evaunitone

Ok cool. I'm definately not trying to get a PhD, so hopefully I can find a MS program in micro where I can do an RA, TA or fellowship. I'm not planning to apply to Harvard or anywhere terribly prestigious. I'm not sure how competative of an applicant I'll be, but hopefully I can find someone to pay for a Masters degree lol. That's not to say that I'm a bad candidate, but I'm not one of the super competative ones. I don't have research experience, but I have a pretty good GPA, two BS degrees, some pretty good recommendations, and a few years of work experience. Unless someone invents a time machine in the next few months, that's what I'll have to work with. Here's hoping!

wow, that's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks guys!

I just want to chime in here with a different point of view. Well maybe not different from you, but different from what other posters have said. They are probably correct, or almost definately are correct. Taking a more avtice role in your education is probably vital. However, I can totally understand your position, and unfortunately for some of us its not as easy as "put yourself out there" or "shmooze" because like you, I also find it very hard to do either of those things. Firstly, I'm not even sure what shmoozing is, and when other people are doing it around you and succeeding, although it may seem like that would be encouraging, its actually extremely discouraging for someonewho has a hard time competing with their peers. For example, I work in a lab right now and really feel under-utilized and under-appreciated. I have a coworker who does much less work than I do, does drugs at work, and doesn't even have a degree. However, he's fairly charming and lied on his resume about having a degree, and guess what, he just got a new job! I could be a creep and tell his new employer to check his credentials, or I could have reported him to HR for smoking pot on his lunch break, but I'm not that kind of person. I just don't know what to do though because I'm not getting anywhere but I'm trying, I really am. If being a charming liar is what it takes to succeed today, thats a sad sign of the times. I'm terrified that I'll encounter the same crap in grad school, and it sounds like I almost definately will. It's very discouraging because I don't seem to be equipped with the social skills to "shmooze". So does that mean I don't have a chance? I thought academia was where people like me can succeed! I'm almost 28, I have a BS in Religion and a BS in biology and 3 years of work experience in labs. I've been getting a fair amount of job interviews lately and I haven't gotten any of the jobs. Grad school has always appealed to me and I know I want a Master's, but I'm feeling very discouraged today. **I'm sorry for hijacking your post!** I hope your situation gets better. My advice, if you want it (LOL) is to talk to your friend about how he does his shmoozing and networking, learn what you can from him, and then if you can't stop feeling jealousy towards him, cut him out of your life. You may feel like a paranoid person or feel bad for having the jealousy that you do, but the fact is your relationship with him is destuctive and not good for you at this point. Best of Luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

I'm in the initial stages of preparing for grad school (looking at programs, figuring out what to go for, etc) and I'm quickly getting overwhelmed. My question for today is, should I worry about paying for grad school first or getting into a program? I have about $50,000 debt from undergrad loans, and I'm really not wanting to take out more loans for grad school, so I would need to get a fellowship or something to pay for tuition. So the question again is, do I worry about getting into grad school and then once admitted, figure out how to pay for it? Or do I do it the other way around (look for programs that have fellowships and try to find funding before I apply for programs)? I think it'll be difficult to search for programs based on availability of fellowships, but if that's the best way to go then I want to know that. Very confused at this point :-/ To give you more information, the areas I'm interested in getting a Masters in are microbiology (specifically environmental micro, or antibiotic resistance in bacteria), or maybe environmental engineering. I have a BS in Biology. Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

Hi guys, to introduce myself, I'm a 27 year old in Denver, CO and I have a BS degree in Relgious Studies from the University of Wisconsin, and a BS in Biology from Metro State in Denver. I've been working for a few years in brewing and I'm hoping to go to grad school in a year or so. I am, however, totally unsure what to do and what my chances are of success. I know I want to get a Masters in microbiology, but I can't decide between medical micro or environmental. I don't know the specifics of what I want to go to school for besides that it would be in one of the two areas I mentioned above. I love science and I love LOVE microbiology, but whatever I go to grad school for it is imperative that I am employable when I get out, obviously. I think both fields I mentioned should be good places to look for jobs in the future, but any opinions on which would be more likely to yield a job worth going to grad school for, would be appreciated. Also, I really want to avoid taking out loans to pay for grad school. I really would need to get into a program that would pay my tuition through a research fellowship or whatever else. I know I sound very naive, but I need some help with this stuff. All my other friends are either liberal arts majors and have no idea about grad school in the sciences, or they are people with jobs who have no interest in grad school. I have a couple years of work experience after graduation, wokring in labs, and I worked in a research lab (as a lab assistant, not doing research) while in college. I do not have any research experience as an undergrad unfortunately. Please let me know any advice. ps Telling me that I have no hope of succeeding wouldn't be very nice, but if thats what you think I'd like to know. I'm really unsure what my next steps are. I am taking the GRE in about a month after studying a lot for the last 6 months. So what do I do next? Look into schools and contact professors about potentially joining their lab in the future? I'm eager to get the ball rolling but I'm in the dark at the moment and can't seem to find the ball... Thanks!