NellyC

I never held a job or volunteered with a working title that says “research”. I guess the only thing i can speak of is one of my leadership healthcare business course got turned into an independent study, which was done special for me. And a class I need to take next semester I must complete a capstone project that requires a semester long study and research of a healthcare organization and I’m looking to do it in behavioral health. Nothing extensive or nothing at all probably... ??‍♀️

My current research interest is around creating positive environments for people in addiction trying to recover or those that are in early recovery. I have one professor at catholic university that I contacted and she replied with “I look forward to your application and I will contact you with questions if I have any in the future”. Not sure if that’s a generic answer or good. I’m new to this game.

So here’s my background: Associates degree in general studies: 2.69 gpa. George Mason University BA biology: 2.28 gpa ... super bad. Virginia Commonwealth University BS Chemistry: 2.69 gpa Marymount University MS Healthcare Management: (so far) 3.2 gpa during application time. Will go up after 4 classes ... I anticipate 3.4 I think. My work experience ( been working since 19) starting from first job until now: Medical Assistant/ Medical office manager 5 years. During this time, I also worked part time in a hospital as Histology Assistant in the Pathology/Histology lab. 2 years as hospital registrar in the ER, surgical department, ancillary department etc.(Left for a short time in my last semester of studies to work in a lab, so I worked as a certifying/lab tech in a toxicology lab verifying drug test results) Promoted to Manager of Patient Access. After 10 months, promoted to be Director if Patient Access in a Psychiatric Hospital. (This was the beginning of my interest in psychology back in 2017, this was also when i started my masters) Worked in a pharmaceutical company as an Assistant Scientist for almost a year Worked as a Pharmacy Technician for almost a year, therefore I am Pharmacy Tech Certified. Currently I work for GSK (another pharmaceutical company) as a technical writer. Will be taking my GRE mid December. I am applying to four schools that are allowing me to submit my scores and LORs after the deadline. The schools are: Catholic University of america American University Virginia Tech West Virginia University. I am concerned about my GPA being low. But I am hoping everything else will compensate for the low GPA. Also I’m studying hard for the GRE and aiming for minimum 168 for both sections (pretty confident with the math section). Anyone has experience with similar background and think I’ve got a good chance, slight chance or no chance? Also, are my lab experience hospital work considered “clinical”? Trying to see what research I can speak of too. oh yeah, I’m also going to go to Alabama University Birmingham to compete in a case study competition with two other students in my masters. And during my last semester of my masters I will be doing a semester long project with a hospital and I will try my best to do it with a psychiatric/psychology organization. Extra side info: I’m Middle Eastern, permanent resident, Canadian/Algerian citizen, lived in 4 different countries and speak 3 languages. Thank you in advance!