2018 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[krafael]

Hi there, I'm an international applicant for the neuroscience/pharmacology program. Wish everyone has their dream offer!

 

Undergrad Institution: Shenyang Pharmaceutical U, not good in overall ranking but great reputation in pharmaceutical science 

Major(s): Pharmaceutical engineering 
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.76
Overall GPA: 3.64

Graduate  Institution: Top2 in China

Major: Pharmacology GPA:3.59
Position in Class: idk


GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 164
V: 157
W: 3.5

Research Experience: 

12 months research assistant in the neuropharmacology lab of Alzheimer's disease, rodent model of AD, behavioral test, ELISA and IHC  - undergraduate thesis project 

12 months  research experience in pharmacological effects on depression and sleep disorder  - 1 1st author paper in preparation 

12 months research experience in depression  - 1 first author paper under review and one NSCF funding in application 

12 months research assistant - 4 co-author paper published, 1 co-author paper under review and 1 co-author paper in preparation 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

National scholarship - top 0.5%(1/200)

National Award for academic excellence for 3 consecutive years

2 consecutive top 10%-awarded scholarships of graduate institution and 3 consecutive top 3%-awarded scholarships of undergraduate school

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

Teaching assistant for Pharmacology - 4 months

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Special Bonus Points: 

Underrepresented minority male

Research interests and experiences have connections with the future applied plan.

LOR :  

One from my master's supervisor; one from my undergraduate research supervisor; one from a professor in UofToronto who gaves me lectures and courses; one from a British professor who is the chair of IUPHAR; one from the alumni PHD of my current lab and also a postdoc in one university I applied 

Applying to Where:

Boston University  - Pharmacology 

Buffalo (SUNY) - Neuroscience 

Case Western Reserve University  - Neuroscience 

Columbia University  - Pharmacology

New York University  - Neural Science

Ohio State University  - Pharmacology and neuroscience 

Pitt School of Medicine - CNUP 

Tufts  - Neuroscience 

UC berkeley - Neuroscience 

UPenn - Pharmacology 

Yale - BBS 

Yeshiva University - Biomedical 

My application list contains mainly two kinds of programs, pharmacology and neuroscience. Any international students in gradcafe? Maybe we can share some information considering the difference in domestic and international admission process.

I typed these words on my phone so I feel so sorry about any mistakes in spelling or layout.

[Elena25]

8 hours ago, krafael said:

Hi there, I'm an international applicant for the neuroscience/pharmacology program. Wish everyone has their dream offer!

 

Undergrad Institution: Shenyang Pharmaceutical U, not good in overall ranking but great reputation in pharmaceutical science 

Major(s): Pharmaceutical engineering 
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.76
Overall GPA: 3.64

Graduate  Institution: Top2 in China

Major: Pharmacology GPA:3.59
Position in Class: idk


GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 164
V: 157
W: 3.5

Research Experience: 

12 months research assistant in the neuropharmacology lab of Alzheimer's disease, rodent model of AD, behavioral test, ELISA and IHC  - undergraduate thesis project 

12 months  research experience in pharmacological effects on depression and sleep disorder  - 1 1st author paper in preparation 

12 months research experience in depression  - 1 first author paper under review and one NSCF funding in application 

12 months research assistant - 4 co-author paper published, 1 co-author paper under review and 1 co-author paper in preparation 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

National scholarship - top 0.5%(1/200)

National Award for academic excellence for 3 consecutive years

2 consecutive top 10%-awarded scholarships of graduate institution and 3 consecutive top 3%-awarded scholarships of undergraduate school

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

Teaching assistant for Pharmacology - 4 months

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Special Bonus Points: 

Underrepresented minority male

Research interests and experiences have connections with the future applied plan.

LOR :  

One from my master's supervisor; one from my undergraduate research supervisor; one from a professor in UofToronto who gaves me lectures and courses; one from a British professor who is the chair of IUPHAR; one from the alumni PHD of my current lab and also a postdoc in one university I applied 

Applying to Where:

Boston University  - Pharmacology 

Buffalo (SUNY) - Neuroscience 

Case Western Reserve University  - Neuroscience 

Columbia University  - Pharmacology

New York University  - Neural Science

Ohio State University  - Pharmacology and neuroscience 

Pitt School of Medicine - CNUP 

Tufts  - Neuroscience 

UC berkeley - Neuroscience 

UPenn - Pharmacology 

Yale - BBS 

Yeshiva University - Biomedical 

My application list contains mainly two kinds of programs, pharmacology and neuroscience. Any international students in gradcafe? Maybe we can share some information considering the difference in domestic and international admission process.

I typed these words on my phone so I feel so sorry about any mistakes in spelling or layout.

Vanderbilt has the best pharmacology graduate program in the country and we're very receptive to international students! I'm also an international student currently in my 1st year.

