Femto Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 How important is it to do your undergrad in the same area as a prospective masters program to gain admission? I am finishing a pretty broad pre-professional program and, as such, am not very specialized in any one specific field. Will this hinder my chances of entering into a thesis masters program? I have a broad background in a variety of physical and life sciences, but my degree is an interdisciplinary. I would appreciate any advice about entering into a graduate program, since I am interested in research as a back up to medicine, and if you think it may be worthwhile to do an extra year or two to get a more specialized undergrad degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iicii Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I think this is really dependent on what kind of grad program you want to do and where... for example, if you wanted to do biochem masters, I hear that they carry value of which biochem courses you've done, and that they would take someone with lower grades but more "specialized" biochem courses than someone with less biochem courses but higher grades. For something like public health, I feel like it's more experience than course based because there's not really an undergrad in public health or anything, I would imagine that they have prereqs like stats and courses like epidemiology or other related research methods courses could help boost you. ( I realize you mentioned thesis based but this is just used a non-lab example) I would just consult the schools you are interested in and ask them directly, also, I think having a supervisor and funding arrangements at the time of application helps boost your application a lot...except for the VERY few programs where they insist that they will pick a supervisor for you... How important is it to do your undergrad in the same area as a prospective masters program to gain admission? I am finishing a pretty broad pre-professional program and, as such, am not very specialized in any one specific field. Will this hinder my chances of entering into a thesis masters program? I have a broad background in a variety of physical and life sciences, but my degree is an interdisciplinary. I would appreciate any advice about entering into a graduate program, since I am interested in research as a back up to medicine, and if you think it may be worthwhile to do an extra year or two to get a more specialized undergrad degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osteon Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 How important is it to do your undergrad in the same area as a prospective masters program to gain admission? I am finishing a pretty broad pre-professional program and, as such, am not very specialized in any one specific field. Will this hinder my chances of entering into a thesis masters program? I have a broad background in a variety of physical and life sciences, but my degree is an interdisciplinary. I would appreciate any advice about entering into a graduate program, since I am interested in research as a back up to medicine, and if you think it may be worthwhile to do an extra year or two to get a more specialized undergrad degree. I Agee with the above post; it is totally dependent on the program and school. Perhaps as important or in some cases more important, are the opinions of your prospective thesis supervisor. Sometimes they don't care if you have a specialized background, and it's totally GPA based, sometimes it's the opposite, sometimes it's both, sometimes they require previous research experience. In summary, do your research at the school, pragram and supervisor level in determining your eligibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 If your degree is at least a "related" field (the definition of which varies), you can usually get away with it, as long as it's a 4-year degree and not a 3-year degree. In astronomy, for example (we all knew I was going to use that as an example!), you could get away with an undergrad in physics or engineering, or maybe math and possibly even chemistry. But probably not something like French or psychology. If you've taken a decent amount of classes in the subject (or something closely related to it) beyond introductory level, you can probably make a case for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Femto Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thanks for the advice. I will certainly start looking into specific programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamformed Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 I am in the same situation. I am just finishing off my undergraduate degree in a life sciences program. I did not specialize in any particular area but took all the basic sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, psych, physio etc). Now, I want to apply for a masters but its really hard for me to find a professor to be my supervisor. I also have research experience but it is not related to my proposed area of research.....i interviewed with a prof and was told that since I did not do something related to this area of research before and thats why he is "concerned" (he really stressed this word) and would not offer me a position in his lab I don't know what I should do in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 If you can afford the $ and time, offer to volunteer in a lab for a month or so. You could even offer this to the "concerned" potential supervisor if you wanted to... Just a suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 In my experience, and this is not universal, undergrad doesn't matter one whit. Almost nobody I know considers their undergrad degree important to their current grad work. I work with anatomy undergrads doing biochemistry and chemistry undergrads doing physiology. I know an engineer who is doing a cardiology msc. If you can study new material and you can do any grad work IMO, as long as your PI is willing to help you get the basics down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamformed Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 If you can afford the $ and time, offer to volunteer in a lab for a month or so. You could even offer this to the "concerned" potential supervisor if you wanted to... Just a suggestion. Thanks for the suggestion. I did that already (offered to come in everyday in the summer to learn and familiarize myself with the methods/equipments etc) when he mentioned being "concerned" but he laughed that off and said that he is not willing to offer me a position at this time (which really felt like...go away, I don't want you in my lab). