<p>I applied to graduate school, but there is a huge possibility that I will not be accepted for this current cycle (entry class of fall 09). I am not sure what I can do to improve my eligibility for graduate school. Any suggestions on why I may not have been accepted and how to improve my application for the next cycle will be appreciated. </p>
<p>I've mainly applied to neuroscience programs (10+ schools). Here are my stats:</p>
<p>--Graduated from UCLA with a 3.7 overall gpa and a 4.0 science gpa.
--Degree: B.S. Neuroscience
--Research Experience: Worked in a neuroscience lab for 4+ years as a full-time paid position.
--Clinical research for 2 years.
--Teaching Assistant at my university for 2 years.
--Tutored for 1 year.
--Neuroscience outreach for 1 year.
--Had four strong letter of recommendations from professors and dean who have known me for many years and I've worked closely with them.
--Several publications pending (submitted recently). I've been working on them for the last 2-3 years.
--GRE: 560 verbal, 670 math, 5 on writing
--GRE Biochemistry subject test: 53%; I have only taken one biochemistry class and no cellbio or molbio. I've been out of school for awhile. Did not expect to do well...hard to find time to study when I am working full-time. </p>
<p>--> most likely will not be re-taking these tests...hard to find time to study and I'll probably score the same with my schedule.</p>
<p>Naomi119: Which schools did you apply to? Did you diversify your school choices (top ten, top twenty, top fifty)? Did you submit your subject test results to all of your schools, or just the ones that required it? Do you have any idea how strong your personal statement/statement of purpose was? Lastly, are you sure that your LORs were all strong and nobody had anything bad to say? </p>
<p>To me, you sound like a very very strong applicant (except the GRE scores, which are average).</p>
<p>–I’ve applied to UCSF, UCLA, UCI, UCSD, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, University of Washington. I also applied to multiple programs out of the schools I listed. </p>
<p>–I submitted my subject test results to all my schools.
–I am pretty sure my personal statement was great… I had multiple professors read it thoroughly and critique it inside and out.
–I am 200% sure no one wrote me a bad letter of recommendation, they are not only my colleagues, but as well as my friends…my b/f and I have dinner/beer with them almost every week!</p>
<p>I am baffled that I have am having difficulty being invited for interviews and as well as being rejected after interviews. Thank you for the reply.</p>
<p>I am also baffled that you haven’t gotten any interviews yet. You applied to 11 schools with excellent grades, research experience, publications etc. You aimed high but I don’t think you aimed too high. There must have been something seriously wrong with your personal statement or you might have inadvertently checked the international box or something like that. You did apply to very competitive schools but there must have been a number of individuals with less impressive backgrounds applying to the same that still ended up with interviews. How many interviews did you get? Did you try to find out why you were rejected? After the interview? You have my sympathy.</p>
<p>All of my letter of recommendations were received for all the schools. I only received three interviews and got rejected from everywhere else. I tried to find out…most of the schools didn’t tell me why I was rejected. Some said that I was not a good fit…</p>
<p>I am hella depressed about this…I don’t know what to do! =O(</p>
<p>Where are your interviews? Ultimately, you only need to be admitted to one program that makes you happy (research that matches your interest and excites you! + hella good funding).</p>
<p>Even if you are not happy with your current list, be enthusiastic on your interviews and see what they’re about. In my case, one program was a lot better than what I expected. If you’re not impressed at all, then maybe you can try again next year. I know it’s tough… arghhh especially with your excellent credential =( But It’s not the end of the world, really =) With more experience, you’ll be even more competitive that no phenomena can stop you!</p>
<p>"I also applied to multiple programs out of the schools I listed. " Maybe that was the mistake? Perhaps applying to more than 1 program per school made you look less focused or interested in the individual programs and more interested in just getting into the school .</p>
<p>Naomi, did you specifically link your research interests with a particular professor or lab? If you did not mention this, I can understand why you are getting rejected for the wrong fit factor.</p>
<p>I second what tenisghs said- often if the departments are similar, there is a huge overlap of faculty members. Maybe someone read your same/slightly different application on two different occasions? </p>
<p>Actually, 3 out of that list of top schools isn’t bad at all, despite what it must seem like to you. This board has an over-representation of people who get in almost everywhere. I know at least 4 of my friends who applied to 11 or 12 programs and have about the same number of hits as you- and they are over the moon! I myself only went to 3 interviews as well.</p>
