<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am currently an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh. I came here because of financial situations. I plan to major in Molecular Biology and Applied Mathematics. I am wondering if, with this kind of undergraduate education and at this institution, I would have a good shot of being accepted at graduate schools such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley for Genetics or Bioinformatics. Would this be possible? If so, what should I be doing to make this possible?</p>
<p>1) The University of Pittsburgh is a great university; it’s well known for producing great graduates. Lose the “I’m here because of financial situations” thing. 95% of college students went where they are at least partially because of their financial situation. You don’t have to go to a fancy expensive private school to go to graduate school, and most people don’t.</p>
<p>2) It’s good that you are getting a head start on thinking about graduate school, but you can’t pin down schools yet if you aren’t even sure of your field much less your research interests and who works where. Start doing research ASAP to see if you even want to go to graduate school. You may find that you hate research; you may find that you absolutely love it. Doing it is the first step. Find a professor who does work that interests you at least a little bit and ask him or her if they need a research assistant. Volunteer if necessary (try to get credit if you’re not getting paid). Work with them for a semester or so. If you hate the process of research, bail and find another career. If you love it even if it’s not exactly what you want to do, proceed.</p>
<p>3) If you’re still with it at this point, continue doing research. As you do more you will progressively get more responsibilities.</p>
<p>4) Do very, very well in your classes. Attempt to maintain a 3.5+ GPA. At the top schools a 3.7+ is best. You must also have a high GPA in your major AND your cognate classes (a bioinformatics Ph.D student would have a high biology GPA and a high GPA in computer science classes taken). Find out what prerequisites are required for the types of Ph.D programs in which you’re interested and be sure to take those, and get mostly As and maybe a few Bs in them.</p>
<p>5) Look for summer research programs. They usually give you room and board, a stipend of around $3,000, and a faculty mentor. The National Science Foundation website has tons of Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) that if you search on their site you’ll find; also if you Google “summer undergraduate research program” or related terms you’ll turn up tons. Most of them are hard sciences so you are in luck. You should do at least one of these (between your junior and senior year); to look really impressive do two (between second and third and between third and fourth). You can try to apply this year if you are a freshman but freshman typically don’t get accepted, as they don’t have enough coursework.</p>
<p>6) Go to class, develop relationships with professors in your field. If Biology 101 is a huge lecture, go to your professor’s office hours. Try to take smaller seminars in areas in which you are interested. Professors will need to write you recommendation letters and they have to know you to do that. Also, getting to know professors will help you figure out exactly what kind of research within your field you’re interested in and can help you narrow down graduate programs that are good for your interests.</p>
<p>7) If after all that you still really want to get a Ph.D in these fields (or a master’s, you didn’t say), I’d say in the spring of your junior year start working on a list of programs that fit your interests and that have the researchers doing the kind of work you want to do. In the sciences who your graduate school advisor was is really important when it comes to getting jobs after graduation, so you want to work with someone who is well-connected (not necessarily famous) in your field and has the time and energy and desire to advise you. It’s hard to tell all that before you get there, but your professors will help guide you once you get to this point.</p>
<p>Pick up a copy of “Getting What You Came For” by Robert Peters. The book starts with applying and ends with the job search, so it’s definitely a companion for the whole process.</p>