<p>PhD-Bound: Thanks, I'am doing my best. The only thing I' am really afraid of is a GRE verbal and AWA. It is really hard for me to learn all of these obsolescent words. </p>
<p>ec1234: Thats bad news. :( For me getting funding is a question of principle.</p>
<p>MolSysBio: Yeah, I know that p53 signaling is kind of a trite topic. But for me it is interesting primarily in relation to telomere-associated signaling, i.e. pathways linking the telomere dysfunction with the induction of cellular senescence or apoptosis. I think, that here is still a plethora of unanswered questions. I like the integrative approach of sysbio, so from the point of philosophy, I'am definitely into it.</p>
<p>serbianguy: Technically, I'll be 20 when I finish my BSc. I shall apply being at my final year. As I understood, it is formally possible.</p>
<p>masta_ace: Thanks a lot for your advice! I was choosing schools using Scopus.com search engine, which help me to find the most respective and productive scientists in my field. First of all, I was choosing a lab, not a school. I watched through the pages of the schools you advised and have found a couple of interesting projects. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Hey Everyone! Great thread :). I need some advice on schools to apply to with my stats:</p>
<p>General GRE: 730 Analytical, 620 Verbal, 5.0/6.0 Writing
Subject GRE: N/A
GPA: 3.5 Undergrad, 3.59 Masters (Both in Biochemistry from a respectable state university)
Research Experience: Attached to a lab and started doing research projects from freshman year. Strong masters thesis (although no papers published). 2 Years research experience in a foreign national laboratory.
LOR: I have good relations with the 3 members of my masters committee, and for the most part they were pleased with my research so LORs should be relatively strong.
*International Applicant</p>
<p>Schools I'm thinking of applying to:
1. Stanford
2. Berkeley
3. USC
4. CUNY
5. UMass, Amherst</p>
<p>I know that Stanford and Berkeley will be difficult given my GRE scores. But hey, I figured there's no harm trying. </p>
<p>I need some suggestions for safeties. I'm also not physically in the US at the moment, if that's a point for consideration since its a lot harder to get in.</p>
<p>Still, it's impossible ! In Russia it takes at least 5 years to get the lowest university degree (aspirant), and that makes you already 23 given that one canot enter university before 18 ! What about millitary service :-) ?</p>
<p>Sideserver, congrats on your qualifications, I am sure you ll make a competitive applicant. As for your school choice, you do realize you chose the most expensive places in all of the United States - New York City, Southern California, Boston. Are you sure you want to do that to yourself? The standard of living might be a whole lot higher if you're not paying over half of your stipend for rent. If I were you and picking out safeties, I might consider places that are cheaper yet still prestigious, Northwestern, University of Washington, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Wisconsin. IMHO your GRE scores would not prevent you from getting into a top school, potentially only your GPA and status as an international might.</p>
<p>Yeah, i do know those are the most expensive places but one of the reasons why I chose those locations was because their proximity to industry and venture capital (I do intend to go into the industry once I'm done with my PhD). Can't have everything, I suppose. :)</p>
<p>USC is pretty high on my list because I emailed 2 professors in the MCB program who seemed pretty confident I'd at least be a competitive applicant there. </p>
<p>Another important point of consideration I was looking at is the acceptance rate of foreign students at these schools. No doubt UW is excellent (and I love Seattle too), but if you look at their "grad students" directory page you won't see very many foreign faces. That, in my view, correlates to a low international acceptance rate. </p>
<p>With regards to my safeties, Wisconsin-Madison, Baylor etc are all pretty excellent schools. I don't think I'd be any more likely to get into them than I would USC, wouldn't you say so?</p>
<p>Yeah, I suppose you're right...both UW-Madison and Baylor are pretty competitive but I would imagine less so than the others on your list eg Berkeley, Stanford so perhaps "safety" is the wrong word. </p>
