Genetic Counseling Fall 2018 Applicants

[AnonymousGC]

Anyone get anything on second match yet? I haven't gotten anything...

[HSGC2017]

39 minutes ago, Elisheva said:

Anyone get anything on second match yet? I haven't gotten anything...

Nope

[Nefelibata]

1 hour ago, Elisheva said:

Anyone get anything on second match yet? I haven't gotten anything...

Me either.. I keep telling myself that it's only 10am though and the deadline for the survey was midnight last night so I shouldn't expect anything until this afternoon.

[Nefelibata]

20 hours ago, GeneDawg said:

@Nefelibata https://www.natmatch.com/gcadmissions/ This should work!

@GeneDawg Thank you!

[Nefelibata]

Got the email about the second chance match, bummer that it's only one school.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Nefelibata

[HSGC2017]

1 hour ago, Nefelibata said:

Got the email about the second chance match, bummer that it's only one school.

Yeah I got the same one. Doesn't seem like I'd have a very good chance of getting in. 

[AspiringGC]

2 hours ago, Nefelibata said:

Got the email about the second chance match, bummer that it's only one school.

Could I ask which school? 

Fungers crossed someone from this board gets in!! Good luck everyone who's going for it.

Edited May 4, 2017 by AspiringGC

[minja134]

I got word the ISU is currently looking to fill a spot, I'm not sure if this is the school included in the second match email. But last year I attempted to second match with ISU, this year I interviewed, and I will be attending ISU. So if anyone has any questions feel free to PM me and let me know! Best of luck for everyone attempting second match!

[kbash]

To anyone curious about second match - the only school is Indiana State. I sent off my materials to them yesterday shortly after I got the email. I'm not too hopeful to even got a shot to interview, but I figured it was worth like an hour of my time to get everything together and send if off.

Good luck to anyone else trying for the spot! The program director emailed me back and said they're hoping to have more info next week and then work on scheduling some Skype interviews.

[GeneDawg]

Can anybody tell me more about Colorado program? Their website doesn't have a lot of information. I particularly want to know when the rotations start, how many students they take each year and anything else you know! Thank you!

[Ferris604]

6 hours ago, GeneDawg said:

Can anybody tell me more about Colorado program? Their website doesn't have a lot of information. I particularly want to know when the rotations start, how many students they take each year and anything else you know! Thank you!

There's six students accepted each year.  I talked to a GC on their admissions committee, and she said that they were oriented towards pediatrics more than any other specialty.  That being said, there's a ton of really cool research being done on the Anschutz medical campus.  Also, I realized that a few of the applicants I've spoken to did not realize that the medical campus is not technically in Denver--it's in the neighboring city in Aurora (which has both pluses and minuses).

[Nefelibata]

On 5/5/2017 at 11:54 AM, kbash said:

To anyone curious about second match - the only school is Indiana State. I sent off my materials to them yesterday shortly after I got the email. I'm not too hopeful to even got a shot to interview, but I figured it was worth like an hour of my time to get everything together and send if off.

Good luck to anyone else trying for the spot! The program director emailed me back and said they're hoping to have more info next week and then work on scheduling some Skype interviews.

@kbash I did the same and got the same response from her too. Not too hopeful but figured it couldn't hurt to try. The email from the CSUS director said ISU would probably only look at applicants with "high GPA's", so I might be ruled out from that. I had a 3.6 at a college I attended for one year, and then a 3.2 from the college I graduated from... if you straight average and say 3.4, I don't think that's really considered a "high" GPA... 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Nefelibata

[bryvy]

Hi all!

Like many others on this thread, I've been creeping on the GC '17 thread for awhile. It's been incredibly insightful reading all of your bios and reading about your experiences! Thank you for starting this thread for Fall '18 applicants; it will be a great resource for us all! I'm really excited to start the application process with you all this year and to get through this together!

A little bit about myself...

I recently graduated with my Bachelors degree in Biology and a minors in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience with a 3.3 GPA.

