#245 Genetic Counseling Program Applications: Part 1

Some of our most popular episodes over the years of DNA Today are those that provide insight into the genetic counseling graduate program application process. So much has changed since we recorded those episodes back in 2018-2022 (many programs have removed the GRE requirement, interviews are virtual, etc.) these episodes include #87 #97 #101 #193 and #194. 

That’s why we are revisiting these topics. We are joined by two newly matched genetic counseling students who are starting their graduate programs this fall, Maya Patel and Corinne Merlino!

Maya Patel will be a student in Thomas Jefferson University’s program. She earned her degree in diagnostic genetics at The University of Connecticut (which is how we connected, I graduated from the same program 6 years ago). Maya is a first-time applicant and is going right from undergrad into her GC program, so she has lots of insight to offer about navigating the application process during a busy senior year.

Corinne Merlino’s name is probably familiar to you as she is our Communications Lead! Corinne writes the blog posts for each episode and leads our social media team. Corinne is also a Clinical Research Coordinator at The Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center at The University of Pennsylvania where she has worked for 3 years. She is continuing her career at Penn by joining their genetic counseling class this fall! Corinne was a second-time applicant this cycle and after not matching and taking multiple gap years, she can speak to how to spend that time in an intentional and meaningful way.

Congratulations to both of our guests on matching, this is especially exciting for our host, Kira Dineen, who had the privilege of mentoring both Maya and Corinne through their application process! Become a mentee of Kira’s here.

Special shoutout to our listeners who submitted questions for our guests to answer, Mahfuz, Grace, Anna, Elizabeth, Crystal, Sophie, Kelci, Riley, Christina, and Aciana.

In the first part of our conversation we discussed…

What inspired our guests to become genetic counselors

What types of people/characteristics programs look for in their applicants

Criteria to use when narrowing down programs to apply to

The importance of mentorship during this process

Applying while in undergrad versus taking gap years

Approaching recommenders to write letters on your behalf

Academic components of an application

Obtaining GC experience (shadowing, informational interviews)

The second part of our conversation will focus on crafting your personal statement(s). This part 2 will be dropped on the podcast feed next Friday on July 21st. Can’t wait to listen? Head over to our YouTube channel where both parts were released together in one video (so fast forward to about 34 minutes to pick up where you left off). 

During the show, Corinne and Maya talked a lot about how mentorship was a vital tool during their application cycle. One of their mentors was (and continues to be) our host Kira Dineen. If you would like to have this mentorship, join our Patreon here! 

Keep up with our guests during their grad school journeys by following Corinne on Twitter and LinkedIn and Maya on LinkedIn. Both Corinne and Maya would be happy to answer additional questions about their application processes, just send them a DM!

You can also check out this αrticle where Maya talks about her experience as a student in the Diagnostic Genetics Program at UConn, and stay tuned this Fall when we’ll be sharing Corinne’s interview on the It Happened To Me Podcast!

Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on July 21st, 2023 where we’ll be sharing the second installment of this series on genetic counseling program applications! New episodes are released every Friday. In the meantime, you can binge over 245 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with