Do they look at undergraduate transcripts for PhD Admissions?

<p>I am talking about most schools here. I am interested in applying to some Ivy Leagues for PhD after the completion of my MS. Would undergraduate GPA be a factor here? I majorly ****ed up in my first 2 years and did okay after that.</p>

<p>Yes, they do. They look at everything. After MS it matters a lot less, but if it is a really competitive program, then yeah, it does matter… but things you’ve done after undergrad and also the fact that you did better in the lat two years will help.</p>

<p>Despite my major screw up in the 1st 2 years, I have worked as a research student under a principle investigator who is a Harvard Alumna. I am very extracurricularly involved and the research I was doing is done by like two places in the world (my university and Stanford). I have made enough of an impression on these profs for them to let me get into the MS program…but I really want to get out of Toronto ASAP, and hence the worry about my Undergraduate GPA.</p>

<p>I think it has a lot to do with the program and your research. They may or may not weigh your undergrad transcripts as much as they weigh your research and your value to their lab.</p>

<p>I say- don’t let it stop you from applying to competitive programs if you feel you have something to offer them.</p>

<p>The key to grad programs are your letters of recommendation. If they’re excellent from respected profs, they may overlook your less than stellar first two years. ECs don’t count for much though, I believe.</p>

<p>This board has a lot of Torontonians.</p>

<p>Hmm. Perhaps elaborating on my situation will help in some way.</p>

<p>Discipline: Chemical Engineering with a bioengineering minor
Mid to high 70s average in first 2 years. Currently in the low 80s.
Research experience in a lab in the chem eng department, as well as India.
Good faculty connections. I am a better researchers than what my marks may suggest.</p>

<p>I want to go into bioengineering stuff. Would taking additional courses in fundamental and developmental biology outside of my chemical engineering curriculum help me in terms of PhD in Ivy Leagues, UCB, Stanford or say, Cambridge?</p>

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<p>I thought Toronto only sucked for undergrad, but was a good school to attend at the grad level?</p>

<p>^ Honestly, I am really glad I did my undergrad here. I am probably in the minority, but I couldn’t imagine doing it in a small university with small classes and stuff. Just not for me. I love how many different classes I can take in my field, something I could never do in a smaller university. I love the awesome research opportunities, how much is going on on campus that I actually like. But really, I love the size of this place. I don’t regret coming here for a second.</p>

<p>But the consensus is, that this place is better for grad than undergrad. But it depends on what your priorities are after, if you are pre-med (as most life sci kids are), then yeah, it sucks because of marking, but if you want to go to research, then the opportunities here are amazing. Plus, it is right middle of downtown in a huge city and well integrated into it. </p>

<p>@ladyobscure - I think your marks are fine coming from an engineering degree, actually. They are very good. I think you should ask this question by emailing faculty or whoever in these schools. I can see it go either way, because like, something like neuroscience, it doesn’t really matter what you do before as your undergrad degree in many schools, so long as you can show you are good at learning. Maybe you should also ask faculty at UofT that you know what they think your chances are - especially those you’d be asking for reference letters?</p>

<p>undergraduate transcript is examined for all graduate programs, but admin committees take quite a bit of notice to good (and bad) trajectories. You’re going in the right direction, explored your proposed graduate field of study by doing research and have continued to demonstrate your ability by doing well in a master’s program. This sounds like a great profile.</p>

<p>I have more beef with the chemical engineering program than the school. The school is awesome.</p>

<p>As it turns out, I am too diverse in my interests to be a real chemical engineer. In retrospect, I’d get a degree in biological anthropology and film with other random courses here and there. Right now I am focusing on cellular/biomolecular engineering related things so that one day I can follow my real passion in human evolution…don’t even know if that will ever happen. So I plan to stay somewhat stunted in my self-actualization and all that by substituting tissue engineering to fill the human evolution void in my life :P</p>