Ask questions about the PhD application process!

[SysEvo]

2 minutes ago, EatBread said:

I received a formal notification of waitlist status from my top school about 2 weeks ago. However, like many of you, I'm feel the anxiety creeping up as the deadline draws closer. When is it appropriate to directly call the program division coordinator/councilor about your application status? Would it be considered rude/irritating?

I think it is totally OK as long as your are polite and sincere during the call

[biotechie]

On 4/4/2017 at 8:33 AM, aquamarine said:

Did y'all contact potential PIs before accepting offers at programs? I'm really struggling on making a decision...

I did not, and I don't push people to do so if their program has rotations. If you don't word it properly, it can come across weird, and I also like to talk to people about things like that in person, which is something I got to do at my interview.

Don't get too hung up on picking the perfect project for your PhD; the most important thing is to find a mentor who can teach you in the way you need to learn, a lab environment that you can work well in, and a project that will both get you the publication(s) you need to graduate and the skills you need for your next step, whether that is postdoc, industry, or something else. If I had only rotated with the PIs I was interested in, I would not have met my current PI as they weren't even at the school, yet. I even changed fields and am now in love with this one, so I'll stay in it. However, as you're in neuroscience and those skills are highly technical, I would recommend you don't change fields because it would be really hard to get back into for postdoc. I'll look for the "perfect project" or "perfect corner of my field" for postdoc, which shapes what I'll do the rest of my life more strongly than my PhD studies.

What you should do is make sure there are several faculty at the school you're thinking of attending that have projects you think might be interesting. Perhaps not all of them are taking students, but there will be a few that are. Check online and see what their funding situation looks like. Then check their publication record and try to get a handle on how their students/postdocs are doing. Publications will usually help with this, but a lot of labs also publish awards and graduation events on their website. These are the things I did for the PIs I was interested in, though I didn't contact them until I accepted my offer as the program had over 100 faculty to choose from, so I was sure I could find someone good. If you're very sure you want to attend there, reach out to the PIs to find out if you would be able to do a rotation. I would only schedule the first and second as you may meet some PIs when you get there that are doing more exciting things. It is a little late to do so now as it is close to the April 15 deadline, but still worth a shot.

[jougami]

On 4/4/2017 at 3:19 AM, LilyMira said:

So... I'm applying to grad school next fall, and I've got a big bag of festering questions (don't know how many of them are relevant to this particular post, so ignore/exile me if I'm out of line).

Me: attending medium-ish R2 state school, majoring in microbiology/molecular biology- ~2 years of research (and counting), with one funded summer program at my home institution, 4.0, a couple of poster presentations and undergraduate grants, but nothing published. I'm interested in environmental and community microbiology, and in genetically engineering microbes to solve problems (detoxification, biofuel feedstock breakdown, value-added products).

1) The elusive question of "Prestige": so I picked my favorite 8 schools with the conditions that (1) they have to pay for me, (2) they have to have at least 5 faculty I like, and (3) their microbiology program can't be part of their medical school/program (shocking how many schools this disqualified). The schools I ended up with were University of Georgia, UC Berkeley, UW Madison, Rutgers New Brunswick, U Minnesota Twin Cities, Michigan State, U Mass Amherst, and Arizona State University. Now obviously I have a couple of crazy prestigious schools, but others I can't find microbiology rankings for- should I be worried about the schools not seeming hugely renowned after a quick google search or am I being (characteristically) neurotic? I'm not planning on going into academia, as of now.

2) As for not wanting to go into academia... is that something I should shy away from mentioning on my application? Right now my dream career would be working in industry (I'm interning with the DOE this summer, and hopefully I enjoy the environment as much as I think I will), but I see a lot of people here saying that grad admissions committees want to admit future professors. 

3) Letter of recommendation by post-doc? Pretty sure this is a no-no, but just thought I'd get confirmation. The post-doc who oversees my work in lab offered to write me a great letter, but I figured it would be better for me to ask the professor who I've taken an upper-division biochemistry course with and am going to TA (an upper-division biochem lab) for next semester. (My other two will be my lab PI and the overseer of my summer project at the DOE- keeping my fingers crossed on that one)

4) Subject test: okay so tricky one: a couple of the programs recommend I submit either a BCM or biology subject test with my app. I was planning on taking the BCM test until... it got discontinued. I tried a practice biology test instead, but I know literally nothing about plants and neuroscience, and I landed in the 60th percentile. With scores like that, is it worth me trying to study and take the test over the summer?

