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Brin
Student
Negaunee, Michigan
1
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How can I get a scholarship to do biology and just science.?
How do I become a scientist
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1 answer
margaret mchenney
Research Scientist, molecular biology; veterinary technology
15
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Placitas, New Mexico
Updated
margaret’s Answer
Develop great study habits during your time in middle school and high school. Do an extracurricular activity (Idid track & field and cross country) so that you have aa chance to be in the national honor society.
Google the keywords "Scholarships for high school seniors". Play around with keywords to find what you are looking for. There are tons of scholarships out there, but you will have to do research to find the ones that you qualify for. Find a website with lots of options and search. Find the potential scholarships using keywords that apply to you, and apply to the scholarships that work for you, that is those that you meet the requirements for. You may have to write an essay, you may qualify based on ethnicity, they may be associated to whether your parent was a veteran, the possibilities are endless, and some are obscure, you just have to put in the time doing research on the various scholarships and apply liberally. Academic scholarships are not the only type available. If you apply to many you may get a handful of scholarships. Be sure to find out if there are strings attached.
Athletic scholarships, Joining the armed service I believe can help one to earn free tuition (my sister did this)
I am guessing, but many scholarships do not require you choosing a major. There may be science scholarships, but there are other ways to get money for educational purposes through scholarships.
I studied all core science courses in college at the University of Michigan. Basically, I took pre-med courses until I was a sophomore and then started to concentrate on an area of study. I took all the basic courses and some specialized courses: calculus, physics, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, biology, microbiology, mycology, bacterial metabolic pathways.
I strongly encourage you to get practical experience. This seems to be a prerequisite to obtaining a job with a company or in academia. I did work/study in a lab where I set up immunoassay tubes. I volunteered in a lab where I isolated mitochondrial DNA from placentas, and went through the process of collecting the mitochondrial DNA away from proteins, RNA, enzymes organelles and chromosomal DNA using an ultracentrifuge to create a cesium chloride and ethidium bromide (selectively attaches to DNA and is a dye visualized using ultraviolet light) gradient. For one summer I volunteered under the supervision of a graduate student in a lab making media (food for microorganisms) petri plates to grow bacterial cultures on for experiments. I also isolated plasmid DNA to be used in experiments as well.
When I applied to work at companies I looked up the corporate addresses of one hundred companies that I concluded through research and common sense, would hire microbiologists. Pharmaceutical companies turned out at that time to be hiring people with molecular biology and microbiology experience. I made a cover letter specific to each company, telling them about my educational background and experience relevant to a job in scientific research in their industry. I then built my resume and sent each of those two documents to each company's Human Resource Department (HR) on my list. I got three positive letters. I also went to a job fair and a pharmaceutical company hired me on the spot. I worked there (G. D. Searle, Nutrasweet division) for 1.5 years and during that time Eli Lilly and Company called me twice. I saw that as an opportunity to have a larger, more diverse community of scientists to interact with and interviewed with them, and I got the job.
Making yourself stand out from others is important and my approach had a personal, unique touch. From what I've seen on Glass Door one can't be proactive. One must wait for the right job to come up and apply for the job along with 25 other candidates. In the end I had a two percent success rate with the bonus of people taking a second look when a job suitable to my experience came up.
Google the keywords "Scholarships for high school seniors". Play around with keywords to find what you are looking for. There are tons of scholarships out there, but you will have to do research to find the ones that you qualify for. Find a website with lots of options and search. Find the potential scholarships using keywords that apply to you, and apply to the scholarships that work for you, that is those that you meet the requirements for. You may have to write an essay, you may qualify based on ethnicity, they may be associated to whether your parent was a veteran, the possibilities are endless, and some are obscure, you just have to put in the time doing research on the various scholarships and apply liberally. Academic scholarships are not the only type available. If you apply to many you may get a handful of scholarships. Be sure to find out if there are strings attached.
Athletic scholarships, Joining the armed service I believe can help one to earn free tuition (my sister did this)
I am guessing, but many scholarships do not require you choosing a major. There may be science scholarships, but there are other ways to get money for educational purposes through scholarships.
I studied all core science courses in college at the University of Michigan. Basically, I took pre-med courses until I was a sophomore and then started to concentrate on an area of study. I took all the basic courses and some specialized courses: calculus, physics, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, biology, microbiology, mycology, bacterial metabolic pathways.
I strongly encourage you to get practical experience. This seems to be a prerequisite to obtaining a job with a company or in academia. I did work/study in a lab where I set up immunoassay tubes. I volunteered in a lab where I isolated mitochondrial DNA from placentas, and went through the process of collecting the mitochondrial DNA away from proteins, RNA, enzymes organelles and chromosomal DNA using an ultracentrifuge to create a cesium chloride and ethidium bromide (selectively attaches to DNA and is a dye visualized using ultraviolet light) gradient. For one summer I volunteered under the supervision of a graduate student in a lab making media (food for microorganisms) petri plates to grow bacterial cultures on for experiments. I also isolated plasmid DNA to be used in experiments as well.
When I applied to work at companies I looked up the corporate addresses of one hundred companies that I concluded through research and common sense, would hire microbiologists. Pharmaceutical companies turned out at that time to be hiring people with molecular biology and microbiology experience. I made a cover letter specific to each company, telling them about my educational background and experience relevant to a job in scientific research in their industry. I then built my resume and sent each of those two documents to each company's Human Resource Department (HR) on my list. I got three positive letters. I also went to a job fair and a pharmaceutical company hired me on the spot. I worked there (G. D. Searle, Nutrasweet division) for 1.5 years and during that time Eli Lilly and Company called me twice. I saw that as an opportunity to have a larger, more diverse community of scientists to interact with and interviewed with them, and I got the job.
Making yourself stand out from others is important and my approach had a personal, unique touch. From what I've seen on Glass Door one can't be proactive. One must wait for the right job to come up and apply for the job along with 25 other candidates. In the end I had a two percent success rate with the bonus of people taking a second look when a job suitable to my experience came up.