<p>I applied a few months ago but all the schools I applied to rejected me, probably because of my low GPA (~3.0) and lack of publications. I have some research experience (1-year full-time RA + 1 summer undergraduate research). Now I decide to do a masters in my country (Hong Kong) and apply again. I really want to know how should I prepare for applying to top-tier grad schools like Harvard/ Stanford/ UC Berkeley/ MIT.... Do I need a stunning GPA or some impressive pubs like those on Nature/ Science? Or have I already screwed up my chance forever by not having a good undergrad academic record?</p>
<p>You need to understand that “Harvard/Stanford/UC Berkeley/MIT” are not always the best graduate schools in a given field. You also need to understand that the top schools have extraordinarily competitive applicant pools with low single-digit acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Looking at your past posts, I see you’re in biomedical engineering. To be honest, a 3.0 UGPA is probably not competitive for those “name” schools in that field. That doesn’t mean you can’t get into a program elsewhere.</p>
<p>In 2007, I applied for bio PhD programs of top-tier graduate schools
with my stats below, and ended up with nothing:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5
research experience: 1-year full-time RA in Taiwan
GRE: 330 V, 800 Q
peer-reviewed publication: none</p>
<p>I then self-reflected and tried to improve my stats as possible as I can.
This year I am going to apply for top-tier schools again with the stats below:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5 (you cannot change your GPA after graduation)
research experience: 2-year RA in Taiwan and 2.5-year RA in USA
GRE: 680 V, 800 Q
peer-reviewed publication: one 1st-author paper (IF 7.7), one 2nd-author paper (IF 4.1), one 3rd-author paper (IF 6.8), one submitted 2nd-author paper, one 1st-author conference poster</p>
<p>Although I don’t know the results, I am more confortable with my current stats,
which should prevent the same terrible results in 2007. If there is a drawback
in the stats, higher quality research experiences and publications may make up for it.</p>
<p>Thanks polarscribe and esinstra, I know it will be very difficult given my undergrad GPA, but what if I earn more research experience and publish some papers and apply to some lower-ranked programs? Will these help? Or should I focus on getting a 4.0 GPA for my masters? I’m asking because I really want to prepare well for my next application.</p>
<p>In my opinion, from this round of PhD interviews at schools, it seems to be getting harder and harder for foreign students to get into American PhD programs. Almost all the students at the interviews I went on were American, with maybe a handful of foreign students, depending on the size of the program. I think American Universities are finally starting to understand how important it is to keep the talent they train within the country. IMO I don’t think it was a stellar GPA/GRE score that got me in. It was a good essay with CLEARLY stated goals for grad school and specific research that I am interested in. Publications and 1000s of hours of lab experience through a job also immensely helped in my opinion. I know you don’t want to hear it, but maybe going straight to grad school isn’t the best way to go. Work a job for a few years, get 100s and 1000s of hours of hands on lab experience, and maybe it will help you get in.</p>
<p>
I disagree – I think American universities are feeling the pinch of the financial crisis, and are having to fund most or all of their students through government money that’s restricted to American citizens.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, whatever it is, the vast majority of candidates at the schools I visited were American.</p>
<p>Compared with US citizens, it is much more competitive for internationals to get PhD admissions with full funding. To be successful in application, you have to know what grad schools are looking for in admissions and try your level best to develop strong stats in that part. Then what’s that?</p>
<p>Let’s see how the Biosciences program in Stanford says about it:</p>
<p>**What is the most important part of an application to grad school? **</p>
<p>*The top schools want to admit students who are going to be the next leaders in biosciences research. The most important predictor of success in grad school and beyond is research experience, so all schools are looking for a substantial research experience. That usually means at least one year of experience working on a research project, preferably an independent research project. Most importantly, you must have a letter of recommendation from your research supervisor, usually the faculty member in whose lab you worked. This letter is the single most important part of the application because it says (you hope!) that you are smart, hard-working, independent, devoted to research, able to plan and execute experiments, and able to interact with others in the lab. *</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Then you know they care the most your research experience. To show them you have demonstrated your research ability, it is a good idea to stay in a productive lab for years, where you will get well-trained, have publications and good recommendation letters. This is the best way to show them your passion, competence, and commitment in the vigorous pursuit of scientific knowledge. </p>
<p>However, that does not mean your GPA and GRE are not important. For example, let’s take a further look at what the Biosciences program in Stanford talks about grades:</p>
<p>**In addition to research, what are grad schools looking for in admissions? **</p>
<p>*You will need three recommendation letters for most applications. One should come from someone familiar with your research. The other two should come from professors who know you well enough to be able to write more than “So-and-so was a student in my class, and she got an A”. So, it is important to get to know some faculty before your senior year when you’re applying. Aside from the recommendations, GPA and GRE scores are also important. At Stanford, most (but not all) of the accepted grad students have GPAs above 3.5 and GRE scores above the 70th percentile. If you have a GPA and GRE scores better than that, you’re fine. If you don’t, the grades and scores can often be outweighed by outstanding letters of recommendation from people familiar with your research capabilities. </p>
<p>The personal statement part of the application can be useful to admission committees to get a feel for who you are and why you want to go to graduate school, so it should clearly written, concise, and specific to the school to which you are applying. However, most graduate admission committee members would agree that the personal statement is the least important part of the application – a fact that is always disappointing to students who spend so much time crafting their statements! Most undergraduates have not been an author on a research paper, but if you have, that’s a plus. Lastly, all universities are committed to increasing diversity in biosciences graduate training, so if you feel that you would contribute to the diversity of the group of admitted students, be sure to indicate that on your application. *</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Then you will understand successful applicants are usually those who have GPAs above 3.5 and GRE scores above the 70th percentile. You are safe if you pass the threshold. But if you have lower grades, strong research experience, publications, and good LOR are going to compensate for your weak points. And surprisingly, the personal statement seems to be the least important for the admission committes in this case.</p>
