3.0 GPA at UCSD Interested in biochem graduate studies

Graduate School
1

Hi all,

I am currently at UCSD with a 3.0 overall GPA in biochemistry, biology. I have over 250 hours of volunteering and 1 year research at a protein lab on campus. I also was an abroad coordinator (one year term) for an organization called FIMRC (Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children). I did not do well my first 2 years, however my last 2 years accumulate to >3.5 GPA (core courses).

I am pretty confused as to where I can go from here. I want to pursue research as a graduate student in Biochemistry, Biology. I understand some state colleges are more lenient towards GPA. Where should I apply for my stats and experience? I will be looking for one more year of research pertaining to biochemistry before graduation.

Or should I work and accumulate paper publishing, presentations, etc. and apply maybe years later after grad.?

Thank you so much for reading.

Yours,
Daniel

2

Are you interested in an MS or Ph.D.? Your GPA will be a bit of a challenge but if you have been doing better in the past 2 years that is a plus. If you are eventually interested in a Ph.D. you might be better off starting with a MS and getting more research experience and proving that you can do the graduate level work. If that is the case, you might wish to look into the CSU schools where they have some very good MS programs which can feed into a Ph.D. program. Your research mentor can also be helpful in figuring out what the best course of action will be.

3

thank you xraymancs. I will certainly attempt applying to CSU schools. Right now if I do well, I can raise my major GPA to 3.40. I will definitely try for MS the upcoming year. If not, I will work and gather more experiences. Thank you for the reply :slight_smile: thumbs up!

EDIT: For specifics, I am applying for MS! Not sure about Ph.D :stuck_out_tongue: