MS Biostats Questions

[Iggyefex]

I just had a couple of questions about Biostats and I couldn't find the answer to them, so I was hoping someone here would be able to help me out. I just recently graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biology. I originally planned to go on to graduate school and become a Physician Assistant. But after working in an ER, I realized that I didn't really like the patient contact side of healthcare. I still knew that I wanted to do something in healthcare, just not with direct patient contact. My friend's mom is a biostatistician and told me that a biostatistician fits both those categories. 

So after doing some research online, I have a couple of questions:

1. I read that most MS biostats programs have 2 years of calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations as prerequisites. Seeing as the only math that I took as an undergrad was Calculus 1, I still have many prerequisites to take. My question is, if I took the remaining prerequisites at a community college (in order to save money), would that be looked down upon by admission committees because I didn't take the prerequisite courses at a 4 year institution? 

2. I also saw that a lot of applicants have some sort of research. I didn't do any research as an undergrad and was wondering would it really hurt my application if I ended up taking all the prerequisites and applied for an MS in biostats without any research?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

[cyberwulf]

1. Taking pre-reqs at a community college is fine. Of course, the bar for what constitutes "good" performance at a CC is higher; if you don't get A's, that may raise some questions. Also, no biostat program that I'm aware of requires differential equations as a pre-requisite.

2. Research experience doesn't really factor into Masters' admissions, so the fact that you don't have any won't hurt you.

[Iggyefex]

Ok thank you!

[pattywagon]

7 hours ago, cyberwulf said:

1. Taking pre-reqs at a community college is fine. Of course, the bar for what constitutes "good" performance at a CC is higher; if you don't get A's, that may raise some questions. Also, no biostat program that I'm aware of requires differential equations as a pre-requisite.

2. Research experience doesn't really factor into Masters' admissions, so the fact that you don't have any won't hurt you.

Although differential equations is not required, do you think it will be beneficial to take the course? Or do you recommend taking another upper division statistics course, assuming I have already taken mathematical statistics?

[2016biostat]

36 minutes ago, pattywagon said:

Although differential equations is not required, do you think it will be beneficial to take the course? Or do you recommend taking another upper division statistics course, assuming I have already taken mathematical statistics?

I don't think you mentioned multivariate calculus (calc. III) in your post -- that's a course which seems to be a near ubiquitous requirement for biostat. programs. 

[cyberwulf]

3 hours ago, pattywagon said:

Although differential equations is not required, do you think it will be beneficial to take the course? Or do you recommend taking another upper division statistics course, assuming I have already taken mathematical statistics?

I wouldn't take DiffEq unless you don't have other good options. It's just not a widely used technique in biostatistics; it's much more of an applied math thing. 

And, as @2016biostat mentioned, definitely make sure to take multivariable calculus.