Amount of research experience (Undergrad direct to PhD)

[kinseyd]

Hi all,

I'm applying to several doctoral microbiology programs, and I know research experience is one of the most important factors in admission. I did well on the GRE, have strong recommendation letters, and have several other academic achievements (NSF scholarship,honors society, etc). However, I'm concerned that since I'm applying to grad school directly from undergrad (I graduate June 2017) that I may not have enough research experience to make me competitive with older candidates that may have a master's before applying to a PhD program. The entire summer of 2015 I worked in the Axtell lab at Penn State in plant molecular biology with a focus on the diversity of small RNAs, with a term of independent study to prepare beforehand. While I was not specifically interested in plant research, I found the experience with molecular-based methods to be quite useful. Furthermore, this year (2016-2017), I am undergoing independent Honors senior research regarding bacterial CRISPR loci diversity in natural soil populations using culture-independent methods. I am finding this experience to be completely worthwhile, not only just in the process of writing proposals and performing independently, but also because it is just so interesting! My advisor and I plan to publish my work if things continue to progress well.

So total I will have around ~1.5 years of research experience by the time I graduate, ranging from molecular to microbiology to bioinformatics based tools. All the programs I applied to have a focus on the crossover between these fields, and so I am hoping this makes me a stronger candidate. Furthermore, the relatively recent importance of CRISPR in gene editing for immunological purposes I hope will make my honors research seem more poignant (though I am not doing work in gene editing, this is something that is of interest to me in the future). I was just wondering if this seems like a sufficient amount of research experience to apply for a doctoral program? I know it is hard to say definitively, but I know most of my programs are reviewing applications from Dec 2-9th, so I am kind of freaking out every day knowing that they could be reviewing my application as I type.  Also, do Ph.D. programs frown on undergraduates applying directly? (i.e. do they favor older candidates with master's more? I just recently turned 21). I saw no point in applying for a master's since the career goals are different between the two and I do not have the funds to pay for another degree.

Thanks in advance!

[cmykrgb]

I doubt PhD program view people directly applying from undergrad negatively as it has become common now. The only reason that could be hindering is lack of experience. That being said, it looks like you have sufficient research experience, assuming your other stats are decent or superb you will get into places.

I am an applicant this cycle as well so everything I just said could mean nothing. It is based on my friends who applied directly from undergrads.

[kinseyd]

1 hour ago, cmykrgb said:

I doubt PhD program view people directly applying from undergrad negatively as it has become common now. The only reason that could be hindering is lack of experience. That being said, it looks like you have sufficient research experience, assuming your other stats are decent or superb you will get into places.

I am an applicant this cycle as well so everything I just said could mean nothing. It is based on my friends who applied directly from undergrads.

Yeah, part of my worrying just comes from this seemingly endless waiting and twiddling my thumbs, therefore I'm kind of second guessing everything about my application. Good luck for you, as well! Hopefully we both get into a program that we wanted. 

[cmykrgb]

2 minutes ago, kinseyd said:

Yeah, part of my worrying just comes from this seemingly endless waiting and twiddling my thumbs, therefore I'm kind of second guessing everything about my application. Good luck for you, as well! Hopefully we both get into a program that we wanted. 

I know how you feel i goes through cycles in a day from I am gonna do great on my applications to feeling that I have a fair chance of not getting anywhere. Thanks for the kind words and good luck to you, too!

[Black Beauty]

I believe the nervousness that the majority of us are feeling are all too common. I submitted applications to 4 out of the 7 schools I am applying to on November 25th and am already wondering if anyone in admissions  has read my application yet? (Crazy huh?)

3 hours ago, cmykrgb said:

I know how you feel i goes through cycles in a day from I am gonna do great on my applications to feeling that I have a fair chance of not getting anywhere.

On some days, I think my chances are very good because my GPA/ GREs / Research experiences and I believe LORs are very good. But from what I gather from perusing this forum, applicants with average stats are doing almost as good (as far as acceptances into grad programs) as those with what would be considered very good stats. That brings me back to reality rather quickly.

3 hours ago, kinseyd said:

I'm kind of second guessing everything about my application.

I have read my SOP way too many times. Each time I wonder what else could I have added, could I have made it flow better, and the questions go on and on. I had a combination of 3 professors/ 2 PIs that I used for my LORs and wondered if I had the right combination of '3' for the various schools I applied and will apply to.

The one thing I am sure about is the fact that I only applied to schools that I truly wanted to attend. I do have a few that I would be ecstatic if I was admitted but will be happy to attend any of the other 5 if admitted.

I wish you both success in this application process.

[kinseyd]

2 minutes ago, Black Beauty said:

I believe the nervousness that the majority of us are feeling are all too common. I submitted applications to 4 out of the 7 schools I am applying to on November 25th and am already wondering if anyone in admissions  has read my application yet? (Crazy huh?)

On some days, I think my chances are very good because my GPA/ GREs / Research experiences and I believe LORs are very good. But from what I gather from perusing this forum, applicants with average stats are doing almost as good (as far as acceptances into grad programs) as those with what would be considered very good stats. That brings me back to reality rather quickly.

I have read my SOP way too many times. Each time I wonder what else could I have added, could I have made it flow better, and the questions go on and on. I had a combination of 3 professors/ 2 PIs that I used for my LORs and wondered if I had the right combination of '3' for the various schools I applied and will apply to.

The one thing I am sure about is the fact that I only applied to schools that I truly wanted to attend. I do have a few that I would be ecstatic if I was admitted but will be happy to attend any of the other 5 if admitted.

I wish you both success in this application process.

I can't even reread my SOP because it stresses me out too much, haha. I know I made a typo when referring to the application of a technique but I'm hoping it's so minor that they won't even notice.  I honestly hate writing about myself so it was not a fun process. Turns out making sure all my LORs got in on time was more stressful, however. 

This waiting game is the worst! I also worry I didn't apply to enough schools (5), but I didn't have the funds at the time to pay for more application fees and it would be financially irresponsible of me to go to move across the country anyway. Basically, I'm second guessing everything but at the same time I know I was very diligent during undergrad and took as many research opportunities and teaching assistantships as I could fit while getting good grades (dean's list, honor society, etc). 

It's really hard, it seems, to definitively say whether an applicant will get into a program or not because it seems like so much depends on whether the admissions committee believes that you 'fit' the program (which I understand). I guess now all we can do is reassure ourselves that we worked as hard as we could and wait for an email!

Thanks for reassuring me that I'm not the only one freaking out lol, and good luck to you, as well!

[Black Beauty]

8 minutes ago, kinseyd said:

I also worry I didn't apply to enough schools (5), but I didn't have the funds at the time to pay for more application fees

Because I have a parent who sacrificed a LOT to allow me to choose the undergraduate school I attended for which I will always be grateful, I am always aware of finances. I researched schools and professors whose research I was very interested in carefully as to not apply to schools that I truly believed I would not 'fit' into. My hope is that my due diligence pays off with the 7 schools I selected. 

In addition to very high applications fees, I find the cost of taking the GREs and sending extra reports to schools outrageous. 

19 minutes ago, kinseyd said:

I guess now all we can do is reassure ourselves that we worked as hard as we could and wait for an email!

I too believe that I took full advantage of what my undergraduate school offered, including many research opportunities, and will never second-guess the hard work I put forth. I majored in two sciences and had two sets of lab sections for 7 out of 8 semesters. As happy as I was to see graduation day, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I have to believe that my hard work will 'pay' off.