Advice- international student, Molecular Biology/Biochemistry/Cell Biology/Genomics (PhD)
Okay, so I'm a little ( lot) clueless. I realized that perhaps, just perhaps, I really want to attend grad school not in Russia, but in the US. That scares the living daylights out of me. I have virtually no idea how to actually get accepted to a good program in the US (and how to to pay for it, though from what I've been able to find online most grad programs in Molecular, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry are funded/with a stipend).
Hence, I'd like to ask a few questions, mostly to the science/international students here (although any other help would be appreciated as well).
1) Is it humanely feasible for a student from Russia (Moscow State University*, Biology Department to be exact) to be accepted to a DECENT science program?
*it is the best university in the country. That doesn't mean it ranks alongside Harvard-Princeton-Yale.
**Yes, I have the equivalent (so far, 3 out of 5 years down) of a 3.93 (or 4.0, if you look at my prospective diploma) GPA.
2) How would I set about actually finding an adviser? Now, obviously, I can read about what they do online on the course website, look them up in pubmed etc, but that doesn't exactly give lots of info on how it feels to actually work with the person.
3) How much in advance should I take the GRE (and is the TOEFL usually required, including the fact that I'll be taking a much more intense language test anyway(the verbal part of the GRE)?)
4) How can an international student pay for grad school? Most of the funding (duh) goes to US citizens and permanent residents...
If such "general" post are forbidden, please have mercy(don't ban me)!
And thanks in advance for any help =)
Hence, I'd like to ask a few questions, mostly to the science/international students here (although any other help would be appreciated as well).
1) Is it humanely feasible for a student from Russia (Moscow State University*, Biology Department to be exact) to be accepted to a DECENT science program?
*it is the best university in the country. That doesn't mean it ranks alongside Harvard-Princeton-Yale.
**Yes, I have the equivalent (so far, 3 out of 5 years down) of a 3.93 (or 4.0, if you look at my prospective diploma) GPA.
2) How would I set about actually finding an adviser? Now, obviously, I can read about what they do online on the course website, look them up in pubmed etc, but that doesn't exactly give lots of info on how it feels to actually work with the person.
3) How much in advance should I take the GRE (and is the TOEFL usually required, including the fact that I'll be taking a much more intense language test anyway(the verbal part of the GRE)?)
4) How can an international student pay for grad school? Most of the funding (duh) goes to US citizens and permanent residents...
If such "general" post are forbidden, please have mercy(don't ban me)!
And thanks in advance for any help =)