<p>I think the rest of your application really outweighs the GRE. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got into a lot of those schools.</p>
<p>Either way, working towards grad school is an endeavor that takes yrs. Yrs of undergrad courses and research and maybe even a Masters degree. So your application is a focused representation of what you have accomplished academically in the past few years.</p>
<p>After considering all the hard work that went into making a solid application, would you really chance letting a minor thing like the GRE get in the way of all that? </p>
<p>Safetypin00 is right that it MIGHT not be that big a deal. </p>
<p>However, I think it would be irresponsible to chance it. In the long run, that extra studying won’t seem like a big deal.</p>
<p>You also don’t want to get rejected from so and so top notch school and wonder whether a higher GRE score could have tipped the odds in your favor.</p>
<p>^^agreed. not worth the risk imo.</p>
<p>I have a question. Does anybody know how graduate schools look at working for a private company as supposed to academia? I have been working for two small companies doing preclinical research, including assay development and novel biology experiments, so not the typical run one kind of assay every day thing of industry. I have seen elsewhere on this site, that working for private companies is not seen as true “research experience” and is looked at negatively. This thought has been stressing me out lately.</p>
<p>Honestly, there’s nothing you can do about it now so don’t worry about it, just wait and see what happens. Few have the “perfect” package anyway.</p>
<p>Working for a private company is perfectly fine research experience, as long as your job isn’t as the receptionist or something. A guy in my class worked for four years at a drug company; I think that was his only research experience and he did great as far as getting in.</p>
<p>thank you guys. for the feedback. i just had a really bad day when i took the test. if i would have to retake it i would have to go for november and it would be too late by then. but in any case, i will continue with my application and hope for the best. thank you all =)</p>
<p>Nutmeg, I worked in biotech for a couple of years between undergrad and grad school. You certainly could be doing research at a company as opposed to an academic lab; I did. However, it is less likely that you will publish an article in industry as compared to academia. While a publication record isn’t necessary to go to a good graduate school, it doesn’t hurt. IMHO, working in industry is a bum option if you are planning to return to academia.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Does anyone know the difference between the Harvard HILS program and the BBS? I guess I’m a bit confused on how the two are different and what each program focuses on? I read the site and I’m trying to figure out which is a better fit for me so I thought that I’d ask. Also, does anyone know approximately how many students each program accepts? Thanks!</p>
<p>This question gets asked a lot, and I really wish Harvard would have a diagram on the website explaining this.</p>
<p>So HILS isn’t actually a “program”. It’s the overarching association of all life sciences programs at Harvard, both in Cambridge and at the medical school. The major HILS programs are MCB (in Cambridge) and the programs under the Division of Medical Sciences at the medical school (BBS, Neuroscience, Virology, and Immunology). HILS was created so that a) applicants could apply to multiple programs within Harvard under a single application, and b) graduate students could join labs not officially affiliated with their programs.</p>
<p>BBS (at the medical school) and MCB (in Cambridge) are the two main biology programs at Harvard. BBS is quite a bit larger (incoming class size of ~50-60) than MCB (incoming class size of ~20-25, IIRC), and may be a little easier to get into. More importantly, BBS is located at the medical school, so most affiliated professors are doing biomedical research and the core curriculum is focused on biological research with medical applications, while MCB’s professors and coursework are focused more on basic science.</p>
<p>I hope that helps. Harvard does not do a good job of making this clear on the website.</p>
<p>BBS is easier to get into? This makes my day! :)</p>
<p>Currently trying to decide whether to apply to UC Davis or UCLA for Neuroscience. Which is considered less competitive/slightly easier to gain admission to? I’m guessing UCLA, but anyone with experience applying to either of these schools is welcome to chime in.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that UCLA ACCESS (which houses the neuroscience program?) was relatively competitive. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>I don’t know about UCLA or UC Davis in terms of easiness but it seems to me that UCLA, UCSF and UCSD have better reputation for neuroscience than UC Davis. I could be wrong, but I both of my supervisors urged me to apply to UCLA and UCSF (for neuro) but I am not because I’m international so my chances are virtually nil. So from that I would venture to say UC Davis might be easier, but that’s just one factor… I haven’t looked into the schools at all for the above reasoning.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’m already applying to UCSF (not really expecting to get in) but wanted to try for another Cali school while I’m at it and couldn’t decide between the two. Thanks for the small bit of advice though!</p>
<p>-For UCLA, I think ACCESS leads into the Neurobiology focus, and there is also a separate Neuroscience Graduate Program. I’m not completely sure though, because a lot of schools have multiple ways of specializing in the same thing it seems haha.</p>
<p>I recently took the GRE exam and got some highly disappointing results. I’m currently in my senior year doing a B.A in chemistry. My intention is to apply for a PhD in biophysics this fall.</p>
<p>Here are the stats:</p>
<p>Gpa 3.9 (science)
LoRs - I have two strong ones from a research mentor at my home institution and another one from another professor for a summer research program. I’m currently in another lab in my home institution but I only started this semester so I am unsure as to whether It would be a good addition or not.
Research experience - As the LoRs suggest, I worked for 2 years in an organic lab, then I worked a full summer in a biophysics/biochemistry lab and currently working in an bioanalytical lab this academic year. This last one is actually heavily physics oriented which is ideal for the physics I wish to learn/apply.</p>
<p>GRE: 480v, 710Q 4.5W, I haven’t taken the subject yet.</p>
<p>This latter is what concerns me the most. I was thinking to apply to those biosciences umbrella programs that Harvard, Standford and others have. Am I being a delusional fool to think I could ever make it into such schools? Is there a possibility that my other stats may counterbalance these non-impressive scores? Does it look bad if I retake it, in fact, should I try retaking it? I know I can do much better in the quantitative section (possibly 30 points higher or more with proper training), but I don’t know what to do about my verbal. I also haven’t prepared at all for the subject exam and my only chance to take it is next month–is it possible to prepare for this exam in one month or is this suicide?</p>
<p>Thanks all for your input.</p>
<p>anomalous, </p>
<p>I was considering retaking my gres (730Q,600V), and a grad student in my lab warned me that if I retake them and do worse, it could really hurt me. He suggested that if I was feeling rich, there is a sneaky way that you can retake the gres and only report your new score if it is better. What you have to do is order all your score reports now (or maybe just for the schools you really care about) and then retake them. Then, the schools will already have scores from you so you can pay to resend the reports only if you do better.</p>
<p>anyway, just a thought. it costs 20 dollars for each report, but it might be worth it for at least your top choice schools.</p>
<p>After seven months of researching schools, looking into where I want to go, writing/rewriting my SoP and personal statement, and a ton of other stuff, I finally submitted my first complete application today. </p>
<p>I’m officially in the running for Fall 2010! :)</p>
<p>^ Wow that’s a lot of time spent! Good luck!</p>
<p>Because I am one of the those super thorough people, I want to make sure I am not forgetting any great programs that I’ll regret not applying to later – so, besides all the schools listed on USNWR top biosci and specialties programs, are there any other special programs that I might miss for some reason?</p>