<p>I too am considering the presence of vc and biotech/pharma, though for entirely different reasons- they often collaborate with academic labs and have some have post doc programs that offer just as much of an opportunity to publish as an academic lab. That is why I am so keen on the research triangle area in North Carolina. UNC and Duke are my top two favorites and not simply because North Carolina has the third largest number of biotechs in the country, though that is a bonus.</p>
<p>Ok, I think I'm more or less decided on the schools I'm applying to:</p>
<p>Stanford
Yale
Boston University
Berkeley
USC
Carnegie Mellon
Northwestern
Penn State</p>
<p>And maybe 1 or 2 state universities thrown in for good measure. </p>
<p>For those of you just tuning in, here's my stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5 (Undergrad), 3.59 (Masters) in Biochemistry
GRE: 730 Analytical, 620 Verbal, 5.0 Writing
Research Experience: About 5 - 6 years
Papers: Nil
Strong Masters thesis, good LORs
Work Experience: more than year at foreign National Laboratory</p>
<p>I'm not holding my breath for Stanford and BU. Realistically, I think I have a shot at USC, Carnegie Mellon or Northwestern. </p>
<p>Maybe you know this since you mentioned Carnegie Melon, how do Carnegie Melon and Univ of Pittsburgh (they are both in the same area) compare? I know that CMU is super prestigious among engineers but how about for the sciences? Does anybody know anything about collaboration between the two universities? Some grad schools allow you to take classes at neighboring institutions eg Duke allows you to take classes at UNC or NCState. Is this the case between CMU and UPitt?</p>
<p>2 serbianguy: look carefully at Education</a> in Russia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - as you see, the first possible degree in RF is BSc. In my university it takes 4 years. As a rule, students enter the university in the age of 17. I was 16. Aspirant is a perfect synonym to grad student. Aspirantura leads to the Candidate degree - it is a russian analog of PhD. What about military service - in our university, we have a special day for military education. It is processed simultaneously with usual scientific classes. After finishing the university, we also obtain the junior lieutenant rank.</p>
<p>Indeed, there are faculties which award Bakalaur, but at least for Moscow, I can be sure,since I studied there, that it takes 5 years for the lowest degree at the Faculty of Biology, MGU.
Candidate degree, as its name implies, has nothing to do with a doctorate degree (although the amount of knowledge one has with that degree is indeed comparable with western PhD). Actually, it only gives you a candidate status for "doctor of sciences/доктор наук", and I do not know anybody (except a couple of guys in math and physics) who became "doctor of sciences/доктор наук" before 40 ! So, in Russia it takes much longer to get a doctorate degree than in the West, and the same goes for almost all undergraduate degrees (particularly from MGU) !</p>
<p>I'm applying this autumn to several US and Canadian universities, and here are my stats:</p>
<p>GRE General V-570, Q-660, Analytical - still waiting, but does not expect it to be less than 4.5
GRE Subject test in biochemistry/molecular/cell biology - 90%
GPA - 92% (I don't know how to convert our grading system to American, but over here everything less than 60% is fail (F), and the top is of course 100% which nobody ever achieves)
TOEFL ib - 107
Fluent in French as well (DELF diploma - 92%)
Research experience - very modest: 6 months in a molecular virology lab of University of Belgrade and 3 months of confocal microscopy training (due to the political circumstances in my country after fall of Slobodan Milosevic, I could not get some summer fellowship)</p>
<p>Finally, here's the list of universities where I will apply:</p>
<p>Harvard - BBS
Stanford
UCLA
University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine
University of British Columbia
University of Toronto
Universite de Montreal</p>
<p>Please bee free to assess my chances of getting admitted to these universities based on your experiences. I'm looking forward to your advices !</p>
<p>I think this is a perfect mix of schools, and your GRE scores are really good fora biologist. I think you should just try to tae GRE in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and you'll have a perfect CV !
