<p>I'm in the process of getting grad schools PhD apps out before December. I'm looking particularly closely at programs in systems biology - the draw to not have to necessarily work behind a wet-lab bench for the rest of my life is particularly interesting. I also have an affinity for computers and I'm not that terrible in math/physics.</p>
<p>My only issue is my background. I don't come from an engineering/comp-sci background. I have a strong background in biology research - I have 3 co-authored publications (one of them in Nature Chemical Biology). My GPA is competitive, but not super high (3.36)... but from a very competitive university - UC Berkeley. I also have 3 very good letters of rec (one from a member of the National Academy of Science... my PI who's on my publications)</p>
<p>If anybody has an experience with applying to Systems Bio programs (or is currently in one), could you please provide me with some direction or advice as to this area of research or admissions in this area. Many thanks!</p>
<p>Hey, I'm interested in systems biology and applied last year. I had a biology focus in undergrad, but had done some programming etc. Feel free to ask me any questions re programs or whatever else.</p>
<p>I'm in bioinformatics... so similar enough to systems biology. My undergrad was in biochemistry with no computer science or programming background at all and I haven't had too many difficulties. I've been picking up programming as I've been going along. Usually computation biology, systems biology, and bioinformatics programs take students from a diverse group of majors (math, natural sciences, physical sciences, and computer sciences) because the programs themselves are multi-disciplinary. It's very difficult to find a student that will have a biology AND computer science background, and these programs understand that.</p>
<p>So to sum it all up, it doesn't matter if you don't have a programming background. They will teach you programming throughout your coursework and research work. </p>
<p>Though if you get accepted into one of these programs, you might want to take a intro to computer science/programming course the summer before to get a head start. Or also try applying for a BBSI program (google BBSI, they have them at various universities during the summer). You'll pick up programming, get paid, and do research!!</p>
<p>I applied to MIT's CSB program last year and ChE/BioE programs at other schools. It looks like MIT and Harvard's sys bio interviews are real, so you want to know your stuff. But if your motivation is to do more modeling, why not just apply to bioE programs? You should come to the MCB symposium this Saturday--I'm pretty sure Sydney Brenner will rag about how systems biology has not really produced science! Regarding background, I recall at MIT's interview that there was a wide variety of majors (some of them were really obscure like evolutionary biology).</p>
<p>I ended up in BioE at UC-B, btw, since I found the research here more aligned with what I want to do.</p>
<p>I'm an experimental biologist, and I'm applying to some systems biology programs as well. My quantitative background is somewhat limited, but I am interested in expanding this in graduate school. My impression from Harvard Systems at least is that they are looking for students with a strong background in one field - experimental biology, computer science, mathematics, physics, or engineering. They don't expect you to have already mastered mathematical modeling and programming prior to entering the program.</p>
<p>harvard, mit, uwashington, ucsf, berkeley, princeton, stanford, maybe ucsd. Each program has a slightly different definition of what systems biology actually consists of, so the order of those schools may vary depending on your interest.</p>