PREP post bacc programs

[signalmytransduction]

Hi Guys!

 

Has anyone heard of or participated in the NIH-funded PREP programs?  Is this a good substitute for a masters?  Or a good substitute for a research tech spot?  I am trying to figure out what to do if I don't get an acceptance this admissions season.  Thanks!

[ilovelab]

Hi Guys!

 

Has anyone heard of or participated in the NIH-funded PREP programs?  Is this a good substitute for a masters?  Or a good substitute for a research tech spot?  I am trying to figure out what to do if I don't get an acceptance this admissions season.  Thanks!

 Honestly I don't think its a good substitute for a masters program. I've had friends in PREP programs.

  Here's essentially the breakdown of the prep program.

   You start in June/July and then apply to PhD programs in December. You are working in a new lab for 5-6 months so honestly research wise your CV won't be much different. Your letter of rec from your new PI will only reflect 5-6 months of work. Depending on your new research you might not get a lot of work done in that time. Over the summer you take GRE courses and prep for the GRE. You can take courses during the fall semester/quarter, most students don't take courses. You then finish the program the following may/june. There is no guarantee for funding the following year, so you don't get into PhD programs that cycle you most likely are screwed. If you can't find a funded masters or a research tech spot I would go for the prep programs.

   Pros:

    Funded position for one year, new research experience, Free GRE prep/gre test fees, New letter of rec from PI, pretty much guranteed an interview spot at the university the program is at.

  Cons:

    Program assumes that with 5-6 months of new research experience you can turn your application around, depending on the applicant that might not be enough.

[person5811]

Hi Guys!

 

Has anyone heard of or participated in the NIH-funded PREP programs?  Is this a good substitute for a masters?  Or a good substitute for a research tech spot?  I am trying to figure out what to do if I don't get an acceptance this admissions season.  Thanks!

I know a lot of people that have done post-bacs at different places and done extremely well (my friend just got into MIT Biology, and was also accepted at Princeton, Johns Hopkins, UPenn, U of Michigan and has 4 interviews left). I would say if you have a solid GPA for undergrad, a master's is really not necessary. Plus, most master's programs aren't funded, so you'd have to figure out how to pay for that.

 

Maybe not the one at NIH, but other post-bac programs I've heard about last two years (not one), so you'd have a solid extra year of research experience and a letter of rec. Now, if you were to do a one year program, I think it is possible to get a good, solid letter of rec in a few months. I started working with my current research advisor in August, asked for a letter in October, and got a lot of interviews. I think her letter was really good bc it's a small lab and thus I see her every week. I also work 30 hours a week (or a lot more if necessary), so she's really gotten to know me well in that short period of time and likes me. I know she could tell I was trying really hard and I'm sure mentioned how motivated I was in her letter (and how quickly I learned things, etc).

 

Oh, yeah and you don't have to get a lot of results/data from a research experience, the point is to understand what you're doing really well (read reviews and papers, and you will) and be able to talk about it (both in your personal statement and during interviews).

[signalmytransduction]

I know a lot of people that have done post-bacs at different places and done extremely well (my friend just got into MIT Biology, and was also accepted at Princeton, Johns Hopkins, UPenn, U of Michigan and has 4 interviews left). I would say if you have a solid GPA for undergrad, a master's is really not necessary. Plus, most master's programs aren't funded, so you'd have to figure out how to pay for that.

 

Maybe not the one at NIH, but other post-bac programs I've heard about last two years (not one), so you'd have a solid extra year of research experience and a letter of rec. Now, if you were to do a one year program, I think it is possible to get a good, solid letter of rec in a few months. I started working with my current research advisor in August, asked for a letter in October, and got a lot of interviews. I think her letter was really good bc it's a small lab and thus I see her every week. I also work 30 hours a week (or a lot more if necessary), so she's really gotten to know me well in that short period of time and likes me. I know she could tell I was trying really hard and I'm sure mentioned how motivated I was in her letter (and how quickly I learned things, etc).