Good luck !</p>
<p>I am also preparing my application for grad schools. My background may be a bit different from others. I graduated from a foreign country, but currently have permanent resident status (green card). I'd like to apply for PhD programs in Virology/Infectious diseases/Pathobiology. </p>
<p>Stats
GPA: 3.62 from a high reputation school in my native country. My degree is DVM but it's considered as undergrad.
GRE: 770Q/650V/4.0AWA
TOEFL iBT: 112 out of 120
Reseach experiences: 2 years of undergrad research in clinical pharmacology with 1 poster presentation in an international conference. No publication yet. This summer I am working in a virology lab at my alma matter and also collaborating in a CDC-funded project. My contract will end in september, though.
Other work experience: some veterinary experience (mostly with small animals)</p>
<p>I planned to apply to;</p>
<p>UPenn (Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology Program)
Cornell (Comparative Bio Med)
UW-Madison (Comparative Bio Med)
UC-Davis (Comparative Pathology)
UIUC (Pathobiology)
Colorado State (Immunology, Microbiology and Pathology)
U of MN (Comparative Bio Med)
U of Georgia (Infectious Diseases)</p>
<p>2 of those programs require me to find professors who will fund me before they will officially admit me into the program, and they don't do lab rotation. However, I have sent emails and half of professors replied back saying they are not accepting new students. This makes me very unsure. I don't know if I should just cut those programs off if I ultimately can't find anybody, or I should aim to bigger program with lab rotation. I'm really confused.</p>
<p>Most of programs I looked are from universities that have vet schools. My research interests are in emerging infectious diseases, zoonotic diseases, and animal models for human viral diseases. Another weak point of mine may be my work experience after graduation when I moved to the US and I can't really find a good job. I don't know if I will have a chance for Top 20 promgrams offered from med schools. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>serbianguy, I think your GRE scores, and, more importantly, your research is on the low end for the schools to which you are applying, especially considering that you are an international student. I'd throw in some more low to mid-range schools or take a year off to get more research experience and re-take the GRE.</p>
<p>Quote: However, I have sent emails and half of professors replied back saying they are not accepting new students. This makes me very unsure. I don't know if I should just cut those programs off if I ultimately can't find anybody, or I should aim to bigger program with lab rotation. I'm really confused.</p>
<p>virion, I have similar problem. 40% of labs are full and not accepting students on grad positions... Don't know what to do.</p>
<p>Hey Virion, your profile looks good, particularly for the programs you are applying to. May I make a suggestion regarding Colorado State University- they have a policy (at least in the cellular dept) to admit far more grad students than could be funded with the expectation that they will be weeded out before they begin their thesis. One of my colleagues went there for grad school and she (was among the weeded) felt that this policy lead to a hostile environment and an "everyone for themself" mentality. Was Colo State one of the programs requiring you to find a funded mentor before applying?</p>
<p>Penicillin, we seem to be in the same boat. I am wondering how a big program can take 90-100 students and give funding to all of them. </p>
<p>belevitt, your friend's story sounds scary (to me). I know a PhD student in the same condition, but not at colorado state u. His program is so terrible in term of getting funding. It's exactly ""everyone for themself" scenario you mentioned. The program at colorado state u i looked is offered by the vet school. They said if an accepted student can't find any mentor, he/she has to do 3 lab rotations. Finding a mentor is not a requirement to be admitted into the program for CSU, but for UW-Madison and UC-Davis.</p>
<p>So far as my GRE General is concerned I would not worry too much because the competitive score for M.D Anderson Graduate program in cancer biology (the best in USA for cancer biology) is Q+V=1250, and A=4.5 Frequently</a> Asked Questions about Admission to GSBS . For Feinberg School of medicine at Northwestern University even lower. At least they say so on their sites. Besides, I heard from some students who got admitted there that they pay more attention on GRE Subject test in molecular biology and biochemistry, if you have one. I know that my research experience is my Achilles heel, but there isn't very much that I can do to improve it. I simply do not have a chance since there are no biomedical companies over here like in USA, and I have already been in the best possible lab we have over here.</p>