Best Biotechnology Programs?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>First off, I'm a total noob when it comes to grad school admissions (forgive me, I'm busy trying to transfer to another undergrad school). I'm a freshman majoring in Psych(Behavioral Neuroscience/Quantitative Bio/Bioinformatics superconcentration), but am taking upper level Psych, Math(finishiing up diff Q), and Chem classes atm(i plan to take the highest level bio+psych classes at wherever I end up by the time i graduate in 2013). </p>

<p>So does anyone know schools with the most prestigious biotech MA programs? How selective are these programs compared to undergrad frosh/transfer admissions at top 20 schools? Does the reputation of my undergrad matter? Or is it like law school where they care almost solely about your GRE score and GPA? Do you need to take more than one GRE( biology) subject test (if it varies from school to school then nvm)? What kind of research should I do to make myself a better applicant? I know working at <em>actual</em> biotech companies is ideal, but it seems like only people with BAs can find work in one. I'm mainly interested in the research/new technologies aspect of the field rather than management/legal matters. That being said, should I throw in a bunch of relevant econ classes into my courseload over the next 3 years? </p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated, because I want to get a sense of what I should do to make myself ultra,ultracompetitive for grad school in 3 years. I want to get an MA or MS in a one year program, then apply to med school (I want to practice while working on technology...weird I know). But i heard that grad degrees in these field are generally awarded on the basis of the applicant doing a pHD right after...is this true? I don't want to go for a pHD b/c med school is 4yrs school+up to 7 years residency+2years fellowship if your ambitous...not to mention the ridonkulous debt. that's why a one year program in a lucrative field sounds good to me, since if med school doesn't work out, i can still do lots of research/development stuff.</p>

<p>ok now that's the end of my oodles of questions/noobness</p>

2

<p>Get yourself involved in research as soon as possible and put everything else out of your mind. No matter what you end up doing in science after undergrad, be it medical school, graduate school, position at a biotech company, anything will require research experience. I don’t think you need to stress about competition for medical or graduate schools just yet; keep your grades up and learn as much as you can in your research project.</p>

<p>Btw, it is not weird for MDs to work on technology. The two biotech companies I worked at between undergrad and grad school both included MD’s. They tend to serve as medical officers (evaluating clinical implications and determining unmet clinical needs) or as researchers. Furthermore, lots of MDs are involved in basic and applied science, drug discovery and translational medicine in academia (my last lab had more MDs than non MDs).</p>

<p>Anyway, its good to keep an eye on what is coming up next but you don’t need to make many decisions now.</p>

3

<p>duly noted. how many publications should i aim for if i want to get into a top 5 program?</p>