Biology Graduate School -figuring it out

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hello everyone! I was initially pre-med, but after volunteering/shadowing in hospitals, working in labs and teaching/tutoring, I am strongly considering changing the direction of my life and pursuing a PhD in biology. </p>

<p>What I came here for (other than to make my first post and say hello to the lovely people of the CC community) is to listen to some advice from all of you: how to really start this grad school process and where I would stand a chance of getting accepted into. </p>

<p>I know it all begins with narrowing down, perhaps by geography, which schools I would want to go to. I would prefer to stay in the NE, but wouldn't mind a little more west like Michigan or Illinois (West is too far for me, and the South is too hot). Afterward, I should look at different grad programs and individual professors' research studies and then contact them about. Here, my questions begin:</p>

<p>Obviously I will tell the professor I find his research interesting, I liked thisandthat paper he authored, etc. Should I also mention my grades, where I went to school, my research experience? And should I ask him if he is taking on my PhD students - as in, is he willing and able to fund more students enrolled in the PhD program? </p>

<p>I am also planning to contact grad students to ask them about the lifestyle at the school and how they like it. Obviously, it is different from undergrad, but I guess I would like to hear it from those studying right now. Anyone here reading this post who is or was a grad student, please feel free to reply about this topic. </p>

<p>I would also like to ask: how many grad schools is it customary to apply to? I have heard as low as 3 and as high as 7. I went through the med school applying process, where I applied to 12 schools and heard back from 3 (admittedly, I applied to mostly really competitive schools), so applying to so few schools worries me. Also, along the same lines: how important is reputation for selecting a grad school? After all, the job market is always worrisome, especially if I am considering academia, so maybe it pays off to try for the more prestigious ones, like Harvard or Yale?</p>

<p>Well, here are my creds - how do I stack up?</p>

<p>3.92 GPA, BS from Union College. Bio/Chem tutor for 2 years (do grad schools even look at this?), research experiences consists of: month of research in an orgo lab, a year (3 trimesters, Sept to June) of research with mol bio professor, and then another year of senior thesis with that same bio professor (thesis counts, right? I did spend quite a bit of time in the lab for it. It culminated in a thesis paper and an undergraduate presentation). I haven't published any papers, though. </p>

<p>I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I did score a 35 on the MCAT, so I think the GRE should not be all that difficult for me. Forgive me if that is arrogant, and feel free to bring me down to Earth if need be. I'll take the GRE in sept and the GRE bio in oct - at least thats the plan (how important is taking the bio...and what's considered a "good" score?)</p>

<p>I know some of these questions have been answered to death on other threads, and I am so sorry to repeat them - I just thought it might be useful to ask them in my own personal context. Also, I am still kind of bad at navigating the CC website...</p>

<p>Anyway, thank you all for your help, and I'm proud to be part of this community now! Starting with this post.</p>

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<p>You could consider posting in the Graduate School forum or on forum.thegradcafe.com (which isn’t amazingly active, but you may be able to get more responses from graduate students in your field or get good advice by reading through the old threads), if you haven’t done so already.</p>

<p>It sounds to me like you’re doing all the right things, but the biggest piece of advice is that everything is going to be very field specific in graduate school. What might be the norm in biology is not necessarily going to be the norm in other fields, and that’s something that you should keep in mind when looking at advice online. There’s great advice for applying to graduate schools, especially in the science fields, but not everything may necessarily apply to you.</p>

<p>Also, your professors may be able to give good advice with regards to what graduate programs to apply to, where you are competitive, and who’s doing great work in what you’re interested in. They also may be able to get you in touch with different programs that they have connections to, so it’s always worth it to let them know that you’re applying and seeing if they have any advice for you, especially professors that you’re closer with.</p>

<p>It sounds to me like those are good things to ask when contacting professors (for my graduate programs, this wasn’t the norm, so I don’t have firsthand experience with it). I would try to keep the email on the shorter side, just in general when first emailing professors, and perhaps you could attach a CV that they could look at if they are interested?</p>

<p>There are also blogs by graduate students around, and books on the topic of graduate school life that you could also use to see what the lifestyle is like. You could even ask graduate students in your lab or at your school to see what it’s like. If your programs interview, they may also fly you out so that you can talk to faculty and current grad students, which is also a great way to get a feel for the program.</p>

<p>How many graduate schools you apply to depends heavily on your field and your application. I applied to ten (interviewed at five), but my field is very small and specific (there are only 6 students in my incoming class) and I had a glaring hole in my application, making me less competitive. With graduate schools, fit is also really important, which is something to consider as well. You can be a very competitive applicant, but if no one is doing research in your area, you still won’t get in. I’ve known people who only applied to one school because they were constrained geographically or because that was the only school they really wanted to go to (great fit, competitive applicant). I’ve also know people who applied to upwards of 12. It depends on the field and the person, but I would advise you to only apply to programs that you would be happy to attend if you got accepted. The application process is time-consuming and expensive, and you don’t want to go through all of that to get into a program that you’re not excited about.</p>

<p>With regards to name, I do think name matters, but in academia, at least, what really matters is how well-respected your school is in your particular field. Harvard or Yale may be big names for undergraduate admissions, but they may not be the best programs in your particular field or there may be others that aren’t as well-known for undergraduate admissions but have fantastic, well-known, and well-respected programs in biology. Also, if no one at a “big name” school is doing research that your interested in, it would be better to look elsewhere. I would think the name of the school would matter more if you’re planning on going into industry, but in academia, they will generally know where the great programs are in your particular field. Your research work and publications are also important when looking for a job at a research university or elsewhere in academia.</p>

<p>The GRE is usually the smallest part of your application package. It can keep you out if you get a really low score, but a high score won’t get you in. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, as long as your scores are high enough to avoid any arbitrary cutoffs programs may have. Whether the GRE biology test is required or not depends on the program, and if it’s not required, you may still want to take it if you have questionable grades in some biology courses or if your school is not particularly well-known to demonstrate that you have a sufficient knowledge of biology.</p>

<p>Hope that helps! Best of luck.</p>