Post-bac Programs, Letters of Recs, and Grad School

StudioAudience

I graduated about a year ago from college with a BS in molecular bio. While I ended up with an ok GPA (3.6), I pretty much squandered my time away while there, and only actually did research for one semester. It wasn't really actual research; I mosty did stuff like set up PCRs and run gels. I also didn't get much of a chance to familiarize myself with any of the professors.

I got a job as a "production scientist" around October of last year and have been working there since. While the job has allowed me to learn/practice a wide array of lab techniques, none of them are really related to molecular bio. And it's a lot of follow the protocol type of thing, which while straightforward, doesn't leave much room for developing researching skills I think.

I've been considering applying to post-bac research programs where you would spend a year doing research, and then apply to grad school afterwards. The main reason for this would be because I'm actually not sure if I'd enjoy doing research, and so I figure it would be wise to try doing some hands on before I jump into a PhD program. The issue is that the programs (and eventually, grad school), require letters of recommendations.

I'm pretty sure I could get one from the lady who I worked for during that one semester. That leaves me with at least 2 that I'll have to get from professors who would only really know me as a test score. I was wondering if anyone had tips on how I should go about approaching them to ask if they're comfortable with writing me a letter. I was thinking I would email them my request and offer to meet up wtih them to give them my transcript, cover letter for the post bac application and whatever other details they might need, but wasn't sure if emailing them would be polite or not. The semester also just ended I believe, so unless they're teaching summer courses, I'm not sure if they'd be available on the school campus.

Oh, also: My reason thus far for wanting to go to grad school is because I don't really find any satisfaction in my job. I'd like to actually try to apply my skills to solving a problem rather than to just manufacture proteins or whatever. So uh, any tips on what you think I should do would be appreciated, thanks. Sorry if the post seems all over the place, I didn't really know where to start.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

Knock on their office door when they have office hours, sit down, explain your situation, and head from there. Yeah, if you want to do research instead of being a biotech junkie, follow your dream.

Also, you can do research for the Department of Defense for a year, through the SMART program. This involves you signing over your research to them if you discover anything neat, though.

Gdiguy

Can't you get your current boss to write you a recommendation letter? Also (at least I thought) one letter would typically be your undergraduate advisor, who (ideally) might be able to speak a bit better about you (I definitely had my advisor write rec letters for a couple earlier fellowships I applied for, though by the time I applied to grad programs I had enough letters from research mentors that it wasn't necessary)

But for your specific question - I'm just speaking from personal experience here, but for most of the faculty I know e-mail is probably the best bet, possibly followed up by a phone call if they don't reply within a few days (which could mean that they just missed the email). It depends on the school, but if they're faculty that are involved in research it's unlikely that they're gone for the summer, so they should be available... although it's somewhat ass-kissing, I wouldn't say it would be a horrible idea to include something about how you enjoyed their class & the topics they discussed, and that's the reason why you though to get a letter from them (instead of just having a letter that restates your grades). Also, and this also will depend on the school/specific faculty member, but if you phrase the email as something more like "i'd like a letter of reccommendation and I'd also like to talk to you about opinions about pursuing a graduate degree", they'll often be more than happy to talk to you about research/whether a PhD program is right for you/etc... if there's one thing scientists love to do it's talk other people into pursuing research..

Especially for a pre-phD research program I wouldn't worry too much about having non-personal rec letters, because I'd assume that that's why most people would be applying to something like that in the first place, to gain research experience; for PhD programs it's probably less helpful, though it certainly depends on what schools you apply to, but again it's still true that there aren't THAT many people with years of research experience applying to grad programs (with top tier schools excepted, though even then there's wildly varying levels of experience)

Cryogen

I second Cloud's advice, do it in person if at all possible. Go in with the goal of getting as much advice from the professor as you can. They may not have known you well personally, but this professionalism coupled with your decent GPA may lead them to be happy to give a recommendation.

Also, for other readers of this thread that are still studying (or just starting) take note of this thread. See how important it is to network WHILE you are studying, with students, professors, visitors, guests, whoever. You never know when it will come in handy. You want people to know who you are, not just your student number. This is a skill that will benefit you throughout your entire working life.

Gdiguy

Cryogen wrote: »

I second Cloud's advice, do it in person if at all possible. Go in with the goal of getting as much advice from the professor as you can. They may not have known you well personally, but this professionalism coupled with your decent GPA may lead them to be happy to give a recommendation.

Also, for other readers of this thread that are still studying (or just starting) take note of this thread. See how important it is to network WHILE you are studying, with students, professors, visitors, guests, whoever. You never know when it will come in handy. You want people to know who you are, not just your student number. This is a skill that will benefit you throughout your entire working life.

I absolutely agree with this, in any field; but for research fields especially, it's NEVER too early in undergrad to start working in a lab, and even if you don't have that much time and/or don't think you know enough to do publication-quality work, you'll get an incredible benefit from having a personal relationship with people in the lab (who could quite likely have faculty positions elsewhere by the time you graduate, but postdocs & even possibly grad students can write you good recommendation letters too)


And I definitely agree that meeting them in person is important, but I guess I would think you'd have more luck setting up a time via email than randomly stopping by... but either way I agree with your sentiment

Cryogen

Yes i should clarify, by all means use email to set up an appointment time, i just wouldnt want to conduct the entire operation via email if at all possible. I think we're on the same wavelength there, however