<p>Hello Everyone. I'm a student from India, and I'm currently in the third and final year of BSc studies. I am interested in pursuing a career in Neuroscience. I contacted people at some schools and only a few ones, fortunately or unfortunately, the top ones said they'd accept a 3-year BS - UCSD, Yale, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, MIT and Cornell. </p>
<p>By the time I got the confirmation of the 3-year BSc, I had only two weeks to go for the deadline, and one week before I could start applications, so effectively I had only a week to prepare for the GRE. I landed up with Q-700 and V-550. I haven't gotten my analytical scores yet. I know 1250 is low, but did have only a week of preparation time before deadlines ended.</p>
<p>We dont' get GPAs at my university. We score marks out of 100 in examinations and we're awarded aggregate percentages. Passing percentage is 40% and above 60% is regarded as First Class. I average around 77% in the first 5 semesters of my BSc (that'd be a GPA of around 4.7 on 5 if my registrar is to be believed). In terms of grades, I've been straight As and A+ throughout. </p>
<p>I did my summer internship at a big lab, Defence Institute of Psychological Research. I've been involved with their research teams for 8 months now. I'm pursuing an original research project that looks into the neural correlates of deceptive ability in human beings. I've designed a few paradigms for use in fMRI and the experiments are underway. We will be conducting a few fPET experiments too. A publication as shared first author is under preparation. My meta-analytical review paper is ready but I haven't yet submitted it for publication; I'm holding it off till I get all the experimental results. </p>
<p>I also formulated a research project in neurobiology and it has been accepted at NIMHANS, India's biggest Neuroscience lab.</p>
<p>I have LOADS of prizes and certificates in extra-curriculars, including national level child scientist awards etc. My extra-curricular prizes have been in diverse fields. I have quite some community service experience too. </p>
<p>My letters of recommendation are great, one coming from my guide in the deception project who's the director of the institute, an emeritus professor at an IIT and an Advisor to the President. He is on the panels of some cognitive science committees in the USA. </p>
<p>Sadly, research opportunities for undergrads in India are very very meager. Most labs prefer people who're doing an MSc degree (in India, an MSc is an absolute requirement to get into a PhD program). We dont' have awards for summer training or research internships etc. Undergraduate colleges are far removed from the University campuses and no research happens at undergrad colleges.</p>
<p>The UCSD grad counsellor told me my SoP was very engaging and enjoyable to read and that he was able to get a clear picture of me as a person and my aims.</p>
<p>With all this, what are my chances? Any idea? I wish I could upload my CV and SoP somwhere.</p>
<p>Oh, and I was a Rhodes hopeful form my country this year. Lost out at the interviews, since only 5 are selected from the whole of India. Does that count?</p>