What can I do for the next year?

Graduate School
1

<p>Greetings everyone,</p>

<p>I am a recent graduate from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. I've thought a lot recently about what I really wanted to do with my life. I sort of went through my undergraduate career with a particular path in mind, and realized that it was not for me. </p>

<p>I really want to go back to school to complete a teaching certificate and also pursue a masters in chemistry. The problem is that I just sort of feel just a touch hopeless, and it is my own fault. I just never really made the effort during undergrad to talk to professors or to pursue activities on the side or did I received good grades. Now I'm kicking myself over all the mistakes I've made.</p>

<p>However, not all hope is lost, with my new found inspiration, I am determined to make something of myself. I am just asking for help from this community, I am just been lurking over the past months and everyone seems so helpful.</p>

<p>I am looking to apply for next year's round of applications for 2012 and I am just asking what are all the possibilities that I could do, to not only boost my application for a masters in chemistry, but also relevant experiences for future teaching.</p>

<p>I am soon going to begin preparing for the GRE. I'm trying to get a job in a nearby city so I can try to volunteer with one of the research labs. </p>

<p>I have a 2.7 GPA, and a 2.9 Major GPA. I don't know if there is anything I can do now about that, but that is what I'm working with.</p>

<p>I have no solid leads for letters of recommendations either.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of your time</p>

2

<p>You need to get in touch with your former professors - ones in whose classes you got As or solid Bs - and ask them to write you a letter of recommendation. Many people, especially people who are years out of undergrad, have never made a connection with professors and later decide to go to graduate school. That’s okay, if you have other things to boost your application.</p>

<p>Do you want to get a master’s in chemistry, or do you want to get a master’s in science education? The latter programs are less competitive, and if you want to teach chemistry to high school students then I recommend doing that if you have an undergraduate degree in chemistry already.</p>

<p>There’s nothing you can do about your GPA; your goal now is to make the other aspects of your application look better to outweigh the GPA consideration. Taking a few graduate classes as a non-degree student and getting As in them will show admissions committees that you are serious about getting a degree and will also give you new connections with professors for references. A lab tech position will also do that. Are you at all interested in moving? The NIH has post-baccalaureate research programs for students in biomedical sciences, but they are generally located in Bethesda right outside of DC.</p>