crustaceangirl Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 I was sad seeing this forum with no posts in it. Anyone here applying to life science programs this year? I'm applying for neuroscience/neurobiology, but with some general biomedical/biological science umbrella programs.
myheartsapounding Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 I have applied to 4 colleges for neuroscience, not looking good right now. USCF and UW was a no, still hoping for others. Funny I thought with a 4.0 GPA over 1450 GRE and 6 months lab work it would help. Anyone out there know how this works better than I? How many schools do people normally apply?
crustaceangirl Posted January 21, 2008 Author Posted January 21, 2008 I applied to 9 schools because I wanted to be sure I'd get in SOMEWHERE. A few reach schools/really high ranked programs (UCSF and UW included... they rejected me too), one "safety," and the rest in between. My numbers are worse than yours (3.4 GPA, 1400 GRE) but I have more research experience (3 years part time, 1.5 years full time). If you only applied to the absolute most competitive schools, you're going to have trouble getting accepted no matter how good your stats, since the top-ranked programs receive apps from basically everyone who's applying in the field each year, including the best of the best. They simply cannot accept every well-qualified applicant. So far I have 2 rejections and 4 interviews. If your other schools are less competitive then I'd say you still have good odds. Keep us posted...!
treehugger Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 Where are you interviewing, if you don't mind me asking?
crustaceangirl Posted January 21, 2008 Author Posted January 21, 2008 I'll be interviewing at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill, WUSTL, and Emory. I'm really excited to visit the schools and meet faculty 'cause I like all of these programs. Still waiting to hear from Berkeley, Columbia, and UT Austin.
treehugger Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 Wow, those are all very good schools, congrats! I'm a first year in WashU's neuroscience program, so if you have any questions about the program, anything, feel free to ask. I didn't apply to any of the other schools on your list, otherwise I'd be more than happy to answer your questions about them too. Good luck with everything!
adizzygirl Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 I'm applying to neuro programs too, all my apps are in and now I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting to go to interviews. I feel like I was a pretty average applicant (just finishing undergrad, 3.76 GPA, 1430 GRE, about a year and a half research experience but not in neuro), but by some miracle of the academic gods, I have interviews at five of the seven schools I applied to (UC Irvine, Brown, Dartmouth, UMass Med, and WashU). Harvard I'm fairly certain rejected me since I haven't heard anything yet, and the Sackler School just had their deadline the 17th so haven't heard anything one way or the other yet. I was originally planning to apply to an eighth school as a safety, but after getting interviews at some of my top choices I decided not to apply. My SOPs weren't great either, they were adequate but I'm a terrible writer. This whole application process has baffled me from the start.. the only reason I can come up with as to why I've gotten such an overwhelming response as such an average applicant is that I applied to programs where I'm seriously in love with the research they're doing.. I feel like I did a good job matching my interests with appropriate programs. I assume that my recommenders also wrote fantastic letters for me that showed why I'd be a good candidate for each program. Myheartsapounding, hope you hear good news from your other two schools, and good luck on your interviews, crustaceangirl! Hopefully we'll all have acceptance letters in our hands in the next few months
crustaceangirl Posted January 21, 2008 Author Posted January 21, 2008 Hey, treehugger, cool to see someone from one of my programs! Maybe I'll meet you on my visit. I'm a little nervous about the interview weekend -- not sure what kind of questions they'll ask me, what my chances of actually being accepted after the interview are, and so on. Any insight about how your meetings with professors went during your interview would be awesome. I'm comfortable talking about my research, my interests, etc., I'm just a little scared someone might ask me detailed questions about some molecular pathway I've never heard of and then write me off as an idiot. Sounds like your February will be as packed as mine, adizzygirl. I think you're absolutely right about being noticed because you picked schools where you love the research they're doing. That will always show in your application, and I'm sure you'll do well in your interviews. Good luck!
