<p>Compared with US citizens, it is much more competitive for internationals to get PhD admissions with full funding. To be successful in application, you have to know what grad schools are looking for in admissions and try your level best to develop strong stats in that part. Then what’s that?</p>
<p>Let’s see how the Biosciences program in Stanford says about it:</p>
<p>**What is the most important part of an application to grad school? **</p>
<p>*The top schools want to admit students who are going to be the next leaders in biosciences research. The most important predictor of success in grad school and beyond is research experience, so all schools are looking for a substantial research experience. That usually means at least one year of experience working on a research project, preferably an independent research project. Most importantly, you must have a letter of recommendation from your research supervisor, usually the faculty member in whose lab you worked. This letter is the single most important part of the application because it says (you hope!) that you are smart, hard-working, independent, devoted to research, able to plan and execute experiments, and able to interact with others in the lab. *</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Then you know they care the most your research experience. To show them you have demonstrated your research ability, it is a good idea to stay in a productive lab for years, where you will get well-trained, have publications and good recommendation letters. This is the best way to show them your passion, competence, and commitment in the vigorous pursuit of scientific knowledge. </p>
<p>However, that does not mean your GPA and GRE are not important. For example, let’s take a further look at what the Biosciences program in Stanford talks about grades:</p>
<p>**In addition to research, what are grad schools looking for in admissions? **</p>
<p>*You will need three recommendation letters for most applications. One should come from someone familiar with your research. The other two should come from professors who know you well enough to be able to write more than “So-and-so was a student in my class, and she got an A”. So, it is important to get to know some faculty before your senior year when you’re applying. Aside from the recommendations, GPA and GRE scores are also important. At Stanford, most (but not all) of the accepted grad students have GPAs above 3.5 and GRE scores above the 70th percentile. If you have a GPA and GRE scores better than that, you’re fine. If you don’t, the grades and scores can often be outweighed by outstanding letters of recommendation from people familiar with your research capabilities. </p>
<p>The personal statement part of the application can be useful to admission committees to get a feel for who you are and why you want to go to graduate school, so it should clearly written, concise, and specific to the school to which you are applying. However, most graduate admission committee members would agree that the personal statement is the least important part of the application – a fact that is always disappointing to students who spend so much time crafting their statements! Most undergraduates have not been an author on a research paper, but if you have, that’s a plus. Lastly, all universities are committed to increasing diversity in biosciences graduate training, so if you feel that you would contribute to the diversity of the group of admitted students, be sure to indicate that on your application. *</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Then you will understand successful applicants are usually those who have GPAs above 3.5 and GRE scores above the 70th percentile. You are safe if you pass the threshold. But if you have lower grades, strong research experience, publications, and good LOR are going to compensate for your weak points. And surprisingly, the personal statement seems to be the least important for the admission committes in this case.</p>
<p>In my case, I chose to improve my stats by doing research in the USA and generating publications. It is also a good idea to have a master degree to improve your GPA record, but I would go to the USA for master degree if I were you. Then I would have research experiences in the USA on one hand and have a better chance to be a published scientist on the other hand. I think this will greatly increase your chances of admissions. If you choose to compromise by applying to lower-ranked programs, these principles could still be applied.</p>
<p>You seem to care your GPA too much. In my opinion, grades are not so important as you imagine. Strong GPA and GRE scores are attractive to admissions committees, but they do not guarantee admission. And lower test scores do not directly disqualify you. Grades are detrimental to your application unless they are dismally low (e.g., GPAs below 3.0 and GRE scores below 500 Verbal, 500 Quantitative, or 3.0 Writing). If you are really worried about your GPA, you might have a master degree to improve it. But after passing the threshold, don’t spend too much time on grades any longer. Instead, focus on your research as possible as you can. Successful applicants with lower grades usually have abundant research experiences and provide evidence of proved research competence in other parts of the application.</p>
<p>I recommend you to think carefully about the suggestions by the Biosciences program in Stanford in the link below. You will have a better understanding about what you should do to improve your stats in the future:</p>
<p>Stanford - HHMI Pregrad program
[Stanford</a> - HHMI Pregrad program](<a href=“http://pregrad.stanford.edu/phdfaq.html]Stanford”>http://pregrad.stanford.edu/phdfaq.html)</p>
<p>By the way, regarding the difficulty of being accepted as an international, this website also provide some useful information. When choosing schools, it is better to consider international-friendly ones:</p>
<p>**How difficult is it to get in to the top graduate schools? ** </p>
<p>*If you are a U.S. student and meet the criteria discussed above, you are almost certain to be accepted at one of the top graduate programs in the U.S. There are relatively few well-trained undergrads applying to grad school, so there is a lot of competition between the top schools to get those students. This is the opposite of the situation for medical school, in which there are vast numbers of premeds applying to the top medical schools, so the students are all competing for relatively few spots. For example, last year the Stanford Biosciences Ph.D. program received about 1000 applications, interviewed about 250 students and accepted about 175 students. Of this 175, about 110 chose to come to Stanford over other schools. 175 out of 1000 doesn’t seem like such great odds, but it is important to realize that many of the 1000 applications are from students who are not qualified, as described above, or are foreign, and therefore more difficult to accept because of funding issues. The bottom line: if you fit the criteria above, you will get into a good graduate school. *</p>
<p>**Does it matter whether I’m a U.S. citizen? **</p>
<p>*Yes and no. In most cases the training grants that support graduate education can only pay for U.S. citizens. However, many universities have smaller amounts of money from other sources that they can use to support foreign grad students. So, it is somewhat more difficult for a foreign student to get accepted to a U.S. graduate school, but if you’ve done well as an undergrad at a U.S. university, there is a reasonable chance of success. *</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>For your reference.</p>