What are my chances of being accepted to a MS degree program in Molecular Biology or related fields?

Question

If I complete 3 years of experience working as a clinical lab tech, take chemistry/biochem/biology free online courses offered by major universities such as MIT's at http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/all-courses.htm#Biology , If I complete an associates degree in Medical lab, and if I have a BS degree in computer engineering.

Any comments will be greatly appreciated

associates degree in medical laboratory tech that is

Answer 1

The best chance of getting admitted to a molecular biology lab is to personally contact the person you want to work with. This means looking up recent papers in the top journals and marking down the labs that are doing the work that you find interesting. Then contact the PI (principle investigator) of the lab and tell them you have clinical experience (this is really good) and that you've read a recent paper of theirs - then ask an insightful question about that paper. This will at least get your foot in the door.
Good luck!

PS - having a computer science background is a HUGE advantage now in Biology - If your GPA and GREs are good, then you'll have no problem getting into the school you want.

Answer 2

Agreed, if you want to do computational biology having a comp sci background is a huge plus. You won't need much biological training in order to work in this area (i don't think, i'm not a computation biologist, i'm a biochemist). What is commonly done is seek a technician position at the institute where you want to apply, work for a year or two, then apply. You'll have the all important 'lab skills'. You'll get up to speed during the graduate classes, but taking intro biology courses is a good idea. I think you are on the right track. PS consider our school, University of Texas GSBS, gsbs.uth.tmc.edu; we have a strong program (i just finished, 8 years for MS/PhD)

Answer 3

Ah Brian May was already mentioned... Well , Art Garfunkel has a master's degree in Mathematics. Then there's Lou Reed ( The Velvet Underground)who has degree in English and Sterling Morrison (also from the VU) has a PhD in Literature ...