Suggestion on Biochemistry Master's Program

[Shams06]

Hi good people, I am Shams from Bangladesh. I completed my bachelor of pharmacy in 2011 and master of pharmacy in 2013. I admit that I was not a good student and scored around 60% marks in bachelor and masters. Later, I took GRE and TOEFL and scored 305(v-148, Q-157, AWA-3.0) and 92. Since TOEFL expired after 2 years, I took IELTS and scored 7(L-8, R-7, W-7, and S-6.5). I have a very small research experience in Phytochemistry(a thesis during master's) and was able to publish a few articles on a few typical Indian journals (not significant to be honest).

In total, I have applied for 2 Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. program in the fall of 2015, 4 Biochemistry Ph.D. program in the fall of 2016 and 1 Biochemistry Ph.D. program in the fall of 2017. All the programs & universities I applied were down of the list on US News graduate school ranking list. Yet, I got rejected on all of them!

I have 3 years of experience as a Quality Assurance Officer in a pharmaceutical. To be honest, I don’t love spending my life doing what I do now. So, even after all those rejections, I am kind of desperate now to get back to academic life.

But repetitive rejections in last 3 years, have kind of made me think that I am not good enough for a Ph.D. program though out of those 7 programs 3 professors in 3 different terms assured me to provide funding. Yes, I don’t have good grades and that might be a cause of rejections.

At this point, I am thinking whether I should lower my expectations or try for a Master's or would it still be a good approach to try again for a Ph.D.? It is always a hassle to get recommendations from previous professors and I am tired of getting rejected!

Can anybody please give me some kind advice on what I should try for? Master's or Ph.D.?

If master's, then can you please name some easy to get into master's program in biological sciences, biochemistry or pharmaceutical sciences?

 

Your precious words can save my academic life. So, help appreciated.

Thanks.