Please help! Entering senior (undergrad) with no idea what's going on.

[samwan503]

Hi everyone. I apologize for the huge problem, but I'm just so confused right now.

 

I'm an undergrad senior in September and made some major mistakes for a long time. In short, I have a ~2.5 GPA and a 167 GRE score. I go to UCLA and was hoping to stay in SoCal; so basically I'm hoping to apply to UCLA, UC Irvine, USC, and the sort. (Please, if someone has school suggestions, I'll be grateful.) I'm thinking of applying to bioengineering, neuroscience, ecology, and similar fields. (Is there a field that I can enter that is less difficult to get in?)

 

I do have research experience and hospital volunteer hours.

 

I really do not intend offence, because we all want to enter it. But I'm looking for a M.S., so that I can prove to med schools I'm a viable candidate as my first two years as an undergraduate shows I'm a no-go.

 

I know my GPA does not help, but I should be able to graduate with 3.0-3.1 if I keep doing what I'm doing. I was hoping to apply this winter and enter graduate schools.

 

Am I hoping for too much? What kind of chances am I looking at? How do I improve my chances?

 

Thanks, and I apologize again for this possibly offensive and complicated question.

[aberrant]

i don't know about bioengineering but i'm believe that the engineering department at UCLA will accept their students for their MS program if they have +3.3 or +3.5 GPA if they apply for the MS within 1 year after they get their BS, without having to take GRE.

 

I'm not sure how bioengineering, neuroscience, ecology are "similar". Also, the fact that you limit yourself in SoCal greatly reduced the number of options you have. Your GPA can only reminded me of possibility to be admitted by these MS programs at Cal State (Yes, CSU), and they are not necessarily bad neither, but you can imagine that they generally have much less resources than most UCs or USC.

 

Not sure how hospital volunteer hours will help you here, nor your unspecified research experience would make you a good candidate for all 3 (or more) different fields ("bioengineering, neuroscience, ecology"). If you are just another pre-med (offense intended) then you better get a MS that has more to do with the curriculum / material taught in med school or, at the very least, related to your MCAT materials (natural / physical science).

 

Boost your GPA, write good SOP/PS, get good LORs (you need 2, I think), great GRE scores, steep upward trend for your last 2 years in college may give you a shot for a MS program. Even better if you start to do research in a lab that does what you wanna study in your MS.

 

Chances of getting into a MS program isn't minimal, but your GPA for med school, at this moment, is an infrared flag (so red that you can't even see it.)

[Eigen]

Getting an MS as prep for med school is, in general, a pretty bad idea. 

 

You'll have a hard time finding a program that you can get funding at, which also makes it an expensive way to spend a few years. 

 

As was pointed out, with as divergent fields (and, I'm guessing, lack of background in those areas) as you have, it will be quite apparent that you're only applying as stepping stone. 

 

There are lots of programs that cater to this (short MS programs for pre-meds), but they're expensive cash cows for the schools, and not really worth it. 

 

Bring your GPA up, and then go work in the medical field. Get an EMT license, go work as an ambulance driver or in an emergency room for a year, and get some really solid experience, along with doctors who will write you strong letters of recommendation. 

 

You won't be able to show off your grades and academic background (and an MS won't erase low undergrad grades), but you can show that you're dedicated to the field, and get recommendations from people within the field showing you will do well in that field. 

[samwan503]

Hey guys thanks for the replies and really good suggestions.

 

Yep I understand my GPA is impossible for med school. At the same time, I don't want to stop with my academics. Yes, I'm using MS to show med schools I can do it, but it's not that I don't have any interests in the field. Quite the contrary, actually. That's why I want to pursue the MS route instead of the postbach + EMT route. Is that feasible, or not at all?

 

 

What fields should I look into instead? I know natural/physical sciences are suggested, but are bioeng., neuroscience, and ecology not of the natural sciences? Should I look into biology, chemistry, and the sort more? What kind of majors does a BS in biology lead to? Biology is pretty broad...

 

Sorry for my lack of direction. I'm just a bit confused at the moment.

Edited August 10, 2013 by samwan503

[Eigen]

You should look into something you really want to study. 

 

The fact that you have such a broad spread of fields seems to indicate that you're only doing it for a premed stopgap. And that's not going to make any points for schools. 

 

With your GPA, getting a good, funded MS will be about as hard as getting into med school. So you're looking at unfunded programs. 

 

A non-thesis MS won't really be good for anything but a med-school stopgap. 

 

A thesis based MS can take 2-3 years, and will require you to be really interested in your field. 

[samwan503]

I do want my MS to mean something, and not *just* a step. It will be one, but I don't want it to only mean that.

 

Would doing post bach and raising my GPA help me with getting into a good, funded program?

Edited August 11, 2013 by samwan503

[Eigen]

Probably. 

 

You'd also need some solid research experience in the area you want to do your degree in, which means you need to narrow down exactly what you want the degree in. 

 

You've listed things that are all over the place, with very little connection as far as research areas, techniques, etc. 

[samwan503]

I see what you guys mean now.

 

What else aside from relevant research and improved GPA (via post-bach) would help me out even more?

[Eigen]

3 professors willing to say that you were a great student and a capable researcher.

[samwan503]

1 last question I PROMISE.

 

I took some courses during summer sessions (not at community college) and the professors were grad students. I got recs from them; are those letters inferior to full-time professors, or are they on equal grounds?

 

Thanks again for all the help.

Edited August 12, 2013 by samwan503

[Eigen]

You really don't want to use letters from grad students unless you have no other options.

I know I would tell ny of my undergrads who asked that they need to find a professor.

[memyselfandcoffee]

neuroscience , if you are interested, is quite relevant to medicine, and you will have to cover it in med school too, so it won't be a waste. I think you do need to MS to prove yourself- but I'm not an expert, so you definitely need to check with a qualified career advisor, maybe at your uni's career centre. I also think as other posters noted some more research experience and maybe even working EMT would help too. but really i wouldnt take advice about such an important issue from the internets, so i advise speaking  to a career advisor asap.

[chibisa]

I don't known your problem. But i think you thourth calm. It will your well.