Fall 2017 PhD programs - Cell & Molecular biology

[Nandhini]

Hello,

I am applying for Fall 2017 Ph.D. programs in Molecular biology.

Profile: 

Undergrad GPA : 3.6 (MSc Biotechnology integrated. One of the top schools in India.)

Position in class : Top 5%

GRE : 305

Experience: Research internship at Loyola University, Chicago.

Type of student : Asian Female

I have just started looking for potential options and currently planning applying to UConn and UCSF (tetrad program)

My questions:

1. University options - What other universities could be a potential fit for my profile to pursue a Ph.D. ?

2. Would my profile be eligible for an admission into UCSF ?

Kindly post your suggestions/views. Thanks.

[biotechie]

You're not really giving us a lot to go off of, here. There are a lot more factors that matter. Given that a research internship is generally not a large period of time and that your GPA is a little low, my guess is that you would not be a strong candidate for UCSF. I was not, and I had a higher GPA with six years of research experience. You should plant to apply to at least 5 schools, and pick schools that you're truly interested in with several scientists that seem interesting.

I highly recommend looking over this thread to see where others are applying and what their profiles look like. You can post your updated profile there, too:

 

[blc073]

18 hours ago, biotechie said:

You're not really giving us a lot to go off of, here. There are a lot more factors that matter. Given that a research internship is generally not a large period of time and that your GPA is a little low, my guess is that you would not be a strong candidate for UCSF. I was not, and I had a higher GPA with six years of research experience. You should plant to apply to at least 5 schools, and pick schools that you're truly interested in with several scientists that seem interesting.

I highly recommend looking over this thread to see where others are applying and what their profiles look like. You can post your updated profile there, too:

 

A 3.6 GPA is NOT low for top tier schools. More information is needed to fully grade how successful your application may be, but a 3.6 GPA WILL NOT play a big role. 

I would like to know more about your research experience, your LORs, and your individual GRE scores. 

[Black Beauty]

blc073 echoed a question I was going to ask after reading the first response to this post. You do not have to worry about your GPA. Although it is not the end all as far as applications are concern, research experiences seem to give applicants an edge.

[biotechie]

21 hours ago, Black Beauty said:

blc073 echoed a question I was going to ask after reading the first response to this post. You do not have to worry about your GPA. Although it is not the end all as far as applications are concern, research experiences seem to give applicants an edge.

I was definitely more concerned with the total amount of research experience. I'm only assuming it is not a research based MS as we weren't given that information, but I would say with a MS, a single short internship is not enough. Had it been 2 years of solid experience and a 3.6, I could definitely see them getting an interview. One short summer internship and a 3.6 is a little hard to call. We also really weren't given enough information, which is why I referred the original poster to the 2017 thread.

I can say from experience serving on an adcom that research experience plays a HUGE role these days. In particular, if you're coming in with a MS, they expect you to have tons of experience at the bench because more and more of these are research based. I remember being asked to talk about my projects in interviews, but others in my cohort that came in with just their BS didn't have to do that. I've echoed elsewhere on the site that research experience is one of the most important things for getting into grad school, especially in the biomedical sciences. My research experience is what got me into graduate school, not my GPA.

Last I checked, the Tetrad program also required you to take the subject GRE, so be aware of that.