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I graduated this past year from BU with a degree in Math (math econ double major) and I know a lot of kids in the neuro program. If you have any questions, PM me and I can try and ask people there now (I'm in grad school myself outside the US currently).
Edit: And biggest piece of advice I can give about general PhD applications, is don't give up. Seriously. I applied to top 13 here, got rejected by all but my least favorite (but no funding or anything), applied late deadline to a hail mary school I never in a million years thought I'd get in to and here I am now.
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As someone who went through the process twice I can tell you that the most important part of your applications are the recommendation letters.
Talk to your recommendation letter writers and ask them which schools they would recommend for you, how do they feel about writing you a letter (you want strong letters) etc.
Applications for PhD is a lengthy process and most likely you will get rejected at bunch of places (very few people aren't) so you need to diversify and apply to 8+ schools probably...
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If you end up in Boston, we could split a place. I'm living there next year and I'm planning on living in Somerville (which isn't TOO far from Allston-Brighton/BU/etc.).
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You don't need to take a master's programme first?
But then is it equally tough for masters to get accepted?
I was told it was waaay easier to get into uni's at a postgrad level than an undergrad level.... So was it a bunch of crap?
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Hmm, that could work out. It would at least be nice to know of some people there if I end up in Boston. I used to live in the Worcester area, but that was ages ago.
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On October 28 2011 01:46 JieXian wrote:
You don't need to take a master's programme first?
But then is it equally tough for masters to get accepted? I was told it was waaay easier to get into uni's at a postgrad level than an undergrad level....
It might be easier as a post grad, but I know many people do make the transition straight from undergrad. Plus I'm all about the research, so PhD is really where I want to be. I will probably apply to a couple master's programs just to be safe.
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First off, if you're looking to get into a PHD program, you're running a bit late. For me at least, most PHD application deadlines were in December or January. Frankly, you should have taken the GRE by now, so you can focus on applications and doing well in the last semester that will go on the transcripts that grad schools see.
Second, don't get full of yourself. Getting into grad school is HARD, especially in a job market like this. To put it into perspective for you, i had a 3.7 GPA at a solid undergrad, a 3.9 GPA in both of my majors, and GRE scores of 760q/760v/5.5w. I applied to 5 PHD and 2 MA programs, and got into 1 MA, and i was applying for IR programs, which i imagine are easier to get into than Neuroscience.
Third, i agree that recommendation letters are extremely important. If you haven't talked with Prof's yet about writing you letters, you're in trouble, since lots of other people probably have already, and they have end of the semester grading coming up. Do this NOW if you haven't already. In all likelihood, they will draft a general letter and tailor it a bit for each school - and how much tailoring they'll do depends on how much they like you. Make it easier for them by sending them information about why your applying to each school. In particular, look up people teaching there that you want to work with, and let your letter writers know. I know for a fact that one of the reasons i got into my program was because one of my letter writers was good friends with its head.
Finally, don't get discouraged if you don't get in. I went to a grad program straight after graduating because i had to keep insurance for the beetus, but i wish i could have taken a year off to work or intern somewhere. If you aren't accepted, see it as an opportunity to make yourself a better candidate. My undergrad roommate did this - he wanted to study East Asian religions, and didn't get into any programs, so he went and taught English in China for a year, and now he's a PhD student at U Chicago.
Have Fun, and sorry for being such a downer.
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On October 28 2011 01:50 ElementalZerg wrote:Show nested quote +On October 28 2011 01:46 JieXian wrote:
You don't need to take a master's programme first?
But then is it equally tough for masters to get accepted? I was told it was waaay easier to get into uni's at a postgrad level than an undergrad level.... It might be easier as a post grad, but I know many people do make the transition straight from undergrad. Plus I'm all about the research, so PhD is really where I want to be. I will probably apply to a couple master's programs just to be safe.
You got me really worried for a while.. I guess maybe you got rejected multiple times because you've only got an undergrad degree?
I thought a master is a stepping stone to research isn't it?