Honestly I'll be happy to get into any graduate school. Whew, that was longer than intended. Anyway, thanks for reading my novel, and I'll appreciate any input (unless you suggest a gap year... then you're dead to me)!

1. As long as the schools have good research and would be a good fit, you shouldn't really worry about prestige. I will say though, with your GPA and experience applying to more prestigious schools should be fine. Prestige isn't everything but it still is correlated to funding and other opportunities.

2. I am fairly certain I want to do industry but I put that I was keeping both academia and industry in mind when I did my application. During interviews the professors didn't seem to have a problem with this but I heard there was one guy who had an interview go bad after he said he wanted to do industry. Your mileage may vary but I'd say the safe bet is to say you're keeping your options open.

3. If you already have 3 professors writing your letters you could maybe have the post-doc's letter as part of your PI's letter.

4. With your GPA and major the subject test is unnecessary.

[Bioenchilada]

On 4/4/2017 at 3:19 AM, LilyMira said:

So... I'm applying to grad school next fall, and I've got a big bag of festering questions (don't know how many of them are relevant to this particular post, so ignore/exile me if I'm out of line).

Me: attending medium-ish R2 state school, majoring in microbiology/molecular biology- ~2 years of research (and counting), with one funded summer program at my home institution, 4.0, a couple of poster presentations and undergraduate grants, but nothing published. I'm interested in environmental and community microbiology, and in genetically engineering microbes to solve problems (detoxification, biofuel feedstock breakdown, value-added products).

1) The elusive question of "Prestige": so I picked my favorite 8 schools with the conditions that (1) they have to pay for me, (2) they have to have at least 5 faculty I like, and (3) their microbiology program can't be part of their medical school/program (shocking how many schools this disqualified). The schools I ended up with were University of Georgia, UC Berkeley, UW Madison, Rutgers New Brunswick, U Minnesota Twin Cities, Michigan State, U Mass Amherst, and Arizona State University. Now obviously I have a couple of crazy prestigious schools, but others I can't find microbiology rankings for- should I be worried about the schools not seeming hugely renowned after a quick google search or am I being (characteristically) neurotic? I'm not planning on going into academia, as of now.

2) As for not wanting to go into academia... is that something I should shy away from mentioning on my application? Right now my dream career would be working in industry (I'm interning with the DOE this summer, and hopefully I enjoy the environment as much as I think I will), but I see a lot of people here saying that grad admissions committees want to admit future professors. 

3) Letter of recommendation by post-doc? Pretty sure this is a no-no, but just thought I'd get confirmation. The post-doc who oversees my work in lab offered to write me a great letter, but I figured it would be better for me to ask the professor who I've taken an upper-division biochemistry course with and am going to TA (an upper-division biochem lab) for next semester. (My other two will be my lab PI and the overseer of my summer project at the DOE- keeping my fingers crossed on that one)

4) Subject test: okay so tricky one: a couple of the programs recommend I submit either a BCM or biology subject test with my app. I was planning on taking the BCM test until... it got discontinued. I tried a practice biology test instead, but I know literally nothing about plants and neuroscience, and I landed in the 60th percentile. With scores like that, is it worth me trying to study and take the test over the summer?

Honestly I'll be happy to get into any graduate school. Whew, that was longer than intended. Anyway, thanks for reading my novel, and I'll appreciate any input (unless you suggest a gap year... then you're dead to me)!

Why are you ruling out programs that are within medical schools? 

[virionoftomorrow]

On 4/4/2017 at 0:19 AM, LilyMira said:

So... I'm applying to grad school next fall, and I've got a big bag of festering questions (don't know how many of them are relevant to this particular post, so ignore/exile me if I'm out of line).

Me: attending medium-ish R2 state school, majoring in microbiology/molecular biology- ~2 years of research (and counting), with one funded summer program at my home institution, 4.0, a couple of poster presentations and undergraduate grants, but nothing published. I'm interested in environmental and community microbiology, and in genetically engineering microbes to solve problems (detoxification, biofuel feedstock breakdown, value-added products).