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner10 Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 That sounds pretty brutal, definitely an abnormal-sounding experience. Speaking from personal experience, I did a general Biological Sciences degree for undergrad and am currently doing a Master's in Neuroscience. I did, however, do a year of research (paid) in a neuroscience lab part-time. I'm not sure if that pushed me over the edge when it came to potential supervisors. Also, I did my undergrad and grad school in the same place. Is there any way for you to look for potential supervisors within your current institution? I know that deadlines for grad studies can be later if you're staying in the same city for grad studies that you currently reside in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamformed Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 That sounds pretty brutal, definitely an abnormal-sounding experience. Speaking from personal experience, I did a general Biological Sciences degree for undergrad and am currently doing a Master's in Neuroscience. I did, however, do a year of research (paid) in a neuroscience lab part-time. I'm not sure if that pushed me over the edge when it came to potential supervisors. Also, I did my undergrad and grad school in the same place. Is there any way for you to look for potential supervisors within your current institution? I know that deadlines for grad studies can be later if you're staying in the same city for grad studies that you currently reside in? I was really thinking that it is time for me to move on and go to another university for my graduate studies but now I am starting to look at some options at my current university. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osteon Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 ....now, I emailed about 50 other professors this weekend...... Thus far, I have already emailed over 100 professors altogether.... If these numbers are even close to realistic I think I have identified the problem: your introductory email. Would you care to post the text that you would normally send to a prospective prof? Pretend it's to Dr. Brain, at the University of Neuroscience, who does thrilling research in your area of interest. Also, below the email, let us know what attachments (if any; i.e. CV, transcripts) you would include in the email. Can you give us an idea of what sort of information the profs are seeing when you first contact them (i.e. GPA, past research experiences, jobs, publications etc.)? The more info and stats you can provide to us (while maintaining your anonymity, of course), the more I think we can help out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinklystar_hp Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 If these numbers are even close to realistic I think I have identified the problem: your introductory email. Would you care to post the text that you would normally send to a prospective prof? Pretend it's to Dr. Brain, at the University of Neuroscience, who does thrilling research in your area of interest. Also, below the email, let us know what attachments (if any; i.e. CV, transcripts) you would include in the email. Can you give us an idea of what sort of information the profs are seeing when you first contact them (i.e. GPA, past research experiences, jobs, publications etc.)? The more info and stats you can provide to us (while maintaining your anonymity, of course), the more I think we can help out. could i plz get some starters advice? i am still in the process of asking my profs (who have already said yes) for references.. lol :$ applications for the programs im interested in (biomed eng. at mcmaster and medical science at uoft and biomed eng at waterlo, western) are due somewhere in may.. :$ i am still in the process of just starting with emailing the potential profs and asking if they r accepting grad studnets in their lab. becuz before i actually start spendign time in "researching" through the prof's studies and papers, i want to first know if they r accepting even.... :$ i asked a phd student i know, she said it's tottally fine if i go this way...if these profs r, i'll look more into their papers and tell them details abt my research... i need help with my statments of interest though....: so here's wht i do know: 1) i did undergrad in psych and neuro... neuro very basic...courses like like brain anatomy, brain physio,learning, memory, cognition...etc... no seminar courses... but overall i love the topic of neuroiscience..studying abt the brain.. i mean who we are, wht we do, everything originates in our brain! even though our other organs are essential for survival, but our brain is essential for our personalities, for us even KNOWING that v r LIVING.... 2)now IN neuro... i have been a volunteer research in a cognitive psyc lab where we deal with patients with memory problems; i volunteered in this lab as research assistant for 6 months... i've been administering patients questionnaires... i've had the exposure to how a clinical neuroscience lab functions like... wht kinds of research projects go on... wht masters students do..etc.. i'm not too sure if that is where my interest is - systems levels research on cognitive functions... probably not... 3) what AM i interested in: i feel i am much more into the actual cellular level research... working withhh cells, neuronsm etc.... not specifically just microscpic level... working in perhaps the designing of prosthetics... so u know, i guess what i mean to say is i'd like to work in an area where the method is much more hands-on, rather than interviews or surveys.. 