Biological master with funding?

[CoffeeFueledAnxiety]

Hi everyone!

I have undergraduate degree from an International university that is let's just say pretty much unknown in the US even though it is a top one in my country. Even though I have decent application materials, I am not really confident with my chances in scoring any of the PhD slots since the international competition is really tight  and all the other international students have superb stats and research experience. 

Now I am thinking about getting a master first to increase my research experience and chances of PhD enrollment next time. I am quite confident with my stats when it comes to master degree. However funding is an issue and I have been struggling to find master programs in the US with aid. Does anyone knows master with either guaranteed assistantship or at least high percentage of funding for their enrolled master students? Keep in mind, too, that I am international student. My research interest is in molecular biology, specifically leaning towards molecular cancer biology. I also considers general biology programs with broad subject coverage since I have seen that usually there are still few professors who are leaning towards molecular cancer research everywhere. 

Thank you in advance! 

Edited November 6, 2016 by IndoGenic

[Bioenchilada]

9 hours ago, IndoGenic said:

Hi everyone!

I have undergraduate degree from an International university that is let's just say pretty much unknown in the US even though it is a top one in my country. Even though I have decent application materials, I am not really confident with my chances in scoring any of the PhD slots since the international competition is really tight  and all the other international students have superb stats and research experience. 

Now I am thinking about getting a master first to increase my research experience and chances of PhD enrollment next time. I am quite confident with my stats when it comes to master degree. However funding is an issue and I have been struggling to find master programs in the US with aid. Does anyone knows master with either guaranteed assistantship or at least high percentage of funding for their enrolled master students? Keep in mind, too, that I am international student. My research interest is in molecular biology, specifically leaning towards molecular cancer biology. I also considers general biology programs with broad subject coverage since I have seen that usually there are still few professors who are leaning towards molecular cancer research everywhere. 

Thank you in advance! 

I don't think there are a lot of guaranteed funded Master's out there, given that skipping this degree and going straight to PhD has become much more common. Also, Master's also tend to be course heavy. Are you looking for top schools with a master's program or any school? I think Purdue has a guaranteed funded Master's, so you could check that out  

It's in the form of assistantships though. 

EDIT: Follow-up question. Do you  want a Master's to increase your GPA or just get more reserch experience? If it's the latter, you could just look for a lab tech job. I think many schools, even top ones (i.e Harvard, UPenn), have openings and won't care about your citizenship status. I might be wrong, but it might be worth checking out. Getting research experience at a top school might help you out more when applying for a PhD than getting a Master's from a less recognized institution for what you want to study. Also, you'll get paid--sometimes even more than PhD students themselves-- just for doing research without having to juggle your time with classes and TA-ing. 

Edited November 6, 2016 by Bioenchilada

[CoffeeFueledAnxiety]

7 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

EDIT: Follow-up question. Do you  want a Master's to increase your GPA or just get more reserch experience? If it's the latter, you could just look for a lab tech job. I think many schools, even top ones (i.e Harvard, UPenn), have openings and won't care about your citizenship status. I might be wrong, but it might be worth checking out. Getting research experience at a top school might help you out more when applying for a PhD than getting a Master's from a less recognized institution for what you want to study. Also, you'll get paid--sometimes even more than PhD students themselves-- just for doing research without having to juggle your time with classes and TA-ing. 

Mostly I am looking to upend my research experience. I have 3.6 GPA, I know it's not very high but I don't think I really need to fret over it much (correct me if I'm wrong, though). I am currently TA-ing for my undergrad advisor. It's a research experience but there is not really much going on in the research and I am thinking of getting experience within the US research scene. 

I didn't know that those lab tech job are also open for foreigners. I'd be sure to check them out. I don't have J-1 visa yet, though, since I did my undergrad outside of US. I currently only have B1/2 visa. Do you think those uni would be willing to take the hassle of helping me get my appropriate visa for lab tech position?

I am also going to check Purdue's Master program, thanks a lot!

[Bioenchilada]

2 hours ago, IndoGenic said:

Mostly I am looking to upend my research experience. I have 3.6 GPA, I know it's not very high but I don't think I really need to fret over it much (correct me if I'm wrong, though). I am currently TA-ing for my undergrad advisor. It's a research experience but there is not really much going on in the research and I am thinking of getting experience within the US research scene. 

I didn't know that those lab tech job are also open for foreigners. I'd be sure to check them out. I don't have J-1 visa yet, though, since I did my undergrad outside of US. I currently only have B1/2 visa. Do you think those uni would be willing to take the hassle of helping me get my appropriate visa for lab tech position?

I am also going to check Purdue's Master program, thanks a lot!

I don't really know much about the process, sorry. I just saw that they didn't state that you had to be a US citizen, but I never applied nor am an international student.

[CoffeeFueledAnxiety]

3 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

I don't really know much about the process, sorry. I just saw that they didn't state that you had to be a US citizen, but I never applied nor am an international student.

Okay, I'll look into it. Thank you for the info

[localsciencedealer]

I would look into UNCG's Master's in Biology program. It's not on par with Purdue by any means but there are definitely a lot of international students that get accepted into the program (I work with two international students) and there is one professor in particular that does solid molecular biology research in cancer. I don't think it's guaranteed funding, but I think many students do get funding. Definitely worth looking into! 

[CoffeeFueledAnxiety]

9 hours ago, localsciencedealer said:

I would look into UNCG's Master's in Biology program. It's not on par with Purdue by any means but there are definitely a lot of international students that get accepted into the program (I work with two international students) and there is one professor in particular that does solid molecular biology research in cancer. I don't think it's guaranteed funding, but I think many students do get funding. Definitely worth looking into! 

Thank you for the information! I definitely wouldn't have found the program without your input. I've looked into it and it seems to be a good program overall. I'll go ahead and request more information from the admission committee regarding the funding opportunities. Thanks again!

[LoveMysterious]

On 11/6/2016 at 2:25 AM, IndoGenic said:

Hi everyone!

I have undergraduate degree from an International university that is let's just say pretty much unknown in the US even though it is a top one in my country. Even though I have decent application materials, I am not really confident with my chances in scoring any of the PhD slots since the international competition is really tight  and all the other international students have superb stats and research experience. 

Now I am thinking about getting a master first to increase my research experience and chances of PhD enrollment next time. I am quite confident with my stats when it comes to master degree. However funding is an issue and I have been struggling to find master programs in the US with aid. Does anyone knows master with either guaranteed assistantship or at least high percentage of funding for their enrolled master students? Keep in mind, too, that I am international student. My research interest is in molecular biology, specifically leaning towards molecular cancer biology. I also considers general biology programs with broad subject coverage since I have seen that usually there are still few professors who are leaning towards molecular cancer research everywhere. 

Thank you in advance! 

Check out Tufts' MS program. I think U of Iowa and Iowa State may also have funding for masters students, but I'm not positive. It's pretty rare but there are some funded masters programs out there. They are markedly more competitive though.