Biology/Biomedical Sciences Applicants 2008

Graduate School
61

<p>Snowcapk, thanks for the response. I do indeed have quite a bit of research experience for an undergrad, but no papers have been generated as of yet (unlike many of you!). Speaking with the associate dean at UT Southwestern, she says the quantitative and writing is more important than the verbal. However, the associate dean at GSK says quantitative and verbal is more important than the writing. I guess overall the quantitative is definitely the most critical aspect of the GRE.</p>

<p>I did not take a subject test and do not plan to as well. The only places that was off-limits for me from this was UCSF and Scripps. </p>

<p>Another question, how are the preliminary screening process at most schools like?</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone submitting applications! This whole process is so stressful..</p>

62

<p>I'd be interested in knowing about preliminary screening processes too. A prof on an adcomm at my school once told my class that in his dept., they take all your scores/gpa/rank of your school/years research experience etc. and plug that into a formula that spits out a ranking for you. Then he said they dump the lower 85% and look at the ~50 applications that remain. I thought he was just f--king with us, but he didn't laugh. :/</p>

63

<p>Wow, talk about the thorough and holistic screening of each applicant that you always hear about...</p>

64

<p>Yeah, I know. I can't picture that the verbal/writing scores have too much weight in that, though: otherwise, a lot of really great foreign applicants would be turned down. I know some grad students who had verbal scores in the 300s (seriously) that made it through, so...</p>

<p>On the other hand, you have to feel for these admissions committees. If you have 10-20 apps for every vacancy, then eventually you're going to turn down people with crummy grades or whatever - they didn't honestly have a chance to begin with. I mean, if that department only takes eight G1s each year, examining the top 50 apps is pretty fair, don't you think?</p>

65

<p>I agree with you snowcapk, in the end it all comes down to stats because that is the only objective measure and then letters and SOPs help to decide between the top. This is the reason I'm applying to 13 programs...</p>

66

<p>I just hope I make it through the initial screening!</p>

<p>I'm applying to 11 programs, although I heard this was very excessive. Most people told me to shoot for around 6 at most, but it's just so hard to cross out some of these schools..</p>

67

<p>I heard the same thing, masta_ace - six at the most. Of course, that does not work for me at all, especially when they wine and dine you if you get an interview. I had to go with nine!</p>

<p>That said, I submitted about 7 of my apps today! Only two more to go, but they're biggies so I'm going to travel with caution.</p>

<p>Is anyone having any problems with the online applications? At one school I applied to, they asked you to list publications, with authors and titles... and then the text limit of the box was about 50 characters! I decided to just send them a CV to supplement my application, because I could not fit anything informative into those tiny boxes.</p>

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<p>Haha, 50 characters? I noticed something like that on MIT's app. It's a section called Research or Work Experience, or something like that, and it's just a couple of boxes (maybe 50 char each) one above the other. Why do they even bother?</p>

69

<p>I know what you guys are talking about; those are really annoying (I try to abbreviate as many things as possible to make them fit in there!).</p>

<p>Overall, I'm ready to start submitting applications. I'm just waiting on my GRE percentiles to come in. Does anybody think I have a legitimate shot at MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Rockefeller? </p>

<p>Also, did anyone choose a program based on a specific faculty member or group of faculty members? I am interested in studying cancer biology microRNAs, and there seems to be many scientists working with microRNAs at the programs I am applying to. I hope they see me as a good "fit"..</p>

70

<p>Yeah, I think you have pretty good odds! I say give them a shot. After all you have all that research experience, so as long as you make the first cuts, and I'm guessing you will, you'll be competitive in the next round. Are any of your profs former doctoral students/profs from those schools? I was totally blown away when I realized that everyone I've worked for got their Ph.Ds. from Rockefeller. I'm guessing (praying?) that recs from former students carry a certain weight.</p>

<p>Yeah, a lot of people are working in microRNAs, so I doubt a school would exclude you because they thought there were no available advisers for you. I've not been so lucky: had to eliminate even schools like Brown & UChicago in the end because there wasn't anyone there to work for. But hey, now I am down to <em>just</em> nine schools! In my essays I've tried to play up how I'm a good fit for ~3 profs at each school, but the reality is that at some places, it's Prof. Y or bust. Hope Prof. Y knows I'm sinking ~$100 and seven hours on an application just for him! <em>sigh</em></p>

71

<p>Snowcapk, is Rockefeller your number one choice? Have you had a chance to visit the campus? The campus is very, very nice, a nice urban'ish setting in a big time city environment. I actually ate lunch at Rockefeller cafeteria everyday this past summer (and it wasn't that bad either!). Rockefeller is a great place and it's probably one of my top choices too.</p>

