Fulbright Scholar (to US) GRE and Institution: advice!

Graduate School
1

<p>I am lucky enough to be an Fulbright Scholar (coming from the UK to study for a PhD in the US). I want to ask two questions:</p>

<p>Firstly: I just took my GRE, the scores I got were 670V, and 710Q. I hoped to get higher than that in the quantitative section but somehow got flustered by one of the first questions. Do you think I should retake this? The schools I am aiming for are top tier as shown below.</p>

<p>Secondly I want to find your opinions on institutions to study at. Eventually I am interested in large scale brain simulation. My first degree was in electronic engineering and second in biomedical engineering with neurotechnology. By brain simulation I hope to model large numbers of accurate neurons, as well as simulate environments. I am also very interested in using evolutionary methods to optimise cortical structure and even learning rules. Work I have currently does has used fmri data, and methods from graph theory to analyse schizophrenic brains. Please see the collections in my mendeley profile at [Zenna</a> Tavares - London, United Kingdom, Neural, Computation | Mendeley](<a href=“http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/zenna-tavares/]Zenna”>http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/zenna-tavares/), to see the kind of research I am interested in.</p>

<p>So the kind of institution that is ideal for me is one with a strong neuroscience department, but also with a strong computing and engineering and modelling resources; and ideally a history or at least potential for collaboration.</p>

<p>The location is also very important. I have only visited Miama in the US, so most of my information about different places comes from these forums and from friends. I am from London and expect that I would like New York very much. I have also heard great things about Boston. Essentially, I don’t to be somewhere that is too far out in the sticks, and ideally has a fairly cosmopolitan environment.</p>

<p>Through the IIE, I have to select six institutions. My current short list (roughly in order of preference) is:</p>

<p>(all neuroscience departments)</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
Columbia
Caltech
Princeton
NYU
Berkeley
Rockefeller
Cornell-Weill
Yale
Harvard</p>

<p>I also need one backup, which at the moment is:
Rutgers-Newark (chosen just because it is very near new york, and one of my professors recommended it to me) or Brown (as I am in contact with an enthusiastic professor there)</p>

<p>Any advice or comments are appreciated</p>

<p>Zenna</p>

2

<p>IMO, you don’t need to retake the GRE. Your Fulbright says it all.</p>

<p>And for neuroscience, I would choose Brown over Rutgers.</p>

3

<p>Out of all those schools, only Cornell would be considered “way out in the sticks”. Of course, I’m am not exactly sure where Yale is located within Connecticut, so it could very well be out in the sticks.</p>

<p>Most of the other one are all located in major cities, with the exception of Princeton. It is located north of Philadelphia. While the Princeton section of New Jersey isn’t a “major city”, it is an extremely nice area. You are also only a short train ride away from NYC or Philly.</p>

<p>For backups, don’t be afraid of some of the Southern schools. Duke/UNC/NC State do a tremendous amount of research. They call it the “Research Triangle”. Raleigh, North Carolina is a very nice place, even though it’s not a huge metropolitan area.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech may be something to look into. It’s located in a very urban city, Atlanta.</p>

<p>Edit: sorry, I didn’t realize you were referring to Cornell’s med school located in NYC. The main Cornell campus is out in the sticks, far away from NYC.</p>

<p>Also, I wouldn’t call Stanford an urban location. More suburban, with San Fransisco about 45 min to an hour north.</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>Yale is in new haven. New Haven is nice but kind of boring. Definitely would be a downer if you lived in london. </p>

<p>I think you would get into everywhere you apply to apart from MIT, Stanford, Caltech.</p>

<p>Berkeley might be a long shot but I assume you are bringing in funding as a fulbright scholar?. You also have an MSc from Imperial College which might help. Whats your thesis topic? Have you found professors with the same research interest as your thesis? Trust me this would put you on top of their list. Professors scan your Cv and SOP and love people who have previously done the same work they are currently doing now. You bring something to the table that they want</p>

<p>GUD LUCK</p>

5

<p>Also you seem strong enough to get accepted without the fulbright. Why dont you apply to some schools outside the fulbright program? </p>

<p>However your GRE Q scores are a bit low to be sincere</p>

6

<p>In the end I am going to retake it, I think I can do better if I don’t panic so much.</p>

<p>Sefago, yeah perhaps I will. But I guess they add some weight when they apply on my behalf. Yes Fulbright provides the funding for the first three years at least. My thesis topic is about graph partitions and stability analysis</p>

7

<p>When you narrow your list, it goes without saying that you need to find the type of research at these programs that interests you. And you must interest them. Beyond that, you might want to look at a few other factors. For instance, Princeton’s program is smaller that most of the others, and with smaller programs come greater specialization within the faculty. It’s a fantastic program, but if you don’t almost perfectly line up with their existing instances, you have little chance for acceptance. And it surprises me to see Caltech on your list because I don’t remember seeing it on anyone else’s neuroscience list here on CC; I’m not saying that it’s a bad program (I don’t know it), but that it seems like an unusual choice. </p>

<p>Not to cloud things too much, but have you looked at UPenn neuroscience? UCSD? Emory? (Emory would make a good replacement for Brown on your list.)</p>

<p>Because a Fulbright carries so much weight, I recommend that you use it for your top 6 programs. Also apply to the others outside of the Fulbright since PhD education is free, with a stipend, in the US. This way, you can use your Fulbright where it will have the most impact, at the top programs in the US, but you will also have a back-up plan. Or, if you are afraid that you won’t get into any of those 6, even with a Fulbright, then choose 5 of the best and add Brown, which is still an excellent program. (Brown, though, is like Princeton with its size; my daughter interviewed there in neuroscience last year, and they had one interview weekend, with only 15-20 people. That’s what Princeton does as well.)</p>

8

<p>I don’t post on forums much, so I am always surprised at how generous people are with their responses, so thanks.</p>

<p>Caltech is on there because I’m not approaching a PhD from a purely neuroscience perspective (if there is such a thing), I would fit almost as well in the computing lab or even modelling/complex systems departments. Both my previous degrees have been in engineering, electronic and biomedical, and I really want to have strong engineering resources and talent to learn from and utilise in my research. If I were hoping to do mainly experimental stuff, probably Caltech wouldn’t be on the list. Furthermore, some of the stuff I’m most interested in is by a company called Evolved Machines, and I’ve read literature by their founder avering that Caltech was leading the way in this field.</p>

<p>I was suddenly told yesterday that I had to finalise my choices by the afternoon, so in the end they were:</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
Caltech
Princeton
NYU
Columbia
Brown</p>

<p>Thanks for the info on Princeton. Do you know if the new institute has opened. I have heard UCSD is great for neuroscience, and also UPenn. Perhaps I should apply there outside the Fulbright program as further backup.</p>

<p>Zenna</p>

9

<p>Given your focus, you have an excellent chance at Princeton. The new building has broken ground, so my guess is that it will be finished by fall 2011. The program itself was supposed to increase in size; however, the economic downturn put that on hold indefinitely. Still, neuroscience is currently a priority at Princeton. </p>

<p>Likewise, you should have an excellent shot at MIT.</p>

10

<p>spend your time on your college search not on test taking.</p>

<p>Sounds like you need a university that has a strong robotics and affiliated with a medical school with a strong neuro. </p>

<p>Or go to a medical school with a neuro department. You may not need a general university.</p>

<p>DS does robotics at a state university that has a med school. There is strong reseach into the interface between the brain/nerve to the machine.</p>