Genetic Counseling Fall 2018 Applicants

[Sunshine99]

5 hours ago, TAGC said:

 

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!

You seem to have a similar story to me. I graduated in 2013 from undergrad and I have applied for Genetic Counseling through 4 application cylces  I also have my masters in genetics and it has been tough but I am determined!!

[bryvy]

@GeneDawg Thank you for your advice! I will definitely try and start my personal statements as soon as I can so I can have plenty of editing time to really make my experiences stand out!

@Nefelibata Thank you for your suggestions! I will keep that in mind and try to strengthen my application by retaking more of the core classes that I have Cs in. I feel like there is so much work to be done even though the last application cycle just ended!

 

 

[GeneDawg]

Hi! I am looking for advice on improving my application. I am first time applicant. I would love any feedback you guys have

I am junior majoring in molecular biology.

GPA: 3.80

Extracurriculars: Involved in plant genetics research, volunteer at a homeless shelter (7 months so far), disability center (a month so far) and crisis helpline (a month so far). Hopefully volunteer at hospital this summer.

Shadowing: I have shadowed one GC for a day. I have interviewed three other GCs. I plan to do more shadowing during summer as well.

I haven't taken GRE yet. I still need to take a psych and a statistics course. Please let me know if there is some way I can improve my application until December! 

[AspiringGC]

Still a bit too early for me to reach out, but I was wondering if anyone had advice on how to phrase emails to programs when asking about advice on where my application needs improvements? 

 

[ZKW]

On 4/27/2017 at 11:36 AM, GCertain said:

So glad to be joining this forum! Reading through the Fall 2017 forum has given me a lot of insight into the admissions process. Now I'm finally able to make my own profile as I start preparing for Fall 2018 admissions alongside all of you.

I'm actually currently in the interview process (waiting to hear back) for a full time GC assistant position. This would be such an incredible experience. I think the interview went well so I am very hopeful. Fingers crossed!

 

 

That is amazing! How were you able to find a GC assistant position? I currently live in Los angeles, and have been trying to find a position for over a year now!  I noticed you were also able to find a GC assistant position, @GCToBe989. 

Edited May 10, 2017 by ZKW

[bryvy]

2 hours ago, GeneDawg said:

2 hours ago, GeneDawg said:

Hi! I am looking for advice on improving my application. I am first time applicant. I would love any feedback you guys have

I am junior majoring in molecular biology.

GPA: 3.80

Extracurriculars: Involved in plant genetics research, volunteer at a homeless shelter (7 months so far), disability center (a month so far) and crisis helpline (a month so far). Hopefully volunteer at hospital this summer.

Shadowing: I have shadowed one GC for a day. I have interviewed three other GCs. I plan to do more shadowing during summer as well.

I haven't taken GRE yet. I still need to take a psych and a statistics course. Please let me know if there is some way I can improve my application until December! 

Wow, it looks like you're off to a great start! I know most people who are interested in genetic counseling didn't find out about the profession until after their undergrad, so it's really awesome that you are able to prepare for the application process early.

So, your GPA is stellar! Just to be on the safe side, I would research programs that you are interested in applying to and making sure you have taken all of the classes they require. I know some schools require embryology or some psychology while others do not.

You extracurriculars sound solid too. Just keep volunteering with those orgs to show your dedication and perseverance! I have heard that programs really favor the length of time that you are able to commit to a volunteer position (for example, someone with 1 yr volunteer experience is looked at as more favorable than someone who has only done 6 months).

I'm in the same boat as you with the GC encounters, but keep trying your best to find a internship/shadowing experience. I've just been emailing everywhere! And if all else fails, there are always interviews to draw from for your personal statements and interviews. But these things are definitely all easier said than done!

Study hard for the GRE! I am also taking mine this summer/fall. The Magoosh app has been really great in helping me learn vocab on the daily.

Hope this helps!

 

[dragongc10]

Do have of you have another master's degree (not genetic counseling)? I'm thinking of applying for an MPH program. I know that I'll want to do it eventually, but now I'm starting to think "why not now?" since I have some time to kill and it could only boost my application, right? Interested to hear from you all!