72

<p>Hi Masta_Ace,</p>

<p>Rockefeller isn't my number one choice, but it's definitely up there. I've never been to the campus but I've heard good things. There are some projects there that I'd like to work on, but overall very few developmental biology projects. I feel like there're bad odds for getting an adviser in my field there: if someone goes on sabbatical, they'll probably toss my app in the can.</p>

<p>But it sure would be nice to have some kind of "in", through my professors or otherwise, y'know? I feel like I'm lacking that advantage right now. Also, there is something about knowing that a third of the profs in my department came from this one school that makes me feel like getting a degree there...</p>

73

<p>Just a warning to those who have applied to many schools -- you may not be able to coordinate interview weekends with more than seven or eight schools. Of course, you can always turn down an interview invitation at any point after you've received one, so if you have a good feeling about some of your first interviews, you can always back out on a school that's not very high on your list.</p>

<p>When I applied, I applied to nine schools. I ended up turning down three interview invitations -- six interview weekends were quite enough for me.</p>

74

<p>Damn - congrats, Mollie! Somehow I doubt that I'll have your problem.</p>

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<p>Yeah really, I applied to 13 hoping to get maybe four interviews...</p>

76

<p>I don't even consider Mollie's situation a problem - if so, that's a damn good problem!</p>

<p>Same here autocell, I just wish I could get a few interviews out of the 11 programs..</p>

77

<p>Ah, you'll see what I mean. It takes a lot of time and effort to go to all of those interview weekends, and it's tough if you're still in school.</p>

<p>You should probably expect, though, to get offers from either all or none of the schools that are similarly selective -- when I saw people on top-school interview weekends, I saw them every single weekend.</p>

78

<p>Not all of us have the name brand undergraduate advantage nor the weight of a "famous" PI so your experience, Mollie, is disparate from mine at least. If all the tops are persuading the same group then each "top-school" cannot take all of them so they will be forced to dig into the barrel and take a chance on some non-pedigree visionaries.</p>

<p>I for one don't see recruitment weekends as fun and will only go to 3-4 considering they take a chance on me, even if they are not top-schools. After all doesn't quality and integrity of research mean just a little bit?</p>

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<p>Really autocell? I think recruitment weekends would be fun...but I haven't been, obviously. Don't they, like, wine you and dine you? Juggling courses will be hard and I hate jet lag, but I think I would really enjoy visiting schools and meeting students/profs.</p>

<p>I think what you're saying is that it's mean to make a school spend hundreds of bucks to fly you out and house you for these weekends if you're not seriously considering enrolling there. I agree somewhat. But since in biology you don't get an offer until after the interview, I'm worried that if I only go to a few of the schools that invite me for interviews (knock on wood), then I might get rejected from all of them, and feel like a dumbass. I've heard that "only weirdos/criminals/sociopaths don't get in once they've been interviewed", but I've also seen someone get rejected under those circumstances (he was kind of a weirdo, to be fair), so it does frighten me.</p>

<p>I don't understand what you're saying about "quality and integrity of research" - of course they're important, but what does that have to do with grad school interviews?</p>

80

<p>
[quote]
If all the tops are persuading the same group then each "top-school" cannot take all of them so they will be forced to dig into the barrel and take a chance on some non-pedigree visionaries.

[/quote]

What I mean is that there are about 150 people going around the country interviewing at all of the same programs. Most of them will get an offer at at least one school, and generally more -- because of yield, the schools have to offer spots to more people than they expect to enroll. I wasn't saying (or implying) anything about the background of these 150 people. Certainly they came with very different backgrounds and stories.</p>

<p>I thought recruitment was terrific, although very tiring. As snowcapk says, you are wined and dined, and taken to sight-see. Moreover, though, I loved the interviews themselves -- it was fun to intensively talk science with professors whose work I found interesting. I learned a lot, and I got some great suggestions for the project I was working on at the time.</p>

<p>
[quote]
But since in biology you don't get an offer until after the interview, I'm worried that if I only go to a few of the schools that invite me for interviews (knock on wood), then I might get rejected from all of them, and feel like a dumbass.

[/quote]

Usually if you have been accepted to a school, you'll hear from them pretty early -- two or three days after the interview weekend ends. The way it worked out for me was that I knew I'd been accepted to two programs that I liked a lot, so I skipped out on some of the later interviews for programs in geographic areas that weren't convenient. This, of course, doesn't work if your high-priority interviews are after your low-priority interviews. :)</p>

<p>
[quote]
I've heard that "only weirdos/criminals/sociopaths don't get in once they've been interviewed"...

[/quote]

It's hard to tell how many people get in or don't get in after the interview, because most schools don't tell you the numbers. But if you don't get in after an interview, it doesn't mean you're crazy -- everybody has bad days. (I was rejected from UCSF after a particularly ridiculous day of interviews that included a rather egregious faux pas on my part to a professor with a considerable ego. I knew it hadn't gone well, and I wasn't particularly shocked to be rejected a month later.)</p>