ClinCyto

Undergrad institution: UNC-Chapel Hill Major: Biology Minor: Chemistry GPA in Major: 3.1 if just counting biology courses, much lower if counting required chem--more on that later Overall GPA: 3.15 Type of student: Domestic, Asian female, rising senior No GRE yet, but I did very well on the SAT w/o studying and prep is going well. Research experience: 1.5 years in a neuroscience lab, probably 1700 hrs total. 2 middle author publications, one in a decently high impact journal for the field. Will be working in a molecular genetics lab starting this August for the next year. Poster presentation at an undergrad research symposium (at my school) scheduled for this December. Awards/Honors: $3000 SURF from my undergrad institution (had to write a research proposal for it); $1000 from a privately funded fellowship connected to SURF; University Honors Program (top 10% of each class) Activities/Jobs: Volunteered as a peer writing mentor to help SURF applicants with their research proposals; was an upperclassman mentor to freshmen in the honors program; on exec. committee of a student-run nonprofit of ~100 people. Not sure how relevant some of this is but I figured I should include it. Other Info: My transcript is EXTREMELY messed up. I flunked the same chemistry class twice (I was lazy and skipped class. It's not even a hard class. I'm an idiot.) and am taking it for the third time this fall. I got a D in gen chem II (retook for a B). I got a D in a 200 level bio class (retook for an A). A C- in an upper level bio class (it was hard af AND I didn't study). Most of the bad grades happened my first two years, but I failed that chem class for the second time just last semester and got that C- 5 weeks ago. I'm motivated to work hard and get as close to straight A's as possible going forward. Even so, I know that my record is unacceptable to PhD programs. My question is, I have a couple of options for after graduation, before I apply to PhD programs: tech job, research assistant job, RA job + some coursework at a university, masters program. I feel like a masters would be my best bet given that coursework is my problem, not research experience. But I'm not sure I'll get in, and I can't seem to find too much info online. I'm specifically looking at NC State's masters in genetics for next year, then getting a PhD in something related to molecular or cytogenetics. Any insight/advice on what I should apply for/be doing? Other than making decent grades lol.