[KeepSwimming2017]

Hey guys! I've been lurking on here (and probably will still be on here until the semester starts in August - it gives me something to do while at work haha) and I figured I'd help out with some questions:

@AspiringGC Here's how I worded my email to Emory when I initially received my denial:

"I just received my denial from Emory for the Genetic Counseling Training Program, and I was wondering if you could tell me what areas my application needed strengthening in. I realize my submitted GRE scores were low, but I recently retook the GRE and have attached my new scores. If you could advise me on whether or not I should retake it once more, I would appreciate that, as well as any other feedback you can provide me with. Thank you!"

I was pretty sure it was my GRE scores that caused me to not receive an interview, but they were pretty receptive to that email.

@TAGC In terms of the pre reqs - I do think you'll have to take both Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. I graduated back in 2013 with my undergrad degree and got a master's degree in 2015 (similar to you, @Sunshine99! my Master's is in Pharmacogenetics!), and during undergrad I only took Organic Chem I and II. Because of that, I had to take Biochemistry this past fall, and enrolled at my undergrad university as a non-degree seeking student to take both Biochem and Psychology. 

@GeneDawg what you have so far sounds amazing! I'm sure you'll get in somewhere!

@dragongc10 I have an MSc in Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine, which I believe definitely helped me get into a GC program. If you still intend to get an MPH after getting your GC degree, then I'd say go ahead and do it. However, I would keep in mind the cost of these degrees, lol. Let's just say I'm in a ton of debt right now from undergrad and my MSc, and although I would never regret going to London for that MSc, I also wish I had discovered the field of genetic counseling before getting that MSc. Just a bit of advice =) 

[dragongc10]

5 minutes ago, KeepSwimming2017 said:

Hey guys! I've been lurking on here (and probably will still be on here until the semester starts in August - it gives me something to do while at work haha) and I figured I'd help out with some questions:

@AspiringGC Here's how I worded my email to Emory when I initially received my denial:

"I just received my denial from Emory for the Genetic Counseling Training Program, and I was wondering if you could tell me what areas my application needed strengthening in. I realize my submitted GRE scores were low, but I recently retook the GRE and have attached my new scores. If you could advise me on whether or not I should retake it once more, I would appreciate that, as well as any other feedback you can provide me with. Thank you!"

I was pretty sure it was my GRE scores that caused me to not receive an interview, but they were pretty receptive to that email.

@TAGC In terms of the pre reqs - I do think you'll have to take both Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. I graduated back in 2013 with my undergrad degree and got a master's degree in 2015 (similar to you, @Sunshine99! my Master's is in Pharmacogenetics!), and during undergrad I only took Organic Chem I and II. Because of that, I had to take Biochemistry this past fall, and enrolled at my undergrad university as a non-degree seeking student to take both Biochem and Psychology. 

@GeneDawg what you have so far sounds amazing! I'm sure you'll get in somewhere!

@dragongc10 I have an MSc in Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine, which I believe definitely helped me get into a GC program. If you still intend to get an MPH after getting your GC degree, then I'd say go ahead and do it. However, I would keep in mind the cost of these degrees, lol. Let's just say I'm in a ton of debt right now from undergrad and my MSc, and although I would never regret going to London for that MSc, I also wish I had discovered the field of genetic counseling before getting that MSc. Just a bit of advice =) 

Hi @KeepSwimming2017, thanks for the reply! The cost is definitely on my cons list haha, but my husband is in medical school currently so what's a couple $20,000 in debt lol?  But it is really good to know you think the MSc helped you get into a GC program. Thanks for the advice

[NewAtThis]

Hello, I've read everything that I can in this thread. I have learned a lot, thank you. I am curious if any of you all are applying to dual degree program? Or if any of you have applied or know someone who has been accepted.

[TAGC]

1 hour ago, KeepSwimming2017 said:

@TAGC In terms of the pre reqs - I do think you'll have to take both Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. I graduated back in 2013 with my undergrad degree and got a master's degree in 2015 (similar to you, @Sunshine99! my Master's is in Pharmacogenetics!), and during undergrad I only took Organic Chem I and II. Because of that, I had to take Biochemistry this past fall, and enrolled at my undergrad university as a non-degree seeking student to take both Biochem and Psychology.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions on this thread.  From my undergraduate degree I already have "Introductory Biochemistry" and "Structures and Functions in Biochemistry", so I think those count towards the biochem prereqs for the schools that don't have a time limit on courses.  McGill doesn't require organic chemistry, but does require a biochem course within the past 5 years, so I'm hoping that they would consider me have 2 old biochem courses plus a new organic chemistry course good enough.  I'm definitely planning on asking them when I get my feedback.