4) lol i think my points basically show my thought processes step by step.. so anywyz..in my research, i've for a long time for some reason been very fascinated by biomedical research...something about working behind the big screen (working in research labs), working innovatively on novel medical devices, that's something that has intrigued me a lot in the field of research... in the long run, i'd very much like to see myself in a research "industry" working on different medical devices and models....it just sounds so exciting...and for some reason i feel i need that kind of want that kind of an exciting and adventurous career... i've had quiet a boring life till now (lol!), i mean life sciences, that too on insistence of parents, pursuing medicine on insistence of parents...i'd much rather work on something that could better the lives of a whoel MASS of people (whom i don't necessarily interact with in my everyday life) rather than consulting and helping people out individually on a face to face basis... this is wht has always made me think that research/grad school is for me, than med... however, medicine itself offers a whole lot of research opportunities...and besides this isnt the scope of my LONGGGG msg here... sooo anywayz..it so happened in my research i came upon "neural engineering"... retinal implants.. etc.. which made me remember just how much i'd been intrigued and LOVED the visual system while taking neuro courses..for some reaason i LOVE and feel myself relating to visual systems the most in the broad field of neuro... thisis also becuz i myself have had an eye disease once (iritis)... which made me think of ppl living without vision - if i can do soemthing to prevent this, i'd LOVE to do that! 5) sooo... basically this whole field of "neural engineering", or rather biomedical engineering as it related to vision, has SPARKED my interest...that does not mean i don't find the engineering of an artificial heart cool - ooh noo noo that sounds AWESOME! i mean to be involved in design of ARTIFICIAL HEART? can u BELIEVE THAT? how cool it would be to tell ppl i design artificial hearts hehe... eh... gosh i get carried away so much.. but u get wht i mean... i do have specific interests within biomed...but all topics of biomedical engineering - within the field of tissue and device engineerign that is - intrigue me SO MUCH! so i am thinking, for now, let me aim at some faculty who does visual engineering... since that also matches with wht i did in undergrad.. 6) sooo...all in all.. this is where i stand at now.. i have NO idea of wht is happeneing SPECIFICALLY in biomed... not at all in visual engineering..but the area interests me... and i finally seem to have narrowed down to an area that seems to spark my interest.... biomedical engineering applications are due by JUNE for mcmaster and waterloo both.. i think may for western..uoft i've missed out.. but i wudnt mind shifting outside uoft to be honest:P i'd actually like to explore other grad uni's in lil towns like mac and western..and well waterloo is the ENGINEERING uni... 7) but...all beign said, i do want to GET IN SOME GRAD SCHOOL! plz oh plz! and i honestly dont mind if i even get some genetics masters position... anything that is interesting i'm up for .. plus uoft pays like 24k for masters genetics that's like HUGE! sooo... wht i guess i am saying is, side by side i also am going to try and email a few profs in genetics to ask if they r willig nto recruit..and apply to uoft for genetics.. my q: wht do i do with reseaarch statement? i'll probably have to work out two! could i get some tips? how deep to go as to wht my interests r?? thanks in advance guys! and @topic maker: i'm sorry to be invading ur topic..it's just i started replying..and it got so long :$ oh oh and if some1 cud tell me my chances of applying now: cgpa : 3.59 avg of last two years: 83.5 avg of last three years: 84 last year avg: 87 i did undergrad with uoft scarborough.. andd umm... no thesis course or indep. study course taken in undergrad... no full course load (i took like 80% course loads last two years barring one semester).. thats pretty much itt... 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sunshinesky101 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 biomed eng at waterlo, western Is there a biomed eng grad program at waterloo? I couldn't find it on their list of grad programs....can you post the link for that program here. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osteon Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 I don't know if there is biomedical engineering at all, but look into kinesiology - there's a ton of world class biomechanics research (a branch of biomed. eng.) at Waterloo if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tonin Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 ... i am still in the process of just starting with emailing the potential profs and asking if they r accepting grad studnets in their lab. becuz before i actually start spendign time in "researching" through the prof's studies and papers, i want to first know if they r accepting even.... :$ i asked a phd student i know, she said it's tottally fine if i go this way...if these profs r, i'll look more into their papers and tell them details abt my research... From my experience, there are 3 things that you should write about in your initial email to a prospective supervisor: 1) Background (ie: your current academic year, program and institution. Also, state which program you would like to apply to and for which academic session). 2) Your research experience and interests. (ie: what you have done in courses, research projects, work and what you would like to do for research in grad school - very general area; if it's too specific the professor may not see a good "fit"). 