[2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results]

I just got accepted for the Biology MS program at Umass Boston with full funding after interviewing there a week ago. I really didn't know what to expect given that I was applying without any research experience but in the end my high GPA and GRE scores and strong letters of recommendation overcame it. Plus, my interview went extremely well. Still haven't heard back from URI or UConn, but Umass was my first choice anyways so I'll likely be accepting regardless.

[Getting Research Experience Before Applying for Graduate School]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll definitely take this into consideration if I don't get in this semester, though it's looking less likely that I won't get in because I just had two interviews that I feel like I nailed and one of the PIs who interviewed me just emailed me telling me he sent a letter of recommendation on my behalf to the admissions committee after the interview. However, until I'm officially accepted anywhere I'll be considering all of these options.

[Getting Research Experience Before Applying for Graduate School]

So I graduated with my BS in molecular biology in 2013 and neglected to get involved with any undergraduate research. Since then I've been working as a laboratory services technician for the past 3 years and I've decided I want to go to graduate school and pursue a career in research. I've applied to 3 masters programs and I haven't heard a decision from any of them yet. I'm not freaking out about it yet, but I realize how important research experience so I recognize that my high GPA, high GRE scores, and strong letters of recommendation may not be enough to offset my lack of research experience for all 3 applications. I want to have a fall back plan in case that happens, that would allow me to get research experience so that my graduate school applications are more competitive next year. The problem is, at my current job I don't play a significant enough role in the lab to really consider what I do actual research experience, and I've struggled to get a job where I would be getting research experience. Is it possible for me to go back to the school I graduated from and do research after having earned my degree there? What would be the best course of action to get research experience before next year? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Should I be confident in my chances?]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Anyways, I took the GRE and applied for the MS program for biology at Umass boston, and at URI and UConn as well, with:

GPA: 3.76

GRE Scores

Q: 164
V: 164
W: 5

I'm still waiting to hear back from Umass Boston and UConn. I got an email from URI from the graduate coordinator saying they were impressed with my application and wanted to know if I was still interested and that I should schedule a time to visit the campus to see the labs and meet some faculty. Does this mean I'm likely to get accepted there and should I treat this as an unofficial interview?
 

[Should I be confident in my chances?]

Hi everyone,

I graduated at the end of 2013 with a BS in molecular biology and a 3.76 GPA. My transcript shows a lot of improvement over my 4 years as well, as I had a lot of B's in my first two years, but maintained straight A's for my junior and senior years when I began to focus more on taking more upper level biology and chemistry courses.

That's the good news, the bad news is I was pretty naïve when I was in college, I falsely assumed that as long as I focused on earning a good GPA I'll have endless potential. I didn't do any undergraduate research, and I didn't get involved with extracurricular activities. I thought I wanted to go to medical school and I took the MCAT and did pretty well on it (35) but before I was going to apply in the fall of 2013 I decided that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I spent the next years being extremely indecisive bouncing between wanting to go to pharmacy school or getting into research. In that time I tried to get a job as a research tech, but all I could get was a job as a lab services technician in a research lab where I'm responsible for washing glassware, disposing of biohazard waste, and stocking lab supplies. I've been there for almost 2.5 years now. I grew complacent and let a lot of time go to waste but I've decided I want to purse a career in molecular biology research.

So...

I have a 3.76  GPA but it's from 3 years ago, I have a lot of lab experience but no undergraduate research experience, I am confident I can get good letters of recommendation because I was a standout student in most of my biology and chemistry courses, I have not taken the GREs yet but based on my performance on practice tests I expect to score around the 90th percentile on all of the sections. I certainly have some things going for me, but I am greatly concerned about the 3 year gap and my lack of relevant research experience.

I'm planning to apply to a masters program at Umass Boston. I recently looked at the stats, and I found that around 20% of applicants for the biology masters program were accepted. Are my chances of getting accepted high, or should I be concerned? (This is assuming that I perform very well on the GRE) If I should be concerned, what else should I do? I would be willing to apply to other schools, but that's my most convenient option.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!