Going to grad school....as a non-science major.

[biologiayespanol]

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Hello!

I am a graduating senior, Spanish major, pre-med designation. My stats thus far are below:

cGPA: 3.53
sGPA: 3.80
GRE: c315, v161, q154, writing 5
MCAT: Not yet...
I'm an African-American woman, 22 years old, non-hispanic.
ECs: CNA (Paid work, Current), Medical Scribe (Paid work, current), UG research assistant in biomedical research lab (Academic credit, current...hoping to continue beyond graduation), Shadowing (~35 hours beyond scribing), Volunteer hours (literally over 5000 in clinical [~450] and non-clinical volunteering [4500+], possibly more), play the ukulele and the guitar, participated in choral and chamber vocal groups for over 16 years, etc.

I turned pre-med late in the game (last summer) it was always an area of interest, but I didn't want to abandon Spanish because I love it! I have another full year and a half of pre-reqs to do (Organic Chemistry 1, 2, Physics 1,2 and Biochem), plus I don't have the cash to pay for a post bac (my family is poor and can't help me). So I have decided to go to grad school for an M.A. in Spanish for the loans, so I can pay for classes. Its a double edged sword, because it will be another step towards professional Spanish proficiency for me, but then there's the challenges of taking science courses while in grad school for something else...I'm used to hard work though. I took 21 credits of courses last semester (2 science classes, 3 UD Spanish classs and a polisci course) and I'm taking 19 this semester (2 science courses, 4 UD Spanish)...so the combination isn't foreign.

If anyone has done this, please tell me why you would or would not recommend it. Also, I would love ANY advice.

I have been told that I am likely to be offered a Graduate Assistantship. Does anybody think it would be a bad idea to take one? I have outlined an example of my projected fall schedule below. I cannot know how it will be until I register for courses, but its based on offerings from the last three years.

Also, if anyone has any comment on my progress or anything else, I'm always open to that.

Thanks everyone!

Example Fall 2015

Organic Chemistry 1 + Lab (6 credits)
Physics 1 + Lab (4 credits)
UD Biology Course (3-4 credits)
3 Graduate courses (9 credits)

 

[NonTrad16]

I haven't done what you've doing, but I'm curious how this is supposed to work. To clarify: you're taking loans to pay for the tuition/living expenses for a MA degree, but plan to use money for UG courses also? Some of the cost will potentially be subsidized by a GA (meaning... you're working, right?). Wouldn't you need to pay additional money for the additional UG classes? Can you not take loans simply for the informal post-bac, or do installment payments through the year?

As an engineering graduate student, I don't think my advisor would have allowed me to take unrelated, UG level classes. He was paying me to work as a GA, and anything else (even the mandated degree requirements) were a trivial aside.

I'm just not clear on how this is supposed to be the financially advantageous over working PT and taking only the requirements. I also wonder how well you would perform in your sciences classes when distracted by everything else.

 

[stemingen]

My recommendation is not going to graduate school. If you know that you will apply medical school later, why spend extra time and effort on graduate school? It is probably better to focus on the rest of pre-req and further enrich your EC.

 

[biologiayespanol]

@NonTrad16 Thanks for answering! So right now I live at home. The school I would be going to is the same school I did my undergrad at, so I would stay at home unless I had extra money.

You cannot get federal loans for an informal post-bac, so I'd have to pay for it out of pocket. I also don't have anyone to co-sign for private loans (which wouldn't be a good idea anyway). Unfortunately, my university doesn't have any payment plans. Payment is required up front, a week into the semester.

The distraction is the main concern. But I've been getting A's while working two jobs, taking 21 credits and doing research, so I'm hoping that the elimination of the jobs would leave me enough time for everything else.

 

[biologiayespanol]

@Jay_W Hey there! So the reason, I wanna go to grad school is two-fold. 1) its one way to learn the arts of interpretation and translation before I no longer have time to. I think those skills would benefit me in my professional life. 2) I need the loans to help pay for my post-bac. I've worked it out, and even without a GA, I'd be able to afford the classes I need on federal loans. With the GA, I might be able to move closer to campus and optimize my study time.

If I don't go to grad school, I would most likely have to take a year off of school to earn enough to pay for school. I'd lose momentum, and a year of physician's salary.

 

[stemingen]

@Jay_W Hey there!

If I don't go to grad school, I would most likely have to take a year off of school to earn enough to pay for school. I'd lose momentum, and a year of physician's salary.

I was in a PhD program studying neuroscience and pharmacology for a couple years. And I found it quite challenging and demanding throughout the training. Are you plan to get a MS degree? I don't know how long it will take for you to finish the graduate school. Assuming you get into graduate school, you need to finish the training, or be close to finish before you apply medical school, right? That will take 1-2 years at least, I guess.

Still I do think graduate school could be beneficial in the long run. It is just I couldn't see how attending graduate school will save you time.