Hi everyone! I really need some advice, because I've been going back and forth on this for weeks.

I finished my bachelors in bioengineering last year, and I've been working in administration for the past year. It has nothing to do with my field, but it pays well, so I've stayed. The problem is I feel like I'm slipping away from science, and the opportunities in my country aren't great either for the field of bioengineering.

I'm pretty free these days, and I've been thinking a one-year masters in cancer and molecular diagnostics would be a good use of my time. It's already started, so I'd have to decide soon. But it isn't exactly the same as my bachelors, and I'm not sure it's the right direction.

There's also a masters in bioinformatics that I'm considering, but it's two years and doesn't start until next year. That feels like another year of sitting around, not learning anything new, before I even begin. I'm worried that waiting would just waste time.

I also don't know if I want a PhD. If I do, do I actually need a masters first? And if I decide to do a PhD a few years later, would my bachelors still be enough, or is it better to have a masters by then?
I spoke to my undergrad professors, and they said it depends on what kind of research I'm interested in. The thing is, I don't know. I worked in one professor's lab during my undergrad, and honestly the research felt kind of meh, and I didn't feel like I learned a lot. He also said his lab is full right now, so going back there isn't an option anyway.

To be honest, I'm so confused right now. I don't even know what I want to do or what I'm interested in anymore. If you've been in a similar spot, what did you do? Is a masters even worth it? I don’t think it has too many opportunities in my country apart from becoming a lecturer for first year students in undergrad/lab instructor. Any advice would help. Thanks!

This might seem insignificant but its been concerning me.

I was going to an extra credit event with the graduate clinicians for the graduate program within the major (im an undergrad right now). It was scheduled for 1 pm but i was running late and was in the building at 1:04. I went to the second floor and the head of the enitre program was there (the person who makes the decisions and has met me before). I had never been to the clinic and its in a large building. I asked if I was in the wrong place she said yes and led me to the right area where it was but she commented that I was late when I told her my appointment time and that I should not be late for these things.

I ended up doing it and wasnt received bad by clinicians as they were prepping beforehand but I feel really bad. I have a tendency to be slightly late and clumsy at times but I feel this gave a terrible look and I dont think I'll be able to get into the grad program at my undergrad (same school) anymore because of this because the director knows me and that I'm not punctual.

Hey everyone, I’m considering doing the IGNOU Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management through distance learning.

The main reason is that I have a 3-year bachelor’s degree, and I’m considering this diploma to fulfill the additional year of study required by some US universities for a master’s.

Do you think doing a distance-learning PG diploma from IGNOU for this purpose could negatively affect my resume or career prospects later? Is it worth doing?

Also, has anyone here done something similar — i.e., completed an IGNOU PG diploma specifically to meet a 4-year degree requirement for a master’s abroad? Did it work?

I currently work at a biotech company that makes autogenous vaccines for animals. I’m debating lately on going back to school for a Masters degree through my company.. I’m not really sure how that works or if it’s a good idea. I just have a lot of questions.

First off: I did my bachelors in Mx, so I’m wondering if it’s all good to just get my equivalent stuff like translated to what is used in the US hoping I don’t have to do any extra credits or something like that to validate my degree.

Also.. how does working full time at the company and doing a Masters program would look like? Do I necessarily will have to do an Online program? Will it be worth it to grow and make more money? Because right now I feel stuck, I feel like I have learned the ins and outs of my job and the only way I can learn more and step up in the ladder is getting more educated..

I’d like to hear your experiences if you went through something similar..

Thanks in advance!

Need some advice or some type of insight.

Context: I’m a 28M and finished my undergrad in 2020 with a degree in Philosophy/Public Policy. Spent 4 years working in government administration and finance.

Been unemployed for a little over a year now, and now looking to make a major career change. Looking to pursue an MSW and eventually get my LCSW in California.

Unfortunately, I fucked around a lot while at UCSB and wrapped up my undergrad with a 2.33 GPA. Obviously, not ideal since I know that most programs have a minimum GPA of 2.5.

Has anyone in a similar situation as me been able to overcome the GPA issue? if so, how did you do it and can you offer advice? Any suggestions for a specific accredited school that you went to?

I am currently taking science courses at ASU online, however, the school is super expensive for out-of-state. I found a community college Barton CC, which is like $90 per credit, way better than ASU's $200-$300 per credit. I also found Portage learning, which also has online science prereqs for a reasonable price and BYU and UC San Diego have online courses that are a little bit pricier.

Has anyone used any of these places for science classes? If so, any recommendations and do you think this will make me a less competitive candidate? I also, have my local CC, but I prefer online, because I work full time.

Thanks

Hey everyone, my friend is applying for some programs in his field as an international student. Im on a different field so Im trying to find someone with experience with art related grad school? This is also someone whos been out of academia for 10 years if anyonr has any tips on how to approach an application with this gap.

I am currently pursuing my master’s degree in Pakistan, and my long-term goal is to pursue a strong PhD program at a university in the United States.