[Cricket643]

2 hours ago, dragongc10 said:

Do have of you have another master's degree (not genetic counseling)? I'm thinking of applying for an MPH program. I know that I'll want to do it eventually, but now I'm starting to think "why not now?" since I have some time to kill and it could only boost my application, right? Interested to hear from you all!

I have an MSc, which I think helped me get interviews and get accepted into a GC program. More importantly, I think it prepared me to undertake another graduate degree, by allowing me to build on skills like time management, public speaking/presenting, problem solving, and critical thinking.

If you think now is the right time for you to apply to a different master's program and it's something you plan to do eventually, it sounds like a great plan for you. I was concerned that programs would think that GC was an afterthought for me, but I didn't really experience that during my interviews. However, I really tried to explain my education path and how it led me back to GC, in addition to emphasizing the ways that already having an MSc prepared me for a GC program.

I won't touch on cost, since @KeepSwimming2017 already pointed that out  

[dragongc10]

4 minutes ago, Cricket643 said:

I have an MSc, which I think helped me get interviews and get accepted into a GC program. More importantly, I think it prepared me to undertake another graduate degree, by allowing me to build on skills like time management, public speaking/presenting, problem solving, and critical thinking.

If you think now is the right time for you to apply to a different master's program and it's something you plan to do eventually, it sounds like a great plan for you. I was concerned that programs would think that GC was an afterthought for me, but I didn't really experience that during my interviews. However, I really tried to explain my education path and how it led me back to GC, in addition to emphasizing the ways that already having an MSc prepared me for a GC program.

I won't touch on cost, since @KeepSwimming2017 already pointed that out  

Great! That's good news to hear about the interviews, because that is one of my biggest concerns about it. Especially good to hear since I see you had interviews at Wisconsin and Minnesota, 2 of the schools I am planning on applying to. Thanks for the advice

[Cricket643]

3 hours ago, dragongc10 said:

Great! That's good news to hear about the interviews, because that is one of my biggest concerns about it. Especially good to hear since I see you had interviews at Wisconsin and Minnesota, 2 of the schools I am planning on applying to. Thanks for the advice

Of the schools that I interviewed at, I would say that Wisconsin interviewers had the most questions about the fact that I had already completed an MSc and was now applying to GC programs. But they seemed very accepting of the route that I took to wind up knowing I REALLY want to be a GC. They said I was very high on their wait list so I don't think they held it against me at all.

Minnesota seems to be quite research-focused (or at least that was my impression) so they were more interested in hearing about my experience having done a master's degree already and what my research ideas were. 

[dragongc10]

17 hours ago, Cricket643 said:

Of the schools that I interviewed at, I would say that Wisconsin interviewers had the most questions about the fact that I had already completed an MSc and was now applying to GC programs. But they seemed very accepting of the route that I took to wind up knowing I REALLY want to be a GC. They said I was very high on their wait list so I don't think they held it against me at all.

Minnesota seems to be quite research-focused (or at least that was my impression) so they were more interested in hearing about my experience having done a master's degree already and what my research ideas were. 

Can I ask what kind of research you did? Was it more laboratory work or like clinical trial based? Anything else you can remember about applying/interviewing at those 2 schools?

[GCertain]

On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 0:12 AM, ZKW said:

That is amazing! How were you able to find a GC assistant position? I currently live in Los angeles, and have been trying to find a position for over a year now!  I noticed you were also able to find a GC assistant position, @GCToBe989. 

I feel pretty lucky to have found this position. It began as I was reading through student bios on the websites of various grad programs. Which by the way, has been really helpful. I would recommend this to any and all prospective applicants like myself! Anyways, I read in one student's bio that she interned as a GC assistant for a company near where I live in the Chicago suburbs. This was the first time I heard of anyone to have this position so I was curious about it and wanted to know more. I then turned to LinkedIn where I found a current GC assistant employed there. So I sent her a message with some questions regarding the position. Not only did she respond with answers but also an invitation to apply since they were currently looking to hire another one. I wasn't looking for a job at the time (I have been working full-time as a research assistant for 7 months) but I knew right away that I wanted to apply. Since then I've tried searching for other GC assistant positions but haven't been successful. So I guess hearing that you are unable to find a position isn't too surprising. Unfortunately, they seem like a rarity as of right now.