Extracurriculars: hospice, science tutor in underserved communities, volunteering with special needs individuals, teacher's assistant for a molecular biology class, CTL counselor, mentor for freshman undergraduate students, online peer counselor, teacher's assistant at a Vietnamese school, class coordinator for a medicine course, volunteer in the LGBTQ community, working with the Maps and Genes blog to write some posts regarding genetic counseling, medical interpreter for several years

Research: worked in a genetics lab in undergrad, currently working full time as a research associate at a biotech company focusing on neuroscience and cardiac pharmaceuticals and also part time as a lab technician at a cancer diagnostics company

Shadowing: I have shadowed a GC for 2 days, but I've emailed and interviewed some. I live in San Diego, but shadowing GCs has been quite difficult due to confidentiality rules and priority going to GC grad students. I'm looking for more shadowing opportunities, so if someone has any tips, please let me know!

GRE: planning to take it this fall

I know I need to work on my GPA since I have had several Cs on my transcript and my overall GPA is on the lower end, but I am limited due to my full time schedule. I am looking for grad level classes either offered online or in the evenings. Looking through this thread, I know some have mentioned the classes at Cincinnati which I am planning on taking, but I am always looking for more opportunities!

Also, if anyone has advice on other things I can do to improve my application in general, that would be much appreciated as well! I know the majority of student bios are very intimidating, so I'm sure I'm not the only one in feeling anxious and inadequate.

Thanks in advance for your help and looking forward to chatting with you guys as we apply this winter!

Edited May 7, 2017 by bryvy

[GeneDawg]

@bryvy Your extracurricular experiences and research are absolutely amazing! I think really highlighting those in your personal statement/resume will be beneficial.

[Nefelibata]

On 5/6/2017 at 8:04 PM, bryvy said:

Hi all!

Like many others on this thread, I've been creeping on the GC '17 thread for awhile. It's been incredibly insightful reading all of your bios and reading about your experiences! Thank you for starting this thread for Fall '18 applicants; it will be a great resource for us all! I'm really excited to start the application process with you all this year and to get through this together!

A little bit about myself...

I recently graduated with my Bachelors degree in Biology and a minors in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience with a 3.3 GPA.

Extracurriculars: hospice, science tutor in underserved communities, volunteering with special needs individuals, teacher's assistant for a molecular biology class, CTL counselor, mentor for freshman undergraduate students, online peer counselor, teacher's assistant at a Vietnamese school, class coordinator for a medicine course, volunteer in the LGBTQ community, working with the Maps and Genes blog to write some posts regarding genetic counseling, medical interpreter for several years

Research: worked in a genetics lab in undergrad, currently working full time as a research associate at a biotech company focusing on neuroscience and cardiac pharmaceuticals and also part time as a lab technician at a cancer diagnostics company

Shadowing: I have shadowed a GC for 2 days, but I've emailed and interviewed some. I live in San Diego, but shadowing GCs has been quite difficult due to confidentiality rules and priority going to GC grad students. I'm looking for more shadowing opportunities, so if someone has any tips, please let me know!

GRE: planning to take it this fall

I know I need to work on my GPA since I have had several Cs on my transcript and my overall GPA is on the lower end, but I am limited due to my full time schedule. I am looking for grad level classes either offered online or in the evenings. Looking through this thread, I know some have mentioned the classes at Cincinnati which I am planning on taking, but I am always looking for more opportunities!

Also, if anyone has advice on other things I can do to improve my application in general, that would be much appreciated as well! I know the majority of student bios are very intimidating, so I'm sure I'm not the only one in feeling anxious and inadequate.

Thanks in advance for your help and looking forward to chatting with you guys as we apply this winter!

@bryvy Grade-wise, a 3.3 GPA is fine as long as you do decent on your GRE's. There was someone posting for the 2017 cycle who had a 2.8 that I think was accepted to a program. Or at the very least I know they had interviews. Your shadowing and advocacy experiences tend to weigh more. On the other hand, though, it depends on which classes you got the C's in. If you got a C in what they consider to be a core class (genetics, psych, biochem..), you may want to re-take or take a second one. That's what hindered me this last year from getting more than one interview. The programs I contacted said my biochem grade was too low. If you got C's in other less important classes like gen-ed's or random electives (virology, zoology, plant bio..), I don't think they really care about that. 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Nefelibata

[TAGC]

Hi everyone,

I'm a Canadian applicant who has applied several times, but my applications have only been competitive this past round because I was missing clinical experience.  Last year I applied to Toronto, McGill, UBC, Manitoba, and the NHS-STP program in the UK.  I received interviews from UBC and Manitoba and was wait-listed for Manitoba.

