<p>Hello all. I just wanted to start a thread for people beginning the grad school application process in biomedical sciences and ask some questions. </p>
<p>I am applying for phd programs in neuroscience. I have been looking through programs for a while now and am just having trouble deciding how many programs I should apply to. I realize that applying for grad school is very different than undergrad; I am looking at the average GPAs and GREs to see if I am likely to be accepted into a program, but I know that this is not a good indicator so I would really appreciate any advice or opinions people may have.</p>
<p>Here are a few things about me:
I am currently attending Barnard College
Neuroscience major with a concentration in both cellular/molecular neuroscience and behavioral neuroscience
My GPA is 3.79
Major GPA: about 3.89
I have not taken the GRE yet
Research experience includes one summer with the Amgen Scholars Program
and what will be a year working on my senior thesis.
I think I will be able to get good recommendations because I have taken a good number of lab courses and small classes that really let your professor get to know your abilities.</p>
<p>My future goals are to be a professor; I am interested in both the research aspect as well as the teaching aspect of being a professor so a graduate program that focuses at least somewhat on teaching would be ideal. As far as research goes, I am interested in systems neuroscience but not set on any particular topic. </p>
<p>The grad programs I am thinking of applying to are:
Emory
Wake Forest
NYU- Neural Science
Brown
University of Pennsylvania
Yale
Vanderbilt: Integrative Track
University of Virginia </p>
<p>Application fees add up fast so I do not want to apply to too many, but I obviously would like to get in somewhere. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. And I would love to hear from other people applying this year too: where you are applying, where you get interviews, etc.</p>
<p>Ugh, the joys of applying to school start all over again.... I'll be applying to grad schools for Fall 09 as well. I'm at Michigan State, majors are biochemistry and genetics, and I'm looking at grad programs in human and/or population genetics (not 100% sure yet). I'll have 3 school years of part time research and 3 full summers at the end of the summer, and I'll be finishing up my senior thesis in the coming school year, so research experience won't be a weak point for me. I'm only sitting at a 3.3 GPA though (3.4 in major, and hopefully helped by doing well in the 2 grad classes I've taken). Still haven't taken GREs, but I expect to do well on the general and Biochem subject test (standardized tests have always gone better than classes for me). I should have a great LOR from the professor I'm doing research for, as well as a solid one from a prof I took a grad class with. </p>
<p>Any thoughts on my (not very) "short list" would be greatly appreciated based on the above info.
Duke
Baylor
Washington
Wisconsin
Vandy
North Carolina
Emory
Indiana
Michigan</p>
<p>Hi guys, I will join the ride. Me in a nutshell:
GPA: 3.7
GRE: general (TBD), subject (biochem: 95%tile)
Research: 3 full years after undergrad.
Pubs: 3 first authors in the field of neuroscience
LOR: very good as I was told.
<strong>International student</strong>
Looking to apply to cell biology/biochemistry programs at top schools</p>
<p>Without knowing your future GRE scores and quality of your letters of rec., I think you may have a shot at some even better neuroscience programs like MIT, Hopkins, and UCSD. I have friends that got into PhD programs in neuroscience to all 3 with similar GPA's and amount of research experience (assuming you do well on your senior thesis). Now they all did have excellent GRE scores, but at least you're on the right track. There's always the chance that the three programs I listed aren't compatible with your interests in which case you can ignore what I said. With that said, you don't seem to have any safeties either. Grad school admissions can be quirky and you really never know what will happen. Unlike undergrad, grad admissions are as numbers based. You may want to apply to a masters program just in case the worst happens. Good luck!</p>
<p>I would be interested to know what constitutes a "safety" in this situation. Particularly if the student is not really considering a Masters degree as an option.</p>
<p>Good question. I don't know if I have the answer (or if anyone does). Typically programs that are ranked much lower will have somewhat easier admissions standards, but like I said before, I don't think that there is such a thing as a "sure thing" in PhD admissions. I don't know why someone ultimately desiring a PhD wouldn't consider masters programs as a backup though. The vast majority of PhD programs give credit to new students who hold masters degrees and the extra experience could make all the difference when it comes time to apply to PhD programs again.</p>
<p>Don't feel like making a new thread, so I'll just throw this question here.<br>
How much presenting experience do most people have as an undergrad? I've presented at 2 undergrad forums at my university, and I'll be presenting at an international conference in a few weeks. Does that sound typical for a grad school applicant?</p>
<p>neurostudent: I don't know what the neuro department is like, but Washington University in St Louis seems to have a strong emphasis on teaching and is an awesome school imo. It is midwestern though, if location is important to you. And application (to the DBBS program at least) is free.</p>
<p>BearsBeetsBSG: I know that at least I do not have much presenting experience. I have done one fairly informal presentation with the summer research program and will be doing a presentation for my senior thesis project, but that is all. So if they do consider presentation experience, I would imagine you are good to go.
sydneya: Yeah, location is important to me. I would like to stay more toward the east coast but thanks for your reply.</p>
<p>I agree that there's not really a "sure thing" in PhD admissions, unless you plan on continuing work at a school with people who already know you very well - my "safety" school for PhD admissions would be in the department I am currently doing research for (but it's not at the school I attend), the only reason I call it my safety is because I've been told by most of the people who make the decisions that if I apply, I'm accepted (the joys of having connections, right?)... in a nut shell, the only safety for PhD's is being well connected with a department.</p>
<p>^Agreed. It's a great thing to have a first-author paper (or a sixth-author paper, or whatever), but you still need to be able to present a great application otherwise and speak about your research intelligently at interviews.</p>
<p>I am trying to register to take the GRE biology subject test, but I can't figure out where you actually register for the test. I end up just registering for the free GRE search service thing. I see that the test dates are listed, but has registration started yet? I am very confused.</p>
<p>Another question: There is one program in particular that I think is on the top of my choices. One of many reasons is that there is one lab that is doing research very similar to what I am writing my senior thesis on now, and I believe that that is an area that I want to pursue researching in grad school. I want to contact the head of the lab and tell him about my interest in his lab and the program, but I do not know when the best time to do this is. I do not want to do it too early because I am afraid I will get lost in the emails before it comes time to look at applications. I will be in the area of the university at the beginning of November so I was thinking about trying to set up a time and talk to him in person. I think this will be late enough in my research that I will have a significant amount to discuss with him and early enough that he would be able to do whatever it is professors do to help interested students get into the program. When should I email him to set this up? And what does one say in these emails? Is this a good plan? Other suggestions?</p>