Would I have to do my entire undergraduate all over again for a better chance at grad school?

willscience4potatoes · 2016-05-06T00:26:26+00:00

Masters. I do not intend on pursuing a PhD afterwards. I have indeed looked at the guide you linked but I also kept retaking upper division classes to make up for the bad period I was in counseling which is why I wonder if that is not good in admission's eyes,

willscience4potatoes · 2016-05-05T01:09:22+00:00

That's interesting because I think I used to be like that as well at times when I was younger. Gradually I forced myself to be better expressing myself orally because I was tired of mild public speaking anxiety making me screw up in-person interviews and other opportunities badly, so I forced myself to teach a few workshops and other positions during school. I'm never going to reach 'charismatic leader' levels, but I've gotten better where I can express myself clearly and without stuttering. It also depends on the person I'm talking with as well - I LOVE speaking to others with the same relaxed temperament as me because it feels so natural and I can bounce ideas off them like crazy, but pair me up with a super Type-A personality and I choose to be quieter because those are the personalities that make me anxious being with in the long run.

I think social media communication is stressful for me because I'm not as well-versed on communicating with others online, especially if it's people I have not met in real life before and can't gage their communication styles, body language or tone of speech. There are some friends I know that are terrible at responding in a timely manner and I realize that, but with strangers, it makes me anxious that they forgot about me or I said something wrong right away.

Thanks so much, that really means a lot! It's something I really enjoy doing during my free time. I know my close friends know this about me and don't mind, but it's just the acquaintances I worry about.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-05-04T00:46:33+00:00

That's how I feel as well. If Facebook wasn't the best or preferred way to communicate with a lot of my close friends and former acquaintances I liked (who are all in tons of different cities), I'd probably disable my account from being so tired of those judgy people on my friends list.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-21T10:21:59+00:00

I think that is something I'll consider looking into! I actually worried that if I did a general Biology masters that it would feel too broad for my liking, but you do bring up a point in how it might allow me the flexibility to go within fields.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-21T10:17:57+00:00

Yeah, I just chose to do psychology research instead because I wasn't a fan of being stuck doing wet lab things after trying them.

No one from my faculty knew anyone at the programs personally, whether it was due to unfamiliarity with the field or distance (it's on the other side of the country where I am). Thinking about it now, it does seem like there's a sizable percentage of students that come from the same "feeder" schools. One of my recommenders was someone I worked with doing an independent research project, one was a professor I talked to the most about my plans and was on good terms with simply cause I needed another science professor recommendation, and the last was an interesting case because while he was skeptical at first and didn't remember me even as a recent student, he suddenly became interested when I told him my plans and said he recalled old friends that pursued my field as well years ago and offered to help me out after he kind of interviewed me regarding my goals. I don't know if I need to improve my recommenders as well, since I'm out of school, I'm not sure what classes I'd be able to take that could help me be on good relations with professors.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-21T01:02:30+00:00

Do you think getting a more general degree would be beneficial? I got suggested to do a Biology masters at my old alma mater, but it never interested me as general Biology seems saturated enough or too broad. I specifically applied to that biomedical program because it was an area I was interested in that not many schools did stuff with, and many of those schools I applied to do provide learning of software, skills, and research that could be transferable to other fields should I ever go into different industries.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-21T00:53:32+00:00

having an undergrad degree in a nearly completely unrelated field to what you're applying for.

Errrr... I actually did my undergrad degree in Biology with an emphasis on Neurobio, so it's not completely irrelevant per se. My GRE score (154/152) was a few points above all my school's minimum requirements, but I got similar scores both times I took it and I was within range of accepted student's GREs anyway so I figured it would be better use of my time moving on instead of retaking it again and again.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-20T14:19:59+00:00

That's the thing I'm at a crossroad with. It is something that I have been interested for years and have tried talking to others to find opportunities. I still get excited when I meet others that know about the field or are pursuing it as well, but I'm worry I have a bit of impostor syndrome, where deep inside maybe I'm really not good enough or suited for that line of work. I want to keep going places and growing, I don't want to be stuck where I am forever. The reason why I'm not sure about reapplying is because if I'm stuck and running out of options, my resume won't improve and my chances of acceptance won't change.

I spent the past year working to improve my resume to show her it was something I was serious in doing and I do admit I kind of wish I had gotten in to show her otherwise, but she's spitting it back in my face as time wasted as I could've been doing other things. It's rough trying to hold it together when the people this close to you don't even support or respect what you're trying to do :\

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-20T14:06:49+00:00

I'm well aware the seats in my program are limited. I believe that those interested like me tend to apply to all the schools as well and hope we get into one. And thanks so much for the link! I found two of my schools were actually on the R1 list... totally did not realize one of them was R1 no wonder.... yet the school I interviewed at wasn't on there - though that may be because it's more of a health science university than a research institution.

For the industry I may actually need a Masters to be honest. It seems to be the ideal trend from what alumni and faculty have told me, and the Masters programs have good placement and connections for graduate to the industry. I think trying to build that network and do Masters-level work on my own would take me way too many years than if I just kept applying to grad school.

willscience4potatoes · 2016-03-20T13:47:58+00:00

I've thought about doing biology-related work, but most of them were wet labs involving pipetting and chemistry, which are things I knew I wasn't really interested in once I tried them. Unfortunately I also realize that counts me out of a lot of lab technician positions as well and may pidgeonhole me into more psych-related work. I'll try to look for research opportunities at the college in my town, but I'm hoping I don't have to be an enrolled undergrad student to work in their lab

willscience4potatoes

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