Neuroscience PhD.... student from Mexico

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi guys!!</p>

<p>Thanks for helping me!!</p>

<p>I am planning to apply this year to a PhD program in Neuroscience, my options are among other: Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UCLA, etc. </p>

<p>I studied Psychology with a special focus on Neuroscience at UNAM, in Mexico City. I got an overall grade of 95/100, or a GPA of 3.88. I graduated with honors and I have a good research experience in biomedical research. I have teacher experience in two subjects, several conferences, extracurricular activities and I got several scholarships. </p>

<p>I already took the TOEFL IBT and I got 103 / 120, and I will take the GRE exam in October. The problem is that I have not had good results in my pre-tests scores on the GRE, and I am really worried about it. I am studying really hard, really reallyyyyy hard, but I think that I will get a score of 60% on both section, especially in Verbal Section.</p>

<p>Do you know what are my chances of getting into a graduate school?. I am pretty scared because I have been working really hard for 5 YEARS to get this opportunity, and it would be really hard for me not to get into a good school, especially because I think my GRE score will not be really high. </p>

<p>I know that maybe this does not matter but, I have been having several troubles inside my family, work, health, etc, and all these factors have had a detrimental effect in my performance, for that reason, I am really worried about my chances, especially because I am an international student, and my english, although is good, is not compared with a native-speaker, especially for the Verbal Section of the GRE,</p>

<p>Thanks guys!!!</p>

2

<p>Why do you think you’ll do so poorly on the GRE? Your TOEFL and GPA seem to indicate that you’re a strong student, test well, and know English well. Have you taken a practice GRE?</p>

<p>If you have strong research experience, grades, essays, and recommendations, a less-than-stellar but still decent GRE probably isn’t going to destroy your chances. At some point, there are diminishing returns on studying for the GRE, at which point your time would be better spent working on the applications and personal statements.</p>

<p>Also, applying to grad school isn’t a one-shot deal. If you don’t get in, improve your application and apply again the next year!</p>

3

<p>Hi, thanks for anwering:</p>

<p>Well, I do not know if I am going to do poorly on the GRE, I am taking a course in order to get a good score and have more chances to get into a good school.</p>

<p>I suppose that GRE is not the only factor that matters. I have been working really hard for 5 years to get this chance, I graduated with the best GPA of my generation, and with honors from the University. I am applying this years, and I am really scared because I do not if with all the efforts that I have made, I will have the chance. I know many students that do have a really impresive CV and get rejected, others that do not, and get accepted. For that reason, I do not know what are my chances!!.</p>

<p>The fact is that, although I can apply next year if I got rejected, all my dreams, efforts and MONEY have been put in this unique chance for me.</p>

<p>Well, thanks for help me!! :slight_smile: </p>

4

<p>The top neuroscience schools (Stanford, UCSD, Caltech) will be very hard to get into - meaning a good GRE score is expected. These top schools won’t even look at your application if your GPA and GRE scores are too low. Most top schools use these figures to filter out students before they even read the applications.</p>

<p>I suggest you try to get in touch with faculty at schools so that you can increase the likelihood of you application being reviewed thoroughly. </p>