1) The elusive question of "Prestige": so I picked my favorite 8 schools with the conditions that (1) they have to pay for me, (2) they have to have at least 5 faculty I like, and (3) their microbiology program can't be part of their medical school/program (shocking how many schools this disqualified). The schools I ended up with were University of Georgia, UC Berkeley, UW Madison, Rutgers New Brunswick, U Minnesota Twin Cities, Michigan State, U Mass Amherst, and Arizona State University. Now obviously I have a couple of crazy prestigious schools, but others I can't find microbiology rankings for- should I be worried about the schools not seeming hugely renowned after a quick google search or am I being (characteristically) neurotic? I'm not planning on going into academia, as of now.

2) As for not wanting to go into academia... is that something I should shy away from mentioning on my application? Right now my dream career would be working in industry (I'm interning with the DOE this summer, and hopefully I enjoy the environment as much as I think I will), but I see a lot of people here saying that grad admissions committees want to admit future professors. 

3) Letter of recommendation by post-doc? Pretty sure this is a no-no, but just thought I'd get confirmation. The post-doc who oversees my work in lab offered to write me a great letter, but I figured it would be better for me to ask the professor who I've taken an upper-division biochemistry course with and am going to TA (an upper-division biochem lab) for next semester. (My other two will be my lab PI and the overseer of my summer project at the DOE- keeping my fingers crossed on that one)

4) Subject test: okay so tricky one: a couple of the programs recommend I submit either a BCM or biology subject test with my app. I was planning on taking the BCM test until... it got discontinued. I tried a practice biology test instead, but I know literally nothing about plants and neuroscience, and I landed in the 60th percentile. With scores like that, is it worth me trying to study and take the test over the summer?

Honestly I'll be happy to get into any graduate school. Whew, that was longer than intended. Anyway, thanks for reading my novel, and I'll appreciate any input (unless you suggest a gap year... then you're dead to me)!

I applied this year for microbiology, including overlap with some of the schools you listed. 

1. I know you said you eliminated programs associated with the medical school, but for example University of Washington, Seattle has a lot of environmental micro and it sounds like it would be a great fit for you. I wouldn't worry about "renown" but do pay attention to the funding situation. For example, I interviewed this year at UGA micro, and while it was an enjoyable interview and a great program, a lot of the students had to TA every semester in order to get their stipend because their professor couldn't always afford them. That sounds like a huge headache that would just make the grad school experience more stressful. So be weary of that.

2. I was honest about not wanting to go into acadamia in my applications and during the interview process.I was advised by one of my PIs to not emphasize the fact that I had no interest in academia in my SOP, so I said I was pretty sure I wanted to go into industry but was still exploring my options. I do think the one school where I didn't get an interview might have been  in part due to the fact that I said I was leaning away from academia, but its not one of the ones on your list.

3. Can the postdoc not collaborate with the lab PI on writing your letter? I think thats how its usually done in these situations.

4. Don't bother its a waste of money. I don't think any of the people I met on interviews had taken it. 

[LilyMira]

Wow thanks to everyone for the thoughtful and EXTREMELY useful/pragmatic responses. Based on the advice, I'm going to go ahead and skip the Biology GRE, and not worry about switching up my list to add prestige. As for the reason I eliminated programs where microbiology is part of the medicine department, I started by looking through every program, but found out a few dozen in that faculty in the micro programs in the medicine department are (reasonably) slanted towards research in virology, immunology, etc., which I have no interest in. So I started "reading books by their cover" and just knocking them out right off the bat. Micro at UW Seattle seems very cool, though, so maybe I should go back and check out some of the ones I knocked off... still, I feel pretty happy with my list how it is (would be genuinely happy to get into even one of them, and I think I have a good chance), and I still have plenty of time (well, 4 months until I start putting everything together at least). Thanks again!

[SysEvo]

37 minutes ago, LilyMira said:

Wow thanks to everyone for the thoughtful and EXTREMELY useful/pragmatic responses. Based on the advice, I'm going to go ahead and skip the Biology GRE, and not worry about switching up my list to add prestige. As for the reason I eliminated programs where microbiology is part of the medicine department, I started by looking through every program, but found out a few dozen in that faculty in the micro programs in the medicine department are (reasonably) slanted towards research in virology, immunology, etc., which I have no interest in. So I started "reading books by their cover" and just knocking them out right off the bat. Micro at UW Seattle seems very cool, though, so maybe I should go back and check out some of the ones I knocked off... still, I feel pretty happy with my list how it is (would be genuinely happy to get into even one of them, and I think I have a good chance), and I still have plenty of time (well, 4 months until I start putting everything together at least). Thanks again!