I'm worried about this year's applications because I graduated in 2012 and need to update some of my courses, which will be hard while working full time and volunteering.  I'm also considering applying to some American programs, but will have to take the GRE on top of updating my courses.  I'm trying to decide which American programs to apply to and some of the things I'm factoring in are class sizes and cost of tuition.  For some of the programs I'm having trouble figuring out if there's a difference between in-state, out-of-state, and international tuition.  Do any Americans have tips on how to tell if there are in-state and out-of-state tuition differences?  What are some of the factors you consider when deciding which programs to apply to?

 

[AspiringGC]

46 minutes ago, TAGC said:

Hi everyone,

I'm a Canadian applicant who has applied several times, but my applications have only been competitive this past round because I was missing clinical experience.  Last year I applied to Toronto, McGill, UBC, Manitoba, and the NHS-STP program in the UK.  I received interviews from UBC and Manitoba and was wait-listed for Manitoba.

I'm worried about this year's applications because I graduated in 2012 and need to update some of my courses, which will be hard while working full time and volunteering.  I'm also considering applying to some American programs, but will have to take the GRE on top of updating my courses.  I'm trying to decide which American programs to apply to and some of the things I'm factoring in are class sizes and cost of tuition.  For some of the programs I'm having trouble figuring out if there's a difference between in-state, out-of-state, and international tuition.  Do any Americans have tips on how to tell if there are in-state and out-of-state tuition differences?  What are some of the factors you consider when deciding which programs to apply to?

 

Why do you need to retake/update courses? You've only been out of school for 5 years, most of the information is still relevant besides genetics, but you can just read up on new topics. 

In-state tuition is for residents who live in that state and go to a public school. (I.e. I live in Arizona and got to UofArizona and therefore pay in-state tuition, but would have to pay out-of-state if I went to California or Texas, etc). You are coming from Canada and would therefore qualify as an international student and have to pay international tuition. To tell the difference, state/public schools will have in-state versus out-of-state while private universities will not. Looking on the school's Bursar/Registrar site where the tuition is listed, you can typically find a tuition and fees calculator that will let you input your information and demographics and it will generate a tuition amount for you. 

Factors for me include location, cost, types of rotations available, class size, what their focus is (psychosocial vs. research based). Location was my biggest factor and I only applied to schools/areas that I would have been happy while living there for two years. I also want to be closer to family, so that made Arizona my central hub and I applied to places closer to here and not on the East coast. Cost and tuition would have been factored in more realistically had I received interviews.

[Cricket643]

32 minutes ago, TAGC said:

Hi everyone,

I'm a Canadian applicant who has applied several times, but my applications have only been competitive this past round because I was missing clinical experience.  Last year I applied to Toronto, McGill, UBC, Manitoba, and the NHS-STP program in the UK.  I received interviews from UBC and Manitoba and was wait-listed for Manitoba.

I'm worried about this year's applications because I graduated in 2012 and need to update some of my courses, which will be hard while working full time and volunteering.  I'm also considering applying to some American programs, but will have to take the GRE on top of updating my courses.  I'm trying to decide which American programs to apply to and some of the things I'm factoring in are class sizes and cost of tuition.  For some of the programs I'm having trouble figuring out if there's a difference between in-state, out-of-state, and international tuition.  Do any Americans have tips on how to tell if there are in-state and out-of-state tuition differences?  What are some of the factors you consider when deciding which programs to apply to?

 

First off, congratulations on receiving interviews this past year. I think that schools will be happy to see that you are really committed to this career path and are re-applying again this year.  