 

Oh, yeah and you don't have to get a lot of results/data from a research experience, the point is to understand what you're doing really well (read reviews and papers, and you will) and be able to talk about it (both in your personal statement and during interviews).

My uGPA is a 3.09 right now.  I have a year of lab and TA experience.  The grad schools I applied to do not feel that that is enough.  I don't want to do a masters because it will cost a lot of money.  I thought this might be a good alternative.

[person5811]

My uGPA is a 3.09 right now.  I have a year of lab and TA experience.  The grad schools I applied to do not feel that that is enough.  I don't want to do a masters because it will cost a lot of money.  I thought this might be a good alternative.

I think your GPA is a little low. I've heard in those cases you can either do a master's (and do really well, like 4.0 well) or take the subject GRE (in bio probably, and score really high >80%) to compensate. The master's would have to be research based (not just classes) and if you take time off I think you need to find a research position somewhere (as a tech, as a post-bac student...) to demonstrate that you're interested in doing research (and also get another letter of rec). Usually tech positions have contracts for 2 years, not sure about industry, but in academia this is what I've seen.

 

Now, there's some funding for master's programs out there (scholarships and fellowships, I'd use google to find those) and you can always take out a loan. In addition some programs offer financial support in the form or teaching or research assistantships. Oh, and of all of the places I've visited no one seems to care about teaching experience (I have some, but it has not come up at all, it's really not expected or a plus, but if you can teach well you can explain things well and therefore are more likely to talk about your research intelligently).

 

Oh yeah, and I think PREP/post-bac programs are nice because they give you a little support group when you apply again. You can bounce ideas off of each other when filling out applications, or revise each other's personal statements, then you can interview together, etc.. I have this sort of group through a summer program, and it definitely helped me stay motivated/focused/hopeful throughout the application process. And, they expect you to apply to graduate school, so if you miss a lot of work when interview season comes, they'll be ok with it (for sure!) and will continue to pay you just as much as you usually get paid (I'm pretty sure, but don't quote me on that).

What kind of programs are you applying to? And what school(s) are you thinking of applying to?

[signalmytransduction]

I applied this season to 9 PhD schools: Drexel, Rutgers Molec Biosciences, Carnegie Mellon, U Mass Med, Rockefeller, Einstein, U Mass Amherst, Stony Brook, and Princeton.  I have received 3 formal rejections from U mass med, rockefeller and rutgers.  I am hoping one of the others will accept me.  I am preparing for the possibility or no acceptances.  So I am going to apply to the einstein and upenn prep programs in hopes of something working out.  

[person5811]

Mmm, I don't know much about most of the programs you applied to, but I think you should start considering other options, since it's fairly late in the interview season. I know Rockefeller has really high GPA standards (no one below a 3.8 has gotten an interview there that I personally know of, if anyone does, then please let us know), so I would not advise reapplying next year (but it's your $50, so do what you think is best for you). I think Princeton also has pretty high GPA standards (I only know my friend that has a 4.0 that got in), so that's something to consider. I think only applying to 2 PREP programs might be a little risky, so maybe try looking elsewhere? You only have to stay there for a little period of time, this will get you to where you want to be, but it doesn't have to be where you want to be for grad school.

 

Also, I'm not sure where I saw that you have like 1 year of research experience, and I actually don't think that is so bad, also if you didn't lead that project I think that's fine too, as long as you understand the rationale behind what you were doing (I mean you are applying to graduate school to become, eventually an independent scientist....you just need to show that you have potential as an applicant, not try to make the claim that you already are because that would probably be false and incredibly arrogant). And to further this point, this one other person I know got really good interviews (Cal Tech, Yale, John's Hopkins, Berkeley and others) with two summers of research experience (both, under a post-doc or grad student....now, he does have a 4.0 and close to 90% in all sections of the general GRE, but still). Ok, I hope some of that helps.
 

