Chance for Biomedical-Immunology PhD program

Graduate School
1

Hey there, I am wondering if anyone could help me determine my chances at getting into a Biomedical-Immunology specific PhD program. My undergraduate degree is in Microbiology at LSU (Louisiana State University) and I have a GPA of 3.45. I don’t plan on applying to schools that require the GRE and below they are listed below based on specific research labs that interest me (Transplant Immunology).

I have extensive research and clinical laboratory experience (4 years) in the field of transplant immunology along with certifications in the field that allow me to practice clinically which I assume would help my chances in applying to the different programs. However, the low GPA is what has me troubled so I went ahead and applied and got accepted to Tulane’s Masters program in Microbiology and Immunology to help offset that GPA. Now I’m wondering if that is even necessary to put myself through that.

If you need any more information please let me know and ill reply promptly!

Here is a short list of schools I’m interested in applying:

  1. Emory
  2. UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham)
  3. Johns Hopkins
  4. UCSF (University of California at San Francisco)
  5. U Chicago
  6. GWU (George Washington University)
  7. Icahn school of medicine at Mt Sini

Thanks!

2

With a 3.45 GPA, you should take the GRE and try to score high on it. First of all, it’s a bad idea to limit your options to only schools that don’t require the GRE - the test is only 3 hours of your life. However, on top of that, with a mediocre GPA (and I say that as someone who graduated from college with a 3.42), a high GRE score can help balance your application out a bit.

An MS in the field would also help. I’d say you have a very solid shot - even with a mediocre GPA, you have extensive research and clinical laboratory experience (and presumably can thus write a strong statement and solicit strong recommendations from past PIs). I think the GRE would help if you thought you’d score highly.

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