Need advice! Masters or PhD in Biological sciences?

Graduate School
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<p>Hey guys so Im nearing my senior year now and i need some good advice. First off my GPA as of now is a 3.29. I know this isn't high but I have work quite hard to get it up to this point. I completely bombed freshman and sophomore year and ended up going into my junior year with a 2.9 GPA. For various reasons I decided to pull my act together and was able to succeed in my classes and brought my gpa up close to a 3.3. I plan on getting it up to a 3.4 in my final year.</p>

<p>Research experience wise I have worked in a lab for two years now, and have had 2 publications, one of which i am the first author. I live in the Chicago area with my grandparents and they only have me to look after them, so travelling isn't ideal. I want to apply for U of C's molecular biology PhD program but hesitant that I will stand any chance. Should I try for a masters first to raise my GPA and then apply or should I go ahead and apply for their PhD program?</p>

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<p>Can anyone help?</p>

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<p>Dear Oblivion78,</p>

<p>Why don’t you consider applying for both MS and PhD programs and see which one(s) you get into? Also, I would recommend that you speak with your lab PI–chances are that if you have managed 2 publications with him/her, they probably like you and want to keep you in their lab. If that is the case, then they might try hard to pull you into the PhD program by putting in a good word/strong LOR. </p>

<p>Best wishes,
-DV</p>

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<p>@vader1990
Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately our school only have master program in the Bio sciences. Can anyone explain to me the difference in selection process for a PhD program vs. a MS program? Also if possible, if someone can recommend some good master programs in molecular and cell bio that would be greatly appreciated!</p>