I applied this season to 9 PhD schools: Drexel, Rutgers Molec Biosciences, Carnegie Mellon, U Mass Med, Rockefeller, Einstein, U Mass Amherst, Stony Brook, and Princeton.  I have received 3 formal rejections from U mass med, rockefeller and rutgers.  I am hoping one of the others will accept me.  I am preparing for the possibility or no acceptances.  So I am going to apply to the einstein and upenn prep programs in hopes of something working out.  

[signalmytransduction]

Mmm, I don't know much about most of the programs you applied to, but I think you should start considering other options, since it's fairly late in the interview season. I know Rockefeller has really high GPA standards (no one below a 3.8 has gotten an interview there that I personally know of, if anyone does, then please let us know), so I would not advise reapplying next year (but it's your $50, so do what you think is best for you). I think Princeton also has pretty high GPA standards (I only know my friend that has a 4.0 that got in), so that's something to consider. I think only applying to 2 PREP programs might be a little risky, so maybe try looking elsewhere? You only have to stay there for a little period of time, this will get you to where you want to be, but it doesn't have to be where you want to be for grad school.

 

Also, I'm not sure where I saw that you have like 1 year of research experience, and I actually don't think that is so bad, also if you didn't lead that project I think that's fine too, as long as you understand the rationale behind what you were doing (I mean you are applying to graduate school to become, eventually an independent scientist....you just need to show that you have potential as an applicant, not try to make the claim that you already are because that would probably be false and incredibly arrogant). And to further this point, this one other person I know got really good interviews (Cal Tech, Yale, John's Hopkins, Berkeley and others) with two summers of research experience (both, under a post-doc or grad student....now, he does have a 4.0 and close to 90% in all sections of the general GRE, but still). Ok, I hope some of that helps.

 

Yeah.  I figure I'll apply to two PREP programs and if I don't get accepted I will try to get a tech job.  Hopefully some extra research experience and higher GRE scores will help.  Thanks for your suggestions and advice!  I really appreciate it!!!! Good luck with your applications!

[virus guy]

I applied this season to 9 PhD schools: Drexel, Rutgers Molec Biosciences, Carnegie Mellon, U Mass Med, Rockefeller, Einstein, U Mass Amherst, Stony Brook, and Princeton.  I have received 3 formal rejections from U mass med, rockefeller and rutgers.  I am hoping one of the others will accept me.  I am preparing for the possibility or no acceptances.  So I am going to apply to the einstein and upenn prep programs in hopes of something working out.  

 

What program at Drexel did you apply to?

[Vene]

Usually tech positions have contracts for 2 years, not sure about industry, but in academia this is what I've seen.

As most of my experience has been industrial I'll weigh in here. From what I've seen there's normally two paths. One is working as a contractor/temp through an agency. These are typically either 6 months or 12 months long. They may be temp to hire or not, but from the perspective of the employee you treat them the same; as a short term job where you should be constantly looking for other opportunities. The other path is direct hire, where you are an employee of the company until you quit, are laid off, or fired. Most states are at-will, so your employer is free to dismiss you at any time and you are free to leave at any time.

 

In either case there's little to no harm to your reputation if you leave, assuming you give 2 weeks notice. In fact, this is quickly becoming the standard way to move up the career ladder. You may be required to sign a non-compete for a direct hire position which means you can't work in for a competitor for x period of time (if you go back to school it makes no difference). A non-compete for a contract job is absurd.

[Crucial BBQ]

Postbaccs are typically for medical school; too give students who want to pursue medical school but do not have the necessary background in science.  There might be some postbaccs for other programs, but the only ones I have heard about were for post BA/BS pre-meds.  The NIH thing seems for those wanting Ph.D.s but do not have the necessary research experience.  I think the PREP program is for underrepresented minorities. 

 

As far as postbaccs are concerned, my understanding is that they are looked at very favorably; at least for med schools. 

[signalmytransduction]

What program at Drexel did you apply to?

I applied to biological sciences.

[Knowledgepower]

Hi, I'm interested to find out if OP applied to the prep and is attending?