bsharpe269

I agree that this is totally not the only option to get the education you want. I would apply next year to a wide range of programs that are known to offer funding or apply for outside scholarship and try to go on that. It's definitely worth waiting another year and to not take this debt. You'll probably start at a fairly low salary after the masters and have to pay half of your income in loans. $1k a month for most of your life is a TON of money.

I definitely disagree with the above comment... I am a masters student and get the same attention as the phd students. The advisor realizes that I will be applying to phd programs and is making an effort to get work done fast with me so that I have presentations/publications on my resume. Regardless of whether youre a phd student, if you produce good work with him, he will be able to publish it and it with help him so in my opinion, he is shooting himself in the foot by being like this towards you.

That is WAY too much to take out for a masters!!! I am taking out 20k total and that its stressing me out even. I would not consider a program if I had to take out any more than that at all. Like above mentioned, really think about how much more money you will be making with the masters. With humanities/social science masters, you really arent going to necesarily make tons more so I don't know that you will be able to easily pay all that back.

My opinion is that it probably doesnt really matter that much either way. I would look at the degree requirements for each and elective options. A strong background in programming would be very helpful in getting an industry position so I would make sure the program you go into has a couple courses in programming at least. Other than that, they are both strong schools so I would go with the program you like best and definitely factor money in.

The easiest to get and best paying jobs with an MS in bioinformatics are bioinformatics programming jobs in industry (this would probably be true of phd too but the phd would be unnecessary for these jobs IMO). These jobs are pretty much your standard programming jobs but you often work for biotech companies or hospitals. Also, they typically involve some statistical analsysis also where your typical programming job may have less of that. I am not sure if that is what you are looking for or not but it may be worth applying to a couple bioinformatics programs as back up plans since I think you have a very competitive application. At my program at least, you can really design it to your interests. For example, my program only requires 2 programming classes (they are pretty intense though) but you can take 5+ if you want to. Classes like numerical analysis, advanced stats, machine learning, etc arent required but are electives. I am taking more of those sorts of classes and less of stuff like genomics and sequencing. I cant really say how easy of time you have getting straight out computer engineering sorts of jobs. it would probably depend on how many programming electives etc you take but I think that a straight out CS degree be more competitive for these jobs than bioinformatics degree.

It sounds to me like you have a strong application overall. I wouldnt let it worry you too much, especially if you addressed it in your SOP.

I will also be applying to biophysics programs in the fall and am currently working on a masters, doing work in a biophsyics modeling group. 3 of those 4 programs are some of the top programs in the country. Are you interested in staying experimental? I think that some of the programs you applied for are known for their computational work. Rutgers is known for their experimental work so you may have luck there. What exactly do you want to study? and did you apply to the programs that specialize in that? I definitely dont think it was a lack of background in physics because biochem is a perfect background for biophysics/structural biology. If you give some more info on your research interests and how detailed or vague you made them in your SOP then I would be happy to try to help a bit more!

Well I am in the sciences but from what I have noticed, it is actually better to keep interests slightly broad. For example, if I narrow to the point where only a couple people could advise me then that is a problem. It is better to speak a bit more broadly, like I want to study these kinds of topics. Then you could be appealing to a couple different POIs at a school who could combine their interests with yours.

Have you ever considered bioinformatics or computational bio programs? You'd be a really strong candidate for them. I'm really enjoying the field!

The title pretty much explains. If your advisor made comments that he thinks you will get into or get rejected from certain schools was he right? If they made general guesses like "with all of your research experience, I bet youll get into at least half of these programs" did you? Just wondering whether professors predications hold up well or whether it is much more random than they can predict.

I think the reason prestige is important is that prestigous schools often have well known professors who are publishing great work. If you are publishing great work then you should be able to compete with the phd students at top schools. I dont think the number of publications is necesarily as important as the quality.

Students in my program also secure an internship after 1 semester and no one in the program seems to be struggling at all with getting one. Your programming abilities are about where mine are when I started my program and I was way ahead of a lot of people. My background is in applied math so I also had a strong background in probability, numerical analysis etc which makes learning programming so much easier. I wouldn't worry about the internship... The program will have lots of internship connections already that should make it easier to get one. I was surprised by how easy people seem to be getting internships during the masters and jobs after. I think there is a large need for people with the skillset.

