<p>After spending a year and a half out of college at a large pharm company, I have been inspired to go back to school for a phd. ....but I don't know if anyone will take me. I had a 2.8 in college, with a 2.98 for my last two years in a respectable biochem program, my Gres are 770 in math and 760 verbal. I've been working pretty solidly 55 hour weeks at my job for a year and a half and I've been given a lot of responsibility. Basically, I know I was immature in undergrad; I could've done better. But does anyone think I might have a shot at a molecular biology phd program? I'm not looking for fancy! But I'd like a stipend. Any recommendations on east coast programs I could get into?</p>
<p>Here is what I know. A lot of graduate programs require a minimum GPA of a 3.0 for a masters program. Some PHD programs can require a 3.5 GPA or higher. Once you leave college, your work experience is taken more seriously. I don’t know if two years is enough though, and PHDs are hard to get regardless of institution in the sciences.</p>
<p>What I would suggest if applying doesn’t work out is try continuing education programs at a local state school (make sure its a respectable program). If you can get a 4.0 taking classes while working, I think you should be able to use that to get into a PHD program. Basically take like 3 masters level classes, ace them, and use that combination plus your high GRE scores to get into a respectable PHD program. </p>
<p>I’m not an expert, but a 2.8 is a tough GPA to get into a PHD program with is my understanding. Its weird but you would have a lot more trouble getting into some programs with a 2.99 instead of a 3.00. However, your high GRE score might allow you to be admitted at a lot of programs as a “probational student”, or you may have to prove your worth by getting a masters. Just by two cents. I definitely think you can get a PHD, you may have to prove yourself a little bit before though.</p>
<p>Also, I have read many of the suggestions on here for students in my predicament, and both “going back to undergrad” as well as producing the money (or time) for a grad class is a little out of my grasp. I am hoping to find some program that will accept me as I am; I make good money and to backtrack without guarantee of a higher degree would be irresponsible.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know about your company but check if they have tuition reimbursement. If time is the issue, I don’t think you would have to take more then one class at a time for about a year, and a lot of university’s offer online and/or evening classes. If you make good money, and your company won’t pay for it, a lot of state school classes can be fairly inexpensive (like $1k to $2k). I don’t think you have to go back to undergraduate, but the only other option then taking graduate classes that I can think of is to somehow end up doing research with a professor and he somehow really likes you and and gets you into his university.</p>
<p>I agree everything viggysmalls has said here - there’s no need to go back to undergrad, but with a 2.8 you will need to take a few graduate courses to prove that you can handle graduate-level work, especially since you are only 2 years out. Also, hopefully your work at the pharm company has been research-related; you need research experience to get into PhD programs. Many companies offer tuition reimbursement, as viggysmalls said, so your company may be willing to pay for some graduate courses if they’re related to your job.</p>
<p>With a 2.8 and no undergraduate research experience, and just 1.5 years at a pharm company, I would say you’re not a competitive candidiate as is. You don’t want to select any program you can get into right now; if you want a career in biology (either industry or academia) you want to get into a GOOD program. For your future career, it’s worth it to shell out a little money and time to make yourself a more attractive candidate. But there’s certainly no shame in deciding that it’s not worth it to you to get the PhD and to concentrate your career at the company. But don’t just attend any PhD program you can get into for the sake of getting a PhD. The job market’s too tight for that.</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on a PhD, you should probably consider doing a Master’s degree. With your GPA and lack of research experience, you’ll probably need to prove yourself capable of graduate-level work, and that means a Master’s program. Tuition support is probably not happening, but if you can get a teaching appointment (TA/GSI) you can get tuition support and a stipend that way. Those spots are competitive and sometimes reserved for PhD students. Your high GRE scores aren’t going to help much, sadly. They certainly don’t hurt, but GREs are pretty much the last thing a committee looks at, after GPA, letters of recommendation, and research experience.</p>
I’ll look into prices, but it looks like around 2 grand that I don’t have for just a class.</p>