Good luck to everyone applying! 

[devbioboy]

Got an interview invite to Princeton's Molecular Biology PhD program on Friday!

[scaredaf]

Undergrad Institution: International student 
Major(s): B.E. in Biotechnology
Minor(s): (no such system exists in my college)
GPA overall: 8.85/10 
Major GPA: 9.2/10 (I got a WES eval done which gave me a 4.0)
Position in Class: Top 5 students
Type of Student: International Asian Female

GRE Scores (revised/old version): 
V: 162
Q: 160
AWA: 4.5

Research Experience: 

Two summers at reputed institutes working on molecular biology, and diagnostics 

Helped set up a veterinary diagnostic start-up collab with a reputed research institute and surrounding vet clinics, 

Six months working on in-silico drug discovery in collaboration with a famous hospital in my city, with a paper in preparation  

Review paper in a not-famous journal about breast cancer genetics 

That's it :/ As a student from my country I don't get the opportunity to work alongside college classes and stuff.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Selected research fellow for a very prestigious fellowship from thousands of applicants

Special Bonus Points: Great recommendations, including one from aforementioned reputed institute 

Applying to Where:

WUSTL DBBS

Icahn School of Medicine Biomedical Sciences 

And masters in BME at USC, UCSD, UMich Ann Arbor, JHU, Duke and ETH Zurich

 

What are my chances, guys? Feeling more anxious by the minute.

Edited December 11, 2017 by scaredaf

[fbuicok]

hey all  lurked on forums for like past two weeks but decided to post in order to maybe help someone who's scoping out other ppl lmao. I'm a current senior and (obviously) am not taking a gap year.. young meat

 

Undergrad Institution: Top Public 
Major(s): MCB-Immunology track; Statistics
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.784
Position in Class: not reported by my school but at least top 15%?
Type of Student: domestic non-white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 163
V: 164
W: 4.5

Research Experience: 

-high school; one year at stanford stem cell lab (following a research program there)

-one year in infectious disease lab first year of college

-one year and half in current immunology lab at my university. so like 3.5 years research experience total i guess 

Publications/Presentations: 

-pubs: none but wrote in app that i'm prepping one/submitting one next spring as 2nd author

-presentations: 1 poster, 1 local conference presentation at my uni

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

-Dean's List last semester (spring 2017)

-uni research fellowship (for summer 2017)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

-Tutor for biophysical chem, chosen by instructors of the class

-Tutor for orgo 1 for a program at my uni that helps underrepresented students studying biological sciences

LOR:

I mean probably same as everyone else, one is an HHMI investigator who did some good work on kinase structure but everyone's letters are strong I assume  2 letters from profs who have taught me in classes, 1 letter from my actual research PI

Applying to Where:

UCSD: BMS-Immuno

UCSF: BMS

UW: Immuno

Stanford: Biosciences-Immuno track (also expressed interest in CSI subtrack)

Yale: BBS-Immuno. Interview notification on 12/5/17

UPenn: BGS-Immuno. Interview notification on 12/4/17 (literally 3/4 days after submitting )

 

Good luck studying for finals for those of you still in undergrad like me

Edited December 11, 2017 by fbuicok

[nenonine123]

15 hours ago, devbioboy said:

Got an interview invite to Princeton's Molecular Biology PhD program on Friday!

Do you know if all invites have been sent out?

EDIT: nvm, its on a rolling basis in case anyone else is wondering

Edited December 11, 2017 by nenonine123

[ChallengerSwimmer23]

Got another interview invite! University of Notre Dame Biological Sciences Ph.D. Program! Wow! 

[catsareme]

40 minutes ago, ChallengerSwimmer23 said:

Got another interview invite! University of Notre Dame Biological Sciences Ph.D. Program! Wow! 

Same, University of Georgia has started sending out invites for their Integrated Life Sciences program

[ChallengerSwimmer23]

14 minutes ago, catsareme said:

Same, University of Georgia has started sending out invites for their Integrated Life Sciences program

Cool! I will see you in South Bend on January 25-28th!  

[catsareme]

On 12/11/2017 at 3:59 PM, ChallengerSwimmer23 said:

Cool! I will see you in South Bend on January 25-28th!  

Awww, sadly I'll be there (at UG, not Notre Dame!) February 8-10 unless another interview conflicts! I have my WashU interview that weekend in January!

[bioPhDhopeful]

actually starting to freak out that I will get no interviews from any of the 14 schools I applied too. Is it typical for many people to hear back this early? 

[StemCellFan]

10 minutes ago, sp.110172 said:

actually starting to freak out that I will get no interviews from any of the 14 schools I applied too. Is it typical for many people to hear back this early? 

I think it's typical to start hearing back from programs that have a Dec 1st deadline before Christmas.  There is still a bit of time before then though!