Being a gopher myself and highly involved in the micro community, I can't recommend UMN microbiology more. And keep in mind there are several very cool microbiologists who are not actually in the microbiology department but in EEB and Biotechnology Institute.

[mejkor]

Is there any benefit to submitting your application early if the program doesn't have rolling admissions?

[Bioenchilada]

16 minutes ago, mejkor said:

Is there any benefit to submitting your application early if the program doesn't have rolling admissions?

Not really.

[Neuro15]

11 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

Not really.

Agreed.

Besides the personal peace of mind and the ability to ensure all your materials are in in time, no. The adcom will not meet before the deadline, and the review process does not account for when an app was submitted (provided it was submitted before the deadline). 

[flyFISH]

On 3/20/2017 at 4:15 PM, abcd1 said:

Thanks. I am an international student so was wondering if the tax rate might be different for me. 

I'm an international student as well. I did college in the US and got a few awards + and I getting paid as a TA. Tax is no different for internationals. 

[samman1994]

Hello everyone, I made a post a separate post about this, but thought it might be just as useful for everyone else if I posted it here as well: 

So I've been looking at various schools, and have gotten what I want pretty narrowed down. School along with the program. My question is, how important is continuous research? What I mean by continuous research is, basically joining a very similar research lab that you were in say for your undergrad. I.e. I was in a protein biochemistry research lab using NMR for structural and dynamic information regarding proteins, and the PhD programs/lab I'm looking at are very similar (they may have some slight differences, but overall still protein biochemistry using NMR for structural/dynamic). Basically, the research lab I would be joining, I already know a lot about the field, the instrumentation, and the theoretical background knowledge. Since I've also read a lot of literature regarding the field, I would also be very up to date to the newest concepts in said lab. I ask this because I know its important to have previous research experience when looking for PhD programs for undergrad, but how important is related or very similar research (I call it continuous)? Of course it'll be better, but by how much? Does it boost my application to that lab by a lot?  

The reason I ask this is because my application isn't all that amazing (3.0 gpa 50% GRE), but I have 3 years experience with one lab (no publications), and great LOR, but the schools that shared my similar interest are along the lines of Brown University, USC, UCSD, City College of New York, Duke, and University of Arizona. Now there are some big names in there, but all the labs I'd be joining at these schools would basically be labs that are very similar to what I did in my undergrad (if not almost identical except for different proteins). So I'm trying to get any edge I can (especially when writing my personal statement) to get into these schools. I think my PI herself actually knows some of them, so she might even be able to shoot the POS an email herself and maybe hook something up (maybe). 

Edited August 19, 2017 by samman1994

[breadwinner]

On 8/19/2017 at 2:27 AM, samman1994 said:

Of course it'll be better, but by how much? Does it boost my application to that lab by a lot?  

samman, I think it's not a huge boost but I'm not totally sure. For me, the thing my potential PIs were most concerned with was not the field of my past research but the plans for future research I laid out in my application. It definitely is enormously helpful to your actual PhD research to land in a lab where the PI does basically exactly whatever it is you're going to do (otherwise you need to buy a lot of equipment and seek a lot of external help). However, I'm not sure if they'll like you much more than other applicants just for having experience very very similar to the lab's focus. I would guess that as long as you're in roughly the right field before applying they're more concerned with whether you've proved yourself to be a good researcher. However, I do think they would be impressed if you lay out your extensive experience with specific pieces of equipment and techniques that you know you'll use because the PIs know it saves time on training if they bring in grad students who can already do a lot of tasks. Maybe you could focus on mentioning those skills. 

As for your application, do you mean 50th percentile for the GRE? You might want to retake that if you have time. I got something like 79th percentile on the GRE Q section and I think that was borderline concerning because one of the PIs who extended an offer to me initially called it "a bit low" although obviously not prohibitive. If you're talking about the subject test then just don't submit it.

[samman1994]

45 minutes ago, breadwinner said:

samman, I think it's not a huge boost but I'm not totally sure. For me, the thing my potential PIs were most concerned with was not the field of my past research but the plans for future research I laid out in my application. It definitely is enormously helpful to your actual PhD research to land in a lab where the PI does basically exactly whatever it is you're going to do (otherwise you need to buy a lot of equipment and seek a lot of external help). However, I'm not sure if they'll like you much more than other applicants just for having experience very very similar to the lab's focus. I would guess that as long as you're in roughly the right field before applying they're more concerned with whether you've proved yourself to be a good researcher. However, I do think they would be impressed if you lay out your extensive experience with specific pieces of equipment and techniques that you know you'll use because the PIs know it saves time on training if they bring in grad students who can already do a lot of tasks. Maybe you could focus on mentioning those skills. 

