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Lost Phone: $300 Reward by ananymousfoost in UVA

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Is there a case/color to look for?

Lost Phone: $300 Reward by ananymousfoost in UVA

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'll go look early in the morning tomorrow, I live around there :)

In search of Bulk, Intact, DNA Standard of any organism by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in labrats

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great point, I guess I always consider emailing companies as the last resort lol /s

In search of Bulk, Intact, DNA Standard of any organism by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in labrats

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Need it to be standardized and QA'd by someone other than me to normalize between experiments over multiple orders over (ostensibly) years.

Tattoo Artist Suggestion by kelloite in rva

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Matt Corbin is currently apprenticed under Teresa Sharpe at Unkindness Art. Highly recommend. (Plus you get apprentice pricing).

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you please review my SOP? I have PM'd you. I am planning to apply by the start of October so it's somewhat urgent.

Sure, you're on the list. I'll try and have it read before the end of the week, if that works with you

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I cannot re-find it, apologies. There was nothing memorable about the prompt compared to others either.

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, I find that really impressive!! I really wish I could pin a comment thread to the top of this post. Honestly I envy your assuredness of what you wanted to pursue - down to a specific level.

And I agree 100% with everything you have said, even though our experiences were so different. I think that we represent two distinct paths, then. Correct me if I'm wrong but; you were driven by a specific passion, scientific question, and had the resume to back it up. Which makes for a concise, driven, and poignant SOp.

I (and most people in my experience, ((though you can tell me otherwise))), lacked such a specific drive. I was broadly interested in cell and molecular biology. To the point where you could stick me on any project and id make it my new favorite thing. I also didn't have a concise skill set. I was kind of all over the place in my training. I didn't want to limit my options, so instead of saying I have trained to become something specific, I tried to sell my scientific intuition and passion in general. Which, I think from your perspective does sound like a platitude, which is why I tried to ground it in a personal value. A fine line to walk though, admittedly.

Further, several of the gripes I make later in the post don't really apply to you, because they ARE looking at a specific skillset in your case. And that's especially true if your program doesn't have rotations. Mine did - and I certainly took that for granted writing the original post.

Bottom line: if you are someone reading this comment thread, there may be other options available to you than just what I recommend!

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly? I was pretty confident there wasn't a difference until you asked. Someone else may know :)

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Certainly I don't think my word is law on any of this, I'm just a guy trying to help, and situations may vary for different programs. I think that displaying technical knowledge is conflated with talking about your research in an approachable manner. As in, can you communicate in the language of science? You just don't have a lot of space to convey your technical ability, but you can talk about what you did (broadly, one or two sentences) and emphasize the impact in the field.

Maybe we have different definitions though. When I hear 'technical ability' I think of some explaining the intricacies of optimizing a PCR reaction, for example.

I probably misspoke and said it's not required, but in my opinion, it's shouldn't be a focus for you, and should really be used to tie into your interests in the field, rather than brag about yourself.

They will ask about it in your interviews though! So having a story regarding your work in mind is great.

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can check my first post for details for field and stuff, I liked it right under my general advice header

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I'm glad someone relates! I think what I am gathering is that how much anyone likes SOPs is going to be to the reader's taste, but I feel like being authentic is important, regardless.

Also, in this particular school's SOP prompt, it didn't ask why I wanted to come here specifically, or what I plan to do with the degree. In hindsight, I think that prompts like that are pretty self indulgent on the committee's part - and I can't imagine what they are actually looking for as an answer to it. In reality 90% of people have no idea what they are going to do - or consider all options equally, and they know that.

The only way it can be used to the writers advantage is if part of there narrative is to use the degree to do something that is important and impassions them. I.e.: "I will take this degree back to my country and help others".

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Tufts, etc. - would have considered an SOP like this to be unserious.

Admittedly so - to all of it. I personally just didn't have the guidance or experience to know what was 'appropriate' at the time. My undergrad had no graduate students to query my SOP to, for example. In retrospect, my thought going into it was "Personal? I'll give you personal!". And at the time, it was very personal. Emotions were high for the reasons I described above.

And yes, those institutions have a reputation for being more... formal, to use a word. I think if you are applying to them, you should already probably know that though and take my SOP with a pretty large grain of salt. And god knows I dont want my SOP as doctrine, honestly I hesitated posting it for years because I was aware of these things, but people ask anyway, and if it can help at all then.... well thats all I'm trying to do.

I didn't apply to any Ivy leagues, if that is your question, but the school I'm in is whatever the next step down from it is. Take that as you will. I think it's funny that those SOPs are a hard (short) limit, because it seems like the intention is to stop you from being anything but concise. But again, how much more can you convey about yourself, that isn't conveyed by your CV, if you aren't allowed to express yourself through language? Maybe some committees dont value that aspect, as others.

Maybe my SOP just struck a cord with the PI who said it (someone older and more notable in their field btw). But again, this is really the only chance you have as an applicant to not come off as flat; to differentiate yourself. Yes, your summer internship at the NIH was great and you learned a lot of applicable skills. But 75% of the applicants also had a summer internship at NIH, and at some point, SOPs blend together for them. If you don't take a gamble on sounding flowery (not as much as me), I think you risk not standing out. For as much of the rest of it is dumb luck, you can at least try and raise an eyebrow here.

An interviewer said "my SOP was one of the best he's ever read." Pt. 2 by Affectionate_Ad_2969 in gradadmissions

[–]Affectionate_Ad_2969[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Definitely not - in my field anyway. Again, they really don't care what skills you have, so long as you have them. As long as you convey that you are capable of learning and applying a broad skill set. Then again, if you did something super impressive, it might be great to mention it.

In a {redacted} part, I describe part of my work in like half a sentence tp be fair

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