• GPA,  grad school,  grades,  jobs,  lab experience,  life science,  lost

    don’t lose hope, youngling

    Hello,

    I am a life science student in the second year. After completing the fall term studying, I feel that it is very difficult to get a high GPA. I wonder if I get 3.0 cumulative GPA after graduation, what can I do? what school accept me? what work opportunities do I have? Thanks.

    Best,

    ———————————————

    hello,

    *as askastudentuoft, i hope you understand that i am knowledgeable about all things U of T, and that’s about it, so this post will be very U of T centric*

    while a 3.0 GPA is great, many of the life science graduate programs available at U of T require averages which range from B+ to A- (with the exception of the occupational science and occupational therapy program which looks for mid B’s). but, keep in mind, these are just life science programs available at U of T. there are plenty of other schools which offer similar programs which may require different averages.

    you’re only in second year, which means you don’t ACTUALLY know if you’re going to end up with a 3.0 average. you seem to have already lost hope in yourself. don’t stress out right now about what your work opportunities will be and just try your best to get the best grades you can. i can’t really tell you what kind of work opportunities will be available when you graduate because we don’t even know what program you’ll be pursuing for grad school!

    a good place to start is the career learning network. it’s a great tool for current students and recent graduates. you can use it to find research positions (i hear the life science people like those) and postings by companies looking for recent U of T graduates. logging onto the career learning network website is definitely the first step you should take when looking for work opportunities for students like you!

    for now, focus on school and building up your resume with work and volunteer experiences. they can be relevant or irrelevant to your field, but having experience is definitely an asset when applying for any kind of job. volunteer at a hospital from time to time or make some money tutoring kids grade 10 science! whatever it is, just make sure you work hard and build up a good collection of references in case you need them for grad school.

    in all seriousness, i’m graduating later this year and i don’t even know what work opportunities will be available to me! i can’t even see into my own future, let alone yours!

    anyways, hope this was somewhat helpful!

    good luck, work hard, and try your best at everything you do.

    peace and love,

    aska

  • grad school,  jobs,  lab experience,  psychology,  work-study

    no experience with labrador retrievers necessary

    Hello!

    On the psych grad school page it states that applicant have to have lab experience. Could you please clarify what this means?

    Thanks!

    Another psych student

    ———————————————

    hi,

    when you say another psych student, are you implying that i am also a psych student, or are you implying that you are yet another psych student that is asking me a question about lab experience?

    lab experience pretty much means you have to find placements in labs to help conduct research. having experience in these labs will definitely come in handy when you’re in grad school.

    i did a quick google of “lab experience u of t psychology” and it showed me this link, which i found very informative.

    you are responsible for finding lab placements yourself, but the link i’ve attached has plenty of resources which you can seek out, whether it’s the career centre, the career learning network, or even the psychology students association! they will be able to provide you with all the available opportunities as well as how to go about applying for them. they’ll probably even know more about how many hours you need / what kind of positions qualify!

    hope you find a good placement! good luck!

    sincerely,

    not a psych student