<p>I am a first generation, Hispanic sophomore in a top 100 state university and a top 20 undergraduate biology program (Gourman Report). I was accepted here with a full ride scholarship from an outside organization (out of state tuition). </p>
<p>I was originally a physics major and I secured an internship the summer after my senior year of high school at Fermilab. My first year of college ended with me being on academic probation and no more scholarship. I decided to change my major to biology in the beginning of my sophomore year. I was able to jump right into the normal coursework because I had AP credit. </p>
<p>As of last semester my GPA has risen to a 2.0 and I've started undergraduate research. It appears like I will be able to maintain a 3.8 or above each semester. My goal is to raise my GPA to a 3.0 by the time I need to start applying to graduate school. With a near perfect GPA beginning with this semester along with undergraduate research, I wanted to know the possibility of getting into a top tier graduate biology program. I was also interested in knowing what I should begin doing to increase my chances. </p>
<p>Are you sure you’re calculating your GPA properly? At least in american terms? A 2.0 is definitely not good and a 3.0 is the absolute bare minimum to even consider graduate school. Many schools have a bottom limit of 3.2, and most top tier schools will not really take you on if you have anything less than a 3.5-3.6, simply because of the ridiculous amount of people applying with 4.0s, 1400+ GREs and several pubs.</p>
<p>The only thing you can do is slowly improve your GPA, get good scores on the GRE, and have good research experience. The damage of your first year is done, there’s no sense in worrying about whether or not that’s screwed you over for life. Your road may be a little longer than if you had been an all-star out of the gate, taking a year or two after college to work in a lab or earning a master’s degree is a good idea, but just keep looking forward.</p>
<p>I completely agree with that last bit. A few years spent on a master’s sounds like a good plan… not only will it help distract from your freshman grades by adding another GPA, but will demonstrate prolonged interest in biological research. Doing good work in your undergrad lab will help get you into a solid lab for a master’s. If you can establish yourself as an independent and capable thinker and scientist (not simply a technician), you’ll be in decent shape. </p>
<p>Those extra two years or so will also allow you more opportunity to explore. As someone new to biology, you’re going to need that time to refine your interests. You’ll want to be able to say for certain why you’re applying to particular PhD programs in the context of what you have already done and be able to offer the department something solid, with confidence.</p>
<p>Grad schools want to see wise investments. A master’s or a well-placed staff position will show committment and aptitude on your part. I’m afraid that otherwise, they’ll see you more as someone who doesn’t have a long enough track record to be seen as a wise investment. </p>
<p>There’s no guarantee that all programs will look past the GPA even if you are flawless from now on, but all’s not lost! Stay focused and open-minded and you can make it happen.</p>
<p>Most graduate programs look not just at the overall GPA. Instead they look at the entire picture. Was this GPA generated from consistent mediocre performance or was this GPA generated from an initial poor start followed by sustained outstanding performance? The student in the first situation is non-competitive, while the student in the second situation would be highly competitive. However, you also need to demonstrate ability in research-usually acquired by working in a research lab during the academic year or during the summer break.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses everyone. I really appreciate it. I figure that I’ll do as much damage control as I can now and keep a masters in mind when applying to graduate school. Half of my applications will probably be devoted to masters programs. Financially speaking, do masters programs typically offer fellowships and teaching assistant ships? Should I expect to be paying out of pocket for a masters? Also, are masters programs less competitive than their PhD counterparts? So should I expect to be able to get into to a top tier masters program if I continue on the path I’m on now?</p>
<p>I’m not all that sure there’s such a thing as a “top-tier” master’s program, unless you’re just associating it with traditional “top-tier” doctoral programs that happen to offer a master’s on the side. </p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, what’s the big deal with this top-tier prestige preference of yours? It looks like you just started research, so I daresay you haven’t picked an area of focus yet. Just because a school has lots of funding and lots of students doesn’t always mean that it’s THE place to go for your graduate school training.</p>
