Career Advice: PhD now or later?

[Sofi dlS]

Hi all,

Here is my situation: I'm from Argentina and had graduated from College in 2008. My degree ("Licenciatura" in Biological Sciences) is equivalent to a Master's degree in the US (4 years of General Biology plus 3 years of, in my case, Ecology). Three years ago I moved to the US where I've been working odd jobs, just to pay bills, always trying to get into 'biology' with no luck.

Last year I finally started working as a Lab Technician/Research Assistant for a non-profit studying heavy metal contamination. After 9 months with them, and due to financial constraints, my position has been eliminated, leaving me unemployed. I do have the chance to continuing with the project I started with them, but I'd need to get my own funding with absolutely no help on their side (I already applied to grants while working there, but unfortunately never got them). This situation triggered, once again, the never ending dilemma of "should I get my PhD?"

I always thought of grad school, but as soon as I finished my degree I started travelling, got married and have never been committed to any place in particular. Now, I think the time might have come, but I realized I might not have enough research experience to get accepted into a PhD program plus I come from away, which makes everything a little harder (standardized tests, references, GPA's differences, etc).

I know I want to keep doing research (that is my passion, always has been) but I'm not sure if I should just keep on trying to get a job -not easy at all-, build my resume in the US a little bit more and then apply to grad school or go all in, apply next fall and see what happens.

As you can see, I'm pretty lost and my brain is all over the place. Any advice you might have will really help me out!

Thanks in advance,

Sofi

[emmm]

You can do both -- keep applying for jobs, since grad school is not a sure thing, but give it a try anyway? It's not going to be easy, but if you don't try, you have no shot. Good luck.

[coonskee]

I agree with emmm. There's a book called "Going from College to Career" that has some really great life advice - in one of the chapters, the author states she was asked by a woman she was mentoring, "Should I apply for grad school or peace corps?" -- the author's answer was "Yes."

Basically: never close any doors/windows prematurely. If you get offered both a job AND admittance to grad school, *then* you can start worrying about which to choose.

[Sofi dlS]

Thank you both. I think I'm going to do it... I already contacting professors and studying for the GRE!

[Lira]

One friend of mine got her Masters in ecology from university in Russia. She has really good record from her school, and right after graduation she was invited to the University of Michigan as a research assistant. However things happened very unfortunate for her, her visa got expired and University couldn't extend it once it was expired, and they couldn't keep her. So for about three years she was taking odd jobs, trying to survive. When she eventually fixed her status, she took GRE (got only 50% on english part, keep in ming english is her second language), and still got accepted to University of Iowa.

You should definitely continue your education. PhD program will keep you employed for about 5 years plus will make make your future much easier.

[Andean Pat]

So, did you apply?

[Sofi dlS]

So... I did apply. Went through the whole thing, that, to be honest, applying to a US University being a foreigner is not super easy.

 

Passed both the GRE and TOEFL exams with little preparation and got enough good grades that don't represent at all what I actually know (I am way better with numbers than verbal). GRE verbal 162, GRE quantitave 153, GRE writting 3.5. TOEFL I got 117 out of 120. Got reference letters (2 good ones, the other one really poor), wrote an okay Statement of Purpose... and crossed my fingers.

 

Some days ago I received an email with a letter from the Department saying they will recommend me for admissions only if funding can be found to support myself while on grad school. 

 

Now, I'm trying to pin my advisor down to also cover my part with money for the project.. Hopefully it works out, otherwise I will have to come up with something else (not sure how easy would be to get a scholarship or any type of grant at this point with very little time left).

 

I'm super excited! Thanks everyone for their advice and words of encouragement!

[selecttext]

Hi all,

Here is my situation: I'm from Argentina and had graduated from College in 2008. My degree ("Licenciatura" in Biological Sciences) is equivalent to a Master's degree in the US (4 years of General Biology plus 3 years of, in my case, Ecology). Three years ago I moved to the US where I've been working odd jobs, just to pay bills, always trying to get into 'biology' with no luck.

Last year I finally started working as a Lab Technician/Research Assistant for a non-profit studying heavy metal contamination. After 9 months with them, and due to financial constraints, my position has been eliminated, leaving me unemployed. I do have the chance to continuing with the project I started with them, but I'd need to get my own funding with absolutely no help on their side (I already applied to grants while working there, but unfortunately never got them). This situation triggered, once again, the never ending dilemma of "should I get my PhD?"

I always thought of grad school, but as soon as I finished my degree I started travelling, got married and have never been committed to any place in particular. Now, I think the time might have come, but I realized I might not have enough research experience to get accepted into a PhD program plus I come from away, which makes everything a little harder (standardized tests, references, GPA's differences, etc).

I know I want to keep doing research (that is my passion, always has been) but I'm not sure if I should just keep on trying to get a job -not easy at all-, build my resume in the US a little bit more and then apply to grad school or go all in, apply next fall and see what happens.

As you can see, I'm pretty lost and my brain is all over the place. Any advice you might have will really help me out!

Thanks in advance,

Sofi

 

you don't need that much research experience to get into phd programs. most important will be to make contact with potential advisors and have them agree to supervise you, and write an excellent statement of purpose which clearly demonstrates your motivations, research interests and career goals. it doesn't hurt to apply to more than one institution. trust me, it sounds as if you already have lots of experience - there are lots of phd students who can barely think on their own let alone do research. getting in isn't the problem.