r/CLSstudents

I currently work in the processing department right now in a lab but got offered a position in microbiology. Is it worth it to switch departments? Would it look better for CLS applications?

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I'm in a life crisis in deciding what high paying healthcare I want to do. I've graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Microbiology and minored in Public Health, and worked part time to full time as pharmacy technician. I was mainly working towards going in to Pharmacy school but realized that path isn't for me, and resorted to laboratory jobs. I am currently applying for CLS school at SFSU however I'm afraid I might not be able to get accepted due to my low GPA (2.9 GPA from the last 60 semesters) and zero laboratory experience. I already have the core prerequisites(A in Hematology, A in Analytical Chemistry, A in Immunology and C in Medical Microbiology) and taken recommended classes, such as parasitiology and anatomy/physiology to be a stronger candidate. I'm still worried of not getting in, but I'm still going to apply to test my luck (we'll never know).

I was just wondering that other healthcare programs, ideally 1-2 years of schooling, can match my educational background and work experience. If anyone can related, I'm in my mid twenties so I feel kind of rushed to get my life together before 30.

P.S. please dont recommend Ultrasound, nursing, or rad tech. I've already looked into those and don't think they're for me

What do the application reviewers weigh most heavily? Clinical experience, wet lab experience, GPA, quality of personal statement, letters of rec, volunteering (threw this one in bc I'm currently doing it, but not sure if it's worth since I'm afraid it'll eat up my time), etc.

Transferring to UC Berkeley in the fall after 2 years at CC and planning to do 3 of the extension classes next summer. Wondering what I should focus on.

I got invited to something for labor day weekend and I’m not sure if I should rsvp because I’m not sure if any sites give students labor day off, Nov 7 (Monday). Asking specifically for CSUCI cls program but I’m open to hear if they do or they don’t in other universities too. LOL idek if I’m gonna get accepted to one but I just want to make sure. MANIFESTING 🤞🏼

Hi.

Maybe not the ideal place for this, but I’m hoping for some help. After several rounds of applications, and more waitlists and rejections than I care to count: I’m giving up!

To those who have abandoned the CLS dream, what did you pursue?

I used to love the lab, but to live as a tech is to work for low pay. I can’t keep hoping for a chance at school, while working clinical lab jobs that pay less than 4K a month. What’s next?

Hello everyone, this is another one of those help/advice posts.

Right now I have around a 3.17 GPA as a Biology BS major with a Chemistry minor. I have 1 more fall semester left and only need a few more classes, immunology being one of them.

Most of my upper division biology classes are Bs with some As. My weaker grades were mainly my early chemistry classes that I had to retake. Right now the main CLS classes are:

• B in Medical Microbiology
• B in Hematology
• probably at least a B in Immunology
• A in Quantitative Analysis

I also have about 2 years working as a lab assistant in my schools chemistry department and about 1 year of research experience under a professor. I think I can also get pretty good letters of recommendation.

I already know I probably won’t get accepted into a CLS program right after graduating, especially in California since everyone says it’s extremely competitive.

My current plan was to try getting experience in a medical/clinical lab setting first, maybe as a lab assistant, specimen processor, medical technician, etc for a year before applying. I also thought about phlebotomy but the classes are expensive in my area.

Does this sound realistic or am I being overly optimistic? Also do local CLS programs favor local's at all? And for anyone who ended up pivoting away from CLS, what career did you switch into instead?

Has anyone ever thought of going out of the country for cls programs considering how competitive it is in the U.S. ?

Hello!

I’m applying for CLS, but wondering if anyone was able to get in without a phlebotomy license. I understand it’s an essential skill for clinical rotations, so I’m unsure of how competitive I am without it.

My gpa is a 3.88. I have 1.5 years undergrad research lab experience and ongoing 7 months of CLIA lab experience as a CLA. Finding time to do phlebotomy is extremely difficult with 10 hour night shifts. In the event of being rejected, would it be wiser to get more time in the industry with my current job or consider finding a different job with more flexible hours just to do phlebotomy ? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks !

Hi everyone!

Some background: I'm a new graduate and I have been offered 2 jobs, and I'm not sure which job I should pick to make my CLS application stand out. I hope to become a CLS that specializes in molecular pathology. These are the jobs and a light description of their role:

1. Research Lab Technician

- small team

- would work with mice colonies + learn molecular cell biology methods like PCR, genotyping, immunoblotting, and lots of microscopy work

- opportunity to have my own research project and analyze data i obtain

2. LabCorp Lab Technician

- chemistry department; highly automated

- working directly with specimens sent from hospital

- mostly pipetting work at first

- bigger team; have to stay there longer to be trained to run assays as the positions are currently all filled (which, i'm willing to do)

Would love some insight into which would be better. Thank you!