Hello all,
I come to this forum to seek some advice on what path I should take.
My story is that I want to seek a Phd in Biological Sciences, particularly Plant Breeding or Genetics. However, once upon a time in undergrad I was never ambitious or dedicated towards my academics. Subsequently, I obtained a cumulative GPA of 2.91 from an accredited institution. Also, I have roughly 60k in student loans also.
The issue I am having deciding which route to take is solely attributable to a) funding & b] acceptance chance. Now, in a perfect world I would pursue my Ph.d, but because my GPA lacks and I am afraid to not get accepted. I would also do my Masters degree which theoretically should be easier to gain admissions, but then I don't want to get denied funding and be over 100K in student loans. Data from universities when looking at funding percentages of Ph.d vs Masters suggests 85% and 35% get funding, respectively.
I plan on applying to ~9 universities.
My letters of recommendation will be strong, but one of them will be VERY strong. The Principal investigator I work under is a nationally renown researcher. He is the director of multiple places and owns multiple start up businesses. This is really what I have the most going for me. He is a great person to work for. I just don't know how much weight that will carry.
I will have 3 years of research experience from 3 different jobs (2 academia, 1 industry). My most recent job is a post-undergraduate job in academia. I have been told by multiple graduate students and post-doc's here that I already perform at the level of a graduate student in the middle of their Ph.d. The problem is that my hardwork, positive attitude and creativity will not necessarily translate on my admissions application. I feel like all they see is a 2.91 and automatically assume that I am either 1) Unintelligent 2) Lazy
I matured very slowly as an adult in respect to time management, ambition, drive. The environment I was concealed to my whole life was never a good surrounding for finding myself or my ambitions.
I would like to know what suggestions you may have for going the masters/phd route? What other suggestions might you have to increase the probability of acceptance letters from institutions?
Thanks for all and any help!