<p>I know that junior year is a year that graduate admissions committees look at very closely, so I realize that it's very important to do well during the third year. I will be starting my junior year in less than a week, and am very interested in going to grad school (ecology and evolutionary biology). </p>
<p>I have a few concerns, though. My GPA isn't very good, and I realize that GPA is a very important aspect of the graduate school application. My GPA is 3.26 for the first two years, and I would really like to raise it up to at least 3.3 or even 3.4 if possible by the end of junior year. I go to a top school so I feel that it's difficult to get high grades when the competition is so intense. Sometimes, I feel that a 'B' is good enough because if I fall in the middle of the bell curve at a top school, then I'm not doing horribly, right? But I know that B's aren't good enough. I need better study habits I guess.</p>
<p>Another concern I have is research experience. Last semester, I started a project with a postdoc on a topic that isn't too interesting to me (but is still relevant to ecology/evolutionary biology). The problem is that I would like to eventually get a rec from the postdoc or professor, but I never see the professor. I'm not sure if should continue this project, especially if I won't see the professor regularly (since I need recommendations for summer programs/grad school), and the research doesn't really match what I might want to study in graduate that well. Should I continue with this? If I don't, then I feel like I don't have any long-term research, and that could hurt me. I did work on a research project this summer, but I'm not continuing it in the school year, and it wasn't really relevant to my major (it was bio research though, just not EEB).</p>
<p>Lastly, I don't really know who to ask for recs when senior year rolls around. Is junior year too late to start cultivating relationships with profs? What should I do? Just go to office hours regularly? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>In my opinion, research you’re not that interested in is certainly better than no research. For the LOR, perhaps you could request that the post-doc do the writing, and then the professor can but his/her name on it (or it could be joint-signed or something). I’d recommend not quitting the project unless you’ve got something else to take its place.</p>
<p>Junior year definitely isn’t too late to start relationships with professors. If you start working with a certain professor now, by the time apps are due you’ll have had about a year and a half of time. Even a single semester is possibly enough time to generate a good LOR (e.g., with REU programs).</p>
<p>Ideally, you’d like all of your LORs to come from people who can attest to your ability to do good research. Going to office hours won’t help with that, but if that’s the best you can do, it’s better than nothing. You should probably look into doing an REU project next summer and maybe doing some independent study or something if that’s possible (ie, one-on-one study with a professor). There are several options for getting better LORs than just going to office hours and getting a good grade will generate–if you have the time.</p>
<p>I think the general rule for GPA should be: get as many A’s as possible, but don’t let it interfere with your research. Given that you’re at a top school (though that’s kind of vague), there’s probably some leeway with regard to GPA, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a 3.7+ your junior year.</p>
<p>Somewhat off-topic: Are all of your classes curved? That sounds pretty horrible.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I think I will continue with the project then, and I can start working with a faculty member on thinking about/designing an experiment for the senior research requirement. That way, I will be able to get two recs from profs who can talk about my research skills, and then I’ll plan for the third rec later. Do ALL of them have to be from profs who I have worked with? The top school I go to is an HYPS school, but I shouldn’t let that be an excuse for my poor grades. Most of the science classes (especially the lecture courses) are graded on a curve. I guess the smaller, upper level courses will rely less on curves to assign grades to students.</p>
<p>the grades aren’t the problem. don’t worry about them anyway…you can’t go back and change them. you need more research experience. try to spend as much time in your lab as possible for at least the entire year. you need strong LORs, ideally from people who know you well. everything that sarbruis said holds. </p>
<p>btw, if you’re feeling uncomfortable about your research experience, i would suggest finding a professor whose work interests you. if you feel like you can get to know this professor well, ask him for an LOR in a year and apply to grad school. if not, take some more time to do research and consider delaying your application. no shame in that.</p>
<p>and remember, scientists like quiet, hard working students. do that, but don’t forget to schmooze as well. you’re at a good place to meet faculty in your field of interest, so make sure you try to get to know them. you can use contacts at your current school to make new ones at different schools across the country – this will come in handy when you’re applying to grad school. network, network, network. it’s just as important in science as it is in business.</p>
<p>hmm im pretty sure i know what school you go to</p>
<p>from what ive heard, quite a few students looking into grad school at your current university take a fair amount of graduate courses. you can probably look into that to try and mark a positive influence on your overall gpa. if you do well in a small seminar, too, you can form a relationship with the professor.</p>
<p>also, something that doesnt seem to help you is the hyps/ivy grade inflation. your gpa is about the average gpa of the entire school and most adcoms are aware of that, too.</p>
<p>[USATODAY.com</a> - Ivy League grade inflation](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/02/08/edtwof2.htm]USATODAY.com”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/02/08/edtwof2.htm)</p>
<p>i think youre in good shape in terms of lining yourself up for more research opportunities this year</p>
<p>Graduate schools won’t care if your research isn’t within your stated interests, as long as its relevant. What they are really looking for is demonstration that you know what scientific research is and how to accomplish it. Yes, it would be best to get in a lab that explores issues that you find highly relevant, but some research is better than none. </p>
<p>Cultivate your relationships now, but not just for potential LORs. Do it to get better research, to have people you can turn to for advice, to feel like you’re an integral part of your department. You’ll be able to tell who you should ask for LORs when the time comes.</p>
<p>
…but they don’t care. (Average GPA from MIT here. Got into all the schools to which I applied.) I agree with MolSysBio: the grades aren’t the problem.</p>
<p>It’s fine if you don’t meet often with the professor in charge of your research project – as sarbruis notes, it’s fairly typical for the postdoc to write the recommendation letter and the professor to edit and sign it. But if you’re not excited about the research topic, it’s best for you and your professional development if you find something you are excited about, either in another lab or by developing your own project within the scope of the current lab.</p>
<p>I think momwaitingfornew advice about doing research in a lab that is not particularly relevant to you research interests (X) to get better research in the future (Y) is spot on. Doing work in lab X can help you get work in lab Y (lab X can help refer you to other researchers, give you resume experience, skills, knowledge, etc).</p>