As for your application, do you mean 50th percentile for the GRE? You might want to retake that if you have time. I got something like 79th percentile on the GRE Q section and I think that was borderline concerning because one of the PIs who extended an offer to me initially called it "a bit low" although obviously not prohibitive. If you're talking about the subject test then just don't submit it.

Thanks for the reply! But I'm a bit confused. I don't know anything about the PhD program itself, so that may be why, but what do you mean lay out extensive experience that I'll know I'll use? Do you mean just to tell them I have experience with this machine you guys use, and this machine you guys use, so you don't have to train me, I already know how to use them all. And yes 50% in the general (I got a 152 on the Q), I do plan on retaking it. Don't know how much higher I can make it, but any little bit helps. My application is quite weak, but I've done extremely well in research (still no pubs due to PI), but I did finish my undergrad project and its extension. So the only thing that'll give me a good chance of getting in is how much value they put into the previous research i've done, my personal statement, and my LOR that state all of these. 

[breadwinner]

On 8/20/2017 at 0:37 PM, samman1994 said:

Thanks for the reply! But I'm a bit confused. I don't know anything about the PhD program itself, so that may be why, but what do you mean lay out extensive experience that I'll know I'll use? Do you mean just to tell them I have experience with this machine you guys use, and this machine you guys use, so you don't have to train me, I already know how to use them all. 

Yes that's what I mean. I think that you don't necessarily need to outright say "you guys won't need to train me" but at some point you will sit down with the PI or someone and they will ask you about your research experience. You can summarize it and also say something like "during this project I learned a lot about technologies x and y, which I know you use in your lab, and I'd like to apply my experience with these tools to project q if I work in your lab". Hopefully you can make it sound more natural than that  

 

[samman1994]

6 hours ago, breadwinner said:

Yes that's what I mean. I think that you don't necessarily need to outright say "you guys won't need to train me" but at some point you will sit down with the PI or someone and they will ask you about your research experience. You can summarize it and also say something like "during this project I learned a lot about technologies x and y, which I know you use in your lab, and I'd like to apply my experience with these tools to project q if I work in your lab". Hopefully you can make it sound more natural than that  

 

Ah I understand, thank you!

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

So I made this post already as its own thread, but I realized this would probably be a more appropriate area to ask my question, so I'll just copy and paste it:

So I officially have a list of professors at 6 different schools that I would be applying to for my PhD. Now I'm in the process of emailing them to see if they have room, are accepting students, and have available funding. My question is though, how do you proceed about doing this? Do you just email them "Hi Dr. Blank, I am interested in joining your lab for a PhD program this date, are you accepting students?" Or is it more involved? The lab I am looking at are all things I have done before in my previous lab, so I'm pretty sure I would already be a very good fit for the labs I am looking at. Furthermore, my application is not very strong, so I would like to convince these POIs that they want me in their lab, and that I would be a great addition to the school and their lab (so that they could personally push my application further). That being said, I have no idea how to go about this. There are a couple issues that I have that I was hoping you guys could help me out with. 

1) I have a minimum of 3 POIs from each school, and I would theoretically ask them all at the same time if they have room or not in their lab (within the same school). However, if I am also trying to convince the POI that I would be a good fit in their lab, I don't want to basically email all 3 of them and go on about how great their lab is, and what i like about it and why I really want to join. The reason for this is, say all of them do have room, and say they'd love to take me on (after I go on about how amazing their lab is). Say I do get accepted in the school, and now there are 3 professors waiting for me to join their lab. If I pick one over the other, I feel as if it'll look bad (i.e. wait you told me my lab was the best and exactly what you were looking for, why did you join theirs then?). Or on the off chance they have a discussion (before I apply) and find out I told all 3 of them basically the same story (e.g. your lab is the best), in which case then I look fake, and none of them will want to take me on. Should I only ask 2 if they have room and that I'd like to join their lab, but try and sell myself to the 3rd one? Should I not even contact the other professors if my ideal one says they have room? I don't really know how to go about this, so any help would be appreciated. 

