grad school and online MS degrees
I have been working in the science field (environmental lab to be specific) for the past 5 years and although it has been quite the learning experience, I realized that professional growth in the science field becomes elusive if you're only armed with a bachelors degree. As such, I have decided to pursue graduate studies either in the biological or chemical sciences (although biology would be a lot easier since my bachelors is in Biology). The more I do research on grad schools and applications, the more disheartened I become since I seem to encounter nothing but hurdles...and so I address some of my questions and concerns to this community hoping you guys can help me.
My main hurdle right now is my GPA (which is around 2.8ish). From what I've seen, grad schools seem to be quite competitive and they have all these GPA requirements. Some universities have a lower GPA requirement but I figured, If the rest of the people applying have GPAs in the high 3.0s, I probably wouldn't stand a chance. I also graduated from a foreign university so I'm also worried that that might go against me as well. Most grad schools I've looked at (mostly in the Southern California area) requires a degree from an "accredited university" and I'm not even sure If the university I came from count as such.
I've recently filed for educational credential evaluation so I'm hoping that would come out ok. I've also started taking classes at a junior college just to put me back into the school-mindset and also to show that I am quite capable of getting good grades in grad school (so far I've gotten all As in 5 classes that i have taken. I probably have to take more classes just to make it look more substantial but I'm also thinking of the time I may be wasting taking all these JC level classes when that time could be better spent pursuing grad studies.
I'm pretty confident that I will do well no matter how complicated the subject matter is. If anything, the only reason my GPA was bad because I spent way too much time on extracurricular activities and the utter lack of direction in college. I only realized that science was for me in my senior year. I did really well in my research classes but the damage to my GPA has already been done. Unfortunately, that fact doesn't really factor in on grad applications.
On that not, I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to tackle this issue.
My other question is regarding online MS degrees. I'm currently working full time and I need to remain working full time even as I pursue graduate studies. There aren't a lot of programs that offer classes at night so I figured an online program might be good. I found a couple MS programs online (MS Biology at University of Nebraska and an MS in Biology or Chemistry from Lehigh University). i wanted to ask everyone's opinion regarding online Masters degrees in the sciences. Is it worth it? Will the knowledge I would gain be comparable to the knowledge I would gain if I were to take an actual class? Would it be advantageous if i were to use that credential as leverage for moving up professionally and will it command the same degree of respect as a non-online masters degree? and finally, will an online MS degree be of any advantage if i decide to pursue further studies (i.e. a 2nd MS or maybe a PhD). The only downside I see is the lack of laboratory classes.
My post is quite long so thank you for your patience if you manage to read through the entire thing. Any comment/advice/opinion would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.
My main hurdle right now is my GPA (which is around 2.8ish). From what I've seen, grad schools seem to be quite competitive and they have all these GPA requirements. Some universities have a lower GPA requirement but I figured, If the rest of the people applying have GPAs in the high 3.0s, I probably wouldn't stand a chance. I also graduated from a foreign university so I'm also worried that that might go against me as well. Most grad schools I've looked at (mostly in the Southern California area) requires a degree from an "accredited university" and I'm not even sure If the university I came from count as such.
I've recently filed for educational credential evaluation so I'm hoping that would come out ok. I've also started taking classes at a junior college just to put me back into the school-mindset and also to show that I am quite capable of getting good grades in grad school (so far I've gotten all As in 5 classes that i have taken. I probably have to take more classes just to make it look more substantial but I'm also thinking of the time I may be wasting taking all these JC level classes when that time could be better spent pursuing grad studies.
I'm pretty confident that I will do well no matter how complicated the subject matter is. If anything, the only reason my GPA was bad because I spent way too much time on extracurricular activities and the utter lack of direction in college. I only realized that science was for me in my senior year. I did really well in my research classes but the damage to my GPA has already been done. Unfortunately, that fact doesn't really factor in on grad applications.
On that not, I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to tackle this issue.
My other question is regarding online MS degrees. I'm currently working full time and I need to remain working full time even as I pursue graduate studies. There aren't a lot of programs that offer classes at night so I figured an online program might be good. I found a couple MS programs online (MS Biology at University of Nebraska and an MS in Biology or Chemistry from Lehigh University). i wanted to ask everyone's opinion regarding online Masters degrees in the sciences. Is it worth it? Will the knowledge I would gain be comparable to the knowledge I would gain if I were to take an actual class? Would it be advantageous if i were to use that credential as leverage for moving up professionally and will it command the same degree of respect as a non-online masters degree? and finally, will an online MS degree be of any advantage if i decide to pursue further studies (i.e. a 2nd MS or maybe a PhD). The only downside I see is the lack of laboratory classes.
My post is quite long so thank you for your patience if you manage to read through the entire thing. Any comment/advice/opinion would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.