Patches

The answer to your question is yes. There are large universities within a bicycle distance of my location. I suspect I have less natural science background than others who post here. I will work on that part first, to make myself more useful. I read that they have changed the GRE General format. If I take it, then I will most likely train a little on the same test format shortly before I take it.

Thanks for your input.

Hello guys. My main objective here is to get clarification and feedback about my current assumptions about preparing for further training in the biological sciences. Feel free to answer any questions in what follows, or to agree or disagree with any statements in it, I am not remotely close to being qualified to apply to anything more advanced than the science courses one can get at a community college. However, I believe it can be helpful to think about these things early. I am analogous to the middle school student who wants to end up at a reputable undergraduate program and is planning early. I will err on the side of being a strong applicant later instead of a crappy applicant earlier, so I have plenty of time. I am mainly concerned with things that make me qualified and prepared, and not as much with things that only "look" good on an application. 1. Participation in research or laboratories. I believe this is perhaps the single most helpful part. I have none of this, and suspect I would have to do some coursework involving lab equipment before this one is realistic. I am enrolled at a college that has courses but not research. Do you guys have any suggestions about where, other than one's undergraduate college, one finds out about opportunities to volunteer or learn more about research or laboratories? It seems unlikely that I would be able to understand any research article in biology, let alone assist someone with experience writing them, unless it is game theory, about which I know a little. Although it is nice to have something you can understand, game theory might not be a great stepping stone toward this part of one's preparations. 2. I believe that one's grades in courses matter a lot, and that higher is better. I believe that is especially true of science courses that teach laboratory skills. I will aim to score very high in this from now on. 3. The GRE Biology subject test. Although I will not take it until after taking whatever courses are related to it, it helps to get an early start. I have a 1993 edition of Campbell's biology text. Hopefully that is a reliable reference book for terms on the practice tests. I believe this test matters a lot and that higher is better. 4. I once took an online practice test of the GRE General. I got 630 Verbal and 800 Math. I do not want to spend any time preparing for this. If I can score something close to those numbers, then hopefully there is little benefit to training for this test. 5. The applications of game theory to biology is the only area of biology where I could understand research in the near future. I am not sure if learning more about this is the best use of my time compared to other things like coursework, training for tests or anything that makes me learn about laboratory work. 6. I do not know enough about biology to describe which subfield to study. I would need to learn more about what the options are, and what their pros and cons are for things like practical application and other opportunities. 7. Do you guys have any other suggestions.