Can any Post Bacc NIH IRTA's who are leaving help me out?

[anucar]

Alrighty.....So, my application has been complete for a month now, and I haven't heard back from any labs! My stats are good, and my letters are pretty good, so I don't know whats going on. I called them, and they said its probably due to budget reasons. Is anyone leaving a lab or can suggest any good labs who are looking for students? You can PM me if you need more info.

Thanks a lot!

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[W222]

RELAX, My application was complete for almost four months and then in one week I got about five responses. I filed around Jan and heard back in late April. I also got alot of great offers so dont worry. There are roughly 3000-4000 applicants a year and about 1000 people get offered positions. A little advice, go to a lab that supports you applying to med or grad school. It sucks to get stuck in a bad lab where your PI is a pain in the ass about giving you time to apply to school, study for the MCAT, and go to interviews. Good luck. I can say that the IRTA years were some of the best times of my life.

 

[ImmunoANT]

I have to agree w/ W222. It takes some time to receive the offers, besides I don't believe the website where PIs browse to look for new pre-IRTAs has been updated lately. Be patient. But if you want, you can send a message to the clubPCR (gosh, sooooo nerdy) email list. http://preirta.nih.gov/valuable.htm you can get lots of helps and advices from it.

Also, W222 is right. It's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you pick a good lab. not just in terms of research that you are interested in, but also a PI who is understanding and caring about your situation. Not only because he/she will train you to do good science (if you are MSTP-oriented or just love research), but he/she will be the one who writes perhaps the most crucial recommendation letter for you. If it's not for my boss's amazing letter, I don't think I'd be at where I'm now.

I don't know which type of pre-IRTA you are applying as (post-bacc, academy or technician?) but I highly recommend post-bacc, unless you don't mind repetitive jobs (heard someone has to do 500+ PCR everyday, and that's all he does). And even if you are applying as post-bacc, make sure that when you are picking a lab, pick one that won't treat you as a tech (ask about job description, are they going to give you an independent project, will they include your name on any publication, etc)

Good luck. I am leaving NIAID/NIH in two months, but these past two years here are the most fulfilling in my life. Hope you'll enjoy your stay at NIH too