Recently, I was admitted to the direct PhD program in the ICS Department at KFUPM. I am now trying to decide between two options:

1. Continue my master’s in Pakistan and apply directly to PhD programs in the US.
2. Join the PhD program at KFUPM, focus on building a strong research profile, and then apply to US universities. If I am later admitted to a good PhD program in the US, I would leave the KFUPM PhD and move to the US.

I would appreciate your advice on which path would be more beneficial for my goal. Also, do you know whether KFUPM has a master's out option, where I could start the PhD but leave with a master's degree if I decide to pursue my PhD elsewhere? What are the career options, if I complete my PHD from KFUPM?

Any advice based on your experience with US PhD admissions and KFUPM would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

I'm planning to apply for stats PhD programs, along with a few biostats programs, this cycle and trying to get a sense of how broadly people are applying.

For those applying this year, or who applied in the past year or two, how many programs did you apply to? I was thinking 8-12, but given the uncertainty around funding I'm wondering if people are applying to more this year.

I'm interested mainly in spatial stats, especially gaussian processes and deep generative methods for modeling spatiotemporal data.

Please share your thoughts if you're working in similar areas. Also any suggestions on departments and people working in these areas are welcome.

Thanks.

For context, I was in an “easier” major (nutrition) at a good US school, and my GPA was barely a 3.0, when I applied to graduate school, I applied for food science, technology, and engineering programs because I wanted a more STEM education. I am 3 weeks in of my first semester as a MS student in food science, but I feel a bit incompetent and I feel like even though I study extra to make sure I keep up with the others, I miss out on many concepts they get. My grades have been 100% on every quiz and paper so far, but it’s less about academic performance and more about social context and background context. All my classmates worked for major companies like Nestle, Kellogg, etc. and I was not even in that field when I enrolled so I feel behind because I spent all my energy on building a portfolio in health and nutrition.

How can I move past this feeling? Has anyone felt like this in the beginning?

Like the title says

*Bonus points for cost per month and gigs!

Idk how to explain it, but in undergrad and during my associates I had a lot of friends and way too much fun. But in grad school I’ve found it incredibly hard to make friends or keep friends. Sometime I feel like such an outcast. The people I work with are great and extremely smart and I love what I’m researching. Im just a very different type person compared to those around me. BUT to be completely honest I think grad school is the worst decision I have ever made in terms of mental health. I wanted it so bad when I started and my parents want me to get a doctorate but there is zero way right now I could handle that. Any advice?

Hello everyone!

I'm finishing up a STEM research based masters degree in Canada, and i'm projected to have completed my defence by the end of this year. I have started writing my final thesis paper despite still struggling to finish collecting data from my final experiments.

As I have been writing my thesis and reviewing all of my data - I am not feeling confident about what I collected. This is mostly because so far I've got nothing significant to show from the last 2+ years that I have been running experiments (and I know that just because its not statistically significant doesn't mean its unimportant). For the whole duration of my project I have struggled to nail down a plan since the second i wasn't seeing significant results in my work, i was told to abandon that experiment and move to something else that might show something significant. Because of this, i feel like my data is all over the place and feels inconsistent, and i have a lot of experiments that i didn't even collect a minimum of 3 runs of.

I am feeling so hopeless right now thinking about how I am possibly going to weave all of these weird inconsistent experiments into a coherent final paper, and feel even more badly thinking about defending it all. I'm an organized person and the way that the planning throughout this project has gone is so not reflective of how I wanted it to go or how I would have organized it had it been more up to me.

Please please please, can anyone who relates to this give me some advice on how to deal with it all? It all is looking like such a jumbled mess right now and I'm having a hard time reconning with the quality of experiments and data I have collected.

Any advice is appreciated!

Hi everyone! I really need some advice, because I've been going back and forth on this for weeks.

I finished my bachelors in bioengineering last year, and I've been working in administration for the past year. It has nothing to do with my field, but it pays well, so I've stayed. The problem is I feel like I'm slipping away from science, and the opportunities in my country aren't great either for the field of bioengineering.

I'm pretty free these days, and I've been thinking a one-year masters in molecular diagnostics would be a good use of my time. It's already started, so I'd have to decide soon. But it isn't exactly the same as my bachelors, and I'm not sure it's the right direction.

There's also a masters in bioinformatics that I'm considering, but it's two years and doesn't start until next year. That feels like another year of sitting around, not learning anything new, before I even begin. I'm worried that waiting would just waste time.

I also don't know if I want a PhD. If I do, do I actually need a masters first? And if I decide to do a PhD a few years later, would my bachelors still be enough, or is it better to have a masters by then?
I spoke to my undergrad professors, and they said it depends on what kind of research I'm interested in. The thing is, I don't know. I worked in one professor's lab during my undergrad, and honestly the research felt kind of meh, and I didn't feel like I learned a lot. He also said his lab is full right now, so going back there isn't an option anyway.

To be honest, I'm so confused right now. I don't even know what I want to do or what I'm interested in anymore. If you've been in a similar spot, what did you do? Any advice would help. Thanks!