treehugger Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 No worries about the random questions. I can't promise anything, but I never had anyone ask me to sketch the structure of uracil or anything. A lot of PIs just want to answer your questions, talk about their research as well as yours, and generally get a feel for who you are. Some school weekends hold the interviews on the first day and others hold the interviews on the second day of your visit. When is your interview? Grad students help out throughout the 2 weekends, so I'm sure we'll meet each other at some point. There's also a grad student only event on the second night so that you can meet everyone else in the program. adizzygirl, I felt like an average applicant too, still do actually. Not to mention, most of my research background is in marine biology, not neurosci. But a lot of programs pride themselves in accepting students with a wide range of backgrounds. So you're one step ahead on that point.
myheartsapounding Posted January 22, 2008 Posted January 22, 2008 Hello, Has anyone heard from Berkeley? Looking on post from last year it appears they send out notices later. Thought about this whole applying to grad school and feel horrible. But, I was told once that even if I am having a bad day someone else is having it worse! Maybe there is some truth in that statement.
KUNRD07 Posted January 22, 2008 Posted January 22, 2008 Hello everyone, Glad to see people are finally starting to post here. I took a huge gamble and only applied to the top universities in Biochemistry/Biophysics/Structural Biology, but luckily it is paying off. Applied: Caltech, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Rockefeller, Stanford, UCSD, UCSF, WashU and Yale Rejected: MIT Interviews: Columbia, Harvard, and Yale Accepted: Rockefeller Did anyone else apply to any of these schools?
crossedfingers Posted January 23, 2008 Posted January 23, 2008 hey i was just reading through these posts and was surprised to know that UW has already begun sending out rejections. I mean they have recruitment weekend on the 31st and it appears strange to me that they would send out rejection letters without even meeting these so called top applicants. what if some of them are total losers? Or what if some of them never accept the admission offer? Does that spot just go empty for the entire yr?
crustaceangirl Posted January 23, 2008 Author Posted January 23, 2008 Crossedfingers, the rejections that were sent out are for people who didn't survive the first (or maybe second) round of cuts, i.e. we were not invited to the recruitment weekend (generally, invitations to a visit like that are only sent to perhaps a few dozen applicants out of hundreds). Presumably after the recruitment weekend they will make their final decisions from the short list. I did not make that short list in the first place, neither did myheartsapounding, neither did most other applicants. Personally, I'm glad they let me know sooner rather than later so I can plan for the interviews/recruitment weekends to which I was invited. I know some schools make admissions decisions in January/February but don't bother sending rejection notices until March or April (if ever), which can make some people wonder endlessly if they're on some kind of waiting list, etc.
lepidoptera Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 I'm neuroscience and got rejected from UW and UCSF too! I think perhaps a lot of people applied to UCSF... No word yet from Berkeley or Columbia, but I doubt I'll get into either. I'm interviewing at UCLA, WUSTL, and UMich. GRE V:740, M:780, W:4.5, Bio subject test 710, GPA 3.4
nikoli Posted February 12, 2008 Posted February 12, 2008 Hey, have you guys heard from Berkeley-neuroscience yet? Or do you know of anyone who has an interview? I'm guessing I'm rejected, but I still have sooome hope left
crustaceangirl Posted February 12, 2008 Author Posted February 12, 2008 I haven't heard a peep from Berkeley! And haven't seen anything on the web from anyone else who has. I wonder if they're just slow?
nikoli Posted February 12, 2008 Posted February 12, 2008 Their website says grad student recruitments are feb10-12 and feb24-46 (http://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/events/index.php). I wonder if there's a chance they haven't invited for the second weekend yet.....
crustaceangirl Posted February 13, 2008 Author Posted February 13, 2008 Ahh, that's discouraging. But I have heard of places only giving you ~2 weeks notice before an interview (esp. if they had some kind of waiting list, and someone changes their mind or can't come). I honestly didn't feel like I was a GREAT fit for their department (seems like almost everyone there does vision, which is not my area of interest) but I felt pretty qualified. Oh well... we'll see.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now