I am also a Canadian who applied to both Canadian and American programs. I think that everyone has different criteria when choosing which programs to apply to. For me, location was important since my husband would be unable to relocate with me. I was also interested in finding schools that offered a few specific rotations, though sometimes this information was not available on the program's website.

In terms of tuition at the US programs I applied to... At Minnesota, tuition is almost the same for all students (whether in-state, out-of-state, or international) as long as you hold a TA position during your first year in the program.. I believe it is just under $40K. In Wisconsin, they said that your tuition is waived for each semester that you have a TA or RA position, though they encouraged students to wait until their second semester before beginning any work position. As such, you would only end up paying for your first semester ($13K for international students). Each student also receives scholarships from the MCH-LEND program and the GC program itself, which help with paying for the first semester of the program. If you have specific questions about tuition when deciding which programs to apply to, I would contact the program directly or the office that posts tuition costs on the university's website. 

[Nefelibata]

1 hour ago, TAGC said:

Hi everyone,

I'm a Canadian applicant who has applied several times, but my applications have only been competitive this past round because I was missing clinical experience.  Last year I applied to Toronto, McGill, UBC, Manitoba, and the NHS-STP program in the UK.  I received interviews from UBC and Manitoba and was wait-listed for Manitoba.

I'm worried about this year's applications because I graduated in 2012 and need to update some of my courses, which will be hard while working full time and volunteering.  I'm also considering applying to some American programs, but will have to take the GRE on top of updating my courses.  I'm trying to decide which American programs to apply to and some of the things I'm factoring in are class sizes and cost of tuition.  For some of the programs I'm having trouble figuring out if there's a difference between in-state, out-of-state, and international tuition.  Do any Americans have tips on how to tell if there are in-state and out-of-state tuition differences?  What are some of the factors you consider when deciding which programs to apply to?

 

 

58 minutes ago, AspiringGC said:

Why do you need to retake/update courses? You've only been out of school for 5 years, most of the information is still relevant besides genetics, but you can just read up on new topics. 

I am also curious as to why you need to update some of your courses... there are people who apply to programs as a later in life career change and they don't have to retake any courses as long as the pre-req's were covered in their undergrad/graduate degree. 

[TAGC]

@AspiringGC Thank you for replying.  Some of the American programs seem to explicitly state the in-state vs out-of-state tuition, while others just say "tuition is $___."  I wasn't sure if that meant there was no out-of-state tuition or if I had to dig deeper.  I also couldn't tell if international tuition was different from out-of-state tuition.

@Cricket643 Congrats on your acceptances!  When I saw in the other thread that you were accepted to UofM I thought we might be classmates.  I didn't have to think about what programs to apply to before because Canada has so few.  Now there's a lot to think about.  My husband has helped me narrow down my search a bit by stating some of his location preferences.  I was told that the programs can be quite intensive, so I was hoping to not have to work while studying (TAing included), but I might reconsider now that I know how much tuition it could save me.  I'm really interested in how the new Manitoba program is.  I hope you stay active in the forum during interview time so I can pick your brain a bit.

@Nefelibata@AspiringGC McGill and UBC both say on their website that courses have to be updated if they're more than 5 years old.  I'm hoping that because I currently work in the field (I work in bioinformatics) that the programs will consider that good enough.  I'm waiting until the end of May to contact them for feedback and will ask then.

[Nefelibata]

26 minutes ago, TAGC said:

@Nefelibata@AspiringGC McGill and UBC both say on their website that courses have to be updated if they're more than 5 years old.  I'm hoping that because I currently work in the field (I work in bioinformatics) that the programs will consider that good enough.  I'm waiting until the end of May to contact them for feedback and will ask then.

Wow, that would be a bummer if you had to retake all the pre-reqs. That's pretty much an entire semester you would have to redo! I've never really looked into the Canadian programs but if I was reaching that 5th year post-grad or more, it would definitely be a turn-off for me. 

[AspiringGC]

1 hour ago, TAGC said:

@AspiringGC Thank you for replying.  Some of the American programs seem to explicitly state the in-state vs out-of-state tuition, while others just say "tuition is $___."  I wasn't sure if that meant there was no out-of-state tuition or if I had to dig deeper.  I also couldn't tell if international tuition was different from out-of-state tuition.

