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By Noah Palm
New Haven, Connecticut
Biology
When I began applying to Ph.D. programs in immunology, I was unsure about how I would fare as an applicant. Would my GREs (the SATs for graduate admissions) be high enough? Would my lack of publications hinder me? Would I be passed over for students who attended institutions with greater name recognition? Because of these worries, I chose to apply to eight schools: Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Minnesota and Washington University (St. Louis).
| "At Macalester, you will find that both boundless opportunities and amazing outcomes are commonplace. Macalester has enlightened me with professional and practical scientific knowledge. For me, this is the ultimate outcome."--Noah Palm |
After completing my GREs and all of my applications, my doubts still remained. However, once the end of January hit, the admissions letters starting rolling in. By early February, I had invitations to interview for admission (with travel, hotel and meals paid for by the graduate school) at every single institution to which I had applied. Foolishly, I accepted every one.
I spent much of February and March traveling from coast to coast to visit each school on its interview weekend. During this time, I met many students from different types of undergraduate colleges (from Ivy to IT to large public) who had similar career goals. After meeting these very talented students, and interviewing with many renowned graduate professors, I realized how truly outstanding my preparation at Macalester has been. It seemed that none of my fellow applicants had been offered as many opportunities to act as a teaching assistant, prepare laboratories and participate in individualized research as I have at Macalester. Furthermore, many of the professors that I interviewed with were quite blunt about the strength of my application, often citing that my letters of recommendation (all of which came from Macalester professors) lifted me above many other talented students. I also realized that many admissions committees, especially at the top-ranked graduate schools, recognize and respect Macalester because of the excellently prepared students that it graduates. All of these programs have had a Mac student before, and all of them admitted me.
At Macalester, you will find that both boundless opportunities and amazing outcomes are commonplace. Macalester has enlightened me with professional and practical scientific knowledge. For me, this is the ultimate outcome.
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