<p>I was an Immunology major from a top UC and received a 2.8 GPA. Only about 10 kids from the entire school graduate with this major every year. I had many personal problems my first and second years, but showed improvement as the years went on. My upper division biology major GPA is a 3.2 and my overall biology GPA is a 3.0, which shows a lot since my overall GPA is so bad.</p>
<p>Since my GPA is so low, I know I won't get into very many programs for an MS in Immunology or Microbiology or Biology even if I get perfect on my GREs. I currently have a research position at a top institution and will probably get published a couple of times. I also worked almost 30 hours a week at two jobs during my senior year, when I got nothing below a B grade. </p>
<p>Is there any way for me to improve my application? Do most graduate programs calculate community college courses taken post-bacc? Also, would taking any online courses at universities through distance learning programs help? Any input would be appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t see where you can get upper division courses in any 2 year college to help you improve your qualifications. The difficulty of your major has nothing to do with your gpa- others may disagree with you on its comparative difficulty to other majors. The numbers in the major at your school likewise have nothing to do with how well you did. You will be competing with all who apply from the US and other countries. You may want to check various programs and see what the typical stats are of their programs to see if your grades in your field are much lower. Since you are doing research ask your professors what they sugest you do to improve your knowledge base and chances.</p>
<p>consider working for a year in a research lab to demonstrate research ability. This will help in subsequent applications to graduate school and will also help you decide if you really want a career in research</p>
<p>That isn’t entirely true. Graduate does look at the school you went and they can tell how competitive/rigorous your program is. My major was pretty tough as well with only 8-10 students graduating a year, but the even the “top” student in it (GPA was around 3.4-3.5) got somewhere good. Your research experience will definitely help, but I don’t see how taking community colleges course or online courses after graduating will help. If anything at all, it makes you look worst…</p>
<p>I also had a less than ideal showing in undergrad gradewise so while I was working as a tech, I took a number of graduate courses. The grades I got in those courses were substantially better than my undergrad grades and since the applications have you calculate undergrad and graduate grades separately, I could show improvement. Think about taking some classes, you may find they are free for employees anyway.</p>