Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering - PhD Application Profiles for Fall 2018 Admittance

[kangaroomr]

30 minutes ago, SmartMorty said:

 

 

And.... you will get rejected from all those schools again. Trust me.

The application pools at those schools are CRAZY good. 

so certain i'll get rejected you had to say it 4 times thanks for the encouragement.

we'll see how it pans out this year.

Edited January 4, 2018 by kangaroomr

[Neuronophil]

Hey Folks,

 

I applied last year, and I know these waiting days and the interviews can be stressful for you guys. Let me know if you have any question about applications and interviews.

For the starters, don't worry much about GRE .

Edited January 4, 2018 by Neuronophil

[thegrey]

1 hour ago, kangaroomr said:

so certain i'll get rejected you had to say it 4 times thanks for the encouragement.

we'll see how it pans out this year.

Your research experience is great and you've applied to a range of schools. So long as your letters of rec are positive and your statement of purpose is solid, I think you'll be fine. Don't let the trolls get you down. Good luck!

[bmeupscotty]

Got my first interview invitation today! Email came from the Director of Graduate Studies at WashU in St. Louis. Possible dates are January 25-27 or February 15-17. So excited! Good luck everyone!

[SmartMorty]

Not applying to any safety schools is pretty risky.

Wouldn't it be a better idea to apply to maybe 2 safety schools just to be safe?

Just my 2 cents. 

[DOG_CABIN]

There are no safety schools. Even if you're applying with a highly competitive background, it won't count for much if all your experience is computational and the Department is looking to recruit students who can work a wet lab, or if the faculty don't find the theme or direction of your research compelling. Departmental fit will be more important in most cases -- this has been repeated here ad nauseam.

 

Best wishes to all!

[kip]

Alright, then here we go. Any comments or discussions are welcome.

For reference I graduated in '16 and will have two years out of college before entering a PhD program should I be so fortunate.

_________________________________________

Undergrad Institution:  Top 5 public

Major(s): Bioengineering
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.197/4.00 (didn't calc.)
Overall GPA: 3.197/4.00
Demographics/Background: Asian of the southeastern variety, aka vastly overrepresented.

GRE Scores:
Q: 163 (84%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 5.5 (98%)

LOR: 1. undergrad PI - "truly exceptional"  2. sr. scientist/ undergrad lab mentor - decent I guess, know she took the time to read about the research of the Profs I was interested in and wove that info into her letters. 3.Postdoc mentor at lab where I was a tech after undergrad - No idea, nothing spectacular, probably okay-decent.

Research Experience: 1 yr in undergrad - nanoparticle drug delivery ; 1 yr as technician - immuno-engineering ; ~4 months at a small biotech that is making large waves working on things very relevant to my research interests.

 

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 1 first author from undergrad. couple of poster presentations from undergrad (all the same poster though) 1 at international conference.

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:  nothing really. should've applied for those dean's undergrad research awards I suppose, but always thought they were rather meaningless (no $). Represented my state at national mathematics olympiad, but this was high school, mentioned it anyway to offset gre q.

 

Fellowships/Funding: none. applied for NSF and NDSEG, very last minute though, not expecting anything.

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:  worked for 1 year at rather renowned research institute, as a technician. working currently in R&D at a biotech.

 

Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: nothing mentioned

 

Research Interests: nanotechnology, drug delivery, immunoenginering, tolerance induction

 

Institutions/Programs:  All BioE PhD: Stanford, UCSF-Berkeley, Caltech, UCSD, HST (Harvard SEAS), HST (MIT IMES), UChicago, WashU, Cornell, Upenn. Also applied to Yale BBS-Immunology track.

 

Comments:

Pros: I think my application and my SOP weave a very consistent narrative about my research interests and the steps I've taken towards them - The research experiences I've accumulated fit together nicely in serving as a foundation for the research I have proposed to conduct in graduate school. I didn't get any feedback on my SOP before submission though, and kind of wrote it in one sitting (though it had been building in my mind for quite a while before that, so when I plopped down to write, the floodgates broke through and it was quite enjoyable). Even though the deadlines have passed now, I would like to swap SOPs with someone with similar research interests/fields to see if it does indeed work the way I intend.

Cons: Not so worried about low GPA as much as I am by the fact that I collected all the letters on my transcript including two Fs. No real excuses, DGAF until senior year, before I started research and had some context for, and therefore interest in what I was learning.  didn't bother to mention anything about it in my SOP - had no space after writing about more important things. 

Good luck to everyone and feel free to reach out!

[Some violinist]

MIT BE! I see other folks got invites as well in the results section! Super psyched!

Edited January 5, 2018 by Some violinist

[kangaroomr]

16 hours ago, SmartMorty said:

Not applying to any safety schools is pretty risky.

Wouldn't it be a better idea to apply to maybe 2 safety schools just to be safe?

Just my 2 cents. 

I don't believe in safety schools. That assumes I HAVE to go to grad school. I don't. I'm here for particular reasons and to do particular research at programs with particular resources. I honestly could go look for a job in industry and make way more money. If anything you might consider NEU a safety school since they're a relatively new program and don't think it's ranked that highly.

[bmeupscotty]

6 hours ago, Some violinist said:

MIT BE! I see other folks got invites as well in the results section! Super psyched!

Congrats!

[PickleRick]

On 1/4/2018 at 9:24 AM, SmartMorty said:

And.... you will get rejected from all those schools again. Trust me.

The application pools at those schools are CRAZY good. 

Lol, trolls will be trolls.

[TinyAquarianNinja]

Got an interview offer at UPitt today!

