Is it ever too late to become a scientist?

[advaita]

First off let me introduce myself, I'm an undergrad from India, I'm doing engineering in biotechnology(I have one more year left to graduate) and I've dreamed of being a scientist for as long as I remember(I'm interested in doing research in the field of Neuroscience).

 

Too make the long story short, let's just say I haven't achieved anything even remotely impressive academically. I won't say I 'wasted' the past few student years, because I've learned a lot and I think I've grown as a person to a great extent. But like I said, academically I'm very weak. I've flunked a couple of subjects, my basics are poor and I have no research experience whatsoever.

 

Clearly, I didn't have my priorities right and TBH I've only been making excuses all these years, as to why I hadn't been working towards achieving my dreams. And I'm sick of it. I'm sick of playing a victim and not taking responsibility for where my life is heading. So yeah, not a long time back I decided to consciously strive to achieve my goals.

 

That should have worked right? You hear about how so many great people make a decision to change their lives and they DO! But not in my case. I was plagued with this one thought so bad that it paralyzed me to take any action and I got stuck in deep procrastination. That one thought was 'IT'S TOO LATE'!!

 

So my question now is, is it really too late?

 

Is it too late to become a scientist at some point in my life?

Is it too late to be able to get into a neuroscience masters or PhD program in a reputable institution(Say MIT)?

Is it too late to get into a masters or PhD program in a mediocre institution?

Is it too late to get into a masters program in a very very 'mediocre' institution?

Is it too late to save myself from being an utter failure and eventually a become a hopeless crack addict who dies in an accident related to a hammock and a pogo stick?

 

Having 'big' goals never worked for me, for some reason. But I always performed excellently(in high school) when I knew that a goal is achievable and realistic. It didn't matter if it was ridiculously hard, but I had to KNOW that it was humanly possible.

 

So I want to know where I should draw the line, given my current standing? I want a nice big goal, but not something that's so big that it intimidates me to the extent I shut down and watch reruns of 'Top Gear' all day.

 

I'd be extremely grateful if you guys could guide me through this. In fact I've wanted to ask this question on a reputable science forum for ages, but I guess I was too afraid of the answer. But now I don't feel as insecure as I used to. I guess I developed a relatively healthier perspective regarding career and life in general. I consider myself to be a pretty happy person, studying to be a scientist or not. But this has always, always been my dream. And it deeply resonated with me when Friedrich Von Schiller said 'Keep true to the dreams of thy youth'.

 

-Advaita

[Mr Rayon]

It's never too late, trust in yourself and you can achieve anything!

 

But how old are you exactly?

And are you currently employed in anything related to the field of 'engineering in biotechnology'?

Are you currently single and have you started a family already?

I understand that once you're married travelling/studying and the like can be a bit more difficult to manage and sometimes compromises must be made.

 

Also, what are your reasons for wanting to become a scientist?

What do you hope to achieve by becoming one?

Edited July 16, 2011 by Mr Rayon

[Hal.]

I think you should find your level that you are happy at , there is no point in running yourself into the ground if it's all too much . Are you trying to do too much ?

[CharonY]

In my opinion it is never too late to get an education or learn things you are interested in. A science career , however, is a completely different thing. It depends on so many (often hardly or non controllable) factors, that it is really hard to predict whether it will work out or not.

It may help to check out, what kind of science careers are out there, what they in reality consist of (i.e. not the idealized version) and if you really want that.

[xxSilverPhinxx]

I don't have anything useful to add here, but I just thought that I'd say that it was also my childhood dream to become a scientist (though that didn't work out). I guess firstly you should see some failures as an ok thing, if that's what's keeping you from achieving what you want. They can be made into other oportunities which you might find are not so bad at all.

 

I think you should at least try and go for it, and don't worry so much about whether it's too late or not.

[Arete]

There's lots of career paths in science; government, private sector, consulting, academia... not all of them necessarily demand a killer transcript.

 

Just to put the MIT thing in perspective - I only just started a postdoc at another well known university not far from MIT and I'm getting at least a couple of unsolicited emails a week from Indian students and graduates seeking PhD and postdoc positions, the professors here get more. Usually my only response is "Let me know if you have your own funding or check the job opportunities page on the University website." That's not to say we don't have Indian lab members - we have two Fulbright Scholars and an NSF frontiers postdoc in our lab from India, but realistically, given the demand for positions from Indian and Chinese students in particular, if you aren't competitive for awards like the Fulbright program, there's not a lot of hope at the top schools due to overwhelming competition.

 

That said if I was looking for a research student I would be willing to overlook a less than stellar transcript if a student had a solid record of showing enthusiasm and volunteering on projects, even more so if they'd managed a publication or two along the way. Given you've said your transcript is poor and you haven't got any experience, I'd be questioning how suitable a student like you would be for a research degree. Getting through a research program requires a lot of commitment, self starting and willingness to put in long hours. If your CV doesn't demonstrate aptitude and passion for it, I'd ask yourself why that is... and if it's what the direction you want to go in address it. Start by asking your professors if there's any research projects you can volunteer on. We recently had an undergraduate volunteer from a community college publish a first author paper and subsequently get into an R1 master's program, even with a few fails on her transcript. It took a 2 summers of her time and a lot of weekends though.

[CharonY]

To be fair, depending on the position up and including postdoc the cv is not terribly important to some extent. If it does not stick out in bad way and if you have demonstrated the required technical skill, you have shot for an interview. Considering that there are usually not that many candidates (though numbers have been rising, most likely for economic reasons) the interview is usually the deciding factor.

 

In short, transcripts are mostly overrated.

 

 

[Vulgaris]

Hi Advaita,

 

Generally I would say it's never too late. But as Mr Rayon correctly points out, things do tend to become more complicated if you are so fortunate to have started a family.

 

I definately believe that many doors remain open for those who are willing to do what it takes, even if it might have taken some time longer than expected to get to the required level. My impression of the scientific world is that you can do alot for your options if you generally live up to the expectations of the people around you and are easy to work with. If people enjoy working with you, it is likely that they will put in more than a few good words for you in an application, which can help alot, despite maybe a mediocre track record. Actually, having someone recommending you on the basis of being enthusiastic and a joy to work with may to some extent work better than a sheet of paper with boring grades.

 

Bascially, stick to it, dont' hide yourself! Be open minded and not afraid of challenges. Life would suck without challenges, so don't be afraid to take them head on.