can i get in?

[sillymonkey]

Ok here is my situation. I am graduating from a small school in Nevada with a degree in biology. At the recommendation of some of my professors I have been seriously considering going to graduate school. I have a good GPA, around 3.7, and getting good letters of recommendation will not be a problem. The problem is that my school is not a research university and my lab experience is limited at best. I was hoping to intern this summer to get more experience but was not able to do so. I guess my question is can I get into a decent graduate school without authoring any published research? I have done experiments involving ELISA and things like that but I have no real world research experience. Can I compete against people who are first and second author of published research? I could wait another year to apply to graduate school so I could intern somewhere first but I

[spectralScatter]

Being an author, co-author is in no way a pre-requesite for graduate school. The expectation is that you don't know anything.

BUT, in the past 10 years, graduate admissions have begun to expect that applicants have some type of undergraduate 'research' training. They want applicants to be exposed to research, so that applicants know what they are getting themselves into.

So do you need to be a co-author on published work? No. Do you need to be actively seeking Research bench experience (not work internship) with advisors at your educational institution? Yes. Your prospective advisor's letter of rec about your research experience in his/her lab is the most valuable part of your application packet.

[sillymonkey]

Thank you for your response. My problem is that it is difficult at my school to get research experience because my professors are not conducting research. It

[jbhatt131148]

Definitely if you haven't already. All you need is perspective.

[Hatem]

Hi,

I am in the same boat as you.But I have decided to look for a Master program to gain the research experience I lack.

I am an international applicant , 27 years old and I graduated 5 years ago from a small university with no reasearch experience at all.

I think getting in biology master program is relatively easier than getting in Phd ? although you will have to prepare the same documents and pass the same GRE exams.But there are many master programs that provide funding through teaching/research assistantshipS.

Think about it.

Good Luck