Graduate School Application Angst

Graduate School
1

I’ve applied to all my programs, but I feel extremely anxious. This isn’t one of those obnoxious “CHANCE ME” posts, as I’ve already applied to all my schools. But I’m regretting applying to the caliber of schools I did with my stats and having no back up plan other than grad school. I just want to know if I’m rejected. My info is below, if you’re curious. I am just thinking maybe I shouldn’t have shot so high into the stars.

Undergrad Institution: Iowa State University
Major(s): Biochemistry
Minor(s): Microbiology; Genetics
GPA in Major: 3.86
Overall GPA: 3.74
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic, white female

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 162 (83%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.0
No subject test

Research Experience:
Iowa State University: January 2014 - present, fruit fly obesity related to heterochromatin organization; I am responsible for the project as if I were a grad student (pilot project for the lab), poster, 5 oral presentations

NSF REU in Microbiology: Summer 2014; Lactobacillus diversity in murine gut microbiome effect on resistance to malaria; 1 poster, 1 presentation; 1 publication under review

Harvard Amgen Program: Summer 2015; Effects of TNF-alpha signaling in hematopoietic niche in bone marrow in the context of chemotherapy/adhesive and migratory behaviors of HSPCs after inflammatory stimulation; 1 poster, 1 oral presentation

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
National Merit Scholar; NSF REU Fellow; Amgen Scholar; Linder Fellow (research fellowship at my school); Department of Biochemistry Scholar; Weber Family Scholarship; Marian LeFevre Scholarship; College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Scholarship; University Honors Member; University Dean’s List (2012-present)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Biochemistry Undergraduate Club
Stupka Symposium Committee (Planning our undergraduate research symposium at ISU)
Academic Tutor

Special Bonus Points:

Female
Recommender from Harvard is a famous pioneer in the HSC niche/immunology, REU recommender is a top researcher in microbial ecology, home recommender is national authority on JIL-1 kinase
Connections due to Amgen Scholar status
Graduate Classes:
Comprehensive Biochemistry I
Comprehensive Biochemistry II
Virology
Molecular Signaling
Molecular Genetics
Immunology
Advanced Developmental Biology
Pathogenic Organisms
Bacterial Molecular Genetics
Microbial Physiology and Phylogenetics
6 posters, 3 presentations, 1 authored paper

Applying to Where:
Harvard University (Immunology)
Rockefeller University (David Rockefeller Graduate Program)
Princeton University (Molecular Biology)
Stanford University (Immunology track of Biosciences)
UCSF (BMS – Immunology)
University of Washington (Immunology)
Vanderbilt University (IGP – Microbiology/Immunology)
University of Tennessee (Microbiology)

2

We can’t tell you whether or not you are going to get rejected, but with a 3.74 GPA, copious research experience, lots of presentations, a published paper, and three excellent recommendations…why would you think you would? You sound like a competitive candidate.

3

You are absolutely a competitive applicant. You did not say where you did your REU. Did you apply there and let your REU advisor know that you did so?

4

@xraymancs He was one of my LORs. He’s the assistant department head and ran the REU as well as being my PI for the summer.

5

It’s just a general feeling of unease and nervousness (probably helped along by my stress about finals) that leads me to think that even if I have a good application, it’ll get overlooked. Everyone online says that it’s a crapshoot but that is so terrifying.

6

If you have applied to that school, then you have a very good chance of getting in. That is what the REUs are for, to recruit students for their graduate programs.

7

That’s just imposter syndrome. Every graduate student, even the truly good ones, experiences it at some point - you’re constantly comparing yourself to others and feeling like you don’t measure up. It lessens as you go along, but it never completely disappears - even professors have admitted to feeling imposter syndrome. Do an Internet search and you’ll find hundreds of thousands of results on this, including a Wikipedia page.

Graduate admissions aren’t a crapshoot, really. A “crapshoot” implies completely random chance. While there are elements that are sort of random - who you are competing with in a given year, which professors are taking on new students, the vagaries of federal funding - in general, professors and programs really are looking for very specific criteria from students. Some of those are known (high GPA, high GRE scores, excellent recommendations, great research experience) and some of those are not known or publicized to the applicants (an expert in a particular method, a specialist in a particular research area, someone with a niche language or skill). You can only focus on the known ones, but you look pretty good in that area!