2) How do I start? What do I say? Again, I'd like to see if the lab has room, and I'd also like to sell myself a bit. That being said, I feel like it would be rushing if I started out immediatly saying, Hi Dr. blank, my name is blank, and this is why I would be a good fit in your lab etc etc etc. I'd imagine you'd probably email and just say you have an interest in their lab and wanted to see if they had room and were accepting students, and if they agreed, then maybe go on and sell yourself? So 1st email is icebreaker intent to join, 2nd email is selling yourself? Again, I really don't know how to go about even contacting them, so any help here would be appreciated. 

My main concern is, this field is relatively small, and most of the faculty know each other across the country (that do similar research). This field is also where I plan to do my career in, so I really don't want to burn any bridges or give bad impressions. Thank you again as always!

[breadwinner]

On 9/3/2017 at 6:54 PM, samman1994 said:

2) How do I start? What do I say? Again, I'd like to see if the lab has room, and I'd also like to sell myself a bit. That being said, I feel like it would be rushing if I started out immediatly saying, Hi Dr. blank, my name is blank, and this is why I would be a good fit in your lab etc etc etc. I'd imagine you'd probably email and just say you have an interest in their lab and wanted to see if they had room and were accepting students, and if they agreed, then maybe go on and sell yourself? So 1st email is icebreaker intent to join, 2nd email is selling yourself? Again, I really don't know how to go about even contacting them, so any help here would be appreciated. 

There's not a highly specific format they're exclusively looking for, but I would recommend putting all of that info into your first email. You definitely want to use "Dear Dr./Professor" or something else formal rather than "Hi". My dad who is a prof says he finds it juvenile when applicants start by saying "my name is" since that info is not super important and can be found in your email address as well as your sign-off. That opinion is subjective though. 

My emails started out more along the lines of "I am a senior at college X applying to graduate programs in field X. I have research interests in X and experience with X techniques, so I think I would be a good fit for your lab. Please let me know if you will be accepting PhD (or whatever) students this year. I have attached my CV." 

You should expand that slightly and word it a bit more eloquently if you want to write something similar. Mainly I think it should be short, polite, and very direct to the point (including a CV) because there's no way you can offend them by expressing interest in joining or by listing info about yourself. Also if you make the email too long or turn it into a string of emails they are less likely to reply as they get many emails a day. On this note, I would also advise sending a slightly altered follow-up email if you don't hear back after a couple of weeks because they likely forgot.

YMMV, because several professors never responded to me even to reject me after several follow-ups, some of them said "I'm always accepting qualified candidates" as if to dismiss my question about whether they were looking. But the majority of people I contacted had good or neutral responses.  

Also, as for your concern about your grades/scores, some professors might bluntly ask to see them if you don't offer them up front in some fashion but you just have to accept it because they are going to see those number eventually no matter what. 

[Sakashi]

First post! 

I'm applying to neuro programs, especially ones that have faculty working with addiction, behavior, or psych disorders. I'm a decent candidate ( I like to think), GPA is okay but not stellar (3.65 I think?), GRE is similar (162-90%/155-59%/5.0-93%). Bio w/Pre-Vet focus degree.

How much do publications boost my application, especially if they're in a different topic/field? I've got three that I'm co-author on (one is from a summer program, the other two are from my post-graduation lab tech work) and one manuscript in progress that I'm first author on (also from post-grad work). Only problem is none of them are related to the field. Co-authorships on paper about hormones and lizard sex, two about shh genes and prenatal alcohol exposure. Upcoming first author one is a methods paper on novel method of visually sexing mouse fetuses. Is the application reviewer more likely to think "Wow! Look at this, Sakashi clearly is capable of doing research and contributing to science, how impressive blahblahblah", or is it going to go more like "Lizard sex, genetics and PAE, and baby mouse penis..... this is an unfocused person un-sure of what they want to work on"

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Sakashi

[StemCellFan]

19 hours ago, Sakashi said:

First post! 

I'm applying to neuro programs, especially ones that have faculty working with addiction, behavior, or psych disorders. I'm a decent candidate ( I like to think), GPA is okay but not stellar (3.65 I think?), GRE is similar (162-90%/155-59%/5.0-93%). Bio w/Pre-Vet focus degree.

