Resources

Pre-PhD application spreadsheet

By the summer of 2024 (6 months prior to application deadline), I had an excel sheet that had a list of 30+ schools which I had scanned, the PhD program in that school that best matched my interests, a list of PIs who's work matched my research interests and their research areas. While I ended up applying to less than half of these schools, having this list helped me on multiple fronts. a) I used this list to figure out which programs best matched my interests to narrow down. b) Having the links of the programs and lab pages, significantly saved my time from googling things every single time. c) When writing my statements, I could easily refer to this sheet to list specific PIs and their work, how this matched my interests. 

This sheet is something no one told me to make, but definitely saved me time and also helped streamline my thoughts. This sheet is a two-fold resource for incoming applicants. It gives you a template, and for those of you who are applying in the Cell and Molecular Biology/Development Biology tracks, this also has around 150 scientists and their research interests.

Navigating TOEFL-iBT

I gave the online-based TOEFL-iBT in February 2024 and although I've spoken English ever since I started learning to speak, it took me significant preparation. Attaching a blog post I wrote in July 2024 with my on prep-tips and insights.

Rockefeller SURF application

In 2023, I was selected to for the Chemers Neustein Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), a highly coveted summer program at The Rockefeller University, New York City, USA. I was the first Indian student to be selected since 2016 (after 7 years) as part of a 25 member cohort from 700+ applications globally. Send a request below if you'd like to view the personal statement I wrote for this program. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to know more about my experience!