Our CVs present a distorted view of our career trajectories. This (periodically updated) page is my attempt at normalizing failures, struggles, and mistakes in science and academia. There's probably a million caveats to this, but one important one I'd like to emphasize is that these are professional struggles and failures. They do not include the many societal injustices that academics of marginalized intersectional identities face while still having to do their job.
I'm not the first to have this idea, as you can see here, here, here, and here.
undergraduate summer research programs
summer REU or SURF programs I applied to. rejected by all programs (or never heard back). none invited me to interview.
2014
Boston University
Boston College
Kansas University
Mississippi State University
University of Connecticut
phd programs
graduate schools I applied to. rejected by all PhD programs (or never heard back). none invited me to interview.
2014
Baylor University
Boston College
Boston University
Brandeis University
Columbia University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
University of California – Berkeley
University of California – San Diego
University of Missouri
University of Texas – Dallas
University of Wisconsin – Madison
2015
Baylor University
Brandeis University
Dartmouth College (got close to getting offer but didn’t happen)
University of Missouri – Columbia
University of Texas – Southwestern Medical Center
Vanderbilt University
Washington University
awards & honors
awards I've been either nominated to or applied to myself
2015
Vice Chancellor’s Honor Award (not awarded)
University of Missouri – Kansas City
2016
PD Soros Fellowship for New Americans (not awarded)
Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation
2017
Graduate Research Fellowship (not awarded)
National Science Foundation
PD Soros Fellowship for New Americans (finalist, ultimately not awarded)
Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation
2018
Beyond the Ivory Tower (not accepted)
Northeastern University
ComSciCon (not accepted)
Harvard University
Early Career Policy Ambassador (not awarded)
Society for Neuroscience
Service Excellence Award (nominated and not awarded)
Virginia Tech
2019
Lasker Essay Award (not awarded)
Lasker Foundation
Early Career Policy Ambassador (not awarded)
Society for Neuroscience
Service Excellence Award (nominated and not awarded)
Virginia Tech
Teaching Excellence Award (nominated and not awarded)
Virginia Tech
2022
Hanna H. Gray Fellowship
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
academic positions
independent research positions I submitted applications to during my final year as a doctoral candidate
2020
Salk Fellow (did not make shortlist)
Salk Institute
Cold Spring Harbor Fellow (did not hear back)
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory