Hi everyone! I just found this forum a few days ago, and after seeing all the knowledge from the people who frequent here I thought I'd post my situation to see what everyone thought about it.
I have a strong, though slightly oddball history and CV, and I'm wondering if it should alter my application strategy because of it. This isn't just a "What are my odds?" question. So here we go:
Education
Indiana University 2008 (3.97GPA)
Majors: Biology, Cognitive Science, and History
Minors: Chemistry, Psychology, Computer Science
Certificate in the Liberal Arts and Management Program
Indiana University MBA Program 2010
Major: Entrepreneurship and maybe Decision Sciences
Research
-Rat behavior sophomore through senior year. Produced an undergraduate thesis and a journal article in Behavioral Brain Research (first author).
-Computational neuroscience senior year through present. With a Big Name researcher in the field. Looks like we'll put out a paper next semester, but I doubt I'll be first author.
Other
Started and led a cognitive science club at IU
Helped teach a freshman cognitive science class my senior year
Studied abroad in Australia (at ANU) for a semester
All schooling was funded by scholarships. Research was funded by undergrad research grants.
So...
If you read all that, I think you can see my concerns. From what I gather, the vast majority of MSTP students have an academic and research background very focused on medically relevant topics, wish to do research on cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases, etc., and don't have an MBA. I have a diverse background, want to research brain-machine interfaces, and will have an MBA. 🙂 I'm a strong student, but my concern is that I'm going to have to answer "Why the heck are you here?" a lot, enough to give me problems in admissions. I have a response to that question, but I may not be seeing the big picture.
So all you folks that have a better feel for the MSTP system than I! Will top tier MSTP schools look at my application, say "He's crazy," and throw it in the trash? Is my diversity an asset or a hindrance? Should I be considering any factors that a typical applicant should not during applications next year and the run up to them?
Thank you all very much!
Jeff
I have a strong, though slightly oddball history and CV, and I'm wondering if it should alter my application strategy because of it. This isn't just a "What are my odds?" question. So here we go:
Education
Indiana University 2008 (3.97GPA)
Majors: Biology, Cognitive Science, and History
Minors: Chemistry, Psychology, Computer Science
Certificate in the Liberal Arts and Management Program
Indiana University MBA Program 2010
Major: Entrepreneurship and maybe Decision Sciences
Research
-Rat behavior sophomore through senior year. Produced an undergraduate thesis and a journal article in Behavioral Brain Research (first author).
-Computational neuroscience senior year through present. With a Big Name researcher in the field. Looks like we'll put out a paper next semester, but I doubt I'll be first author.
Other
Started and led a cognitive science club at IU
Helped teach a freshman cognitive science class my senior year
Studied abroad in Australia (at ANU) for a semester
All schooling was funded by scholarships. Research was funded by undergrad research grants.
So...
If you read all that, I think you can see my concerns. From what I gather, the vast majority of MSTP students have an academic and research background very focused on medically relevant topics, wish to do research on cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases, etc., and don't have an MBA. I have a diverse background, want to research brain-machine interfaces, and will have an MBA. 🙂 I'm a strong student, but my concern is that I'm going to have to answer "Why the heck are you here?" a lot, enough to give me problems in admissions. I have a response to that question, but I may not be seeing the big picture.
So all you folks that have a better feel for the MSTP system than I! Will top tier MSTP schools look at my application, say "He's crazy," and throw it in the trash? Is my diversity an asset or a hindrance? Should I be considering any factors that a typical applicant should not during applications next year and the run up to them?
Thank you all very much!
Jeff