u/Educational_Slice897

I'm applying to PhD programs this fall. My undergrad GPA was around 3.4, and I want to get into a decent program in my field (biomedical/health informatics).

I'm doing a 1-year research fellowship, but I'm also thinking if I should do a part-time MS degree (prob online) to help make up for my GPA? I'm also planning to take GRE this summer.

Research-wise, in undergrad I had a first-author pub, another first-author paper we're submitting soon, conference presentations, and other strong leadership experiences & awards. My rec letters should be very good (I won a faculty honor in research my PI nominated me for). I'm not really worried about the research aspect, moreso just the GPA part.

Hi all! I just graduated and most recently decided I want to do a PhD in computational biology/biomedical informatics (specifically interested in AI/ML in genetics & healthcare) so I want to gauge my chances and any advice or recommendations.

Research experience:

• Computational genetics research (single-cell/multi-omics, RNA-seq), honors thesis + first-author manuscript submitted in this area
• AI & public health project with a first-author conference paper
• Two summer internships with poster presentations
• Multiple poster and oral presentations, including at national conferences
• Won a faculty award for excellence in undergrad research. My award is pretty prestigious and many recipients have gone onto PhD programs at top universities and won NSF GRFP (not sure if this helps???)

Other background:

• Pretty strong/frequent leadership, mentoring, and STEM advocacy work on campus
• Strong programming & data science background (Python, R, stats & ML coursework)
• Also won a few hackathons (both local & one national)
• GPA: 3.4/4.0, including having to retake two classes, but upward trend after an early dip??? Definitely my biggest weakness. At one point I was pre-med so I stuck those out for a while and I regret doing that.
• I would generally say my rec letters should be pretty strong. One of my PIs actually nominated me for my award and has spoken really highly of me. I have a strong relationship with my other PI as well, as well as another letter writer from my campus leadership experience who can speak really well to my character.
• I do not want to do a masters, but I'm conflicted because I do want to go a good school in my field, at least one that is good enough for future prospects & advising as well as research in my specific field of interest. The issue is that most of the schools that do really strong research in my field are places like Harvard and Stanford where I know I won't get in, so I want to make sure the school I get into has a good enough pedigree to help me in my career. I'm considering taking the GRE this summer to potentially offset my GPA but I also know some schools will not care about it.
  • Schools on my list right now include: Stony Brook, UBuffalo, GW, NYU, UW, WashU, Columbia, Dartmouth, UDelaware, BU, etc.
  • I'm tryna have a mix of schools that may be more feasible to get into, but also some reaches. I didn't really wanna do reaches because I know I probably won't get in, but my mentors keep encouraging me to try even after telling them my GPA.
• Similarly, I'm doing a 1-year research fellowship at a major research institution and in bio/ML research that I'm super interested in and possibly want to do in my PhD. My PI also has a pretty strong pedigree/connections?
• Finally, I am applying for NSF GRFP too, cuz I might as well try, and I think my leadership should help in broader impacts.

What do you all think? Any schools or programs you'd recommend? Would appreciate any honest feedback or advice!

Hi all! I just graduated and most recently decided I want to do a PhD in computational biology/biomedical informatics (specifically interested in AI/ML in genetics & healthcare) so I want to gauge my chances and any advice or recommendations.

Research experience:

• Computational genetics research (single-cell/multi-omics, RNA-seq), honors thesis + first-author manuscript submitted in this area
• AI & public health project with a first-author conference paper
• Two summer internships with poster presentations
• Multiple poster and oral presentations, including at national conferences
• Won a faculty award for excellence in undergrad research

Other background:

• Pretty strong/frequent leadership, mentoring, and STEM advocacy work on campus
• Strong programming & data science background (Python, R, stats & ML coursework)
• Also won a few hackathons (both local & one national)
• GPA: 3.4/4.0, including having to retake two classes, but upward trend after an early dip??? Definitely my biggest weakness. At one point I was pre-med so I stuck those out for a while and I regret doing that.
• I would generally say my rec letters should be pretty strong. One of my PIs actually nominated me for my award and has spoken really highly of me. I have a strong relationship with my other PI as well, as well as another letter writer from my campus leadership experience who can speak really well to my character.
• I do not want to do a masters, but I'm conflicted because I do want to go a good school in my field, at least one that is good enough for future prospects & advising as well as research in my specific field of interest. The issue is that most of the schools that do really strong research in my field are places like Harvard and Stanford where I know I won't get in, so I want to make sure the school I get into has a good enough pedigree to help me in my career. I'm considering taking the GRE this summer to potentially offset my GPA but I also know some schools will not care about it.
  • Schools on my list right now include: Stony Brook, UBuffalo, GW, NYU, UW, WashU, Columbia, Dartmouth, UDelaware, BU, etc.
  • I'm tryna have a mix of schools that may be more feasible to get into, but also some reaches. I didn't really wanna do reaches because I know I probably won't get in, but my mentors keep encouraging me to try even after telling them my GPA. I know one of my PIs was actually a postdoc at a top university and I'm hoping I can use his connections, does this work???
• Similarly, I'm doing a 1-year research fellowship at a major research institution and in bio/ML research that I'm super interested in and possibly want to do in my PhD. My PI also has a pretty strong pedigree/connections?

What do you all think? Any schools or programs you'd recommend? Would appreciate any honest feedback or advice!

I wanna apply, but all the DEI censorship is kinda scaring me away. A big part of my leadership/advocacy is that I was in this group that did a lot of work for LGBTQ+ individuals in STEM and it was a really enriching experience and community that inspired me a lot to help increase representation for queer students in science and research. But now I’m worried bringing this up is going to be a huge detriment.