The school is great. You don't really list your qualifications, just your majors so I can't comment on the ease of getting an internship. In general, internships come easiest to the best programmers so your programming knowledge from undergrad + what you pick up your first year will be important.

I would never avoid applying to these locations because of safety. Big cities like these are as safe you make them... if you walk around alone at night with a huge purse or live in a sketchy neighborhood then of course you will have issues. If you live in an area with families and use general precautions like knowing the areas you are walking in then you are absolutely fine.

no that sounds horrible... under what circumstances did that happen?

I am working on my masters so I more mean for that level. I agree that at the undergrad level, grades can be a bit lower without a problem. I plan to apply to phd programs from here and I think that more than a couple of Bs during the masters could decrease my chances a bit. It does of course also vary with experience and the weight that schools and advisors put on specific aspects of the application.

I think that you should view this as a benefit rather than problem. What I mean is that you can apply for schools the first year and if you dont have much luck because of your age, then you can work for a year and apply again and will end up starting school at your "normal time." To reiterate what others have said, taking time off will definitely not be bad for you. I had the same mindset as you that I knew I wanted to get into research and also had graduated early (by 1 semester) but ended up taking off a year and a half before starting school again. I really cannot even describe this difference this made. The students who went straight through do *think* that they understand how badly they want their phd but I can say for a fact that all of the top students in my program, making the top grades, and doing the top reserach, have taken time off. All of students without time off are simply average in the program. I am definitely not saying that you cannot be a top student if you go straight through, but there is a VERY clear distiction in my program. I think part of this really comes from the fact that the whole time I was out of school and research, I wanted back in so bad. This made my dedication level completely change when I did get back in. If you are sure you want to go into research then it is definitely worth applying now but if you dont get in, I would not be upset because I promise you will come back an even stronger applicant and researcher because of the time off.

To add to this discussion of hard sciences vs arts, I am in a hard science and As are expected. A couple Bs is fine but a B means that you understand less than 90% of the material which is definitely a problem in the sciences. I can see where humanies and arts might be more accepting of Bs since grading is more subjective anyway. To the OP, a B wont kill you. Like others said, maintaining a 3.7-3.8 is important but a B every other semester or so shouldnt be a huge deal, no matter what the field.

I am in a different field but I keep a spiral notebook and when I read a book chapter or article, I take notes on the main points and write the book/article name and researchers at the top of the page. That way, if I want to remember which article I was reading I can easily flip back through and look. If I am having a hard time understanding what I read (which is regularly) then I take detailed notes on everything since it helps me learn the info.

I don't know about your program in particular but the impression I have always had of GWU, as someone a few states away, was that it was similar in reputation to schools like clemson or utenn. keep in mind this is my completely unreserached opinion but if I read the school's name on a transcript, thats the reputation I would associate it with.

The school was NOT pressuring him. They went out of their way to get him a fellowship since he didn't make the cut for the standard fellowships. They only could do this for one student though so they needed him to accept first. There was no pressuring... They wanted to find him funding and he accepted their offer

I would really really study hard to for math GRE and retake. I think that phd programs will except yours to be very high since you already have a masters and many people taking it dont.

I totally agree with teh above. If you are this interested in Pitt then you should visit either way. You may end up loving the campus more or clicking with students and teachers more. It is deifnitely worth visiting even if you dont end up attending. They will not be mad that you visited and then declined their offer. They want you to come visit so that they can sell the program to you.

I agree with everyone above. At this point, it would be very very wrong to turn your back on OSU. This whole situation was handled poorly and now I think you need to live with your commitment.

During undergrad, I studied math and spanish and also took lots of philosophy classes. I am really interested in all of those areas. I am in a bioinformatics masters program now and am very interested in bio, biochem, and programming. I will be applying to phd programs in biochem and biophysics. I am also very interested interested in anthropology and international studies and learning other languages. Like many people here, my interests are all over the place!