grad school decision, what should i do?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi, i'm an international student from china with an almost complete degree from a US university (will be complete in a few months).</p>

<p>University: University of California, Irvine (top 50)
Degree: BS in Biological Sciences
Current GPA: 3.3/4
GRE: not taken but can easily get 750+ on math</p>

<p>my problem is many fold:</p>

<p>i am very interested in pursuing a graduate degree related in some way to biology or chemistry, but would like to get it done as fast as possible so i can leave the US.</p>

<p>i do not want an academic job and doubt i can survive the necessary 5-6 years to get a PhD in biology, but i ran out of money thus i cannot fund my own masters.</p>

<p>i found out last year that i hated neurobiology, developmental biology and cell biology; i recieved C in all 3 classes despite extremely hard work, got another C in the accompanying lab for developmental/cell bio and got an F (no pass in pass/fail) in neurobiological research (don't ask reason). the problem with this is that modern biology revolves around these 3 subject areas. in contrast i am more interested in microbiology, (some what related) bioprocess engineering (i have completed multivariable calculus, about to take linear algebra) and (unrelated) organic chemistry but have no background in organic chem beyond 3 classes and 3 labs.</p>

<p>i am computer illiterate in terms of programming, so bioinformatics is a definite no.</p>

<p>i do not care about rankings of the school.</p>

<p>what should i do?</p>

2

<p>“i am very interested in pursuing a graduate degree related in some way to biology or chemistry, but would like to get it done as fast as possible so i can leave the US.”</p>

<p>“i do not want an academic job and doubt i can survive the necessary 5-6 years to get a PhD in biology, but i ran out of money thus i cannot fund my own masters.”</p>

<p>Expedite the process and leave the US after your undergrad. You don’t really want to do a Phd but feel that you cannot do a masters. You say you don’t even like the subjects that you have studied and managed to fail a research credit. It doesn’t sound like this is the right career for you.</p>

<p>I would encourage you to not waste anymore time training for a career you don’t want.</p>

3

<p>What’s the point of graduate school given your negative comments then?</p>

<p>Graduate school is for people who LOVE their specialty and the time spent doing research.</p>

<p>You can always come back to the US for graduate school after you go back to your home country and figure things out.</p>

4

<p>thanks for the advice. maybe grad school isnt the thing.</p>

5

<p>There are way too many “sea turtles” in China and most of them probably have masters degrees. How are you going to compete with them if you just have your BS degree? I am very sure that most master’s program can be finished in one year. Just apply to a couple UCs and CSUs for grad school. Good luck!</p>