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Hello all, I currently got accepted to the Chatham University's Master of Science in Biology. Does anyone have any experience with the program and would like to share them? Thank you so much!
Chatham Chatham University's Master of Science in Biology
- Thread starter Infinitely
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- Nov 11, 2016
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No comments at all? Through the email and Instagram, the school seems lovely and supportive so far.
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If you need a GPA boost it's awesome. They curve every course by offering lots of opportunities for bonus marks. With a little bit of work you can easily pull off a 4.0 (most ppl I know are sitting in the 3.8-4.0 range). The professors are super open to talking with students and making the courses work for them (moving exams to work around other courses, changing course structure). You can get a committee letter if you have above a 500 MCAT score and a 3.5 by the end of your second semester in the program. AND, they guarantee you an interview to their PA school if you make certain GPA requirements. Also, the program atmosphere is nice - we have become a good little group over the course of the past 8 months. You take all your classes together and the campus is so small that it sort of forces bonding, lol. It's a good range of people from kids who just got out of undergrad to people in their late 20s/30s who want a career change.
All that being said, if you went to a big undergrad school or you're looking for cool research or volunteer/shadow opportunities the program doesn't really offer anything. They don't have any connections to the hospitals in Pittsburgh which sucks because the hospital system here only allows students from affiliated university to shadow. They don't do any community outreach or volunteering. It definitely lacks if you're looking to boost your app with extracurriculars.
Also (idk where you're from) but the resonating sentiment amongst people in the program is that Pittsburgh is a crap place to live if you aren't from here. You kind of NEED a car, the campus isn't really in walking distance of like a grocery store or anything and the bus system is brutal. There's really not that much to do or see (which could totally work to your advantage if you're trying to have a distraction free year!).
Sorry for the novel - these are just all things I would have like to have been told before coming here. Honestly though really only do this program if you NEED that little GPA bump. I regret spending all the money to be here, my undergrad GPA was totally fine, I didn't need the boost. I really, truly got nothing out of the program besides some friends & a few more letters of req. If I could redo it I would have gone to a program with a link to a med school or with a stronger research focus.
