<p>serbianguy .. I heared that every single applicant is more competitive than the other thats why they no longer consider scholarships but aid comes in the form of assistantships</p>
<p>Thanks tvgradschool. I'm sorry, but I'm reluctant to disclose the field of my scientific interest on this forum. I don't think it matters that much for admission purposes. Anyway, it's something where Canadians pioneered and where they're long way ahead of US and EU.</p>
<p>Wow, that's not weird...</p>
<p>Kunrd07, glad you said it and not me. Serbianguy, given the departmental focus of admissions, I think that the department you're looking at does have a significant bearing on admissions. It's fine if you want to be cryptic on the forum board but why would you have spelled out all of your personal numerical statistics and omitted what general field of science you want to commit your life to?</p>
<p>to avoid the fierce competition he might put himself into</p>
<p>well, theoretically, if someone was interested in cancer stem cells they would definetly not have to go to Harvard or Stanford to do work in this field. This is one of the hottest areas in cancer research. Don't forget that it takes time to get into an emerging field, so many professors who have yet to publish a cancer stem cell paper are actually currently working on this topic (i.e. top stem cell only researchers or top cancer only researchers). It seems that most of the top cancer labs in the US are doing work in this area now (although the basic premises of the research are still hotly debated).</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm sorry, but I'm reluctant to disclose the field of my scientific interest on this forum.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And yet you have signed your name and disclosed where you are from and all your personal statistics. </p>
<p>If anonymity is your goal, I think you already failed that one.</p>
<p>I dont think the objective of this forum is to spy on people - each has his point of view whether to hide or to share his privacies</p>
<p>I did the process last year, and got in at MIT, Harvard BBS, Penn and Columbia (among some other places), with a waitlisting at Rockefeller.</p>
<p>First recommendation--if you're still in school, make sure you'll be taking a light classwork and research-work load in Jan, Feb, and March, or else life gets really hectic.</p>
<p>Second recommendation--if you can afford to fulfill the first recommendation (and can afford application fees), apply to a lot of schools, especially ones in cities you want to visit. Interview/recruitment weekends are fun times, 100% paid for, a good way to rack up airline frequent flier miles, and they give you a rare chance to have serious, long conversations with some of your scientific heroes. I'd definitely recommend Sloan-Kettering (even if you don't want to be in new york, you'll appreciate how they pamper you), Penn, UCSD, and Columbia as places where the weekend is well worth the application effort.</p>
<p>Applications: two things: one is that the overarching theme of your application must be that independent research excites you, and that you're ready for independent research. Classwork really doesn't mean that much (GPA and GRE are of about equal value)--play up all research accomplishments and how independently you worked at them. And make sure you don't sound like a presumptous dick in your essay (have 2 professors from your current department read it--it doesn't have to be great, as few people get in only because of their essay if their research experience is weak, but it can definitely kill your chances if you mess it up).</p>
<p>stanford2008,</p>
<p>Mind sharing with us your stats?</p>
<p>GRE: 760/760/5.5
GRE Biology: 890 (by the way, take the bio one instead of biochem if you haven't registered yet)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.72 (or something like that I don't remember) from a top 5 university</p>
<p>2 years of cell bio research, with a good enough relationship with the prof to get a rec that was likely stellar; presented a poster at a big meeting.</p>
<p>work at a scientific database reading papers/doing bioinformatics for 2 years.</p>
<p>No real awards at the time of applying.</p>
<p>Spectacular stats, man. Hats off to you.</p>
<p>So I have seen this a few times- why are your subject test scores in the 890 (or whatever number) format? My score report only had percentile rankings. Is there a way to convert them?</p>
<p>Hello ,
I'm a 3rd year student doing my Msc in Biological
Sciences from BITS Pilani (India) which is one of the top 10 colleges
in India.I'm interested in doing a PhD after I get my Msc degree(