I'm really interested in research too, currently still in 2nd year
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Don't worry about it deafhobbit. I've already taken the GRE and got fairly comparable scores to what you listed. I've been working closely with one faculty member for about a year now, and feel very confident that I should get a good letter from her. She has hinted at such as well. I'm on good terms with about 3 other professors that I feel should also get a great recs. I'm heading to a major neuroscience conference in about 4 weeks, and I plan on contacting some of the professors who are attending from the schools I'm interested in. Hopefully this personal contact will help me out a lot, and I do have research to present as well.
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On October 28 2011 01:51 deafhobbit wrote:
First off, if you're looking to get into a PHD program, you're running a bit late. For me at least, most PHD application deadlines were in December or January. Frankly, you should have taken the GRE by now, so you can focus on applications and doing well in the last semester that will go on the transcripts that grad schools see.
Second, don't get full of yourself. Getting into grad school is HARD, especially in a job market like this. To put it into perspective for you, i had a 3.7 GPA at a solid undergrad, a 3.9 GPA in both of my majors, and GRE scores of 760q/760v/5.5w. I applied to 5 PHD and 2 MA programs, and got into 1 MA, and i was applying for IR programs, which i imagine are easier to get into than Neuroscience.
Third, i agree that recommendation letters are extremely important. If you haven't talked with Prof's yet about writing you letters, you're in trouble, since lots of other people probably have already, and they have end of the semester grading coming up. Do this NOW if you haven't already. In all likelihood, they will draft a general letter and tailor it a bit for each school - and how much tailoring they'll do depends on how much they like you. Make it easier for them by sending them information about why your applying to each school. In particular, look up people teaching there that you want to work with, and let your letter writers know. I know for a fact that one of the reasons i got into my program was because one of my letter writers was good friends with its head.
Finally, don't get discouraged if you don't get in. I went to a grad program straight after graduating because i had to keep insurance for the beetus, but i wish i could have taken a year off to work or intern somewhere. If you aren't accepted, see it as an opportunity to make yourself a better candidate. My undergrad roommate did this - he wanted to study East Asian religions, and didn't get into any programs, so he went and taught English in China for a year, and now he's a PhD student at U Chicago.
Have Fun, and sorry for being such a downer.
Ah thanks for the post it makes a lot of sense.
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On October 28 2011 01:54 JieXian wrote:Show nested quote +On October 28 2011 01:50 ElementalZerg wrote:On October 28 2011 01:46 JieXian wrote:
You don't need to take a master's programme first?
But then is it equally tough for masters to get accepted? I was told it was waaay easier to get into uni's at a postgrad level than an undergrad level.... It might be easier as a post grad, but I know many people do make the transition straight from undergrad. Plus I'm all about the research, so PhD is really where I want to be. I will probably apply to a couple master's programs just to be safe. You got me really worried for a while.. I guess maybe you got rejected multiple times because you've only got an undergrad degree? I thought a master is a stepping stone to research isn't it? I'm really interested in research too, currently still in 2nd year
Umm, I've yet to be rejected from anyone yet. None of my applications have been finalized. Master's is a stepping stone to research, but undergrad research is very common. I'm currently working on a manuscript with my professor for publication, so it can be done. If you are interested in research I'd get in now, the sooner the better.
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On October 28 2011 01:56 ElementalZerg wrote:
Don't worry about it deafhobbit. I've already taken the GRE and got fairly comparable scores to what you listed. I've been working closely with one faculty member for about a year now, and feel very confident that I should get a good letter from her. She has hinted at such as well. I'm on good terms with about 3 other professors that I feel should also get a great recs. I'm heading to a major neuroscience conference in about 4 weeks, and I plan on contacting some of the professors who are attending from the schools I'm interested in. Hopefully this personal contact will help me out a lot, and I do have research to present as well.
Good, when i heard you say "GRE range" i was thinking that was something a test prep had given you. Likewise, the reason i was worried about rec letters was because you didn't really mention them.
Conferences help a lot, especially with PhD programs.
I can't recommend enough that you try and get all this done ASAP, before crunch time at the end of the semester. Remember, these grades are the last grades your grad committee will see, so make them count.
Good luck, and make sure you go get good and drunk when you get your first acceptance letter.
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On October 28 2011 02:00 deafhobbit wrote:
Good luck, and make sure you go get good and drunk when you get your first acceptance letter.
