Unsure about my competitiveness for PhD applications

Cambridge is a likely no but you have a decent shot at the mid-RGs.

Hi guys,

Recently, whilst doing some research on potential supervisors and labs, I've been feeling pretty insecure about my credentials and how I would stack up to other PhD applicants. I understand opinions on a forum may be very different to the opinions of someone on an admissions team, but some clarity and honesty about my chances would be helpful.

So, I'm graduating this year with a 2:1 (65) at a RG with a good biology department, with firsts in my dissertation and research project. I'm starting a MRes in September at the same university, and have been awarded a 10K scholarship. I have a year of research experience as a paid research assistant (not part of my degree, with my research project it's 1 year, 5 months), where the research I performed has culminated in a first-author paper that is currently in review at a journal with a moderate impact factor. One of my references is the PI I worked with to conduct the research and write the paper, and the other is my research project supervisor.

The first problems I have is that I worked pretty independently during my research project, so I don't know my supervisor too well (meetings were brief) and I guess she doesn't know me that well either. Is this normal and does it matter if she is junior faculty? The other problem is that I'm applying to Cambridge (a prospective supervisor does research I'm interested in there), and I'm worried about whether my undergraduate grades would be enough to be considered competitive. Am I worrying for nothing or is this something to be concerned about? Anything in particular I should focus on/problem areas?

Lastly, I also had a year out between my first and second year for medical reasons. Not sure if this will help, but you never know.

Any information/critique is appreciated.

Thanks.

I actually think you're in with a shot at Cambridge. The mediocre undergrad is offset significantly by both the RA work and the publication. It's a shame you don't know your supervisor as well as you could - the references are going to be even more important given your relatively poor undergrad.

What field are you applying for at Cambridge? Basically, I wouldn't write it off at all. You're not the strongest candidate (I think you know that), but you're certainly not the weakest either.

Thanks for the reply. Fortunately, I might be able to secure an unpaid internship for the rest of the summer at a lab with a well-known PI, and hopefully he'd be willing to provide a reference by October/November.

I'm applying to the Biological anthropology/Zoology department. I understand that my undergrad is mediocre, I'm just looking for ways to make my application better.

Do you think leaving the application till I have completed my MRes is more of a viable option?

It's only viable if the project you're applying for is still open then - you'd usually be starting either at the beginning of October or January. What's the deadline?

The deadline is January the 4th, but I'd like to have it sent off earlier than that.

In that case so long as the internship is relevant to the project you'll be applying for, it might well strengthen your application to do it.