International student applying to US bioscience grad programs

Graduate School
1

<p>Dear all,</p>

<p>Congratulations on all the 2013 grad program acceptances. I am a student from the Netherlands and I also wish to apply to US bioscience graduate programs this year. However, as an international student I do not know how well my academic credentials compete against those of US students, or those of other international students. I was hoping that some people here could help shed light on this matter, especially because many of you have recently received their acceptances.</p>

<p>My aim is to apply to one or more of the following programs: Stanford -biosc, UCSF-tetrad, UC Berkeley-MCB, Harvard-MCB, MIT-bio, Columbia-biochem, Yale-MCDB, Princeton-MB, and The Scripps Institute.</p>

<p>My academic credentials:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Undergrad: B.Sc. (honors program) + M.Sc., both with the highest possible distinctions, from an average Dutch university. All 15-or-so universities in the Netherlands are ranked approximately evenly, and all somewhere within the top ~50-100 of the world.</p></li>
<li><p>Majors: Biomed, Chemistry</p></li>
<li><p>Overall GPA: minimally 3.85, but more likely somewhere around 3.95. I haven’t officially converted my Dutch GPA into a US one, but I’m somewhere in the top 5% grade-range in my country.</p></li>
<li><p>GRE: I do not have my subject GRE scores or my general GRE scores yet, but I plan to do them later this year.</p></li>
<li><p>IELTS: 8.5 avg.</p></li>
<li><p>Research Experience: I have 2 years of full-time research experience, of which one year has been at a mid-level Ivy university (not Harvard) in the US. I am third author on 1 publication, in a journal with an average-to-good impact factor.</p></li>
<li><p>Extra: I have been a tutor in biology and chemistry, and later on a chemistry teaching assistant for about a year. I have been awarded 4 competitive Dutch scholarships to study abroad.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Assuming that I receive average GRE scores, what do you think my chances are to be admitted to any of these programs, am I aiming to high? I am several years older compared to the average age of US students that are applying since I have already obtained my Masters degree, will this affect or harm my application? Finally, in general, do I inherently have an advantage or disadvantage to apply as an international student (i.e. is the admittance rate generally higher or lower for international students than for US students?)</p>

<p>Thank you for your help.</p>

2

<p>It is impossible to give you odds on admission to the most selective graduate programs because they all have many applicants and consequently have to make difficult choices for the relatively small number of assistantships. That being said, you are likely to be an attractive candidate for some good programs. The fact that you already have an M.S. means you can get to research right away and I know that at my university, European applicants are always seriously considered.</p>

<p>You did not say for what year you plan to apply but I assume Fall 2014 since most admissions deadlines have already passed for Fall 2013. Just make sure you apply to a range of schools, not just the “Top 20” ones where it is often a question of chance if your application catches the eye. You can get a rough idea of how programs stack up at [PhDs.org:</a> Jobs for PhDs, graduate school rankings, and career resources](<a href=“http://phds.org%5DPhDs.org:”>http://phds.org)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>