Thanks man. Yeah, the range was confusing. I meant that I hadn't gotten my official scores yet. They are changing the scale so I only got a range of scores that I fell into when I finished.
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On October 28 2011 01:59 ElementalZerg wrote:Show nested quote +On October 28 2011 01:54 JieXian wrote:On October 28 2011 01:50 ElementalZerg wrote:On October 28 2011 01:46 JieXian wrote:
You don't need to take a master's programme first?
But then is it equally tough for masters to get accepted? I was told it was waaay easier to get into uni's at a postgrad level than an undergrad level.... It might be easier as a post grad, but I know many people do make the transition straight from undergrad. Plus I'm all about the research, so PhD is really where I want to be. I will probably apply to a couple master's programs just to be safe. You got me really worried for a while.. I guess maybe you got rejected multiple times because you've only got an undergrad degree? I thought a master is a stepping stone to research isn't it? I'm really interested in research too, currently still in 2nd year Umm, I've yet to be rejected from anyone yet. None of my applications have been finalized. Master's is a stepping stone to research, but undergrad research is very common. I'm currently working on a manuscript with my professor for publication, so it can be done. If you are interested in research I'd get in now, the sooner the better.
Sorry about that it was the 1st reply See.Blue who got rejected.
I'm already trying to do something with my Physics professor. I've been talking to him a lot and 1 day I was went to a little talk about the internship we must to as Engineers and part of it can be in a research environment.
Natrurally I talked to him about it but I didn't ask for any money since I'm still in the second year, only wanting to help out and learn some stuff.
But it turns out the he has some extra grant money hahahahahahahahaha but he says he doesn't know if he can hire undergrad students yet.
Thanks deafhobbit for knocking the reality into my head. I better work hard.
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On October 28 2011 02:03 ElementalZerg wrote:Show nested quote +On October 28 2011 02:00 deafhobbit wrote:
Good luck, and make sure you go get good and drunk when you get your first acceptance letter. Thanks man. Yeah, the range was confusing. I meant that I hadn't gotten my official scores yet. They are changing the scale so I only got a range of scores that I fell into when I finished.
Oh, i didn't know thy changed that too when they revised the test. I got my V and Q scores right away, and the W questions were so easy i knew i wasn't going to get anything lower than a 5.
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I more question. I've heard how people can get into programs totally different from their majors at a postgrad level. Like there's one physics major who's featured on a bbc documentary who's doing neuroscience.
It may sound stupid but ... Any opinions on the chances following up with neuroscience (cognition stuff, not finding diseases) but with a mechatronics (robotics/AI involved) engineering degree instead? According to wikipedia, neuroscience quite multi disciplinary.
I'll write a proper enquiry to some universities after my final though.
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On October 28 2011 02:25 JieXian wrote:
I more question. I've heard how people can get into programs totally different from their majors at a postgrad level. Like there's one physics major who's featured on a bbc documentary who's doing neuroscience.
It may sound stupid but ... Any opinions on the chances following up with neuroscience (cognition stuff, not finding diseases) but with a mechatronics (robotics/AI involved) engineering degree instead? According to wikipedia, neuroscience quite multi disciplinary.
I'll write a proper enquiry to some universities after my final though.
Most definitely. Neuroscience is still mostly an interdisciplinary field right now, with grad schools accepting from a wide range of undergrad degrees. Computational neuroscience might be a good fit for you, since it does require a high level of mathematical understanding.
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I graduated from Purdue! Sad that aero was too much for you, and you had to leave the school. I loved every minute of it. Go Boilers! (my degree was genetics.)
I am currently in a PhD program (Biomedical Science) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. I came straight from undergrad but many of my classmates have a few years of work experience either as a lab tech or in industry. I did three years of undergrad research (with a Howard Hughes undergrad research grant) and a summer internship. I think without this experience I would have had a hard time getting in to any grad school. Also, I applied to 7 schools and got into 3. To chose which school I wanted to come to, I looked through all their faculty and what research they are pursuing, and chose the school with the most people that l would want to do research with. Remember that you may not get your first or even second choice of a lab, mostly because of money issues. Many labs cannot take students because of the decrease in grant funding. Make sure to look into that before choosing a school! That is VERY IMPORTANT. No funding = no research.
