<p>Senior at Duke University
Double Major in Chemistry (BS) and Biology (BS)
GPA: 3.944
GRE: 800 V, 760 Q, 6.0 A</p>
<p>Research:</p>
<ul>
<li>Transcriptional Biochemistry Research for past 4 Semesters at Duke Medical Center (no publications)</li>
<li>Summer Research at UConn Health Center (Immunology)</li>
<li>Summer Research at Wistar Institute in Philadelphia (RNAi)</li>
<li>I also do research on science education (I develop high school curricula about stuff like pharmacology with a professor who specializes in these sorts of education projects), but this (obviously) isn't laboratory in nature.</li>
</ul>
<p>Awards:</p>
<ul>
<li>Goldwater Scholar</li>
<li>Junior Phi Beta Kappa</li>
<li>Faculty Scholar (institutional award for academic merit, etc. - given to 3-5 seniors each year)</li>
<li>4-year Undergraduate Merit Scholarship (won when I was a high school senior)</li>
<li>Some institutional grants</li>
</ul>
<p>Other (for what it's worth):
* Editor of campus science journal and former editor of a literary magazine.
* Former resident assistant, some other sundry stuff.</p>
<p>I'm applying to:</p>
<p>Harvard (Neuroscience)
Yale (Neuroscience)
MIT (Biology)
UPenn (Neuroscience)
JHU (Cellular and Molecular Medicine)
and
Rockefeller (Biology)</p>
<p>I'm interested in the biochemical basis of neurodegeneration.</p>
<p>The thing about biology graduate admissions is that a great research background and good stats will get you an interview, but at the interview stage, it's all up to you and how well you're able to present your research background and future directions.</p>
<p>Many of the top biology schools accept only about half of those who interview, and the final decision after the interview is made more with reference to the applicant's interviewing prowess than any prior stats.</p>
<p>So good luck at interviews. That's where the decisions are made.</p>
<p>They expect you to be able to talk intelligently about your previous research experience and about the research interests you hope to pursue in graduate school.</p>
<p>You will generally get to select a list of professors, and will have an appointment with them for half an hour to an hour. You will tell them about your previous research, and they will tell you about theirs.</p>
<p>Most have interviews, and any school that does have interviews will not admit anyone without an interview, even if the person looks like a "lock" on paper.</p>
<p>The only competitive biology program that I am sure does not have interviews is my own (Harvard BBS). All of the other programs to which I personally applied and to which other applicants on the interview circuit applied did have interviews, although obviously less competitive schools probably accepted more of the interviewees.</p>
<p>I can only repeat secondhand information about international students, but one of the guys I went to undergrad with mentioned that some of the schools to which he applied only accepted one or two international students per year; you're free to consider the possibility that he was exaggerating, but I think competition is somewhat more brutal for international students. (I am under the impression that this is due to funding -- that perhaps the NIH training grants can only be used for US citizens?)</p>
<p>^that is true. i'm an international student, and almost all of the top 10 schools i'm applying to state that int'l students will have to compete for limited spaces. stanford, for example, indeed only accepts 1 student per year in their cancer biology program, so i'm not raising my hopes for that particular school, whereas less competetive schools like baylor college of med accept around 30-40% int'l students. </p>
<p>I do know that they are starting to review apps and are starting to schedule interviews. S called the other day, telling me that he has been contacted by two of his schools that he applied to, and they have scheduled interview weekends with him. (Cancer Bio programs) Good luck to all!</p>
<p>that's great news for your son. i hope to hear from my potential schools soon, but i have a feeling that int'l students will receive offers/rejections relatively late.</p>
<p>i recall in one of your other posts, u mentioned that if a school wants to interview us, that they will contact us and PAY to fly us in. as far as u know, does this apply to international students? (because i really can't see it seeing as how many grad students come from far away places like China and India - it would be prohibitively expensive).</p>
<p>as for NIH - yes, my understanding is that federal money is given to only american residents. the school i'm applying to basically told me that i'd only be eligible for intramural funding (university-wide grants) which are given on a competitive basis.</p>
<p>which brings me back to another question i started a thread here with a while back: given that international students have higher tuitions, and are given less money to begin with, what is the average "cost" an international student should expect to have in going through a biology/science program? some replied they should expect to not have to pay anything - my question is therefore, HOW?</p>
<p>Yes, the schools will pay for international students to fly in for an interview as well. If a student is unable to come (or just doesn't want to fly 24 hours each way for a weekend!), they'll generally offer a phone interview.</p>
<p>It is believed that Goldwater scholars usually get into their first choice. I would think that would help offset the fact that you don't have any publications.</p>