aberrant

I'm not sure what do you mean by "I'm half way through my master's program in biology" and "I will have my PhD a year from now" -- so are you finishing a MS or PhD student?

In any case, this quick story may motive you -- I know a professor from my alma mater was originally a physical chemist in practice. after the post-doc training, this prof switched to environmental chemistry for an academic position. And now, this professor is one of the leading environmental chemist in the field. so never say never, just think through and make a good plan, other things will fall into place.

Done - Good luck!

Most of the science PhD programs in the U.S. do not require a MS. If you think that you have strong research experience, then technically you don't need to get a MS degree to get into PhD programs. However, if you are drastically changing field (e.g. mathematics to environmental biology), then it may worth a little bit of time to get a MS in environmental biology, before applying for the env. bio. phd program(s).

I have one. used it as an undergrad. brought it with me for grad school (to prepare if I ever have classes with professors that may not give good lecture, or heavy accents given that I also am not a English native speaker). turned out that I rarely have time to revise my notes under normal circumstances, so I gave up using my livescribe pen.

And I just realized that's pretty much what TheFez said. But I supposed it depends on the field of study. It might works better for some students than the other. In general though, the pen is a great tool. If you find a good deal of this pen, go get it.

First, the program is not really highly ranked... I really want an tenure track academic position at a research university/research medical center where I know I can get some quality students, get research funded, and make a solid contribution. I don't think this is the place that will get me there.

I might sound harsh and negative here, but it seemed to me that you misunderstood how faculty search committee look for TT candidates and evaluate them; besides, I believe that you are way ahead of yourself. The ranking of your program means much less than the quality and topic of your research as a graduate student; it also means less when comparing the ranking of a program with the reputation of your PI. In other words, you can still do great research in a "not really highly ranked" program, with someone extremely big in a specific field, and still have a good start in your career (not necessarily means you are a top candidate for a TT position in the future. Hence, "good start" only). Obviously, for a TT academic position, your work in graduate schools mean relatively less important than what you do as a postdoc -- as an almost completely independent researcher. This is one of a few reasons why some people trying to secure a postdoc position in the most competitive environment possible -- not only to challenge herself/himself, but because the outcome through those institutions tend to be pretty very positive -- assuming the quality of your research as an independent researcher (postdoc) in still great, besides getting good publication and possibly securing an award or two.

For your references, some schools recruit large number of students for their program, and weed them out as they progress. Reason behind it is that first year graduate students can be a cheap TA -- many hours of teaching with little compensation. Once they been through that stage, then they weed out those that are less competitive, predominantly based on GPA and qual.

As it stands I have a 3.00 GPA... Should I take the risk, and go through the admissions cycle again to get to a higher ranked program? Or should I be loyal to my PI? This guy is great, I love the work, he is approachable, he brilliant, and he wants us to succeed and do great work. He was a post doc in one of the foremost experts in the area that I want to pursue research, and they still talk to each other frequently. I think that may give me a leg up with his recommendation.

 

I just feel bad for not doing what he is asking me to do. I also don't know if my stats are good enough to get in anywhere else, as my undergrad GPA is higher than my grad GPA, and I probably won't get a publication before the application cycle starts. I want to work with specific profs at other schools, and I am worried that if I take this plunge, I will be stepping on toes, and may end up with nothing but a MS in the end.

Base on your description, I'm afraid that your profile from your MS program may hurt your chances for a higher ranked program, even though you probably have more research experience by now. Given that the economy is not necessarily great, together with sequester, you can expect that getting into graduate school in science is even more competitive than before. As you said, you probably won't get a paper this cycle, with a GPA in graduate school lower than that from undergrad.

To echo what I said earlier, my personal recommendation is to stick around your program and continue your PhD there. So what if the program is not known? What matters more if you are doing good research, enjoying the work, and your PI was the postdoc of the leader in the field that you are interested in. Now, if you really think that a highly ranked program must help you with your career goal, then I would have apply for PhD after getting your MS. Why? By then, hopefully you will have a paper or two, a higher GPA, and establish a good relationship with your current PI for the future (connection).

On a side note, the funding from the U.S. agencies seem to fund less on non-medical related research. What does it mean? If you know how the research medical center / college of medicine works, your external funding is extremely important. In other words, to have a higher probability to get funded, your better shot would be doing research that can provide solutions with medical application. If you are going to be a flat out Chemist (who I was as an undergrad), you will have almost zero chances to get a TT position in medical schools of a 4-year university.

Just a few things to really think about.