Hi!
I am going to apply this fall to grad schools in the fields of Neuroscience / Psychology.
I’m an international student who studied undergrad at McGill University; double majored in Political Science and Psychology with a minor in Behavioral Science…
my first semester was a little rocky as I moved into a new country with a new language; but afterwards I got my ducks in a row, and managed to get a CGPA of 3.5/4.0, and will continue rising it up (it’s only been getting better with every semester, with the last one being 3.85 → and I have 2 more semesters before grad school…)
Their online minimum requirement for students from Canadian universities is 3.3 CGPA…
I’m obviously gonna add a letter of extenuating circumstances in regards to the 1st semester…
Other than that, I am currently (will be for 6 months In the lab when the letter is written) a research assistant in a pretty prestigious neuroscience lab here, which will write me a recommendation letter; and am looking for a prof that would write one too…
Anyone knows the odds to get an interview? anyone that applied to these fields / other fields with similar requirements (2:1 UK degree), and managed to land an interview?
It’s a dark art, so even with more info, it will be hard for anybody to “chance” you- but you haven’t given enough info and I’m not sure that you have done enough homework. The aims and courses at the three universities are pretty different, and one of the evaluation pieces is how well your background and future academic interests fit their program.
Fwiw, for your ‘extenuating circumstances’, better to have an LoR note it- 'Although Eylond was disappointed with her/his first term results, as her/his teacher I was impressed by her/his ability and commitment to learning, as evidenced by her/his ability to achieve satisfactory results despite working in a new language.
Yeah that’s what I’ve realized from reading online that indeed it is a form of “dark art” and it’s not about a certain cutoff that needs to be achieved…
With regards to reading about the actual programs, you mind elaborating a little more? I read their brochures on each of the programs, and im most interested in the Cambridge one because of its equal research taught dynamic…
In terms of what specific field of neuroscience interests me most, I would definitely say the entirety of the frontal lobe and related functions are what interest me, and are also the topics I am helping research in our lab. so addiction, working memory, high-order processing… memory retrievals… but I definitely don’t know the exact scope and sphere within which I would like to research… but isn’t that normal considering I am only starting to study a masters in Neuroscience without any actual neuroscience degree?
I am trying rly hard to get as many neuro classes as I can on my transcript within my program atm.
and about my LoR, I have just the perfect professor for that! in his class I got a B- the first semester in neuroscience, and then in his advanced level course which is MUCH harder, got an A (highest we have)… so ill try getting him to right my letter as he can attest to my learning curve…
Do they normally interview for programs in your field? My experience of graduate admissions in the U.K. is that interviews are rare. Oxbridge tend to be very focused on grades. While they will state the minimum as a B/2:1, in almost cases you will need to average the equivalent of an A/first to be competitive. I agree about the LOR angle.
Are you looking more research or applied? do you plan to go on to a PhD? have you looked at their faculty to see who is doing work (research or applied) that is interesting to you? Burrow into the info- look past the brochure.
definitely research! And yeah PhD is definitely the path I am heading towards, unless something will change during my Masters… I’m essentially looking into masters programs (as opposed to fast-track PhDs); A) because I need to prove my abilities in neuroscience and my degree doesn’t rly do that, and B) because I’d like to be fully developed in terms of my research interest and path I want to pursue In the field before embarking on the long PhD journey.
And yeah they do conduct interviews for Neuroscience in Oxbridge to the best of my knowledge!
With regards to the GPA, I am currently at 3.5 which is halfway between 2:1 and first; and I still have a year to go, with my progress showing constant improvement with every semester. Also, I transferred universities, so my first year has a GPA of 3.85, and then at McGill I essentially had a learning curve that shows how I got back to that initial point, but is badly affected by the first semester, which is why I only have a 3.5… (3.7 is the equivalent of a first…); which also means that every semester counts a lot for my GPA at McGill… so I have the power to change it a lot (assuming I maintain my current track… should that make me consider taking a gap year while doing some research before applying, so that I apply with the highest possible GPA and more experience?)
In terms of specific faculty members, I did do some research on them… should I come equipped with the exact labs/professors I am interested in to my application? is that something that’s expected of me?
Further, when I find such faculty member, do I just need to be interested in the theme of their research or more than that? Does that mean I am bound to their interests and expertise?
(For instance, say I am interested in addiction and drug use. there’s plenty of researchers on that, but most of them don’t tackle the endocannabinoid system, which subsequently it is one of the most underdeveloped research fields in neuroscience. should I still be interested in their labs if that’s what I want to study? – that’s one of the directions I am heading towards)
And overall, yeah! that’s why im asking here! I’m trying to fully understand what’s the “way” to tackle this whole graduate application process. I wasn’t raised in an environment that really prepares you for any of this. I found out I need a LoR for grad school just last year! (which made me quickly gather myself and get into a lab and try to engage with my profs more).
Lastly, all of the aforementioned is precisely the reason I am most interested in Cambridge, which have an equal taught/research program, which I hope will allow me to gain the knowledge I need while exploring my interests.
