I have a masters degree earned many moons ago. I applied, took the GRE, was accepted. That was it. Long career ensued.
I have a junior in college now, and am curious. If there is no such thing as a stupid question, brace yourself.
My student is majoring in biology at a respected LAC but not a top 10 program. She has a 3.7 GPA in her major (and overall) and is interested in plant science. There is no such program or concentration at her college, and she only came to this interest after looking for, and being accepted by, a Big State U with a plant science program looking for summer work. She knew nothing and came out really liking it. She said she learned about DNA replication, extraction, something called PCR, something called CRISPR (forgive me I was a French major!) and got great recommendations.
This past summer she applied and was accepted to an NSF- REU at the Smithsonian for Botany for 10 weeks, learned how to use a scanning elec. microscope, worked with some important people, presented a poster etc. Her mentor said she should pursue a PhD so now she thinks she will. They are working on a paper and I think she’s presenting something at a conference next year?
This summer she is looking for other REUs (one at Cornell–Boyce Thompson, one at some place in St. Louis–Danforth?, maybe the Chicago Botanical Garden). And next spring she’s taking bioinformatics also working with a professor for a semester studying milkweed. So that’s nice.
But here’s what I don’t understand: she’s not majoring in Plant sciences or plant anything. She didn’t know she was even interested in this until applied she enrolled. She won’t be coming to any program with the breadth of classes in this area as other kids might have (for instance if she’d gone to Big State U in the first place). She’s enjoyed her LAC and likely got the opportunities she did because she isn’t in a big research program.
How will/does admissions then to these Phd (or Masters) programs work? I’m purely curious. Would she be at a huge disadvantage? Will she have to delay school a year to catch up on (what?) courses she didn’t take. I think she’d have good recommendations, her grades are good, she’s had good experience, but her “education” is mostly outside the classroom.
So a funded PhD program typically has the first 2 years or so taking master’s level classes, followed by 3-4 years of research and thesis writing. Students often act as TAs for the first year or two, and then are researching full time after that. The college typically waived the masters class tuition, and pays them a stipend to live on for the TA or research work.
If your kid has good research experience in her area of interest and a bio degree, I think she will be fine applying to plant sciences PhD programs. She will have those masters classes to get her up to speed where needed. Occasionally I think students take an undergrad course or two during that first 2 year window if they have a gap in their background.
She maybe should check the websites of some of the programs she is interested in to see if they require any specific coursework. Her research mentors could help her identify schools. She likely will need to take the GRE, too. Application deadlines are in the fall of senior year to enter programs the following fall, so she should get going on researching programs over break this winter.
My sense is that good research experience, good recommendations, and a solid bio GPA will serve her well in the admissions process. Good luck!
My youngest went through the PhD app process a couple years ago (STEM, but a different major. There are a lot of other knowledgeable (more than me!) posters out here, too.
Has your D found the Gradcafe website? My kid found that useful.
FWIW, a billion years ago I took a Masters in a field somewhat different from my undergrad major. I was required to remediate my deficiencies in the field of my Masters degree by taking a few undergraduate courses. I did this in the summer prior to commencing my Masters degree.
I took the courses at my school. But I didn’t ask about taking them anyplace else.
I went there undergrad as well, and already had an apartment for the summer
(due to year lease)…Plus they happened to offer two courses in the summer that would fill the “buckets” I was required to fill.
There was frankly no place else I would have preferred to take them. And they happened to offer them. Therefore, no inquiry.
What you will be required to do, and where, I’ve no idea. But my guess is, if they are undergrad courses, you could probably take them anywhere. You aren’t coming there as an undergrad. Presumably they accept undergrads who have taken those same undergrad courses elsewhere into their grad school.
There are a lot of other knowledgeable (more than me!) posters out here, too.