<p>So it turns out that my coworker is applying to the majority of the schools that I’m applying to (not on purpose!). And for the most part, to the same department (biomedical sciences area). Technically, we have different bosses - they are junior PIs within a large lab. So my resume says I work with “Dr. A under the direction of Dr. C” and I assume my coworker’s resume says he works with “Dr. B under the direction of Dr. C”. We both want to mention Dr. C and possibly get a letter of recommendation from him because he is well known. Since my coworker has been working here for 5 years and I have been working here for 2, we’ve pretty much determined that if a school could only pick one of us, it would be my coworker.</p>
<p>So my question is, do schools try to accept diverse applicants? Would accepting both of us be unheard of? Yes, we have different (but still a little bit similar) projects and different backgrounds and possibly different research interests within the same field. I’m just afraid I’m getting the short end of the stick. I already applied to schools once and I do NOT want to apply a third time!</p>
<p>“Since my coworker has been working here for 5 years and I have been working here for 2, we’ve pretty much determined that if a school could only pick one of us, it would be my coworker.”</p>
<p>Unless Dr. C has personally told the two of you that in his experience this is always the case, why do you think that?</p>
<p>I also don’t understand why you would think this. You’ll have different undergraduate records, preparation, and SOPs – and presumably only one LOR writer in common. I know we talk on CC about “how much research” applicants have had, but that’s not strictly quantifiable. Five years of research does not automatically trump two years. Programs won’t be offering admission on the basis on seniority but rather on perceived potential.</p>
<p>Well, it’s not strictly the fact that my coworker has been in the lab for three more years than me. The other parts of our apps are definitely different but somewhat equivalent (if that makes any sense). The years spent working is the most significant difference, which is why I mentioned it. Because he has more experience, he is very independent and probably has a clearer picture of what he wants out of grad school. Even though our labs focus on different cells, we have similar approaches and I frequently go to him for help with protocols. He’s pretty much the person you go to in the lab if you have a question, whereas I’m still learning (which I don’t think is a bad thing - I want to go to grad school before I hit the ceiling like he has). We work together enough that he is an author on my first author paper (hopefully submitting soon!).</p>
<p>Dr. C has told us that the longer you spend working, the easier it is to get into grad school. He hasn’t mentioned anything specific to our situation. I’m not saying that I’m not a competitive applicant, I was just worried that the fact that my coworker and I are coming from the same lab might be seen as a negative. I was thinking (worst case scenario) that an admissons committee would see our apps and think “here are two very qualified applicants, but they’re doing similar things in the same lab now, so let’s only accept one.”</p>
<p>It sounds like I’m being overly paranoid, but I just didn’t know.</p>
<p>I agree with happymomof1 and Momwaitingfornew. I doubt that your 2 years of lab experience reflect 20 something years of your background, education, culture, etc. Instead of worrying, I would focus on things that you can improve at this point such as your GRE and SOP. More experience does not necessarily mean that your co-worker is “fit” for that particular graduate school. On the contrary, all that experience might cause him to be stubborn with what HE wants out of the grad school and end up not being a good fit for the program.</p>
<p>In addition to what everyone else has said, research interests and potential are important. Sometimes they select a student because they believe they have more future potential, or their research interests are a better fit for who’s taking students, or whatever.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t spend time worrying about this.</p>
<p>If he’s professional enough in his LOR, he won’t be explicitly comparing the two of you. He should be treating the two of you as individuals and let the committee decide who they’d like to have more based on your potential and a colleague.</p>