How much do publications boost my application, especially if they're in a different topic/field? I've got three that I'm co-author on (one is from a summer program, the other two are from my post-graduation lab tech work) and one manuscript in progress that I'm first author on (also from post-grad work). Only problem is none of them are related to the field. Co-authorships on paper about hormones and lizard sex, two about shh genes and prenatal alcohol exposure. Upcoming first author one is a methods paper on novel method of visually sexing mouse fetuses. Is the application reviewer more likely to think "Wow! Look at this, Sakashi clearly is capable of doing research and contributing to science, how impressive blahblahblah", or is it going to go more like "Lizard sex, genetics and PAE, and baby mouse penis..... this is an unfocused person un-sure of what they want to work on"

 

I don't think anyone is going to look at your publications negatively.  They want to see that you are able to contribute in a significant manner to a research project that you can talk about in detail and that you know the subject, and even more impressive if you worked on a project that you saw to completion (in the form of publication, presentation, etc).  As to how much publications boost your applications?  They can only help your application (even if they are in different fields than what you want study), but they don't make or break an application either, from what I understand.  

Edited September 15, 2017 by StemCellFan

[Crucial BBQ]

On 12/11/2016 at 4:32 PM, AGradStudentHasNoName said:

So here is a question. And I know this is probably just waiting anxiety making me want to do SOMETHING lol. But I contacted professors back in August or September and it has been a while. For the ones that I had meetings with or from whom I got some positive response, should I shoot them a quick email now reminding them who I am and to look out for my application? I know this is unlikely to change any outcomes, but who knows.

In my opinion, this would depend on how the application process is done at the program in question.  At two programs I had applied to the first cycle was to simply deem your application as admissable or not.  All this meant was that your application is complete and/or had met some base-line criteria.  From here, applications went into a pile with individual PIs from around the department looking through it at their leisure.  As you can see, it makes sense in this case that a PI could be on the lookout for your application.  Otherwise, they might not have any pull at all unless they really want you to join their lab.  

Now, if you had a meeting with a PI it certainly would not hurt if you shot them a quick email.  Keep in mind they may have also met with other applicants, too.

[Crucial BBQ]

On 4/9/2017 at 12:54 PM, Bioenchilada said:

Why are you ruling out programs that are within medical schools? 

I imagine it would have to do with wanting to do basic research or applied research.  If you are more inclined to do basic research then med schools are likely not the place for you.  

[ADITI DHARIYA]

Hello everyone.. 

I am currently pursuing my masters in Biotechnology (will be graduated in April 2018) and would like to apply for Phd in Biomedical sciences for Fall 2018.

I have shortlisted only one university till now which is University at Buffalo and i need more suggestions for this course where i can apply and deadlines will be January .

Or will it be better if i apply in Spring 2018 or Fall 2019? Really confused 

[Mohamad]

First,  I would like to thank you for creating such topic. Also, I would like to thank everyone contributed to this topic . 

I am an international student, applying for PhD program in BSS.

I would like to ask about " Writing samples",  what are they? 

I have a master degree thesis, is it suitable to post? 

Should I post" the introduction, aim of the work, materials and methods,  results and discussion" parts? 

Also should i include references or not?

Thanks a lot 

[Jacklynnve]

Hi everyone,

Please bear with me, I’m new to this page and I’m a little embarrassed to be posting and subjecting myself to potentially painful responses LOL. Anyways, I’m applying to pathobiology programs at Hopkins, Boston U, and Columbia, but my GRE scores aren’t great. I’m pretty confident in the rest of my application - 3.6 GPA in undergrad, 3 years of breast cancer research with two publications - one first author and two AACR abstracts. I currently work at Memorial Sloan Kettering as the Biospecimen Coordinator for the Pancreas Center for almost two years, 3 awesome letters of rec all from MSK (Two from well known PI’s who happened to move their labs from Hopkins to Memorial Sloan Kettering where I work. One of those PI’s started a research autopsy program at Hopkins which I participate in at Sloan, harvesting organs from people with extensive disease. The third letter is from a medical oncologist who I created the workflow for a 18 million dollar multi-institutional grant for and speaks very highly of me). I’m very passionate about pathology and I’m positive that I displayed that in my SOP. My only concern is my GRE scores. I just barely broke 300 with verbal and quant, and got a 4.5 in the analytical writing, but I’m so nervous that the schools are going to see this part of my application and run. I did happen to hear from Boston already about reviewing my application and requesting my scores so they could fully evaluate my application before the December 1st deadline, so maybe that’s a good sign? Any positive thoughts? I’m so ready to move on to the next step in my career and THE WAITING IS KILLING ME!  Good luck to everyone else who is going through similar things, I’m definitely getting some grays from this process.

Edited November 15, 2017 by Jacklynnve