Are there any lgbtq+ people who won the fellowship recently? Do you still even recommend applying or talking about it?

Hi all! I'm currently an undergraduate senior about to graduate in the Spring. I want to do my PhD in computational biology & biomedical informatics (AI/ML in genetics & healthcare). I'm doing a 1-year postbac research fellowship at a major research institution and in bio/ML research that I'm super interested in and possibly want to do in my PhD.

Research experience:

• Computational genetics research (single-cell/multi-omics, RNA-seq), honors thesis + first-author manuscript submitted in this area
• AI & public health project with a first-author conference paper
• Two summer internships with poster presentations
• Multiple poster and oral presentations, including at national conferences
• Won a faculty award for excellence in undergrad research

Other background:

• Pretty strong/frequent leadership, mentoring, and STEM advocacy work on campus
• Strong programming & data science background (Python, R, stats & ML coursework)
• Also won a few hackathons (both local & one national)
• I would generally say my rec letters should be pretty strong. One of my PIs actually nominated me for my award and has spoken really highly of me. I have a strong relationship with my other PI as well, as well as another letter writer from my campus leadership experience who can speak really well to my character.

I kind of originally counted myself out for GRFP since it seemed too competitive, but then I felt more compelled to apply since my PIs have been super encouraging and I have a pretty strong pedigree + unique profile?? And I think my broader impacts might actually be strong because I did a lot of community service and advocacy/leadership work on campus.

Edit: lowkey it slipped my mind that my non-research (and even my public health research) is kinda DEI and that might be a walking red flag 😭😭

What do you all think? Would appreciate any honest feedback or advice!

Hi all! I'm currently an undergraduate senior about to graduate in the Spring, and I most recently decided I want to do a PhD in computational biology/biomedical informatics (specifically interested in AI/ML in genetics & healthcare) so I want to gauge my chances and any advice or recommendations.

Research experience:

• Computational genetics research (single-cell/multi-omics, RNA-seq), honors thesis + first-author manuscript submitted in this area
• AI & public health project with a first-author conference paper
• Two summer internships with poster presentations
• Multiple poster and oral presentations, including at national conferences
• Won a faculty award for excellence in undergrad research

Other background:

• Pretty strong/frequent leadership, mentoring, and STEM advocacy work on campus
• Strong programming & data science background (Python, R, stats & ML coursework)
• Also won a few hackathons (both local & one national)
• GPA: 3.42, including having to retake two classes, but upward trend after an early dip??? Definitely my biggest weakness. At one point I was pre-med so I stuck those out for a while and I regret doing that.
• I would generally say my rec letters should be pretty strong. One of my PIs actually nominated me for my award and has spoken really highly of me. I have a strong relationship with my other PI as well, as well as another letter writer from my campus leadership experience who can speak really well to my character.
• I do not want to do a masters, but I'm conflicted because I do want to go a good school in my field, at least one that is good enough for future prospects & advising as well as research in my specific field of interest. The issue is that most of the schools that do really strong research in my field are places like Harvard and Stanford where I know I won't get in, so I want to make sure the school I get into has a good enough pedigree to help me in my career. I'm considering taking the GRE this summer to potentially offset my GPA but I also know some schools will not care about it.
• Similarly, I'm doing a 1-year research fellowship at a major research institution and in bio/ML research that I'm super interested in and possibly want to do in my PhD. My PI also has a pretty strong pedigree/connections?

What do you all think? Any schools or programs you'd recommend? Would appreciate any honest feedback or advice!

I’m gonna be a postbac fellow this summer. I was an intern 2 years ago before all the funding issues & cuts happened. I know things are super shaky for PIs & scientists, but I’m wondering if things are different for postbacs & trainees since then. Any and all advice is appreciated!

Hi all! I'm currently an undergraduate senior about to graduate in the Spring, and I most recently decided I want to do a PhD so I want to gauge my chances.

PhD specialty: computational biology & biomedical informatics (AI/ML in genetics & healthcare)

Research experience:

• Computational genetics research (single-cell/multi-omics, RNA-seq), honors thesis + first-author manuscript submitted in this area
• AI & public health project with a first-author conference paper
• Two summer internships with poster presentations
• Multiple poster and oral presentations, including at national conferences
• Won a faculty award for excellence in undergrad research

Other background:

• Pretty strong/frequent leadership, mentoring, and STEM advocacy work on campus
• Strong programming & data science background (Python, R, stats & ML coursework)
• Also won a few hackathons (both local & one national)
• GPA: 3.42, including having to retake two classes, but upward trend after an early dip??? Definitely my biggest weakness. At one point I was pre-med so I stuck those out for a while and I regret doing that.
• I would generally say my rec letters should be pretty strong. One of my PIs actually nominated me for my award and has spoken really highly of me. I have a strong relationship with my other PI as well, as well as another letter writer from my campus leadership experience who can speak really well to my character.
• I do not want to do a masters, but I'm conflicted because I do want to go a good school in my field, at least one that is good enough for future prospects & advising as well as research in my specific field of interest. The issue is that most of the schools that do really strong research in my field are places like Harvard and Stanford where I know I won't get in, so I want to make sure the school I get into has a good enough pedigree to help me in my career. I'm considering taking the GRE this summer to potentially offset my GPA but I also know some schools will not care about it.
• Similarly, I'm doing a 1-year research fellowship at a major research institution and in bio/ML research that I'm super interested in and possibly want to do in my PhD. My PI also has a pretty strong pedigree/connections?

What do you all think? Would appreciate any honest feedback or advice!