Master's or PhD??

[materialsgirl]

Hey guys, I'm deciding on what kind of programs I should I apply to this fall (to start Fall 2018) and would like some input on my plan. I've reached out to two PIs from undergrad and they both had different suggestions. Areas of research I am looking into are physical. inorganic, and materials chemistry. 

PI #1 (from my home institution): apply to funded master's chemistry programs (very limited but include schools such as western Washington, San Francisco State to name a couple)

PI #2 (from my REU): apply to lower tier PhD programs.

Little bit about me/ my situation:

I graduated May 2016 with an overall GPA of 2.67 and a major GPA of 2.81 from a religious/liberal arts school . I had a very difficult freshman and sophomore year due to personal issues resulting in a super low GPA that I was never able to recover from (~2.4 average both years). I was able to raise my GPA Junior year (fall: 2.6, spring 3.2) but the fall of my senior year it tanked to a 2.5 due to mental health issues. I was given the option to take a medical leave of absence that semester but I decided against it due to my relationship with my mother at that time (I could not go back home with her for that year). Spring my GPA went back up to a 3.46. Overall, I did much better in my upper division classes than my lower division classes, but not enough to help me. Undergrad was a shit show for me due to financial issues/lack of family support all affecting my mental health. (I'm a minority female, low income background, first generation going to college. Parents did not really understand but tried to and eventually got the hang of it my senior year)

I did research for 5 semesters in undergrad:

• Spring 2014: Computational/biochemistry lab. Realized I hated working with modeled proteins so I looked around for another lab.
• Fall 2014 - Spring 2016: Inorganic lab. Presented at ACS with my lab partner on the work we did. PI#1 said that there should be enough data produced to be able to get a paper out of it and he said he would work on it but haven't heard any updates since meeting with him in January. Also, I received a grant to continue working over the summer of 2015 in this lab, but I turned down the offer and accepted an NSF REU.
• Summer 2015: NSF REU at UConn, materials/physical chem related computational lab. Presented that work at ACS as well. (PI#2) I still keep in touch with him as well to give him updates on my plans and next steps.

Both PIs that I worked with have expressed to me that they will write strong letters of recommendation for me. Overall, I have a decent amount of research with the possibility of 1 publication (not getting my hopes up for it though). 

I currently have an industry job not related chemistry but a instrumentation/technical role working with engineers, assay research, and data analytics to qualify the company's instruments. I enjoy the work and my manager has also expressed that he will write me a good letter of recommendation but since it isn't chemistry related, I am worried that it will affect me negatively. Also, I will be moving across the country in November and I'm worried that my manager/the company will take this the wrong way and not write me a letter... 

Note: I have not taken the GRE or cGRE, currently studying for them and will take them in September and October.  

Should I put off applying this upcoming cycle? Should I focus on only Master's programs this fall?  Should I include maybe one or two PhD programs in the mix? Any tips for not accidentally burning bridges with my manager once I move? Will my current job affect me negatively? Will the move affect me negatively?

I know that I am not a strong candidate for top PhD programs but I feel like I have chance for Master's programs, which will ultimately help me in achieving my dream of attending top PhD schools (looking at you Northwestern).

Any input helps. thanks!

 

*edited for grammar

Edited May 12, 2017 by materialsgirl

[ThousandsHardships]

I don't think that your job will affect you negatively at all. Assay research and data analytics sound incredibly relevant to chemistry, and it's looked very favorably upon to have experience working professionally, even if it's unrelated to your intended research direction. As far as your manager is concerned, I wouldn't stress too much about it. If he's any sort of a decent person, he would not use your move as an excuse to hold a grudge. He should understand and respect your goals. If he doesn't, he needs to make that clear from the very beginning and urge you to choose a different recommender.

The best tip that I can give you with regards to your application is to get into contact with any potential PI's you might want to work with for your master's/PhD. Stronger students can often get into great programs without being in touch with any faculty members beforehand, but your GPA would not make the cut if you didn't have someone in the program explicitly pulling for you. Many programs put applications with a sub-3.0 GPA on their automatic reject pile without even looking at the rest of the application. This is because most schools I know of require a 3.0 GPA minimum. This isn't set in stone, and certainly many students get in without it, but it makes things complicated for the department/program, and they need a really good reason to put in that extra effort to convince the university to let you in or to risk the university rejecting you after they've already invested time and resources on your behalf.

Other than that, you may want to mention the sources of your difficulties in your statements. Don't give excuses and don't make them the entire focus, but you may want to explain your difficulties and show how you've managed to work through them to get to where you are today and how they've shaped your interests for your field. Getting a few publications out certainly couldn't hurt either, and make sure you have very strong letters of recommendation.

If you have the financial resources and really want to start your program as soon as you can, it doesn't hurt to apply this year. If all else fails, just apply again the following year. The worst that could happen is that you get rejected and have to apply again the next application season, which you'd have to do anyway if you don't apply this season. I was asking myself the same question last year. I didn't have a good relationship with the faculty in my M.A. program and was debating whether to let things mellow out for a few years before expressing the desire to apply to PhD programs in their field. I decided to give it a go anyway, and I got in. Sure, interpersonal relationships might have cost me some very good schools I could have gotten into otherwise, but I do get to start my PhD at a school I'd be happy with, with a very responsible and involved mentor, and I'm no longer stressing over whether this road would be closed.

As for your master's vs. PhD question, maybe you can apply to PhD programs and indicate on your application that you'd like to be considered for the master's program in the event that you were not deemed to be a good fit for the PhD? I know some schools that do that. Check with the programs. Good luck!! 

Edited May 12, 2017 by ThousandsHardships