ladywholaughs

Thanks gretta19! I've definitely thought about leveraging my background in the life/health sciences to my advantage; I'm definitely interested in using CB/psych research methods to study health issues - my core interest is in studying motivation and decision making (too early to narrow it down to that, i know!); for example, studying the correlation between injury/ailment related discomfort and the how long a person waits until they reach out for treatment. This might be a very basic example, but you get the idea. Then there are other questions I'd like to explore, that are completely unrelated to health and study motivation and decision making. I'm not sure if i'm being ambitious or naive but that's the advantage of starting out in a completely different field of work, I suppose. :) I'll check out the list of professors/schools you mentioned. Thanks again!

thanks gc98835! very relevant questions (LORS especially), and i'm wondering about them too. would LORS from industry qualify? i've maintained ties with a couple of professors from University of Pune and also at Hopkins, so maybe those. GPA averaged around 3.5/4. Hopkins was 3.4/4. Since this is a complete switch I've been playing around with the idea for a while, and I'm really done playing. In it for the long haul now :) so the sooner I start, the better it'll be.

Hi all! New to Urch and in a strange situation. (aren't we all? :) ) anyway, until i get the hang of writing a decent post i hope y'all will bear with me :) Here's all about me - Educational Qual - BSc. (3 year bachelor's Degree) in Microbiology (University of Mumbai, India) MSc. in Health Sciences (University of Pune, India) MS in Biotechnology (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA) Nationality (I wish it didn't matter but I'm afraid it does): Indian Years of Work Experience: 5+ Industry: Biotech/Pharma After my MS I worked at a medical device company in upstate NY for a couple years before moving back to India. I work for a biotech company here and in several ways its a dream job (considering the fact that my family owns the company), but I'm yearning to get back to school as I've realized nothing really makes me as happy as working in research. I'm not saying life in research is cake-walk; just that I'm ready to take on the pain and labor for the fulfillment it'll provide. Big words ha. I have no formal background in psychology; however I've taken a couple Marketing, OB and Econ courses while at Hopkins. I've also taken statistics courses during my MSc, and have done field-based research and lab-based research. Most my marketing knowledge is self taught from reading and experience. My field of interest for my PhD research is CB/Social Psych/Marketing. While I know that my completely unrelated background could swing either ways of being an advantage or a disadvantage in terms of admissions, what I'm really looking for help in, is to find that starting point. Do I need a Masters degree in a related subject? I'm yet to take the GRE/GMAT (I've learnt that most schools accept either these days) but I scored well when I took it 5 years ago (1440/1600) and I'm not worried about test scores really. Are writing to current students/professors and campus visits of any use/encouraged/discouraged these days? I've been looking at schools and labs/ professors and I've shortlisted a few. Definitely top notch people in the field, although I'm not sure if I should list them here at this point. Starting from the ground up and aiming at the stars, I suppose! :) Looking forward to feedback/critiques! Cheers, lwl