Biophysical Society Bulletin | December 2022

Career Development

HowtoApply toGraduateSchool Biophysics is an interdisciplinary field, so applying to graduate school to do biophysics work can be confusing. Admissions committees can be for de partmental programs, such as a physics or chemistry program, or for interdis ciplinary umbrella programs, such as a molecular and cellular biology graduate program. The name of the program will not be enough to figure out if that will be the best place for you! You will need to dig deeper to find the biophysicists in these programs. Different graduate programs often also review and accept students in very different ways. Some accept students solely on the basis of their application. Others interview candidates before making a decision. Some require and rely heavily on the results of the general and subject GRE exams. Others (more and more now!) do not require any GREs at all. Despite these differences, all graduate programs are looking for the same thing: excellent students who will perform well in the first year of courses, be able to pass their respective qualifying exams, and ultimately be able to conduct new research and write papers for publication. There are many items that need to be included in the appli cation packet, and each is weighted differently in the decision to accept or reject. Some hints to guide you in the application process are provided here. What does the admissions committee want to know? When crafting your application packet, it is best to keep in mind what the committee is looking for, so that you can give them the information they want. Committees want to know whether a candidate will perform well in their graduate courses, will pass the qualifying exam, will find a research group, will be able to conduct independent research, and will complete a PhD. What is in the packet? The packet consists of the following: grades in academic classes, scores on GREs (general and possibly subject), letters of recommendation, and personal essay. I will explain a bit more about why each is important. Grades. The grades in your science classes are an important indicator of how you will do in your classes during your first year of graduate school. All graduate programs have required classes to make sure you have a certain basis of knowledge

before you go forward into research. All graduate programs have a minimum grade average or grade in each course that is required to stay in the program. Your previous grades are used as an indicator of how successful you will be in your graduate classes. The admissions committee wants to see As. However, by the time you are applying, most of your grades are already set in stone. Maybe you overloaded your schedule one semester and did poorly. Maybe there is a specific course with which you really struggled. Any deficiencies in your grades should be explained (not excused) in your personal statement. If you started poorly, but improved, consider plotting your scores over time to show your trajectory—this shows your increase in GPA and demonstrates your ability to work with and plot data. Think creatively about how to discuss your academic record, so that the admissions committee is not guessing or making up their own explanations for you. GRE scores. There are two types of GREs: the GRE General Test and GRE Subject Test (because of the pandemic, many schools have removed the requirement for GRE scores of any type). The GRE General Test is like the SAT and is required by many graduate programs. Science majors should have good scores on the math portion. If you are an international student, the verbal scores could be used to determine your reading and writing abilities. Even if you have strong math and verbal skills, you should consult a book on the GRE General Test to become familiar with the test. Don’t go into the test cold. The GRE Subject Tests are required by some programs. For graduate programs that have a written exam for their qual ifying exam, they often use the GRE Subject Test as a test run for the qualifying exam. These admissions committees typically have a minimum number they prefer. That score is not a hard line, but merely a suggested set-point. If you have to take a GRE Subject Test, you will need to study. I suggest using the summer before the fall semester of your senior year to study for the exam and complete some practice exams. One issue with the GRE Subject Tests is that it is hard to en compass all the skills you need for scientific problem solving in a multiple-choice exam. Letters of recommendation. You typically will need three letters of recommendation from professors who know you and your work in undergraduate school. The professors at your school are colleagues of the people serving on the admissions committee. These letters are an opportunity for your professors to talk directly to the admissions committee about you. Because your undergraduate professors have also gone through the rigors of getting a PhD, possibly doing a

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