Hi! So, I graduated in December 2025 with a bachelor’s of science in biology with a focus area in cellular and molecular biology. Since my sophomore year of college, I knew I wanted to pursue a PhD in biology. I jumped around a little bit on what I wanted to focus on in my PhD, but I finally settled on wanting to get my PhD in cellular and molecular neuroscience. I have worked as a biological science technician for the USDA for almost three years, where I mainly did DNA extractions and PCR, sometimes gel electrophoresis.
I ended up applying for a master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology post grad to boost my PhD application. I was accepted, but I was under the impression that master’s and PhD students received stipends for their education. For the master’s program I was accepted to, it turned out that there is no stipend, and we are expected to cover our tuition entirely. I take full responsibility that I did not better research this program, I was just going off the word of my professor’s about stipends, and I unexpectedly ended up in a situation where I had to move to a specific area, so I was just trying to find a way to spend that time in a way that was productive for my career until I was able to move to an area with better opportunities (the school I applied to does not offer the program for a PhD I want, otherwise I would just apply for a PhD since I was informed that PhD students DO receive a stipend).
Tuition isn’t cheap and I am very poor. I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck since graduating working at my current job. My credit score is bad, which is something I need to address before I can even think of securing housing elsewhere for a PhD— it was difficult to even get approved for an apartment in the area I’m moving to, so I can only imagine it would be even more difficult in a more expensive area. Of course, I’ve considered loans, but after running the math in my head, I concluded that I would be in 20,000-30,000 of debt after completing my master’s, which would cause me a lot of issues financially during a PhD. So, I have more or less decided that the master’s degree I was accepted to is not feasible for me at this time.
I have been applying to full time lab technician positions but so far have only heard back from one place and I was rejected from both roles I applied to. I am starting to discover that it may be very difficult for me to get a job in research or in my field at all. I really wanted to work in my field in a full time position for a year or two to boost my resume and make enough money to improve my financial situation before I enter a PhD. I am very afraid that if I spend one to two years working a job totally unrelated to biology that my chances for acceptance to a PhD program will plummet, but I don’t know how it would be possible without financially crippling myself to get my master’s either.
So this brings me to consider an MLT associate’s degree. I have all the pre requisite classes except immunology, which I would be willing to take online while working. Tuition for an MLT is far cheaper and I would end up in far less debt than if I pursued a Master’s. Many of the research jobs I’ve looked into prefer an MLT, so it may help me obtain a research job as well.
I just want some other opinions on whether or not this is a good idea. My anxiety is getting the better of me with all the rejections, seemingly getting ghosted by employers, other people’s experiences with struggling to find employment in biology post grad. I have started to wonder if I will ever be in a position to get my PhD. It’s been my dream for so long, I’m certain I want to do it, and it just devastates me to think that because I’m in such deep poverty right now that it may not be possible.
Thank you for listening! Part of the point of this post was just to get all of this off my chest, all I’ve been able to think about lately is jobs, I’ve been checking my email for responses multiple times a day, checking indeed for any follow up multiple times a day… it’s just exhausting.