which would be in 2 years from now) and I've already given my GRE(
general) and have scored 1550( 750V + 800Q) in it.Also my CGPA is
8/10.Solely, on the basis of these 2 scores I wanted to know what are
my chances of getting selected for the Immunology Program at Harvard's?</p>
<p>bloomingtulip, nice GRE. It's hard to judge your chances without knowing your research, LOE and how the schools may view your current institution.</p>
<p>Bloomingtulip, I agree with PhD Bound about your research/letters of recommendation being important to the question at hand. I think that your hard statistics are about as good as they can be, but you should definitely take the subject test as a lot of domestic schools would expect it and it would give a more clear understanding of how advanced you are in the field. That being said, I don't think anyone's shot is good at Harvard Immunology sigh. Their dept photos make it look like there are only 8-9 students in the department and their recruit photos only show a handful of potentials. Their website also shows the thesis projects for the last six years which only has 10 projects listed. What a shame, I too would love to be in this department but the odds are stacked so high against admissions. Perhaps you could apply for a related science/umbrella program and still get to the same place through a different department. Best of luck. Also don't forget to consider other schools very highly.</p>
<p>The Harvard immunology program is indeed quite small, although perhaps there are also fewer applicants than to bigger programs.</p>
<p>A Harvard BBS student (the umbrella program) could rotate with or join the lab of any of the immunology professors, though.</p>
<p>Just wanted to run my credentials by you guys. Most people here have some serious rockstar stats. I have always tried to work hard and do my best.</p>
<p>State school majoring in Genetics minoring in chemistry
Desired Field: Medical Genetics</p>
<p>GPA: 3.53 (maybe plus a bit).
GRE: 660Q/ 570 V: I studied my butt off for this, and I think if I retook, the chances I would do better are to low to constitute trying this. I know the math especially is on the lower side. </p>
<p>-Chem Club Secretary for a year (does that matter?)
-Undergraduate TA for 3 semesters in basic biology and genetics classes.
-Summer Research Fellowship at my home university, starting work on a research project. Through this I actually ended up having my hand in about three total projects that are all sort of connected (one is more my own than the other two).<br>
-Summer Internship: Department of Public Health: Everything from West Nile Virus, to Rabies, to Sanitation, to social work, etc etc etc.
-Undergraduate research:5 Credits (3 required): This work continues on my summer work. I am still working out the bugs in my PCR (and the fact that my advisor changed the protocol for data analysis puts me back at square starting this coming monday).</p>
<p>No pubs, though I know my name will show up on some articles eventually once the primary authors get the work finalized. I'd be lucky if people had something published by this fall. Though its likely my name would be 3rd author, or maybe 2nd depending on how the final course of action takes.</p>
<p>Anyways.</p>
<p>Schools (Rough List)</p>
<ol>
<li>Ohio State</li>
<li>University of Michigan</li>
<li>Indiana University and Indianapolis</li>
<li>Case Western Reserve</li>
<li>Oregon Health and Sciences University</li>
<li>John Hopkins University </li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>University of Maryland</li>
</ol>
<p>I know some of those schools might be a stretch, but hey, you never know if you try. I also might apply to University of Chicago and maybe a few other high brow places, but again I know those a reach for me.</p>
<p>I am still looking for programs, theres alot to sift through but I ultimately want to get my ABMG certification and go from there.</p>
<p>So any input would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>None of those programs are stretches. You're in fine shape and I would be shocked if any one of those programs denied you admission. Enjoy the interview weekends.</p>
<p>Leave out anything that suggests that your summer work had anything to do with social work. PCR shouldn't be too tough to master, there are lots of online resources providing that your primers are appropriate (don't rely on computer programs for that, learn how to design primers by hand and then let vectornti validate your choices). More important would be to determine what sample prep issues you have going into PCR. I would be proud to have you in my cohort.</p>
<p>sanf4362,</p>
<p>I think you have just the right mix of schools on your list. Good luck!</p>