Clarification About Preparations

[Patches]

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.

[emmm]

Try to get research experience. If you are at a CC, this may not be easy. I was lucky in that I was able to get a summer internship at a 4-yr school through a contact of my CC prof's. Perhaps you can ask your CC profs if they know anyone who would like a research assistant. As for reading biology articles -- do it! One of my CC bio classes required weekly journal article summaries. At first they took forever, as practically every other word needed looking up, but it gets easier. Just pick one article and read it, really working to understand what the research background was, why the work was done, what the conclusions were, and whether or not you think the authors' results support their conclusions.

[Patches]

Thanks for your input.

[robot_hamster]

Is there a larger university near you? You might just try contacting professors there and see if they will let you volunteer in their lab. I knew a lot of people who did that in undergrad because I went to a small liberal arts college. They contacted professors at the state university and got to do research there.

I have mixed feelings about those practice GRE tests. They give you an idea of how the test works, which is helpful. For me though, the score I got on the practice test was actually quite a bit higher than the score I actually got when I took the GRE for real. So I suppose that part (predicting my GRE score) probably wasn't so helpful.

Edited August 7, 2011 by robot_hamster

[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.

[robot_hamster]

It will also depend on the professor. Some are eager for free help in their lab and lack of experience won't matter too much. When I worked in a lab during undergrad, I didn't have any experience either. The professor just had one of his grad students hovering over me the entire time, at least at first anyway. There's no better way to learn stuff than to just get in there and do it.

[emmm]

Also, be persistent. Even though there is a 4-year school near me (the one I'll be going to in the fall!), it is very difficult for non-students to get a volunteer job there. NOW, I could probably get in to a lab, but a year ago, I did not have the contacts to get in anywhere there. You just have to keep trying and keep talking to people -- it's surprising where you might make contacts. Let people know what your goals are. I had friends putting me in contact with people they knew in my area of interest -- not necessarily to give me a job or volunteer position, but just to talk about the field. Once you meet enough people that way, getting offers becomes easier, but it does take time to network. I am somewhat shy, so I was slow to let people know about what I was hoping to do. I'm glad I got over that.