Applying to grad school after 2yrs undergrad?

juillet
Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:09:55 +0000

There isn’t an age requirement to apply to graduate school; as long as you have the prerequisites, you can apply to any PhD program. So considering that you will have a BS and the prerequisites in hand, you can apply.

However, whether or not you’ll be competitive…is the question. If you want to get into a high quality PhD program, to be most competitive most students have at least 2 years of research experience as an undergrad. I suppose you will have that - most people begin in junior year, so you’ll be at about the same place they were research-wise at that point - but many students in biological/life sciences/biomedical fields also take 1-2 years after college to work as a research technician in a lab to gain more research skills and demonstrate their commitment to science. Combined with your young age - just 19 when you graduate - having only one year of experience when you apply may make some professors wonder if you know what you’re getting yourself into (although the specificity of your research ideas allay that concern). With only two years in college, they may also wonder whether you have developed the technical skill and “soft skills” (critical thinking, analysis, communication, writing) that you need for a PhD program.

My recommendation to you is apply anyway, and target your applications. Apply only to the top PhD programs that you really want to attend (IMO people should do this anyway - I don’t believe in ‘safety’ PhD programs or applying just for the sake of going). I’d select about 5-7 programs and really spend a lot of time tailoring your applications to those specific programs and building yourself a case. You actually have a very strong application package.

If you don’t get in, you can always work as a technician for a year or two after college, or you can enter an MS program. I would bet that with your record you could definitely get into a funded MS program, so you may want to also apply to a few very selectively chosen MS programs that fund students.

I also very much agree with the advice to discuss this with your PIs. They’ll know better than us about conventions in your field, and they may even have connections.