My TL;DR profile is that I have a BS and an M.Eng in BME, I’m currently working as a lab tech in a Big Deal neural engineering lab, and my research interests are BCI/neurotechnology and rehabilitation. 

[kangaroomr]

On 1/8/2018 at 9:29 PM, TinyAquarianNinja said:

Got an interview offer at UPitt today!

My TL;DR profile is that I have a BS and an M.Eng in BME, I’m currently working as a lab tech in a Big Deal neural engineering lab, and my research interests are BCI/neurotechnology and rehabilitation. 

Congrats! What were the interview dates?

[LonelyPoet1]

While I'm nervously waiting alongside all of you guys, I might as well share my profile too...

Undergrad Institution: State University (Not super well ranked (~140 in undergraduate institutions), but the engineering department is decent. #78 in engineering grad schools according to US News....)

Major(s): Bioengineering
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major: 3.97/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.98/4.00
Demographics/Background: Asian, Male

GRE Scores:
Q: 168 (94%)
V: 158(80%)
W: 5.0 (93%)

LOR: 1. Thesis Mentor, should be very good. 2. Professor I've taken 5 classes with, really good. 3. Professor I worked for and took a class for, should also be very good. 

Research Experience: 3 years in a biomaterials lab research studying surface chemistry and genetic engineering for protein immobilization, 1 year NSF funded REU at a small start up business studying electrochemical deposition, 6 month co-op at large biotech company studying fluorescent scatter and high speed imaging of red blood cells in a cytometer

 

Publications/Abstracts/Presentations: 2 publications in preparation (2nd author), and 1 publication in ECTS (not super relevant, but still published right?). 1 Poster at a national conference and 1 poster at a regional conference. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Presidential Scholarship from my school, Engineering scholarship, Orchestra scholarship, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, received a competitive internship at my school for first year research

Fellowships/Funding: N/A

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Reserach assistant, Co-op intern, orchestra member

Other Miscellaneous Accomplishments: N/A

Research Interests: Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Therapeutic Protein Engineering

Institutions/Programs: Duke BME PhD, UCSF-UCB BIOE PhD, GaTech BIOE PhD through ChE/Biomolecular, UWashington BIOE PhD, Imperial College London BME MSc, EPFL BIOE MS, ETHZ BME MS

Comments: I'm really nervous about the fact that I only applied to top schools, and I am considering applying to Rice, Brown and WUSTL for BME M.S later if I don't hear back by March 1st. 

[TinyAquarianNinja]

18 hours ago, kangaroomr said:

Congrats! What were the interview dates?

Thanks! The visit days are Feb 15-17. 

Edited January 11, 2018 by TinyAquarianNinja
Days are midweek, not a weekend

[katpillow]

On 1/8/2018 at 8:29 PM, TinyAquarianNinja said:

Got an interview offer at UPitt today!

My TL;DR profile is that I have a BS and an M.Eng in BME, I’m currently working as a lab tech in a Big Deal neural engineering lab, and my research interests are BCI/neurotechnology and rehabilitation. 

Nice! I'll see you there!

[katpillow]

On 1/5/2018 at 8:05 AM, kangaroomr said:

I don't believe in safety schools. That assumes I HAVE to go to grad school. I don't. I'm here for particular reasons and to do particular research at programs with particular resources. I honestly could go look for a job in industry and make way more money. If anything you might consider NEU a safety school since they're a relatively new program and don't think it's ranked that highly.

I love this attitude. I agree completely. Set a high bar for yourself, be specific in your interests, and pursue the things you're passionate about. I feel like a lot of people who take a shot at a PhD are generally doing it for the love of it, in some way or another. Plenty do it just because they're smart and it just seems like a logical step, too...

I admit that I'm aiming for the degree because of the benefits it'll give me in my research career, but only made the decision to shoot for it after working in the industry for a few years, and determined that I needed it to do the things I'm passionate about. Getting to do research that I think is awesome and neat on the way? That's a bonus.

[gaattc]

It seems like a few people got interviews at Berkeley/UCSF from the results survey. Are they done sending invites?

[PickleRick]

1 hour ago, gaattc said:

It seems like a few people got interviews at Berkeley/UCSF from the results survey. Are they done sending invites?

I do only see 2 UCSF/Berkeley results so maybe not? Could be right though, I didn’t get one /:

[thaibear]

Got an email from UW-Madison's Biomedical Engineering Program saying

"Based on your excellent record, I am pleased to inform you that the Biomedical Engineering PHD Admissions Committee has recommended to the Graduate School that you be admitted to our Ph.D. Degree program for the Fall 2018-2019 semester.  Formal confirmation of your admission will be sent to you after an official review of your application by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School."

Does this mean I am accepted? I'm a little bit worried that the decision from the Graduate School will be different from the department's.

Any thoughts?

Thanks! 

[gaattc]

@thaibear you’re accepted don’t worry about it! It’s just a technicality that the dean has to approve all acceptances. 

Edited January 12, 2018 by gaattc

[Veet779]

Any news on Penn State Bioengineering PhD fall '18?

Any idea when they will start sending out interview dates?

[bluestone]

Hey guys, i've noticed that interviews are coming out now. I've started another thread for people to post interview dates, so that we can stay up-to-date from each other and possibly avoid time conflicts among all the interview weekends! Best of luck everyone!

 

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/100057-fall-2018-bebme-bioengineeringbiomedical-engineering-interview-dates/

[kangaroomr]

Looks like Stanford came out too

[sonnelala]

On 1/4/2018 at 3:51 PM, bmeupscotty said:

Got my first interview invitation today! Email came from the Director of Graduate Studies at WashU in St. Louis. Possible dates are January 25-27 or February 15-17. So excited! Good luck everyone!

Same here! I'm going on Jan 25!