I will keep this short, an e-mail that I sent to my professor about this topic not too long ago was waaay too long. No tl;dr here.
I would ideally like to go to Cornell to study Evolutionary Biology, although I am still toying with the idea of Biochemistry as well as EEB at schools such as WashU, Northwestern, Berkley, etc.
A little bit about myself:
-Sophomore biochemistry major (small liberal arts school)
-3.92 GPA thus far, science and non-science GPA are relatively identical
-VP and Treasurer of a student organization
-Student Researcher in a field relevant to my grad school interests
—Three posters, one regarding a rare species of flowering plant
—One paper (in the process of being written)
—Presented at one national conference, two regional conferences
—I’ve made legitimate connections with experts in the my field of interest
—Possible REU this summer as well as another poster (Biochemistry/Botany interface project)
-Community service (shoddy hours so far, but they will pick up when this grueling semester is over)
-Will soon have experience in all of the following if not already (IR, Mass Spec, NMR, HPLC, fluorescent microscopy)
-On track to having some upper level stats courses completed by the time I am done with my undergrad (Calc based stats I and II)
-Elementary fluency in Python, plan on hitting an intermediate stage by the time I apply to schools.
What about what you just read is weak or needs fixed? Research is my life and I would love nothing more than to continue doing it at one of the universities that I have in mind (Cornell is my prime choice)? I hate to the be the guy to ask “What are my chances” as a sophomore, so I will settle with critiques for now.
This is a little difficult to parse, but it sounds like you are basically on track. Since you are still a sophomore, your best bet would be to develop a supportive relationship with one or more faculty members in your field. Allow them to guide you through the graduate prep. and admissions process. Hopefully a research-intensive thesis is in the works for you. We don’t know which college you are studying at, or if it has requisite support for these goals (but sounds as if it does).
I think there are community members here who have more of an evolutionary biology background than I; hopefully more will chime in. On your potential grad school list, I would suggest investigating more ranked programs in the field, and particularly some of the major publics. UCLA, Wisconsin, Michigan come to mind off the top of my head. Cornell is traditionally a top program, but it will behoove you to know as much as possible about other strong departments in the field.
Unless English is not your first language, I would recommend brushing up a bit on your grammar and writing skills. You will presumably be writing grant proposals, research articles and the like for your entire career. Clarity and strong arguments should only assist you on your path.
Talk to your adviser or a favorite professor and tell them you are interested in going to grad school and doing research and what should you be doing to prepare for that. I am sure they will tell you to 1) Do well in school 2) Start doing research 3) Form relationships with professors. I don’t know how much extra curriculars are important for grad school…do what you want to do but it isn’t like undergrad.
If you are a sophomore who already has three posters and a pending publication, then you should probably stop worrying and just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep your grades up and continue to hone your research area so you can select programs that are a good fit for you.
The community service and extracurricular involvement don’t matter, so don’t worry about that.