Research Experience

[ahmedm]

Hi,

I am applying for a masters in BME. I am a neuroscience major at a top 20 university. GPA 3.62 I am worried about my research experience and whether I will be seen as a serious candidate. I worked in a bio lab for 10 months, a psychology lab for 6 months, and I am currently working in an optics lab since May. I am applying to NWU, Rice, WashU, Duke, UVA, and Columbia. I will add safetys. But what are my chances at these schools?

Havent taken GRE yet.

[whitemud]

You've worked at three different labs for prolonged periods of time, and your worried about your research experience? Were these just grunt-work jobs, because at first skimming I assumed they were research-oriented? To be fair, I know nothing about BME or the programs that you are applying to, but as a general rule - any research experience is good research experience (so long as you spin it right).

Having three lab-related jobs to talk about is brilliant; even if they're only tangentially related to what you want to do. If you get to submit a resume, use it to emphasize these jobs in the context of what you'd like to do as a master's student (and after getting your master's) and to emphasize how they've given you some sort of research experience. You can list the job, then 1-3 bullet points underneath with related responsibilities. I think it's a quick way to show that you've got some experience under your belt.