<p>Hi All,
When I graduate I'll have 3 academic years of research experience(same lab all 3 years), and additionally 1 summer of research experience(Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh), 1 summer fixing medical equipment in Africa. I have a 3.86 GPA with a major in biomedical engineering and minor in neurosience at Duke University, and I am looking to explore different aspects of biomedical and neuroscience depending on the school I'm applying too. I'd like to apply to the following places</p>
<p>UCSD(Biomedical Engineering)
Berkely(Biomedical Engineering)
Pittsburgh(Neuroscience)
Cold Spring Harbor (Neuroscience)
MIT(D-lab or Media Lab)
Duke</p>
<p>can anyone give me some information on the fit you think these schools have for me, and any other graduate programs you think I may want to explore. I'm very interested in graduate programs dealing with biomedical engineering and clinical applications(brain machine interfaces, pacemakers, deep brain stimulation), and also in utilizing engineering to help the developing world. Any suggestions along this line? Thanks!
Ben</p>
<p>The way to determine fit is to go read papers by the faculty of these programs, or at least to look at the titles and what they say about their research interests on their web pages.</p>
<p>Sorry, I was unclear. The places I'm applying to already I know are a fit interest-wise, I was referring to a fit as far as academics - do I have a decent chance at all of the schools I've listed? And as far as suggestions, I am just having a hard time locating other people that fit these interests just because there's so much research out there, it's hard to narrow it down. I am familiar with brain machine interface literature and thus I had no trouble finding people in this field, but was wondering if people had other suggestions for people outside of this field. I also haven't really prepared much for the GREs, should I be worrying about them?</p>
<p>I think you have an excellent shot at all of those schools. Don't underestimate GRE scores, recommendations, and personally contacting the professor you want to work with though. I'm in a different field, but I'm sure that e-mailing the professors at some of the schools that I applied to is what got me in. As far as the GRE's go..you really should study, because a higher score (at the very least) will open the door for more funding. Luckily, in your field they look more at the quantitative score (which is the easiest section in my opinion).</p>
<p>I'm curious who you're interested in working with @ CSHL. They don't really have any clinical work going on there, being detached from a hospital or medical center. Also keep in mind that CSHL is one of the most competitive programs in the country, they only take about 8 students a year.</p>
<p>That's definitely a fair question. I would say CSHL is my one "different" school, and I just think that it has such a tremendous program as far as having such personalized student faculty interactions. At Pitt I worked with rna interference(siRNA) and thought it was incredibly interesting, and know that cold spring harbor is doing cutting edge research in that field, which certainly interests me. Do you not think I have a very good chance of admittance there - not worth applying to? thanks
Ben</p>
<p>No offense to anyone that got in, but
I think you have to be a supernerd to get into CSH :). I've only met a couple people that interviewed there, and of them I know one was rejected. I think you have really good stats though, and have a good chance of at least getting an interview.</p>
<p>I wouldn't really say anyone has a "good" chance of getting into CSHL. I interviewed there (and I am not a supergeek, and did not get in) and it's 12 interviews in 2.5 days... it's REALLY intense. It's a beautiful place with fabulous science (and while Greg Hannon kinda has a reputation as a hardass interviewer, he was really nice to me) but it's very isolated, very small. I'd say apply (you'll probably get a fee waiver once they start receiving your recs and transcripts, so hold off on sending teh application fee til they've received at least some of your materials) but don't put all your eggs in that basket. Also, if you apply to CSHL, they'll forward your application to SUNY StonyBrook for free, since CSHL is so very competitive.</p>
<p>I dont know pittsburgh very well, but the rest are all at least top-tier schools, and so I'd imagine pretty competitive. That said, your stats are good. I applied to 2 very safe schools (SUNY's SB and Downstate) because i 100% was not willing to have to apply again next year. If there aren't any "safe" schools that you think you'd be happy at, then you probably shouldn't apply to any (i.e. only apply to schools you would ACTUALLY want to attend) 6 schools is, in my mind, a pretty short list (i applied to 9, got into 3) so maybe try to find 1-2 more to add to your list. Ask your old advisors, particularly those in your field of interest and/or hit up pubmed or google scholar and find articles that look interesting, and investigate the schools where those PI's are working.</p>
<p>Do you mind sharing more about your experience applying to grad school? What schools you applied to, what field you are in, what your stats were, etc. PM me if you want. I'm an American that only applied to grad schools in the UK and Australia so I'm curious to learn more about how the process works in the US.</p>
<p>U don't have to be a supernerd to get into CSH. If you ask me, the interview part is the most important. you need to be able to show that you have the passion for research (particularly in molecular biology and genetics, since that's what CSH is very famous for). </p>
<p>I got in and the last I checked, no one's ever called me a supernerd in the past 5 yrs.</p>