<p>@ Glacialis, I called them early this morning. They might have closed early today because its the day before Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>@ Glacialis I sent in my scores on the 19th</p>
<p>@biotechstudent Thanks for the info! Good to know they were sent out in 2 days, gives me hope that mine will be received on time.</p>
<p>I’ve been keeping my SOP pretty general with experience and reasons for going to X University and what I hope to do with my PhD. I kept out all that sentimental stuff about loving science as a kid, etc.</p>
<p>And how about contacting the professors? Have you contacted prof’s in every program you are applying?</p>
<p>I have tried making contacts with no response. There are some places where I have made contact with professors and got some response in return. There are a couple schools where I’ve contacted faculty in the past (over a year ago), so I’m not sure if I should give them a heads up that I’m applying to their program. I don’t know if it would do any good contacting them again, though.</p>
<p>Only two of the programs I’m applying to indicate anything about making contact with faculty. Some of them said it’s not necessary.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s a pretty dicey topic. They want you to show interest by contacting the faculty but at the same time they write it’s not necessary to do so. I think even they’re undecided on what they want the prospective applicants to do. It’s all probably just to confuse us even more :)</p>
<p>I have a random question for you all- in an SOP to the school, is it ok to call the University of Pennsylvania, “Upenn.” Obviously MIT and other abbreviated schools don’t mind, but I wasn’t sure about Upenn. I’m trying to keep the word limit down and 1 word is much better than 3 :P</p>
<p>I think, for my Penn statement, I avoided abbreviations for that reason. I used an abbreviation for the program name, which was more appropriate than the school name. The “University of Pennsylvania” was only referred to in the opening and closing paragraphs. If you’re referring to it more often than that, I personally think Penn sounds better than Upenn, but maybe a student at that school has better advice.</p>
<p>To both current grad students and this year applicants, if you are applying for any sort of molecular biology, especially immunology/microbiology, have you taken both term of orgo and biochem ? How important do you think having those classes are to the strength of the application?</p>
<p>^I’m interested in the answer to nns91’s question also. I am an undergrad and I hope to study microbiology in graduate school. My school requires that we take 1 out of these 3 classes: microbiology, biochemistry, and cell biology. (But we are allowed to take more than 1 if we want.)
I like microbiology and cell biology, but I’m not a big fan of chemistry so I’m not sure if I want to take biochem. Is it okay if I don’t take it? (I’m taking Orgo 1 & 2.) Would it look bad on my grad school apps if I haven’t taken biochem?</p>
<p>thanks Virions!</p>
<p>I am in a bit of a similar situation (not too much Chem on my transcript) so I asked that question to some friends who were applying last year. They said that most schools will let you catch up on those if needed once in grad school. If they really want you because for example of lab experience/publications etc., lack of certain classes will not be an issue.</p>
<p>Ditto: </p>
<p>Also not a minority; 3.4 GPA, ave. GRE → accepted to harvard, Stanford, etc.</p>
<p>On the one hand, I highly recommend taking biochemistry if you plan on studying molecular biology. The people in my first year classes who haven’t taken it previously struggled with structural biology topics in class. Having said that, class is certainly not the most important thing in grad school. If it’s relevant to your interests an you’re a decent student, you will learn it as it becomes necessary. </p>
<p>I took only one term of organic chemistry. I sort of wish I took it a bit further, but I doubt it will cause me much trouble. Unless you’re planning on studying microbiology/immunology, you likely don’t need to worry about microbiology class. Even if you are, your undergrad class may focus on environmental micro or pathogenic bacteriology, which aren’t really cross-preparatory. </p>
<p>But yes, I believe biochem is beneficial (to varying degrees) to just about everyone in these types of fields.</p>
<p>Elocin, no…I think I’m the one who will be the comic relief. Don’t even know if I’m posting on the right board… ;)</p>
<p>Undergrad: 2 small, specialized institutions
Undergrad. Major(s): 1) math, 2) nursing
Undergrad GPA: 2nd degree = approx 3.9
Grad. Major(s): 1) education, 2) psych nursing
Grad GPA: approx 3.8-3.9
Years of Research Experience: hopefully work experience as psych NP fits here (see below); have researched/written related to this, which also ties into what I’m planning to study
GRE Scores: 154V, 161Q, ?W
Prospective Graduate Program: Behavioral Neuroscience
Prospective Graduate Schools: primarily West Coast </p>
<p>Comments on how to handle research experience statement for behavioral neuropsych, particularly as I’ve been working in a related field for the past two years…ordering labs, prescribing, doing therapy, etc…and doing unofficial research in my work…?</p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Biochem is definitely valuable. That said, I was accepted at every single program I applied to (Micro), with no biochem and fairly middling orgo grades. None made any noises about wanting me to make up the biochem when there either.</p>
<p>That’s a good point. I can’t imagine having to make up a course like o-chem or (undergradute) biochem on top of everything I’m doing now. It would be a dealbreaker, certainly.</p>
<p>Has anyone successfully used Interfolio with schools using ApplyYourself? I send requests through last week, and all the ApplyYourself schools haven’t sent the request to Interfolio. I can’t tell if it has something to do with the holiday. Has anyone send ApplyYourself notifications to letter writers since Wednesday?</p>
<p>Is anyone having trouble writing their Personal History Statement for UC Berkeley? If it wasn’t for this one essay, I’d be finished with all my applications! :(</p>