<p>In my case, I chose to improve my stats by doing research in the USA and generating publications. It is also a good idea to have a master degree to improve your GPA record, but I would go to the USA for master degree if I were you. Then I would have research experiences in the USA on one hand and have a better chance to be a published scientist on the other hand. I think this will greatly increase your chances of admissions. If you choose to compromise by applying to lower-ranked programs, these principles could still be applied.</p>
<p>You seem to care your GPA too much. In my opinion, grades are not so important as you imagine. Strong GPA and GRE scores are attractive to admissions committees, but they do not guarantee admission. And lower test scores do not directly disqualify you. Grades are detrimental to your application unless they are dismally low (e.g., GPAs below 3.0 and GRE scores below 500 Verbal, 500 Quantitative, or 3.0 Writing). If you are really worried about your GPA, you might have a master degree to improve it. But after passing the threshold, don’t spend too much time on grades any longer. Instead, focus on your research as possible as you can. Successful applicants with lower grades usually have abundant research experiences and provide evidence of proved research competence in other parts of the application.</p>
<p>I recommend you to think carefully about the suggestions by the Biosciences program in Stanford in the link below. You will have a better understanding about what you should do to improve your stats in the future:</p>
<p>Stanford - HHMI Pregrad program
[Stanford</a> - HHMI Pregrad program](<a href=“http://pregrad.stanford.edu/phdfaq.html]Stanford”>http://pregrad.stanford.edu/phdfaq.html)</p>
<p>By the way, regarding the difficulty of being accepted as an international, this website also provide some useful information. When choosing schools, it is better to consider international-friendly ones:</p>
<p>**How difficult is it to get in to the top graduate schools? ** </p>
<p>*If you are a U.S. student and meet the criteria discussed above, you are almost certain to be accepted at one of the top graduate programs in the U.S. There are relatively few well-trained undergrads applying to grad school, so there is a lot of competition between the top schools to get those students. This is the opposite of the situation for medical school, in which there are vast numbers of premeds applying to the top medical schools, so the students are all competing for relatively few spots. For example, last year the Stanford Biosciences Ph.D. program received about 1000 applications, interviewed about 250 students and accepted about 175 students. Of this 175, about 110 chose to come to Stanford over other schools. 175 out of 1000 doesn’t seem like such great odds, but it is important to realize that many of the 1000 applications are from students who are not qualified, as described above, or are foreign, and therefore more difficult to accept because of funding issues. The bottom line: if you fit the criteria above, you will get into a good graduate school. *</p>
<p>**Does it matter whether I’m a U.S. citizen? **</p>
<p>*Yes and no. In most cases the training grants that support graduate education can only pay for U.S. citizens. However, many universities have smaller amounts of money from other sources that they can use to support foreign grad students. So, it is somewhat more difficult for a foreign student to get accepted to a U.S. graduate school, but if you’ve done well as an undergrad at a U.S. university, there is a reasonable chance of success. *</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>For your reference.</p>
<p>esinstra, you’re awesome! The info are useful.
Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I met a student from China in one of my grad school visits. He did his master’s in China, and his grades were poor enough that the department refused to let him continue with the PhD at the Chinese University. The reason is that he spent all his time on research, and published a paper in a journal with an impact factor of about 10; his paper now has over 100 citations. Based primarily on his research results, he was accepted with funding to the PhD program at least one of the top five schools in his field in the US; it’s also a public school that accepts very few international students (< 20% according to the NRC).</p>
<p>In summary, spend the time on research and publications rather than getting high grades. But make sure your grades are high enough to meet the cutoff, which is often 3.5 for graduate classes.</p>
<p>I agree with None. In China, grades are usually regarded the most important factor in graduate application, but this game rule is not simply applied in the USA, where scores do not play the critical role in application. Keep in mind: When graduate schools in the USA are considering applicants, they are trying to look for the answer to their question: “Is this person promising in scientific research?” The more evidence about this you show to them, the better chances of admissions you will have. Whether you obtain high scores in an exam doesn’t really tell the admissions committes anything about you as a person and a scientist. As long as your grades do not bring them a big concern, research achievement surely matters the most to them. If you have research experience and even put it into publication, then you’ve answered the question for the admissions committee. </p>
<p>In one word, the most important part in your application is your research experience. Being a published scientist with lots of research experiences is very attractive to the graduate school and will significantly enhance your success rate in application.</p>
<p>I come to another questions after hearing from all of you: Is it true that the longer the time after graduating from college, the less important the GPA is? Cuz I’m planning to apply to grad schools again 2 years later and by then I’ll have 4 years of full-time research experience, plus a research-based masters degree. Will the 4-year research experience be a big plus?</p>
<p>In my opinion, the GPA would be not-so-important on the premise that you have impressive research records. Take my case for example. My academic performance in college is no longer the major part because my research experiences and publications predominate over my GPA record in the CV. This case is similar to someone who has worked for years after graduation, rather than someone who just graduates from college. My American friend thus suggests me to put research records and publications in front of my educational degree in the CV in order to emphasize my research-oriented history.</p>