I was hoping to get some advise on where to apply for neuroscience graduate programs. I’ve talked to several PIs and an adviser and they began talking about various top tier schools (Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, ect) that they were familiar with… until they saw my GPA. They then switched the topic to schools that are a bit of a reach but may be worth applying and listed the 2nd tier schools (Northwestern, Chicago, ect). Even the postdocs I’ve worked with were only familiar with the top tier schools.
Anyway, my undergraduate cumulative GPA is 3.54 and my science GPA is lower. I’m currently studying to take the GRE next year. Considering how low my SAT was, I have low expectations for my GRE. I have a BS in neurobiology from a mediocre state school and was also in their computational neuroscience program. I took several grad-level classes, but I usually got the lowest grade in the class (3.6-3.8). I’ll be retaking organic chemistry courses in the next year in hopes to somewhat make up for the 1.7 I got some time ago. I have 2 years experience in 2 different labs and am currently a postbac at NIH, where I’ll be for 2 more years. I’ve had my own project in all of these labs (except for the current one, where I’ve only been in for less than a month). From my previous lab, I’ll have my name on one publication and my current PI is trying to help me get a paper out where I’ll be the first author before I apply for grad school. I’m currently being trained to do patch champ and she claims that projects to characterize neurons are short and fast. We’ll see how that goes. My letters of recs will be coming from the 3 PIs whose labs I worked in. The 2 from ungrad seem to be well known as one was a head of the graduate molecular biology program. Name dropping these two at NIH usually gets me a nodding response with comments of recognition.
Anyway, I would like a more realistic examples of schools that I should be applying to and any input would be greatly appreciated. I just want a starting place when looking for programs to apply to.
Research fit is a major component of grad schools applications. You will have your best shot at schools that match what you want to research. The only person who can find good schools for you is you. You have to take the time to decide what you want to study and look up who is considered excellent in that field of study. Go to pubmed, look at who is listed as the last author (corresponding author) on papers in your field of interest in high impact journals. Consider applying to those programs.
Also, at the end of the day, your application comes down to you - not who you can “name drop”.
OP, it’s really difficult to recommend programs to other people - particularly without knowing your research interests. But the method @mademoiselle2308 recommended is solid. Look at recent journal articles in your field that really get you excited, and check out who the senior author is on them (often the last author, but not always). Look those people up and see where they are currently teaching and doing research. The thing about neuroscience is that it’s so interdisciplinary that those people can be located in a lot of different departments. If your BS is in neurobiology you might be better suited for a biology department or an interdisciplinary neuroscience PhD program (as opposed to one in a psychology department), but at this point don’t rule anything out.
Your PIs are also suggesting places that they think you’re competitive for, so listen to their instincts. You can also take a look at the NRC rankings for [neuroscience and neurobiology](NRC Rankings Overview: Neuroscience and Neurobiology) and use that as a guide - look for programs in the same general grouping as Northwestern and Chicago. A 3.54 actually isn’t that low (I got into a top 10 program in my own field with a lower GPA); the concern is that your science GPA is lower. But with 2 years undergrad research + 2-3 years as an NIH postbacc, I think that you can at least try some of the top-tier programs and see if that experience outweighs the GPA. At least for me, I would absolutely want to work with an undergrad who maybe had a 3.3-3.5 but had 5 solid years of research experience, including some at the NIH, and 2 publications.
And sure, your application is about you, but having outstanding warm recommendations from well-known scholars can help you a lot.