@Nefelibata@AspiringGC McGill and UBC both say on their website that courses have to be updated if they're more than 5 years old.  I'm hoping that because I currently work in the field (I work in bioinformatics) that the programs will consider that good enough.  I'm waiting until the end of May to contact them for feedback and will ask then.

International tuition is likely more expensive than out-of-state, but hopefully the schools you are interested in do not have a huge difference in the costs. 

That is a bummer, I agree with @Nefelibata I would be incredibly turned off of those programs. All those additional classes would just add even more cost to the application process. And there's no guarantee that you'll get in/get an interview even after you take them. You have a good plan to reach out and get some feedback on that, hopefully you won't have to retake anything! 

[Cricket643]

1 hour ago, TAGC said:

@AspiringGC Thank you for replying.  Some of the American programs seem to explicitly state the in-state vs out-of-state tuition, while others just say "tuition is $___."  I wasn't sure if that meant there was no out-of-state tuition or if I had to dig deeper.  I also couldn't tell if international tuition was different from out-of-state tuition.

@Cricket643 Congrats on your acceptances!  When I saw in the other thread that you were accepted to UofM I thought we might be classmates.  I didn't have to think about what programs to apply to before because Canada has so few.  Now there's a lot to think about.  My husband has helped me narrow down my search a bit by stating some of his location preferences.  I was told that the programs can be quite intensive, so I was hoping to not have to work while studying (TAing included), but I might reconsider now that I know how much tuition it could save me.  I'm really interested in how the new Manitoba program is.  I hope you stay active in the forum during interview time so I can pick your brain a bit.

@Nefelibata@AspiringGC McGill and UBC both say on their website that courses have to be updated if they're more than 5 years old.  I'm hoping that because I currently work in the field (I work in bioinformatics) that the programs will consider that good enough.  I'm waiting until the end of May to contact them for feedback and will ask then.

There's still a chance we could be classmates, just different years of the program! 

There's definitely a lot of programs to choose from when you are also considering American programs. But it's really helpful that you and your husband were able to narrow down locations where you would both be agreeable to living. 

When ranking the programs after my interviews, I did take tuition into account, but I also thought about how much time I would be able to dedicate to my studies if I was also taking on a work position (e.g. TA or RA). As you said, you can save a lot on tuition at some programs, but it is also important to consider how well you can manage your time and whether working while in a GC program is feasible for you. 

I can definitely answer any questions you have about the Manitoba program, as well as applying/interviewing at the Canadian programs. Feel free to send me a private message if you have specific questions. I'm not sure how active I will be able to be on the forum once the program starts, but I would like to try and check it when I can

[TAGC]

2 hours ago, Nefelibata said:

Wow, that would be a bummer if you had to retake all the pre-reqs. That's pretty much an entire semester you would have to redo! I've never really looked into the Canadian programs but if I was reaching that 5th year post-grad or more, it would definitely be a turn-off for me. 

 

1 hour ago, AspiringGC said:

That is a bummer, I agree with @Nefelibata I would be incredibly turned off of those programs. All those additional classes would just add even more cost to the application process. And there's no guarantee that you'll get in/get an interview even after you take them. You have a good plan to reach out and get some feedback on that, hopefully you won't have to retake anything! 

I agree it will be tough, but there isn't much of a choice since Canada has so few programs.  I have to take an organic chemistry pre-req if I want to apply to some American programs, so I'm hoping they'd consider that good enough for biochemistry.  If I need a new psychology course then perhaps I can find an introductory counseling course, which would be helpful for a future career in Genetic Counseling and for interviews.  Luckily I took stats in my Master's 4 years ago.  That just leaves molecular biology and genetics, and I really hope they'll say that work-experience counts.  If I only need to take those 2 courses, plus the GRE then maybe I can spread them out 1 per semester and still be okay.  Fingers crossed for when I get my feedback!

[GCToBe989]

I found out today that I have been asked to interview for a Genetic Counseling assistant position! As a second round applicant, I am really hoping this position comes through for me! This would be an incredible opportunity so all good vibes are appreciated!