Applying to American Universities as an International Student.

You share a similar ambition to that of mine, only that you are one step ahead.

Why is that? are you applying to an undergrad degree in the UK?

If so, good luck

I want to do either an MSc or a PhD (Evolutionary/Molecular Biology) in an American university, Ivy league standard (so Harvard, Yale, Princeton etc). All I want is some advice from people who are in the same boat, or have applied and are now there/finished their course. + good courses they run for life sciences + good unis.

I would also like to know, what's the application procedure like, how to stand out,tests needed and success rate of doing so etc. (+ financial help is a necessity).

beefmaster makes a good point about funding for US universities. US universities are substantially more expensive than their UK counterparts and competition for scholarships is tough.

Also remember that US universities charge application fees for applying and you'll also need to budget for visa fees etc

Well for starters, if you're going to apply for US universities, you're going to have to take the GRE General Exam (since its a requirement for graduate entry) and score very high on all three sections of the test. Second, if you're going into Biology you will probably have to take the GRE Biology Subject Test, which will be required by the departments you're applying to.

You also shouldn't limit yourself to Ivy League schools, there are many other extremely good graduate programs in the Biological sciences over here. It is common practice for perspective US graduate students to apply to a bare minimum of six graduate schools. I think you should take a look at the following websites, take a look at the department websites, and then form a list of schools you want to apply to.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/rankings

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/ecology

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/molecular-biology

Make sure to include schools that aren't in the top 25 so you'll have a good chance of going to a graduate school even if you're rejected by the other schools you applied to - I had a friend who applied to six top 50 history programs, he was rejected by all of them, and isn't really doing a graduate program in the US because he didn't have a "safety" school on his apply list.

I mentioned this in my Original post, I asked for advice on funding. I have heard they can pay for most, if not all your course costs.

That is true for doctors degree, much less likely to be true for masters ones. You have to find out if the doctorate programs require a masters, and if not, whether you really want a doctorate or a masters. If you're undecided, it will show on your personal statement.

Since you just started your undergrad degree, I'd worry more about getting good grades this year. It doesn't make sense to worry about grad school until you're at least near the end of your second year. Also, grad school rankings are not the same as undergrad rankings. Just because a college is an Ivy doesn't mean it's good in your given area for grad school.

Again, I mentioned above applying to other unis that aren't in the Ivy league.

+ I don't want to get to the end of my course and realise I don't know where to start looking in america for uni courses.

I like being prepared. Just because I'm thinking of grad school doesn't mean I won't be working my ass off for good grades this year and the next 2.
thanks for the response.

Also, keep in mind that you need to have an interest in some sub-field when you're applying to grad schools, and different schools specialize in different sub-fields. You really have to work out which sub-field you want to work in before you can even start coming up with a list of schools.

Nothing wrong with planning ahead of time, just keep in mind that anything you decide now is unlikely to stick by the time you graduate.

Yes, that's true, until I take some more modules I won't be sure of what I want to specialise in

Either:
Immunology
Evolutionary Biology
Molecular biology

it would definitely be for a PhD too, as I know yale pay for all your course cost and a stipend of $25,000.

It's not just that. There are sub-fields within those sub-fields. No one does all their work within the entire sub-field. You'll need to find professors who have interests that mirror yours, and then apply to the universities where they teach. That's the easiest way of getting accepted anyway.

Most decent universities pay for your tuition and give you stipend for doctorate programs.

I know what you mean for PhD's it would be as specific as:

' Biochemical Mechanisms regarding T cells and the expression of CD4 receptor sites'

(made up btw lol)

thanks for the help.

+ I emailed my head of dept seeing if it will be possible to go on a transfer program for my 3rd year to america to try and make connections.

I don't really know anything about your field, so can't say anything specific, but research interests tend to be fairly narrow. If you want to know what specific things researchers are working in, browse through the academic journals in your field (you should have access through your university library website).