[dragongc10]

2 hours ago, moose312 said:

I also have a Masters (Biochem/Molecular Biology), have done a lot of genetics research (wet lab), and interviewed at both MN and WI, also.  I think having the masters definitely helped me get interviews, as I did receive interviews everywhere I applied, but I would definitely be prepared to answer "why not a career in X (whatever your masters is in)?"  I actually felt that MN and WI both definitely seemed the most concerned about this during my interviews as opposed to other places I interviewed at. 

Good to know, thanks for sharing! I have a decent amount of wet lab experience in molecular biology, but from some GC's I have talked to their research was more clinical so I was kind of worried my research wouldn't help me out. May I ask if you got accepted to a school for this fall? And what other schools you applied to?

[GCToBe989]

@ZKW I interviewed this last cycle and wasn't admitted, so I followed up with the Director of the program. She was able to point me in the direction of some positions opening up in the area, as the current GCAs would be attending their program in the fall!

[hb_94]

So, I have just finished up my undergrad and have received a C in Biochemistry (I have taken it twice). How heavily do you think a C will count towards an admissions decision?  Is it worth taking again? If so, does anyone know of any relatively cheap, credible online biochem courses? I have been doing some research into online courses and noticed there are a lot titled 'Principles of Biochemistry.' Should I be taking a straight up Biochemistry or BioChem I course, or do you think a "Principles" of Biochemistry course will suffice?

Sorry for all the questions!

[TAGC]

15 hours ago, hb_94 said:

So, I have just finished up my undergrad and have received a C in Biochemistry (I have taken it twice). How heavily do you think a C will count towards an admissions decision?  Is it worth taking again? If so, does anyone know of any relatively cheap, credible online biochem courses? I have been doing some research into online courses and noticed there are a lot titled 'Principles of Biochemistry.' Should I be taking a straight up Biochemistry or BioChem I course, or do you think a "Principles" of Biochemistry course will suffice?

Sorry for all the questions!

I think it depends on the schools your applying to, but @Nefelibata said in a previous post (quoted below) that some of the programs said that the BioChem grade was specifically taken into consideration.  I think that "principles of biochemistry" is just a fancy way of saying "introductory biochemistry" and should count as a prerequisite unless the program specifically states that an intro course won't do.

On 2017-05-08 at 2:33 PM, Nefelibata said:

@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.

 

[Nefelibata]

22 hours ago, TAGC said:

I think it depends on the schools your applying to, but @Nefelibata said in a previous post (quoted below) that some of the programs said that the BioChem grade was specifically taken into consideration.  I think that "principles of biochemistry" is just a fancy way of saying "introductory biochemistry" and should count as a prerequisite unless the program specifically states that an intro course won't do.

 

@hb_94 There are a combination of factors that determine if that grade will hinder you or not. Is that your only C? If it is and you have A's in all the other "important" classes then it might not matter so much. But that also varies per program. I had two programs straight up tell me that they require a B or better in biochem (and their other pre-req courses).

Edited May 17, 2017 by Nefelibata

[Nefelibata]

4 hours ago, Marie764 said:

Are you able to say which programs?? I have all A's but a C in organic Chem 2 so this may change my application strategy. Thanks!

@Marie764 Minnesota and Wisconsin. A lot of programs don't list Ochem as one of their pre-reqs, and I've rarely seen Ochem2 listed at all so I think you would be okay applying anywhere without worrying about it.

[Nefelibata]

Does anyone know how much UC Irivne's program costs? They don't have a lot of info on their website.

[TAGC]

5 minutes ago, Nefelibata said:

Does anyone know how much UC Irivne's program costs? They don't have a lot of info on their website.

I found it here: http://www.reg.uci.edu/fees/2016-2017/genetic.html

Looks like it's about $26,000/year for residents and $39,000/year for non-residents, but I don't know if you have to pay the spring tuition in the second year.

[KM94]

Hey out of curiosity did anyone on here get an interview for second match at Indiana?