As a note - our university had a problem last year because many more students accepted invitations to the grad school than usual. This is most likely because of the bad economy. That meant that this year the number of students invited to the school was much lower than in past years (and thus more competitive). Also some students literally could not find a lab that was able to take them because of the money issues mentioned above. So be extra careful.
I think the fact that you have research experience and are presenting it at a meeting is a big bonus for you. It's even better if you can get your name on a paper - that will really make you look like a tip top applicant. Good luck - grad school is a loooooooooong haul (I'm starting my 5th year now) but I think it is worth it.
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On October 28 2011 02:36 ElementalZerg wrote:Show nested quote +On October 28 2011 02:25 JieXian wrote:
I more question. I've heard how people can get into programs totally different from their majors at a postgrad level. Like there's one physics major who's featured on a bbc documentary who's doing neuroscience.
It may sound stupid but ... Any opinions on the chances following up with neuroscience (cognition stuff, not finding diseases) but with a mechatronics (robotics/AI involved) engineering degree instead? According to wikipedia, neuroscience quite multi disciplinary.
I'll write a proper enquiry to some universities after my final though. Most definitely. Neuroscience is still mostly an interdisciplinary field right now, with grad schools accepting from a wide range of undergrad degrees. Computational neuroscience might be a good fit for you, since it does require a high level of mathematical understanding.
Future looking bright :D I was worrying a lot because every doctor I asked said that it's impossible to do it without an MBBS.
Thanks for the blog. Made me focus more on my finals and stop --- browsing TL hahaha oh the irony.
BTW I've always wanted to do psychology/social science/anthropology stuff but obviously it's ..... quite useless here in Malaysia. (Got to bad a backup plan.)
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Purdue was a great school, and I still talk with my roommate all the time. Aero is just a tough major if you aren't 100% committed since it's highly competitive. I went to a small boarding school for high school so those 600 student calc classes were odd, haha.
Yeah, grad school is long. Going to be about 23 years of schooling once I'm done.
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lol yeah I can see how that was a big change. And yes I think aero and ChemE are probably the roughest majors out of the engineering school.
When were you there? Maybe we overlapped - I graduated in 2007.
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I started in 2007, lol.
I stayed in tarkington hall my freshman year, that was the last year that it had it's own dining hall.
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Yeah the new dining halls are pretty nice. I was in Earhart for two years then I moved to an apartment on South Campus.
Let me know if you have other questions about grad school and good luck! :-)
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I would advise you to stay away from ph.d. programs in the medical sciences. I have a ph.d. in genetics and development and I can tell you that I don't know a single soul who has found a job. In fact Nature magazine just released that only about 5% of Postdoctoral fellows (these are people who already have PH.D.s and are working as researchers) become professors. THis, despite the fact that everyone and their mother wants to become a research professor.
What does everyone else do? Find something 'else'. They teach junior college (starting with very lowpaying and non full time 'adjunct' positions. They teach highschool (but not public high school since that requires a 2 year teaching credential) or they go to biotech (lol biotech ain't hiring).
Basically, if you pursue this career path I'm really sorry to say, but you have about a snow ball chance in hell of getting a job when you're done.
I don't mean to be so negative but shit, I would have KILLED for somebody to tell me this stuff before I wasted 6 years getting my Ph.D. and 3 years now as a postdoc with NO job prospects.
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It seems that your academics are very strong already, and you got a good score on GRE. I'd recommend you to aim high, while also applying for some safety schools.
My recommendation is to look for universities with strong medical schools to start with. Since your source of funding are going to be largely derived from NIH and these things are often correlated with the strength of the medical school, it's not a bad start.
But like GreatFall said, your future after PhD in biomedical science is very bleak. If you think you are good at math, try converting yourself into a more quantitative field.
I have not heard of any of the universities you listed except BU; I don't think highly of BU. As far as graduate school is concerned, looking at ARWU will give you a *rough* idea as to how good the schools are. I will link you the ones for medicine.
http://www.arwu.org/FieldMED2010.jsp
If the school you are applying to is not Top 50, I highly discourage you to go there. Your job prospect is bad already, so don't bother going to be bad graduate school.
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