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[BernieMac]

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[End Poverty]

 

 

Currently a 4th year UG, set to graduate this semester. I have applied but considering my options if this year does not work out. I have talked to people and done my research and I am fairly sure I do not want to do a Masters degree in science (thesis based) as I do not like research at all. My other two options is to take the year off, volunteer and find a job to work while reapplying or to do a 1 year course based masters program at U of C (Masters of Biotech) but I have many questions and hopefully you can answer as many as you can....

 

1) There is little information about the Masters of Biotech program, it is a 1 year course based masters which includes a paid internship in the final 3 months at a biotech company. There are program testimonials of people who have been hired after this internship but it does not say how often this happens or if this was a special case. Do you think this program will set me up for a job better than a thesis based masters?

 

2) In terms of GPA, I know in a thesis based masters most programs only require you to take something like 2-3 courses over the entire masters and most people get A's in them. This gives them an entire year of GPA of 4.0 which can be used for the GPA calculation. Since this entire degree is course based I am worried about the difficulty and marking of these courses and if that would drop my GPA. Do you know of anyone in this program that can talk about the courses?

 

3) Since this program is a course based masters geared with no research component will I be looked down as a masters candidate that has 0 research experience? I remember in a podcast hearing that admissions expects research output out of masters students....does this extend to course based masters?

 

4) Don't know if this program is "too good to be true" I am saying this because I have heard little about this program and doing a 1 year course based masters that could land you a job in the biotech industry wouldn't more people be inclined to go into it versus a 2 year thesis based masters which has less job prospects? 

 

5) Essentially, all of these questions could be answered if I could get a chance to talk to someone in the program....anyone here in it or have friends that took it?

 

 

Thank you very much for any guidance 

 

 

In regards to your questions:

 

1) Getting a job depends on the abilities and skills that you develop as a graduate student.

 

2) Your information is wrong. In most other Masters programs,  people have to do 5+ courses with a research component.  I am personally doing 8 courses in my masters program.  I can't speak of the difficulty of the courses in MBT because I am not in the program, but I have heard it is just as difficult as any other graduate program.  I suggest that you do what you are passionate about, because when you are passionate about specific topic, you would not mind spending hours studying it. 

 

3) If you are passionate about masters of biotechnology, then do it. Don't keep thinking about how you can make yourself a more competitive candidate for med school. Think about you can make yourself better through challenging yourself by doing various activities that you enjoy. Trust me, most med school application reviewers are able to differentiate between applicants who are passionate about what they are doing, and applications who are just doing things just to possibly improve their chances of acceptance into medical school 

 

4) A lot of people do things that they enjoy and like, instead of focusing on job prospects. I suggest doing things that you enjoy, and I will guarantee you employers will approach you because they would like to work with you and see a spark in you.

 

Instead of focusing on how to improve your med school application, focus on finding ways in which you can develop yourself better by doing things that you enjoy and / or passionate about.

 

Best of Luck 

[GH0ST]

You've made numerous posts about topics similar to this.... I would not recommend you do a masters of any kind because.... well you make them sound like a chore and not something you're interested in. 

 

As an aside, you can do research while being in a course-based program. I published three papers during my MPH period in various fields that I was curious about. 

 

As for course grades, it all depends on the number of classes and your grades.... some aren't curved while some are (most probably aren't given how few people are in your lectures generally speaking) .... doing a course-based masters can be useful for GPA boosting, but if you do poorly that reflects on you too. You do them at your risk. 

 

- G

[VolumeOverload]

2) Your information is wrong. In most other Masters programs,  people have to do 5+ courses with a research component.  I am personally doing 8 courses in my masters program.  I can't speak of the difficulty of the courses in MBT because I am not in the program, but I have heard it is just as difficult as any other graduate program.  I suggest that you do what you are passionate about, because when you are passionate about specific topic, you would not mind spending hours studying it. 

While this may be true at your institute, nearly every MSc program in the Cumming School of Medicine requires only two half courses.

[sunday]

While this may be true at your institute, nearly every MSc program in the Cumming School of Medicine requires only two half courses.

 

additionally, it's possible that you can get requirements waived if you've already taken the related courses in undergrad depending on your program. didn't take a single course in my master's.

[meddreamz]

Currently a 4th year UG, set to graduate this semester. I have applied but considering my options if this year does not work out. I have talked to people and done my research and I am fairly sure I do not want to do a Masters degree in science (thesis based) as I do not like research at all. My other two options is to take the year off, volunteer and find a job to work while reapplying or to do a 1 year course based masters program at U of C (Masters of Biotech) but I have many questions and hopefully you can answer as many as you can....

 

1) There is little information about the Masters of Biotech program, it is a 1 year course based masters which includes a paid internship in the final 3 months at a biotech company. There are program testimonials of people who have been hired after this internship but it does not say how often this happens or if this was a special case. Do you think this program will set me up for a job better than a thesis based masters?

 

2) In terms of GPA, I know in a thesis based masters most programs only require you to take something like 2-3 courses over the entire masters and most people get A's in them. This gives them an entire year of GPA of 4.0 which can be used for the GPA calculation. Since this entire degree is course based I am worried about the difficulty and marking of these courses and if that would drop my GPA. Do you know of anyone in this program that can talk about the courses?

 

3) Since this program is a course based masters geared with no research component will I be looked down as a masters candidate that has 0 research experience? I remember in a podcast hearing that admissions expects research output out of masters students....does this extend to course based masters?

 

4) Don't know if this program is "too good to be true" I am saying this because I have heard little about this program and doing a 1 year course based masters that could land you a job in the biotech industry wouldn't more people be inclined to go into it versus a 2 year thesis based masters which has less job prospects? 

 

5) Essentially, all of these questions could be answered if I could get a chance to talk to someone in the program....anyone here in it or have friends that took it?

 

 

Thank you very much for any guidance 

 

From someone who is a MBT graduate:

 

1) From my class, most graduates continued on to full positions after their practicum. Some graduates also went on to professional schools or other thesis based Masters programs.  I've found this program to provide better job prospects for myself as it gives you a unique set of skills (business and research).

 

2) The courses are at an average difficulty level but that said GPA will depend on the work ethic of the student (i.e. A's are possible with some effort).

 

3) Although the program isn't thesis based, students have an option of completing their practicum in a lab research setting.

 

4) As someone who has gone through this program, I may be biased...

 

5) Message me if you have any more questions