<p>In a perfect world, yes. But when you have hundreds of applications and only a few faculty members making decisions, the first thing you do to get the applications to a workable level is knock off the low GPAs and low GREs. If the OP doesn’t make it to at least the 3.0 range, and probably the 3.3 range, her application is probably in the “no” pile before anyone looks at a transcript or a LOR. The exception would be if the OP has a professor contact someone they know on the faculty directly.</p>
<p>That’s an excellent addition indeed: direct contact.</p>
<p>Don’t hesitate to have your undergrad mentor get in touch with his/her contacts that you might be interested in working with. If you’re doing well in your undergrad work, your mentor should be happy to help you out. No guarantees, but it’s a great way to try and get your foot in the door.</p>
<p>It’s also important to keep in mind that for grad school, it’s less about the institution and much more about the research you’ll be doing. Harvard and Stanford might be prestigious schools with great programs, but there is no guarantee they’ll be doing what you’re really interested in. It will be critical for you to spend this time trying to both explore and refine your interests so you can have a solid idea of what <em>labs</em> you’re interested in. There are some amazing labs in surprising places.</p>
<p>I think the big picture is to really stay focused and on top of the time-line. Keep asking questions and taking the advice you’re given.</p>
<p>GP Burdell
As a faculty member who serves on grad and med admission committees, this is the real world. We do look at the overall picture and upward trend! Its is the real world, and it is the upward trend is highly attractive to admission committee members.</p>
<p>And to concur with subsequent posters, when looking for grad school… look beyond the school’s reputation. Pay close attention to the reputation of your likely thesis mentors!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the responses everyone. The reason I was asking about top tier specifically was to gauge how competitive of an applicant I would be. I realize that the best lab may not be at school with an outstanding reputation- so I’m keeping my mind open.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how financing works with Masters programs? Do most people have to pay out-of-pocket or are there fellowships and whatnot? I’ve had some difficulty getting consistent information on this. Thanks again everyone.</p>
<p>^ that’s probably because it varies from program to program. I was on a teaching fellowship the entire time I did my MS, so I got a stipend, health insurance, and tuition monies in exchange for TAing every term. That was the norm at my school, but at my current institution all of the master’s programs are paid-in-full … that is, there aren’t any funding opportunities for those folks.</p>
<p>As a faculty member who serves on grad admission committee, you must have many, many more resources than we do. We get over 500 applications per year (actually, this year,the number is closer to 800 because of the economy). If we went through them with the detail you’re suggesting, it would be a full-time job to sit on the admissions committee.</p>
<p>What about the competitiveness of masters programs compared to PhDs? I’ve noticed on the CV’s of many of my professors that they received their PhD from the same institution that they got their masters from. Is this typical? Should I be expecting the same thing if I get into a masters program?</p>
<p>One popular reason is because PhD programs award one or two master’s degrees on the way to the PhD. Your professors presumably entered the PhD program and picked them up, instead of applying for the master’s and switching to the PhD track.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure this has been mentioned in Mollie’s “Graduate School 101” post – have you looked at that? You might find it helpful.</p>
<p>G.P.Burdell
We have a great admin staff that does much of the original binning of the applications. and marks specific applications for more detailed review. I dread any economy induced cuts in this essential workforce.</p>
<p>why are you guys placing such an emphasis on grades? remember, this is a biology phd program, not pure math or anything theoretical. biology phd programs are pretty easy to get into given that not many people actually want to become experimentalists. you’ve got a good shot just because you’re willing to be a lab monkey for 5-7 years.</p>
<p>plus, if you’re a URM from a top school with solid research experience? hell, if you have a publication you’re a lock as long as you’re above a 3.0.</p>
<p>my sample set is probably much different – at my school, basically everyone who does research as an undergrad has a pretty well-connected advisor and these students usually get into the top programs in biology fairly easily. i know students with ~3.0 + publication = admit into top programs.</p>