Long Version (Summary at Bottom):
BF graduated last year with a degree in Biology. He wants to get his PhD and do cancer research but when he talked to the head of admissions at his top choice school they said the one thing he was missing to make his application really strong is research experience and she suggested he just take a year and find a position in a lab and then apply. Unfortunately, he's hasn't been able to find a lab position. Several times people have been really interested and made it sound like it was going to happen and then funding fell through or they just fell off the face of the earth. It's been a super stressful and disappointing year to be honest.
So because of the difficulty in finding a lab position he decided to look at masters programs. He e-mailed a few old professors asking for letters of recommendation. The professor he was closest to recently e-mailed him, saying she didn't understand why he was settling for a masters program and that she really felt he should do a PhD. He e-mailed her back explaining the situation and how the masters is essentially plan B. Well today she responded and said she e-mailed a colleague of hers recommending him and said he takes students all the time and would probably offer him something soon.
This would be amazing for BF. It would mean getting the experience he needs to get into the PhD program and not having to spend thousands of dollars on a masters degree. But I'm afraid to get my hopes up because this isn't the first time things have seemed really promising just for it to not work out. But any positive vibes you could send would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry that was so long! Here's a summary for those who don't want to read all that: BF has an a really good chance at getting a lab position (which he's been trying to get for a year now) and all vibes are appreciated!