MRes or Msc as a prelude to a Neuroscience PhD

[Asimio]

Hello everyone.

I'll give you a quick run through of my situation. Graduated in 2012. MBBS (Medicine and Surgery so I'm transitioning from clinical to basic science) Pakistani citizen. No research experience. Sub-par GPA.

I feel that by the end of the year, I will not be competitive enough for a good Neuroscience program and so am planning my Plan B options. I'm thinking of considering a masters program (though I do not know which one nor if I can afford it) to really get some research experience, so that I can get the time to immerse myself into studies and have the opportunity to improve upon my poor track record.

I have been feeling this is a good way to go about things after reviewing current work being done by top programs. Theory and methodologies are in use which I am massively unfamiliar with and this makes me feel very uncomfortable. I value high impact work over getting done with my PhD quickly and getting paid.

I can't seem to find any terminal master programs in USA. Are they restricted to Canada and EU only? Is this an intelligent way to go about things considering my final destination would be into a PhD program?

 

[person5811]

There are tons of terminal master's programs in the US although you might not find one in neuroscience. You could go for one in biology or psychology (or chemistry or physiology or...). I'd recommend biology over psychology, and it really doesn't have to be in a good school, just make sure research is a requirement in the program (if this is the case maybe you'd have to contact advisors beforehand). I think there are a few ways for it to be less expensive but to be honest I am not sure what they are (maybe teaching assistantships or research ones, but I'm pretty sure those would not cover everything). The reality though is that if you don't have good grades or good research experience it would be impossible (who knows maybe not) to get into a PhD program (like any school at all). So, yes, absolutely look into a master's I would say and do it soon because most deadlines are either about to come or have passed (to start in the Fall).

[neuropanic]

Obviously depends on what you want to go into, but if you're looking to do biomedical research, there are definitely a fee biomedical science masters programs (I believe WFU has one- I know a MS student there doing research in the neuroscience department). If you're more into cognitive neuroscience, maybe a psych masters would be better.

[Asimio]

Hmm, yeah. It's cool how you can go for a Biology masters, and choose something like Neurobiology as a major. Thanks guys.

They're all SOO expensive though.

[eeee1923]

They're all SOO expensive though.

 

Unfortunately that is how many programs make a profit to help fund their PhD programs