3) How your research interests are a good match to the prospective supervisor. (ie: make linkages to their publications). Some programs explicitly state in their graduate admission procedures that professors will expect you to include these 3 things. At the end of your email, you can ask them if they are accepting new students, but it helps to first show them that you took the time to read and admire their work. You can also attach your academic CV and a summary of grades (generally it's the last 2 years and it doesn't have to be your official transcripts). I recently sat on a graduate school admissions committee and the statement of interests typically included sections such as why you are choosing that program and institution, what your long-term career goals are, mention of courses and experience you have had that make you ready for the program, and why your area of interest is a good match with the supervisor. So overall, I would recommend to extensively look into the prospective supervisor's research prior to sending your initial email rather than starting by asking if they are taking students. I would also recommend volunteering in a research lab, even if it's not exactly in the area that you would like to do your graduate work in because it will at least expose you to scientific research methods. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tonin Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 If these numbers are even close to realistic I think I have identified the problem: your introductory email. Would you care to post the text that you would normally send to a prospective prof? Pretend it's to Dr. Brain, at the University of Neuroscience, who does thrilling research in your area of interest. Also, below the email, let us know what attachments (if any; i.e. CV, transcripts) you would include in the email. Can you give us an idea of what sort of information the profs are seeing when you first contact them (i.e. GPA, past research experiences, jobs, publications etc.)? The more info and stats you can provide to us (while maintaining your anonymity, of course), the more I think we can help out. @ dreamformed: I agree that the issue may be in your initial email to the prospective supervisors for grad school. See my post above for suggestions on how to structure your email. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obama6493 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks for the suggestion. I did that already (offered to come in everyday in the summer to learn and familiarize myself with the methods/equipments etc) when he mentioned being "concerned" but he laughed that off and said that he is not willing to offer me a position at this time (which really felt like...go away, I don't want you in my lab). Speaking from personal experience, I did a general Biological Sciences degree for undergrad and am currently doing a Master's in Neuroscience. I did, however, do a year of research (paid) in a neuroscience lab part-time. I'm not sure if that pushed me over the edge when it came to potential supervisors. Also, I did my undergrad and grad school in the same place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinklystar_hp Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Is there a biomed eng grad program at waterloo? I couldn't find it on their list of grad programs....can you post the link for that program here. Thanks! its under their dept of systems and designs engineering.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinklystar_hp Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 From my experience, there are 3 things that you should write about in your initial email to a prospective supervisor: 1) Background (ie: your current academic year, program and institution. Also, state which program you would like to apply to and for which academic session). 2) Your research experience and interests. (ie: what you have done in courses, research projects, work and what you would like to do for research in grad school - very general area; if it's too specific the professor may not see a good "fit"). 3) How your research interests are a good match to the prospective supervisor. (ie: make linkages to their publications). Some programs explicitly state in their graduate admission procedures that professors will expect you to include these 3 things. At the end of your email, you can ask them if they are accepting new students, but it helps to first show them that you took the time to read and admire their work. You can also attach your academic CV and a summary of grades (generally it's the last 2 years and it doesn't have to be your official transcripts). I recently sat on a graduate school admissions committee and the statement of interests typically included sections such as why you are choosing that program and institution, what your long-term career goals are, mention of courses and experience you have had that make you ready for the program, and why your area of interest is a good match with the supervisor. So overall, I would recommend to extensively look into the prospective supervisor's research prior to sending your initial email rather than starting by asking if they are taking students. I would also recommend volunteering in a research lab, even if it's not exactly in the area that you would like to do your graduate work in because it will at least expose you to scientific research methods. Best of luck! hey! thanks! my goodness now i am panicking because the professors I mailed I really did liek their research areas, and i did not include this much ifnromation.. i did specify what my interests were, and which program i want to apply to and how i came across their profile..i also mentione dwhy i believe i want to apply to that program.. i explained how i am interested in getting involved in a much more hands on graduate aerea of research into the neurosciences..and i said how even though my majors r in neuro but my interests are not just restricted to neuro for grad school, that even though i'd like to have aspects of them in my grad studies but i wud like more of a biomed engineering approach.. and i mentioned how i read on their page that their research focuses on this and sthis.. and this really sparked my interest... and before i formally submit my app, i am wonderign if u r in the process of recruting potential grad students for your lab; if you are that would be great, becuz your research area really does interest me, and i can proceed accordingly with my formal app, and also discuss my interests further with you.. soemthign along these lines is wht my recentmost mails were abt.. i really do want to get into their program! wht if they say no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamformed Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 post deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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