<p>–All the programs I selected was related to the research I wanted to pursue. For instance, I applied to neuroscience programs as well as pharmacology; thus, some programs overlapped with one another and I don’t see a problem with applying to both programs if I wanted to pursue neuropharmacology.</p>
<p>–As for my interviews, I’ve thought the interview went spectacular. I’ve met with a lot of faculties whose work was very similar to mine. A lot of faculties I met with already was starting to layout a project for me and was asking me to come in in the summer. Thus, I totally linked my research interest with theirs and I even gave them better insight on their future directions, which is why they asked me to work with them because I gave them the ideas. </p>
<p>–I contacted all the interviewers and asked them what happened…and most of them are bewildered about my situation and they really wanted me to work for them. Thus, I must have ****ed someone off who was on the admission committee, but did not interview me. </p>
<p>–I really hate this whole process…I seriously do not know what went wrong. What makes matters worst, my boyfriend is going to grad school and I’m not! ugh! :(</p>
<p>Did you already hear back from all the places you interviewed at? No success at all? This must be the strangest and scariest story I’ve heard so far-- I am so sorry!!</p>
<p>Have you actually been rejected since interviewing or are you just waiting for an answer.</p>
<p>My DD applied to only 5 places for a PhD, so far 1 rejection, 1 interview & admitted the same week, 3 others have not done anything yet…so I don’t think 3/11 is necessarily bad numbers.</p>
<p>The rejection came from the school with the least fit, they received 250 applicants to just that subspecialty school of the overall subject school (like neuro is a sub of psych or bio), so there is simply a lot of competition.</p>
<p>BUt three interview rejections, that would be tough.</p>
<p>It is really a shame that people cannot tell you what the issue is, if there is one. I used to be on a hiring committee, sometimes every one wanted Susy, but could not justify picking her over Mary who had 10 years experience. Sometimes Joan thought she was a good candidate, but there was something about her that simply did not fit the company style and some people who applied could have been well served by a few pointers on things to NOT say or do!</p>
<p>I have been rejected after being interviewed!! I have one more interview coming up. This is my last hope! I am trying to figure out what I can do to correct what I’ve been doing wrong…sort of hard when the schools can’t tell me. :(</p>
<p>Naomi, the best advice I could do is set up an informational interview with a professor at your school and see if they could pinpoint any mistakes (implicit or obvious) you might be doing. It sucks to know that sometimes even the smallest mistakes (posture, attitude) can negatively affect your chances.</p>
<p>Who wrote you letters? Professors? If not, this could be a small factor. Are you certain that the letters were positive? Your stats look good enough for many places so, in my mind it is coming down to your lors. Also, you applied to some of the most competitive places in the world, three interviews is fantastic. </p>
<p>A couple of other points… this statement is very surprising</p>
<p>“I even gave them better insight on their future directions… because I gave them the ideas.”</p>
<p>When you are interviewing are you telling people what they should do or are you asking questions and being actively engaged in a conversation? I would be careful with this. If the faculty are put off by this and you contact them later they might not tell you the whole truth.
Another factor to consider is your interactions with students during recruitment. If you are making negative comments to the students it will get back to the faculty and the admissions committee. This is far from trivial.</p>
<p>Is it me or are admissions to top neuro grad schools more competititve than other top biomed fields.</p>
<p>One student who was international from Canada had similar stats but a better GPA, higher subject test scores and higher GRE scores, and MULTIPLE 1st author publications and he got rejected from just about every school.</p>
<p>Frankly, that 53% subject test score is disgusting. It wasn’t a smart move to send it off to all the schools.</p>
<p>Alot of times some students (especially some over-the-top overachievers) do things that rub a lot of people the wrong way. They say things that come off as arrogant, condescending, and just irritating to others and they are totally unaware of it. I’m not saying this applies to you but it is a possibility.</p>
<p>And I don’t think all your LORs need to be from proffs. A LOR from a Postdoc or whoever can also work well as long as it is very positive and insightful. However, some should be from solid tenure-track top notch professors. I doubt that is an issue considerin you went to UCLA.</p>
<p>It may be important to learn the acceptance rates for those who were interviewed.</p>
<p>If the dept accepts the majority of students who are interviewed (which is often the case) then it would seem odd to make 3 interviews and get rejected from all 3. I doubt that has anythin to do with a lack of spots or competition. There is definitely an issue here.</p>
I have one more interview coming up. This is my last hope! I am trying to figure out what I can do to correct what I’ve been doing wrong…sort of hard when the schools can’t tell me.