<p>This has been on my mind for quite awhile and I honestly need some unbiased thoughts about the matter. :)</p>
<p>I recently graduated from a small private college with a 3.12 GPA. While there I studied Studio Arts/Biology and received a mix bag of grads from As to Cs. Come spring 2010, I wasn't able to finish my Biology degree because I elected to study abroad and family reasons. </p>
<p>I moved back home to be with my family because my father was very ill (since July last year) with lung cancer. I thought I could finish my Biology degree part-time at a local university and take care of things around the house while working part-time as well. However, since my father passed away my mother has been very stressed and on the point of a nervous breakdown. It has affected my coursework and I had to withdraw from my physics class (this is the fourth time I withdraw from a class).</p>
<p>I desperately want to go on to graduate school for 2011 and study Zoology/Aquatic Animal Health, but I'm afraid they won't touch me since I've withdrawn so much. Also my GPA is not all that brilliant. I do, however, have a lot of internship experience and I will be participating in fish research for the next semester. </p>
<p>What do I do?</p>
). The SOP is your chance to talk about yourself, why you want to get into the field you want to, and any disparities in your undergraduate career. Did you do research as an undergrad? That would help your application a bit, and doing really well on the GRE will as well. The good news is that your GPA doesn’t meet the official cutoff point of most grad schools, but that bad news is that it doesn’t meet the unwritten cutoff point. </p>