<p>this waiting sucks! i spend every half hour of the day checking my email and keep my phone in my labcoat hoping it’d ring. i also keep “updating” people around me about how yale bbs already sent some invites and since they don’t accept many people each year, i probably didn’t make the cut and they just plan on letting me know about the rejection later when its more convenient for them. same with ucsf. theres this one picture on the ucsf bms website where students are hiking and all im thinking is “awww… i suppose ill never get the chance to go hiking with these individuals since im not as smart as them!” lol grrrr… some of my top choices.</p>
<p>anyways! someone suggested i instead think in my mind “yes, i see myself going to this school next fall. i WILL get accepted here and there.” so today i spent the morning telling this postdoc in my lab (she graduated from ucsf), “yeah i think when im at ucsf next fall, ill get an apartment with a loft overlooking the golden gate bridge… ya know? i really can’t decide if im gonna CHOOSE harvard or yale.” whenever i get a new email i think “oh its just UWash letting me know i’ve got an interview.” then i realize its really abercrombie and fitch giving me 40% off all online orders. then i say “oh they’re just busy, they’ll let me know in the morning.”</p>
<p>this application season is really taking a toll on my mental health! sorry for all the rambling, i just wanted to complain and figured many of you know exactly what im going through. :)</p>
<p>hontoOishi: I totally understand your feeling. I am going through the same situation right now. Keeping checking my email every 3 minutes and missing calls. The waiting is really killing me.</p>
<p>hontoOishi: I’m right there with you. I go through a cycle: “I’ll totally get in everywhere” to “Well, I probably won’t get harvard but I’ll get in everywhere else” to “hopefully I’ll get in some places” to “OH MY GOD I’LL NEVER GET IN ANYWHERE AND BE A FAILURE IN EVERYTHING I DO.” Then I realize how stupid I’ve been and the cycle repeats itself.</p>
<p>Being unemployed and graduated and looking for a temporary job on top of it all isn’t helping. >_></p>
<p>I’m 29 and am embarking on grad school applications after much time off in my 20’s while I sorted out a lot of medical and mental health issues. I have had a very serious eating disorder for most of my life and have been under treatment for several years. Unfortunately, the height of my disorder was during my undergrad years, in which I did not do what would have probably been the “right” thing and drop out to straighten myself out, but struggled through and graduated with a truly horrible GPA. I also had to work full-time to finance my education, all 4 years. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sorry for myself but truly regret throwing most of my life away with a disease that took on a life of its own and I’m trying so hard to start anew. Here are my stats:</p>
<p>Undergrad: UNC-Chapel Hill (from out of state)
Major: Biochem, minor in Biology
GPA: 2.62 (uuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh)!!! I think my major GPA is even lower, I’m too embarrassed to say.
GRE: V 163 Q 160 W 4.5
Years lab experience: 1 as undergrad (in which I designed a molecular cloning project and got great approval from my professor, the one thing I didn’t mess up those years)
Half a year in industry (temp-work)
5 years in academic research: 3 years for Duke University in HIV vaccination research. 2 years for NC A&T State University in Chemoprevention and functional foods research.
1 1st author, 2 posters, 4 second author, 1 third, and 1 4th author papers, a couple more underway for publication early next year. All fairly good journals.
Excellent LOR’s from PI’s and director of our program.
Mentioned my UGPA and personal struggles in Personal Essay with reassurance that they are behind me and that I have become stronger for it.
Excellent SOP and CV (my lab experience is very extensive and multidisplinary at this point. I work 60hr weeks, during which I’m the lab manager and do extensive research).
Also, I took 3 of the classes I did poorly in in college again and got B+'s. (Two of the them were summer school classes, for a total of 7 credits in two months).</p>
<p>Sooo, I’m trying to make a case for myself that I’m trying very hard to turn things around and that I am a mature, driven, and responsible adult that loves science and research deeply. </p>
<p>Schools applied to (all PhD programs)
UNC-Chapel Hill (BBSP) - have interview scheduled Feb1st-2nd
FSU (Biochemistry) - interview Feb 14th-17th
NC State (Biochemistry)
University of Floriday (Biochemistry)
UC Berkeley (MCB) - REACH SCHOOL!
UC SF (Tetrad)
UC Davis (Nutritional Biology)
Georgia Tech (Biomedical Sciences)
Emory (NBS)
Virginia Tech (Biomedical Sciences)
Drexel (Biomedical Sciences)
UTMB (Biomedical Sciences)</p>
<p>Any thoughts? Am I totally out of my league?</p>
<p>@dnsoroka
you have amazing research experience. You might actually have enough experience to set you apart from the rest. Keep in mind that some people apply to grad school straight out of undergrad with no experience outside of their undergrad research. I met with a few admissions people and they mentioned that the LOR and the experience is the most important. My GPA isn’t that stellar either but I worked in government research for 2 years and 3 years at a research institute. When I met with admissions at my top school they told me that my application isn’t as bad as I think it is and that I need to add publications on there to make it stand out. At that point I didn’t put any publications on my resume but now I have 3 publications, 4 posters with 3 national conference presentations. I think you should keep your head up high cause it’s not as bad as you think it is best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you so much, GT3230. I got some hope when I scheduled my two upcoming interviews but really hope to hear back from my California programs. Good luck to you too!</p>
<p>@dnsoroka I agree with gt3230. I am doing research in a graduate lab where one of the grad students have pretty much the same stats as you do. I don’t really know why he had a low GPA though but if he is now in graduate school, so can you. He worked as a lab tech for a few years before he applied and I think that’s what made his application stronger (and the fact that he is a really good scientist). So don’t worry! You’ll be fine!</p>
<p>@hopingforadmis: Tetrad sent out interview invites on 19 December, said they would send more information in early January. I am not sure whether they have any more waves planned.</p>
<p>@hopingforadmis: Princeton Mol Bio called me and UCSF Tetrad emailed me on Dec 19. I’m also not sure whether or not either have any more waves planned, but best of luck!</p>
best of luck!</p>