Biology Grad Program Chances?

I’m a current senior at a top 30ish school with a 3.2 GPA and a 3.6 biology GPA with a combined ~2 years of research experience at 2 different labs running concurrently. I got 160/160/5.00 on my GRE and I’m set to take the Biology GRE in October or March. I have no publications or presentations :frowning: but I’m expecting good rec letters.
What are my chances at places like Boston U, Tufts, University of Rochester, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Pitt, JHU, or Northwestern?
Thoughts and advice would be appreciated:)

Masters or PhD?

PhD, sorry, I forgot to mention that.

It is hard to say. Your GPA is pretty low for solid Ph.D. programs unless there is a significant reason behind it. Your GRE is solid. It’s great that you have 2 years of research experience, but in science, publications are currency. A few publications can definitely help to mitigate a lower GPA, but you also lack publications. I think that realistically, you are aiming a little bit high at this point in time.

I strongly believe that people should work in a lab as a research/lab technician/technologist/assistant (so many name for the same position) before pursuing a Ph.D. Working as a lab tech exposes you to real life in the lab, from which most undergraduate students are sheltered (i.e. submitting grants, worrying about the budget, getting your own project, etc). This also gives you time to figure out if you truly enjoy working in a lab 40 hours a week, day in and day out, as well as an opportunity to get your name on publications. In fact, working in a lab for a year or two (in my case three) distances you from your GPA, especially if you have publications. There is no shame in getting some real life experience before going to grad school - I would say most people in my year at grad school took at least one year off between undergrad and grad school to work. Those of us who took time off to work actually seem to have been more successful than those who didn’t.

Good luck! Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Since your biology GPA is stronger that will help, grad schools will actually look at your transcript to see what related coursework you took and how you did it in. So if you did well in upper level biology course work that looks good.

As @mademoiselle2308 said, publications are big, if your name was on a publication or two I would say you are fine but unfortunately you don’t have those. I also agree with her that more lab experience is key.

I worked as a lab tech for a year before I went to get my PhD and I thought it was a very helpful experience. Don’t be afraid to wait before going to get your PhD, many, many people do. A PhD is a big committment, you should be sure it is what you want to do.

GPA trumps GRE, but neither is as important as research experience. Will one of your letters be glowing, essentially a “this student walks on water” letter? If not, then with a mediocre gpa and no publication, the programs you are targeting are going to be a challenge to get into. Working as a tech for one or two years is good advice, or see if you can get into something like the postbac program at NIH. Or consider targeting the next tier of programs, flourish in grad school, and aim for a prestigious/challenging/high profile postdoc.