[catsareme]

4 minutes ago, StemCellFan said:

I think it's typical to start hearing back from programs that have a Dec 1st deadline before Christmas.  There is still a bit of time before then though!

 

14 minutes ago, sp.110172 said:

actually starting to freak out that I will get no interviews from any of the 14 schools I applied too. Is it typical for many people to hear back this early? 

Definitely before Christmas is normal, but this I'd say is still early. Looking at posts from last year, people were hearing back pretty consistently around mid-December. So I'd still give it until the end of this week if not later into next week!

Edited December 11, 2017 by catsareme

[LetsHopeForTheBest]

I am applying to biophysics programs (not sure if this is the right thread to post). That being said, I haven't taken any bio courses since high school. I will be taking biostats/biochem next semester. Any thoughts on whether I've got a chance at these schools?

Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts (Highly ranked)

Major(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 3.63
Overall GPA: 3.65
Position in Class: top 25%?
Type of Student: female, minority

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 163 (84%)
V: 161 (88%)
W: 4.5 (82%)

Research Experience:

2.5 years at home institution — biochemistry/ computational chemistry? Lots of school conferences, and 1 national conference. No publications yet. I spent my first summer working with bacteria. Since then, I have been running simulations of protein systems. Currently working on an honors thesis. I am interested in computational biophysics groups.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Research award (only 2 awarded per year -- school), Organic Chemistry Award (school), travel award to national conference (conference)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

TA for 1 semester for upper-level chemistry course

I have been working two jobs for the chemistry department since my first year?

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

first gen?

Special Bonus Points: 

Solid letters of rec  

Solid SOP -- made strong case for why I want to do biophysical research

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
As I have mentioned, I haven’t actually taken any bio courses in college (will be taking a biochemistry course in the spring), but am applying to biophysics programs. I commented on how my research was biophysical in nature in my applications.

Applying to Where:

UC Berkeley — Biophysics (qb3)
UCSF — iPQB (biophysics)
Stanford — Biophysics (Biosciences)
UCSD — chemistry and biochemistry (I realized too late another program is more suited to my interests, but the faculty I’d like to work with are also part of this dept)
 

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by LetsHopeForTheBest

[moiselle]

Any updates from Utah and UT Southwestern?

[moiselle]

Everyone filled the secondary application for UT Southwestern for those who applied there? What's its purpose tho?

[StemCellFan]

Cincinnati MDB interview invite!  Weekends they gave me were Jan 19th and February 9th.  January 19th seems to be a popular interview date.  Medical College of Wisconsin also offered January 19th, but I had to go with an alternative weekend because Case Western's is on Jan 19th this year.

Edited December 12, 2017 by StemCellFan

[krafael]

As an international student, my question is would the invitation be sent at the same time as the domestic applicants? Any updates from the international applicants? 

[_caffeinated]

16 hours ago, sp.110172 said:

actually starting to freak out that I will get no interviews from any of the 14 schools I applied too. Is it typical for many people to hear back this early? 

literally in the same boat - fingers crossed for the both of us!

[scoobydoo9]

11 minutes ago, _caffeinated said:

literally in the same boat - fingers crossed for the both of us!

Same!! Just over here refreshing my email and the results page way too often. Good luck!!

[devbioboy]

4 hours ago, StemCellFan said:

Cincinnati MDB interview invite!  Weekends they gave me were Jan 19th and February 9th.  January 19th seems to be a popular interview date.  Medical College of Wisconsin also offered January 19th, but I had to go with an alternative weekend because Case Western's is on Jan 19th this year.

Also got an invite to Cincinnati MDB! Will probably take the January 19 date. Best of luck!

[gaga1994]

Got an invite from University of Chicago (Development, regeneration, and stem cell biology)!

[Some violinist]

@krafael I don't think it'd be any different in terms of timing, or at least, any differences shouldn't be because of being international. No updates here, for what it's worth.

[ChallengerSwimmer23]

9 hours ago, moiselle said:

Everyone filled the secondary application for UT Southwestern for those who applied there? What's its purpose tho?

I applied to UTSW Division of Basic Sciences Ph.D. program. UTSW does not have a secondary application for Ph.D. applicants. Secondary application is for their medical school applicants. 

[PanCan]

15 minutes ago, ChallengerSwimmer23 said:

I applied to UTSW Division of Basic Sciences Ph.D. program. UTSW does not have a secondary application for Ph.D. applicants. Secondary application is for their medical school applicants. 

I think they do have; as I also filled up the secondary application. That was just survey type, with simple questions, like (i) why you are interested in PhD at UTSW? (ii) what type of research are you interested in? (iii) List 5 faculties.  Not sure what are their purposes, but I guess, those questions were not in the online application system and they feel to ask again and surveyed, although SOP covers all those questions! Wondering why then everyone didn't receive that email?