<p>It depends on which schools you are applying to. Smaller programs look at how close your research interests match faculty interests; so being too general will probably hurt you.</p>
<p>i don’t think i would view denizen as “competition” by any means. in any case, i would be pretty specific with your research in the personal statement. the more calibrated and the less poetic you come across, the better.</p>
<p>I was quite specific about faculty I’m interested in. 4-6 mentioned depending on the school. Whenever possible, tried to make it not sound like I’m just listing people off (grouping into paragraphs generally with faculty that share focus on a particular pathogen, or other common interests i.e. latency, etc). </p>
<p>As for the general theme of these threads, I’ll give a proper update once I’ve flicked the submit button on the last of my applications (3 down, 8 to go).</p>
<p>Yes, be specific. You can always change your mind later. Remember that most programs are interdisciplinary and require you to perform rotations for one year; even if you hone in on a specific field (e.g. cancer biology) in your personal statement, then you are not condemned to actually carrying out your Ph.D. in that field.</p>
<p>I don’t suggest mentioning any faculty, but you should at least be specific about your interests. When you mention faculty, you unnecesarily rile up inter-office politics. It’s risky and may turn off some people in the admissions committee. But you don’t close any doors by mentioning interests. This is what one program coordinator told me.</p>
<p>I phrased it in such a way that it should be clear that I’m interested in more than the ones I’ve mentioned but - here are some that I am interested in and here is why their work appeals to me. If that’s risky, then oh well, it’s how I’ve decided to format my statement for most schools (I’ll do it differently next year if need be 
). </p>
<p>I’m sure there is a way to do it in a way that could stir up drama in the committee (denizen, I could see why someone might have said that to <em>you</em> specifically 
j/k ). But given that some applications have specific fields where you list 3-6 faculty members whose work interests you, I don’t think the idea is quite so risky if done right. Whether or not I did it “right”… I suppose I’ll find out.</p>
<p>Denizen is wrong, and perhaps intentionally providing misinformation.</p>
<p>Anyone involved with Grad School apps will certainly come across applications that encourage you to choose specific faculty. In doing so, the admissions committee will be able to assign faculty for you to interview/meet with.</p>
<p>not really sure what denizen meant. I’m pretty sure committees haven’t even started looking at applications yet…</p>
<p>If you can’t mention faculty members without ‘dissing’ (sp?) other ones, perhaps you should steer clear. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Biochem2012 is right actually. In many applications there are fields to choose professors you’d like to work with, so it’s a good idea to re-mention them in your SoP in case the committee missed it the first time. I’d do exactly what Biochem2012 says.</p>
<p>I went through this process last year and mentioned two faculty members per school in my personal statement. I stated in one or two sentences, what it was about their research that intrigued me, but these statements came from reading one of their recent publications as opposed to their website summary. I received invites from all but one school I applied. So it is fine to add faculty into your statement if you wish. Also, I would not look at this as a competition, you will meet the same people over and over on these interviews, and they could someday become your future colleagues. Who wants to make enemies when you can make friends? Especially, when you realize how small the scientific community really is, which you will most likely realize on your interviews. Good Luck to everyone, I hope you find institutions that fit all of your criteria.</p>
<p>It is a competition. Every piece of information and/or advice that someone here posts might end up hurting everybody else’s chances. This thread has ~30 replies and 2000+ views. Do you ever wonder what those hundreds of lurkers are doing? Taking notes. Stealing our ideas.</p>
<p>Now, interviews are not competitive. During interviews, there’s personal interaction and the finish line is near. It’s a different environment. But until we reach that point, we’re not friends. </p>
<p>I’m fine with PM’ing if you need real help. I’ve done it before.</p>
<p>@denizen sounds <em>exactly</em> like the person I want to collaborate with.</p>
<p>this thread would have been much more fruitful if denizen hadn’t scared anyone from posting. </p>
<p>no one is “stealing” anything. people applying to grad school have a general sense of where they will fit in based on their credentials.</p>
<p>let’s see if the view count rate on this thread changes. i bet it won’t. it’s just registered users checking to see new posts.</p>
<p>Hi guys, I’ll join in.</p>
<p>UC
Molecular/Cell Bio Major
3.7 GPA
2.5 yrs experience in undergrad lab, 6 months as staff research asst. in another lab - no publications, did an undergraduate honors thesis
GRE 720V 800Q 5.0AW, Biology subject 880</p>
<p>Genetics or Molecular/Cell Bio programs</p>
<p>UCSF
Stanford
UW
Yale
Harvard
UCSD</p>
<p>Thanks for the info guys. I was leaning towards leaving names out and mentioning pockets of interest, because I didn’t want to put down a bunch of PIs who have no spots open in their lab or aren’t interested in taking on grad students. As someone pointed out, you already put down at least three faculty on the application whose research interests you, so it probably can’t hurt to expand on it in the SOP. It might not help much either. We’ll see.</p>
<p>I’ll post my stats once I get these applications in.</p>
<p>I did put some PI’s names (3-4) in my SOP. I already knew (through scientific literature) some professors from my research area. I completed my list by looking on the publication record in the last 5y and using RePORTER, a search tool for projects funded by the NIH.</p>
<p>I found the 2011 thread a huge help to me so here are my stats:</p>
<p>Small Lib Arts Uni,
Neuroscience Major
GPA 3.86
GRE 710V 800Q 4.5AW
Research every summer while in undergrad
no publications
but several conferences
International student
3 okay-excellent letters
strong statement of purpose (spent 2 months writing it)</p>
<p>PhD neuro programs at:
Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Wash U @ St. Louis, Rockefeller, Emory, Duke, Wake Forest, Chicago, Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>I mentioned 2-3 PI’s in each SOP. My general area of interest is rather narrow (neuroimmunology of Alzheimer’s disease) and at each program there are around 3 professors in that area. Granted I’m applying to neurscience programs which are smaller programs that cell/molecular biology. All my apps are in. All that’s left is the waiting. I garned a lot of tips from a coworker who successfully applied last year and a current coworker who was on a selection committee as a grad student, so I trust my sources.
My schools are UCSF Neuro, UCSD Neuro, UC Berkeley Neuro.</p>
<p>anyone else biting off their fingernails on a daily basis?</p>