<p>Wow - now I am glad my D is in a lab as a Soph even if it is unpaid!</p>
<p>Also would like to point out in my day and age college summers were rarely spent doing anything worth while 
I am glad I don’t have to compete in the current market.</p>
<p>Agree 100% with MWFN. GPA and GRE should be good enough to not raise any red flags; of course, higher scores impress but not are not deal makers. The emphasis on research experience makes perfect sense from the graduate program point of view. We are making an expensive investment (money, time, effort) in each student. In the sciences, we pay entire tuition plus a decent stipend and insurance (even dental at my institution!) for all admitted students. The last thing we want is for a student to drop out because grad school is not what they expected. Research is frustrating and repetitive most of the time…if they’ve tried it and loved it, perhaps even had some small measure of success, that is the best indicator they will flourish in the 5+ years ahead.</p>
<p>OWM, D is concurrently applying for an NSF grant in tandem with her grad school applications (and because of deadlines, the NSF app has to be done first). There are three parts to the application and one of them is on personal research history…her STRIDE research at Smith, including when she extended into the summer on an NSF-funded grant her STRIDE prof got, is her point of departure. And in one of those “dumb luck” kinds of things, her Washington DC Picker Program thesis is right in the wheelhouse of the NSF as far as kind of topic they like to see.</p>
<p>UB & MWFN, don’t mind my paranoia about what can go wrong. It’s a trait that has served me well in the current business environment. There are days I feel like doing azimuth sightings just to confirm that the sun is rising in the east.</p>