enough" to at least try for top programs (especially if your GREs pan out as your predicted scores indicate). I use quotes because, to be honest, only adcoms really know what this means; all we have to work with is anecdotal evidence, and in my experience, the whole graduate admissions process is A LOT more opaque compared to undergrad admissions to these "top" schools. Stats are def important for both, but grad school adcoms are WAY more interested in you as an individual. That means less easily quantified things like your letters of rec, personal statement, how you present your research experience and goals, etc. really matter. If taking time off before applying will improve these things (i.e. strengthen your case as being someone with a ton of potential to do great research) and make you more confident about your application, then I would consider it. It's def not uncommon to take time off. However, imo, your profile looks competitive the way it is now too. If you're sure grad school is the end goal, I would go for it. Work on a killer personal statement!!

That said, these quantitative measures DO matter to an extent, and there are def programs reputed to use stricter cut-offs (Rockefeller comes to mind), so I'd for sure be pragmatic when putting together my list of programs to apply to. But if you find yourself really excited by research at a top program, don't let rank scare you away. Like Immonolog said above, fit is the absolute most important thing. If you're convinced it could be there for you at a specific program, go for it!

[lep245]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I got a position for the summer + fall (taking the semester off) at a top 5 school in biology that also happens to be my top choice for grad school, which has definitely boosted my confidence a bit. At this point, I'll probably apply this cycle and see what happens from there.