Alisa

One of the most difficult questions one has to ask in their life is “Where do I go next?” For some, it is a full time job, for others it’s a degree or even a graduate program. For me, it was easy. I always had a plan. I would go to NYU Tandon and enter the BS/MS Biotechnology program and kill two birds with one stone. What I didn’t know is how eye-opening the graduate program would be and how many doors it would open.

Not only were the classes extraordinary, but so were the professors. Each professor was inspiring and filled with passion for the topics they were teaching. They motivated me to be the best version of myself and allowed me to learn beyond the classroom. Also, this program is designed to provide the flexibility students need in order to gain work experience and technical skills, in addition to the regular coursework. While earning my degree, I was able to work at a computational neuroimaging non-profit where I was taught coding skills that I never would have developed independently in a traditional school environment.

At the end of my years at NYU Tandon, I had to ask myself again, “Where do I go next?” This time, the question was much harder to answer because there were so many options open to me. I had a diverse knowledge base that qualified me to apply to various jobs requiring various skillsets and few limiting factors. I found myself applying to startups and companies with a strong cause. Today, I work at a Biotech/Pharma start-up that researches drugs for autoimmune diseases. Our drug is entering Phase II clinical trials, and every day I use material I learned in the Biotechnology and the Pharmaceutical Industry class — just one of the many remarkable classes in the Biotechnology program at NYU Tandon.