Amgen scholar 2018

[TheGreatCat]

Hi All:

After a bit of casual snooping from time to time, I decided to bravely enter the forums! I'm a second-ish (I can get out in 3 years b/c transfer credits) year at UCSD as a Physiology & Neuroscience major. I would like to apply for the Amgen Scholars thingy (and other programs, don't know which ones yet) this year and would like some advice on how to structure my application to appeal to admissions, how good my chances are, and any other important cool tips that any of you might have.

Year: Soph/Junior
GPA: 3.7 (failed first quarter, got >3.9 other two quarters; hopefully I can raise it to 3.8+ this quarter)
Major: Phys & Neuro

Research Experience:

June - Sept. 2016: Skin Pigmentation Research at UC Irvine (no publications, learned a bunch of stuff)
June - Sept. 2012 and June - Sept. 2014: Spinal Cord Research at UC Irvine (no publications either)
Feb 2015 - Jan 2016: Genomics Research at the Rosetta Institute (no publications either *sniff*)

Learned a bunch of techniques and acquired a lot of experience - unfortunately I have nothing to show for it; all the things I worked on were not published and/or dead ends.

Extracurriculars:

2016 - Present: President of Chess Club at UCSD
2003 - Present: Musician (Violin and Drums)
2012 - Present: Organizer of a charity that brings unsold food from local bakeries that would have been thrown away to the homeless shelters around my city.
2012 - 2014: Tennis Coach to Autistic children

Yep. That's about it. Not sure what matters and what doesn't so I put em all up there.

Thanks in advice for the chancing/advice! If anyone else got in and wouldn't mind sharing some stats, I'd appreciate that too!

Cheerio,
Rob

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[Gorilla-san]

Amgen is a great program but its geared towards people who want to do PhD and MD/Phd. I assume you know this just FYI.

June - Sept. 2016: Skin Pigmentation Research at UC Irvine (no publications, learned a bunch of stuff)
June - Sept. 2012 and June - Sept. 2014: Spinal Cord Research at UC Irvine (no publications either)
Feb 2015 - Jan 2016: Genomics Research at the Rosetta Institute (no publications either *sniff*)

From your research experience it seems like you are headed in that direction. Its okay that you didn't publish its often difficult for undergrads to get their own publications its more of a right time, right lab kind of thing. but you must have presentations (oral/poster) make sure to boast those because the adcoms look at that.

I personally did not get into an Amgen program, I did a NSF fellowship at UCI, but you got a good GPA, research experience and ECs, you look pretty competitive. I would email the director of the programs you are interested in (dig around the websites and try to get a hold of a persons email) and ask them, sometimes a personal email will go a long way.

Wait, doesn't UCSD have an Amgen program?? I remember applying. You can try to find the person who runs that program and talk to them.

 

[TheGreatCat]

Thanks for the reply! I do have presentations and stuff, but it's on data that hasn't been published yet so I can't show it. I've had the unfortunate luck of spending vast amounts of time collecting data that doesn't correspond with any remotely reasonable hypothesis.

UCSD used to have an Amgen program, but to my knowledge not this year. I'm interested in an MD MBA or a PhD MBA, so I guess I fit the bill. I'm interested in doing research either way. I figured I'd be like the 60th percentile applicant - nowhere near as crazy as my Ivy League friends who laugh at my resume. I will definitely try contacting people who run the program. I'd like to get into the Tokyo one too (that sounds cool, but I'm vegan *obligatory conversational insert* so finding food will be difficult).

In your experience, what do adcoms look for ranked (e.g. GPA, Research, Essays, Coursework, etc.)?

Cheers,
Rob

 

[idontwatchgreysanatomy]

I was an Amgen scholar. Feel free to ask me anything specific.

 

[medicocito]

I was an Amgen scholar. Feel free to ask me anything specific.

Hi, I´d like to ask you several things about the application process if you don't mind. What did you exactly tell them in the personal statement? What do you think the value the most?
Thank you so much

 

[Nav2020]

Anyone applying for Amgen 2018?
Just thought of starting a thread to invite all perspective scholar into one place

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[LTUbluedevil]

For those of you who have been involved with the Amgen scholars program, what are my chances of getting accepted into one of the programs when I apply after my fall semester?

I am a sophomore with a 3.94 GPA majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology. My GPA will most likely stay relatively the same based on how I feel about my classes thus far in the semester. I eventually want to pursue and MD/PHD, and think this would be a wonderful experience to help prepare me for my future.

Some credentials:
3.94 GPA
Almost 500 hours of research experience in chemistry.
Female college athlete
Putting paperwork in to start a film as literature club
In the honors program and on the deans list.

I plan to apply to the six amgen programs that fit with my academic and athletic schedule:
-Columbia
-UCSF
-MIT
-UC berkeley
-Harvard
-Washington University St. Louis

Thanks in advance for any insight or advice!

 

[LTUbluedevil]

I will be applying for summer 2018. I'm not sure what to expect with how rigorous the application process will be and if I will be competitive seeing as I am only a sophomore currently. What are your thoughts?

 

[LTUbluedevil]

.

 

[gyngyn]

I'd recommend deleting your name (if it is your name) from your posts.
Protecting your anonymity on the internet is a good idea.

 

[Lucca]

merging 3 identical threads.... Discuss the 2018 Amgen cycle here or in the summer research thread.

 

[Nav2020]

Anyone applying for Amgen 2018?
Just thought of starting a thread to invite all perspective scholar into one place

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk

Submitted my application for Harvard Amgen...

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[Nav2020]

Submitted my application for Harvard Amgen...

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& HIP (Harvard stem cell) program

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[DOtterOne]

Still waiting to hear back from the Amgen program at the Washington University at St. Louis.... maybe a silent rejection at this point though?