silver_wisps

I'd suggest go for medical micro. Research funding for that comes much easier than for the environment. (personal opinion based on what I have observed so far) It is interesting though- your choice of subjects-religion & bio. Maybe if you have got great grades in there then you may use them to show yourself as a hard working candidate who wishes to explore the unexplored - and after studying (experiencing) these two , chose science over religion. Brewing is a microbiology related work experience at least, so dont feel it is too hard for you-you were still connected to the life sciences, albeit in an industrial set up. If your grades are good, your LoRs are glowing, you get a good GRE score and you could write a good SoP about your industrial work experiences raising questions in you that you would like to be answered in your graduate studies, then - then you're definitely in!! Good luck!!

This totally makes sense. I certainly won't be mentioning being depressed--it is easy to judge someone based on health issues, specially mental health issues. I shouldn't even talk about it. Though all those problems taught me many valuable lessons about people and how to deal with them and made me a better human but this is for me to know. Instead I will cover it up with more positive aspects of me.Thanks so much The best thing you said earlier was what I went through is common. For a while I was just not able to accept the fact that I acted so weakly. That is unlike me. Anyway I guess such things happen and one moves on only by forgiving themselves for being weak. Thanks again Yes I would be mentioning my break as something like a journey which helped me find myself because indeed, that is what it became (though without my own conscious choosing ). I traveled, I read english lit, history and geography,I got into spirituality, meditation, photography. I would be starting a diploma course and hopefully an internship soon to cover the time from now on to next year fall. Hope things work out. Thanks for helping me look at it more positively

Thanks. This was helpful. And you are right- if I talk too much of the problems I faced, it does seem like an "excuse". Thanks for showing me the light so succinctly. And all the best to you too

Hi all, I finished my Masters in 2011 from one of India's best universities.Till 2011, I had no gaps in my academics career. I was the youngest in my class at my Masters and one of the teachers favourite too.I was good at studies. In my last year of Masters' I faced a lot of problems- class politics against me , lies and rumours about me etc which adversely affected my cgpa. Also in my Masters' dissertation, in the last semester I got a highly uncooperative guide who made things very miserable. ( we were assigned guides according to our roll numbers and we couldn't have chosen our guides). After masters got over I was a bit shaken-there was a loss of confidence. I thought okay, maybe if I work for a while in a lab, my confidence will come back. I got a job as a research assistant in july 2011, immediately after my masters but my problems didnt end there. My new guide told me he could leave me before 2013 or dec 2012 plus the work conditions were so gruesome and hard there ( 16-18 hours/day lab, no weekends off ever, substandard food, remote place, transportation problems etc) that I quit in dec 2011. I know I was a bit kiddish back then. Things others said about me affected me-I tried to stay strong yet I just couldn't. In July 2011, I wrote the old GRE . Though I had almost lost all the will to study at that time and hardly prepared for GRE, I got some 640 in Quant, 540 in verbal and 4 in AWA. My CGPA at Masters finally came out to be 3.3. in a normal state, maybe I wouldn't have been affected much but I was already kind of battling depression when I finished my masters and this new job only increased it. After dec, I came home- for a while I just remained away from science- I did some travelling around my country, got into spirituality, read a lot of literature, basically relaxed. After a while I started a science blog- wrote about the things which interested me...and slowly I got my interest back in science. Then after a while I made my blog into a website, it's gonna be good. I wish to apply for a PhD now and I am going to write my GRE this time, with all I have got. I am just a bit worried now about how to explain this gap. My professors are happy to write me a LoR. My CGPA I know isn't amazing but I am confident to get a nice GRE score. Is there any way I could make my application stronger now?