Applied to grad school with very low GPA

Graduate School
1

Hello,

I just got a rejection letter form Colorado State and I was wondering what people think of my overall chances?

I am an undergrad in physics at UT-Austin and I recently applied to graduate school for an MS in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering. I will be graduating this semester with a GPA of approx. 2.4 (cumulative). However my GPA these last 3 semesters has been an average of 3.1 (no classes other than physics and aerospace engineering + 1 math).

To complement my lack of academic achievements I have been working doing research for the past 2 years with a world famous physicist (considered for the Nobel Prize but no one cares about classical physics anymore) and I will be publishing a paper with him this semester where I am the first author. Additionally I have been working on developing simulations with an Aerospace professor for the past 6 months. I also recently won best undergraduate presentation at an American Physical Society meeting.

I have been contacted by two professors who want me to go to their program but say that they cannot guarantee an admission to their program.

Edit:

GRE scores are 78% percentile both
Letters of recommendation are from the physics professor I talked about and 2 other professors.

end edit

So I pretty much have a strong research achievement and a terrible GPA history which has improved significantly over time.

so what do you think my chances are?

2

Wow. I don’t think your chances are very good.

Your GRE score is not great for an engineer - being in the 78% percentile on a math test that includes English and philosophy majors means a whole lot of engineers and scientists out-scored you. It isn’t terrible, but it sure isn’t helping you.

Your overall GPA is quite low, and even your best semester GPA is only recently past the 3.0 minimum that most grad schools want to see - even if they only considered your last three semesters, you would be a marginal candidate at most departments. This is a big problem because your research chops won’t help if they don’t have confidence that you can complete the required coursework.

I think you have three options:

  1. Talk to the professors with whom you have been working. Tell them your situation, ask for advice and help, and do what they say. They may be able to direct you to a department that will accept your academics and value your research experience.

  2. Take some significant post-graduation coursework, preferably at the graduate level, and rock it. Seriously, if your advisors cannot help you get in somewhere it will be because of your grades, and the fast solution is to impress the heck out of people with a stack of A’s in hard classes.

  3. Put grad school on a shelf for a few years. Get some work experience, and take some classes as in option (2). It is basically option (2), just taking it slower and with a lower need for grades. Grad departments generally are more forgiving of GPA the further you are from graduation, so you won’t need straight A’s if you spread them out a bit.

But right now you are in a tight spot.

3

Just a guess-- you may be on shaky ground but if those professors contacted you it seems they are willing to go to bat for you. At some programs the profs do get one pick autonomously but it seems that isn’t the case here and you will need to have the committee approval. But I don’t think they will reach out to you and ask you to apply if you have no chance. They do have your gpa info?

I’m curious what your research professor thinks. Take heart with the story of Bradley Voytek,31, Assistant Professor or Neuroscience who was accepted to a PhD program at Berkeley with a 2,5 gpa. He was almost dismissed from USC, But because of his research and recommendations was able to get a position in a lab at UCLA for some time between college and applications.

4

It is unlikely that many Ph.D. programs will give you a shot given your GPA and GRE scores. If you hvae strong letters of recommendation, it may be possible to get into a M.S. program and show that you can do the work, however, given the modest GPA and the fact that your undergraduate degree is in Physics not Aerospace Engineering, it is going to be a challenge. I think that working for a while might be the best option. In fact, engineering programs do pay attention to work experience.