/sci/ - Science & Math

If it helps, I am doing a Biology major and am in Canada but have been looking at options of using my home country university in europe OR the top tier california universities for biotech.

seemed like the best board to get advice

Do research as an undergraduate if possible. Get a high GPA. Know some professors personally and impress them so you can get a decent set of references. Masters programs don't require a lot of prior research experience b/c you're typically paying the school.

Also, see if there are fellowships available that you can apply for. For example, I got my Bachelors in physics with a fairly low GPA (3.2) but was awarded a full-ride fellowship to get a Master's degree at a well-known university in the UK just b/c nobody else applied for it.

>>5012307
how does one get into research as an undergrad?

not OP here but I'm a bio major

>>5012307
Forgot to mention that even thought I had to technically "apply" to the UK school after I was awarded the fellowship, I got a defacto acceptance just b/c it would've been a serious embarrassment to my undergrad school and to me if they rejected me. I turned in all the required materials and was accepted within 24 hours.

>>5012309
If your school has any bio research labs, just talk to a professor who works in one. best if you already know them or are in their class. There were tons of available bio research projects in my school's bio dept and there was always room for undergraduates who were willing to do some boring lab work. Don't expect to get paid though.

If your school is so shit-tier that there aren't even labs in the bio department, find a nearby university with labs and email a professor whose research interests you.

>>5012317
If the only nearby big universities are several hours away can that still work, such as going there on weekends?

>>5012322
better to just do it during the summer. I did one summer of unpaid research at a university 1.5 hours away but I just got a shitty apartment there.

But seriously, what university do you go to? There must be some research going on.

>>5012325
It's a private university in the middle of nowhere.
Are you saying I am fucked if I don't get this experience or will I be able to make up for it in the last 2 years of a bigger university for my undergraduate?

>>5012328
I'm saying that you don't necessarily have to transfer. If you get a high GPA and have decent references you'll be much better off than if you go to a large university and get a marginal GPA. It really doesn't matter where you get an undergrad degree because the curriculum is so standardized at that level. Also, if you'd be better off financially if you stay where you are now, there's no point in burdening yourself or your parents.

Again, don't forget to look into fellowship opportunities. Your school most likely has a fellowships department. Ask your professors how you can get research experience. If there really are no labs at your school (which I have a hard time believing) then certainly somebody has gone through the same dilemma as you before. Getting research experience as an undergrad is not just a way to impress graduate schools, but will also give you insight into the career that your major might lead to.
If you actually divulged the name of you school I'm sure I could find some research projects or collaborations with other schools easily. It's not like anybody is going to know who you are just b/c you post the school, and besides it's just you and me in this thread.

>>5012340
I will talk to the professors there, I've seen posters about exchanges and stuff.

Thanks for quietening my maddening mind.

What's your major btw?

>>5012317
thanks for the info.

My current professor for my Bio class is the head of the department I believe. She has also mentioned she does botany research so that might be interesting.

>>5012347
BSc in physics
I'm currently in a Master's program in the UK for Photonics and Optoelectronic Devices

generally the structure of chem, bio, and physics depts are roughly the same. You have a group of tenured professors who run one or two entire labs and under them are a few collaborating assistant professors, several graduate students to every professor, and depending on the research, one or two undergrads helping the grad students and sometimes the profs with bitch work (basic lab analysis, record keeping, writing small programs for the lab etc.) If you're in a desperately small university perhaps this won't exist, but there are very few universities with an entire department that does absolutely no research, b/c obtaining grant money and research recognition is how a department justifies its existence in the university. Otherwise it's an economic drain.

>>5012358
That's really awesome, I know a bro that is working on his phd for optics and all that electrical stuff is beautiful.

good read thanks bros