5 year DC resident here (about to leave for grad school). Three tips for finding relatively cheap rent in a good place to live:
1. Push the neighborhood envelope. People are still afraid to live in areas that are rapidly gentrifying. Bloomingdale, H Street, NoMa, Shaw, SW Waterfront, parts of Anacostia, etc are great places to live and hang out, and rents haven't yet gone crazy. Lots of old buildings which work well for roommates.
2. Take the bus. Pretty much anything that is a 5 minute walk from a metro will be expensive, but buses run all over the place, are cheaper than the metro, and are often overlooked.
3. DC is a very small town. Everything is close to everything. I walk everywhere when the weather is nice.
Feel free to ask here or PM me with any questions. I live this town, and am happy to help.
This is a fantastic thread because I fall into this category. A little background on myself. I graduated from a top west coast research university with a BA in chemistry. GPA of 2.39 in 2006. I knew that I wanted to be in biomedical research so during the last year of my undergraduate career, I worked at a big nonprofit cancer research facility. Thereafter, this one year experience allowed me to get a job at my undergrad university as a research technician for the past 6 years. While an undergrad and even the beginning of my career as a technician I had no idea that I would want to grow and spend the rest of my life in the biomedical sciences. So now I know. This is what i've been doing.
Long story short, i'll be starting an MS in Microbiology/Immunology at Hopkins next year. If you want to read:
Last year, 2011, I applied to only PHD programs. I got rejected from all. I felt as though I had a chance because I have a few publications (1 first author), stellar LORs, 5 years of research experience, and great GRE score. Turns out, it wasn't enough (though not unexpected). So in a haste, since deadlines for MS programs were later and I have all my materials prepared from PHD applications, I applied to 5 MS programs in either Microbiology or Immunology. Got into all of them. How?
After talking to three program coordinators, all said that my resume conveyed my research experience, but decided to take a fly on me because in my SOP, I emphasized why I had such a low uGPA, what I have been doing since then, and what I have learned and why I won't fail. I also stated my reasons for wanting back in school but I assume everyone else writes that.
Obviously, everyone's situation is different. I have a passion for science and I know where I want to go. Hopefully getting an MS will help me get to my goal.
For my age (32) I did not want to go back and retake undergraduate classes or get a different bachelor's degree. I strongly felt as though it would be a waste of my time since I have been working in my field of interest for quite sometime. I've even mentored/tutored graduate students. It's all a matter of me applying this experience towards a degree.
If anyone has any questions I'd be more than happy to help. I hope my situation gives someone out there hope that all is not lost if you want to attend graduate school with a low GPA in the sciences.
aspiringchemist got a reaction from asaprocky in Chemistry Applications Fall 2014
aspiringchemist got a reaction from melsoda in Chemistry Applications Fall 2014