PhD in Bio, mediocre grades, good GRE, no bio lab experience, too late?

[JasonTea]

I have no idea what I'm doing.  I stumbled onto this forum while prepping for the GREs.

 

I want to apply for a Ph.D program in Structural Biology and just took the GRE.  Deadlines for most programs have passed, but I still want to try to apply this cycle.  I am going to try and gather as many recommendations as I need within the next few weeks and send it all out.  

 

To the point: I have a mediocre GPA, 3.3-3.4.  I have no research experience in biology.  My GRE is 165V, 170Q.  Should I spend the money applying?  Is it too late?  

[mop]

The big issue is lack of research experience. It might be better for you to wait until you have some experience before applying, as it is usually the most important factor. PhD programs are many years of research and schools don't want to take on someone without experience in case you find out a year or two in that you actually hate doing research.

[ankurshah]

do you think you have sufficient time t write a great SOP? also, without research exp do you have internships or co-ops? well your GRE are good but if i am right, doesn't bio dept require Subject GRE?

 

i think it would be good for you to jion masters is some decent unis, get a lot of research exp, take grad courses and top in that. start applyig for fellowships while working. You can even work part time in some R&D center for free. Working free will give them incentive to let you work more, possibly on some better projects

 

I did my ME in city College-CUNY so i do know that they have relatively relaxed admission guidelines. You can look into City College, Hunters' for research in bio domain. While doing research you will have a opportunity to interact with fellow peers from Columbia, NYU, Rutgers & Princeton. That would b an advantage of being in NYC.

 

A PhD in an institute without showing prior research aptitude is going to very very hard. Plus, since you say you are confused how are you going to explain the knd of research that you would like to pursue?

Edited January 16, 2013 by ankurshah

[JasonTea]

More info:

I have a MS from my undergrad institution, 3.7-3.8.

I have 1.5 years of research experience in physics, almost completely unrelated to bio. I want to work with chromatin structure, but I have no relevant lab experience.

I don't know the admissions process for grad school, what's important, what's not...

Are your recommendations unchanged?

Edited January 16, 2013 by JasonTea

[ankurshah]

thatsa good thing mate and now they do change... well  you have be a bit more specific in your research area. since you are jumping from phy to bio, you need toexplain what made you take this decision and how is this a right decision for you. Also, you need to explain the kind of project you would like to work in the bio dept.

 

With a MS and a decent GRE all you need is a SOP explain the why phd why this research and why this school. Tie it with your future plans and i thin you may def target some decent schools.

 

Am a materials engg guy so my advice on life sciences will of limited scope

[meaningless]

halo jason tea, it seems to me that you are a strong candidate if you want to work in structural biology. as this field related to bioinformatics, which some (or should I say most?) of the PhD positions requires a physics degree, instead of biology.

 

However, in order to strengthen your application, i will suggest you to join a bioinforamatics/structural biology lab to work as RA for one year or so to have a better preparation. research exp and peer-review publication are very important. strong LoRs also count very much. so i think if i were you i will wait for the next round to prepare for the above. I suggest, if you have the chance, join a lab with famous professor in the field and work hard to get a good reference. all the best x

[juilletmercredi]

Why the rush?  If you don't even know how the admissions process works, you will have to learn that before you can even begin writing a statement of purpose.  Your recommenders may not be able to get their letters together in time.  Deadlines for best fit programs may have passed, so you will be relegated to only applying for programs at which the deadlines are still open.  Do you have all of the prerequisites for a degree in structural biology?  You may need to take some biology courses.  I know in some fields in the sciences you can move from one degree to another with little additional work (for example, in psychology, we'd readily take a biology major with few psych courses if he was interested in neuroscience work or a math major who wanted to do experimental or quantitative psych) but do you have ANY?

 

I think you need to at least wait until the next cycle and apply for Fall 2014.  Then you won't be rushing, and you have time to figure out your course of action, write your statement, get letters, etc.