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A strong letter is one where the professor writes more than general, vague statements or just repeats information that can be found in other parts of your application (for example, so-and-so is a strong student who took classes x and y with me and got grades of whatever). Instead the letter should show that they know you well enough to describe your work habits and capabilities to do graduate work and research. Specific examples are helpful, such as so-and-so worked in my lab for x years. During that time, he worked on x and y projects. These qualities of his resulted in such-and-such wonderful stuff. In addition, he worked with little supervision and his insights and analysis of his data led to the investigation of x topic, with the following impressive findings. There are sample letters online, if your professors do not know what a letter should look like. This document might be helpful: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf It's not your field (nor mine, but I found the section on letters helpful, anyway).

It will be hard to get funding for a master's degree in general, and even more so with a low GPA. People will often try to get a master's to make up for a low GPA, realizing that they will generally have to fund themselves, but considering it a good investment if they can prove themselves and get admission to a funded PhD program afterwards (or get a good job, if that's their goal).

Yes, you should retake. That quantitative score is pretty low for the sciences.

You need to take all of them. I have never heard of any school looking ONLY at the writing score, though I have heard of schools that don't use the writing score at all.

If you are burnt out, you should take a break. You need to really want to be in grad school. Could you ask about deferring admission?

Sometimes it's worth taking more classes to establish relationships to get letters (if you have time). That's what I did. I graduated from college even before you did, but while many of my profs are still at my school, I am not the person they (might) remember anymore. So, I got letters from people who know me now, even though the schools they work at were less "well-known" than my undergrad college. While one interviewer did tell me that my letters were not from the level of recommender they normally look for, I did get an offer (from a different program), so not every program will automatically discard your application if your choice/selection of recommendation writers is less than ideal. That sounds awful, but some programs are snobby. I had wonderful people writing for me, and I sincerely appreciate their efforts on my behalf.

The summer research director who was encouraging you to apply would probably write you a really good letter. These people have better things to do than encourage people they feel lukewarm about.

You could be getting burnt out from overstudying -- you might just need some rest. Can you take a day off, and then get back at it?

It basically boils down to personal satisfaction.

Does it make sense to get a 2nd MS in biology? You could contact programs you'd potentially apply to and ask them how likely it would be that you'd be accepted -- most will be honest with you about how competitive you are and give suggestions on how you could improve your chances.At least that is what I found when I talked to programs -- I was told I had an interesting background but also had some significant deficiencies (mainly very little in time in a wet lab). I was also told that my chances for some programs were low -- I applied anyway :-) Even very strong applicants get rejections. I'd hope that your company understands this and that it might take more than one application cycle to get an offer.

You could just mention your high major/technical GPA... or comment about "excellent performance in all technical classes, constantly improving, always striving to learn more..." or some such wording

To enter in Fall 2013, wouldn't you need to be applying this fall? It doesn't sound as though you are ready. You haven't even started taking prerequisites, have you? I would recommend waiting and taking the time to really get yourself prepared. Contact various programs (even ones you would not actually consider going to) and find out what they'd want to see in an application from a career-changer. Do you need to have any relevant experience? If so, what kind, and how could you get it? You need to know what a really strong application would include. While yours may be missing some elements, at least you would then have a way to judge how you stack up. I applied to programs knowing I had some deficiencies, and ready to reapply if need be, but things worked out. So, you don't necessarily have to be perfect, but it helps to know where your weaknesses are. And what your strengths are.

I think backup plans are always a good idea. I had a couple of backup plans -- which reduced my application stress quite a bit, as I knew I'd be doing SOMETHING. It was fine that I never had to pursue any of the backup plans, just having them as options was enough.

Yeah...it is tough to get a foot in the door. I had similar problems until I took a few classes at a local community college and made some good contacts there (I had to go to a different town for research experience, though).

I am doing something similar now, but instead of changing careers, I am trying to start a career after staying home with kids. It's a lot of work, and quite stressful at times, but I am very happy to be doing it.

You do need to get some research experience. It might be worth getting a job as a lab tech before applying, but the master's itself should give you a chance to get some research experience (and it shouldn't be as super-competitve as PhD admissions).

No, you didn't accept them either. Generally, you need to send in some formal acceptance. It is a bit inconsiderate not to notify schools that you are no longer interested in, as they generally have people on waitlists, but nothing bad should happen to you.

A one month internship does not really sound long enough, but if you do not have other options for a LOR, it is better than none. If you can work for this professor longer, I would recommend it. Seniors often need LORs, so I doubt your professor would be surprised if you ask for one. He is probably very experienced at writing them. When you ask for the letter, be sure to ask if he can write you a STRONG letter. If he can't say yes, then find someone else. That will also give him the opportunity to say whether he thinks your association with him has been long enough to allow him to write a good letter. I think most professors would be honest with you if they do not think they can be strong advocates for you.

But although they are most likely to have funding, it cannot be assumed they'll be easy to get into (and OP is asking for both). In fact, perhaps because they are funded, they can be extremely competitive fields.

I can't answer your questions, but don't feel that at age 26 you are too far behind. The average age of my cohort is higher than that (and the two youngest students are right in that ballpark). Not everyone in grad school is right out of college. Your plan to get pre-requisites this year sounds sensible -- good luck!

Wow, ghanada, your story would be really depressing if it hadn't worked out for you (It only takes one school saying YES!). Congratulations! I just don't understand why the undergraduate GPA retains such importance after so many years and other experiences.

It sounds as though your best chance might be to stay on with your current PI, if his work fits your interests. He already knows you and most likely won't care much about your GPA. Many schools have a minimum GPA for admitted students, and to accept someone who does meet that cutoff means the department will have to ask for an exception. Someone who doesn't know you would be less willing to do this (I think), especially when the field you want to enter is so competitive that finding qualified students to accept is not a problem.

If this student's advisor is providing funding, he/she may be also paying the student's tuition as well. In my program, we generally need to discuss any non-required classes we'd like to take with our advisor, as time spent in class is time not spent in lab working on our research. Classes generally need to be ones that will help complete the project more effectively. In other words, we don't have the "right" to take whatever classes we choose to.

Have you looked at what admissions requirements are for programs you're interested in? You could also call grad offices and ask. I did this in my area, and everyone I spoke to was helpful. What you could potentially learn from calling is whether the minimal requirements listed on a website are, in fact, sufficient, or if all applicants already have x, y, and z, and if you don't have them also, you won't be competitive in spite of having the stated requirements.

Since you did not ask for letters in your first email, I don't see a problem sending another email to ask now. However, meeting in person could be good, and a 2-hr drive is not that long (my daily commute is longer than that sometimes). You could email and ask for an appointment to discuss your graduate school plans.