<p>Alright, so I've always dreamt to go to an Ivy League, but this is the situation: sophomore year at my university (state school) I had a bad semester and failed one class. I previously had a 3.7 GPA (in the middle of an English minor, a Philosophy minor and I'm studying for a Biochem degree) and that semester I just lost it. I was on some medication and considered dropping out, among other family and health issues. I finally did something to fix them, and now I can't help but feel like my chances are ruined. I finished the minors, raising my GPA steadily, and plan on being in college for 3 more years. I was thinking of getting better grades and taking on 2 more majors if I can keep my GPA up. Am I wasting my time, or would I be more competitive and bringing up my chances? I would love to add other things on my resume and any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. Thank you!</p>
<p>Nobody does “chances” for graduate school because “chances” are nonsense. But it is worth thinking about your future track.</p>
<p>What do you want to study in graduate school, and why? If you can’t answer that question, you aren’t ready to even think about applying.</p>
<p>Just throwing out “Ivy League” is meaningless in graduate school. Ivies do not have the best programs in every field, and where you apply to should be based on your research interests and “fit” with professors, not on some notion of “prestige.”</p>
<p>Two more majors when you can’t finish one? That’s not going to help you get into graduate school. Graduate school is highly-focused study of one particular sub-area of one particular field. Biochem professors won’t care that you have a triple-major in underwater basket-weaving - they’ll care about your research experience in biochem.</p>
<p>Ivies are only cool for undergrad.</p>
<p>Grad school is never cool.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll go into more detail.</p>
<p>Physics, chemistry and biochem.
Why?: I want to do medicinal-type research (considered an MD PhD but I know that’s almost impossible), I like the subjects, and I have talked to professors who do agree that I can string these subjects together to help pursue my research goals. It’s a very general idea, because I’m just starting to enter the field. Right now I’m working with chemical engineers that are trying to synthesize proteins that can be used for tissue regeneration research.</p>
<p>Also, I threw out “Ivy” to not be specific, but I really want Columbia.
Why?: My favorite professors all went there for Grad school. I should look more into the research that they’re doing there to see if they’re doing something close to want I would like to do, but right now I really want Columbia because of how much I admired my professors. They way they speak so eloquently, express their ideas, and just overall intelligence makes me believe they gained this from their experience in Columbia. I also hated a high school teacher that graduated from Columbia Law school because she was so stuck up and rude, but she has to be the one that changed my life the most.</p>
<p>You would be better served spending your time getting research experience as a lab assistant than by taking enough classes to triple-major. Research experience is what will set you apart from the pack of applicants, not a transcript filled with every single class you could possibly take. If you think you can do both, more power to you, but more majors won’t help as much as more research will.</p>
<p>Also, it’s OK to have a goal, but don’t get too attached to one place before you’ve even applied. Ph.D admissions rates are commonly in the single-digit range and the process is a crapshoot. Well-qualified applicants get rejected all the time, every year.</p>
<p>One failing grade on your transcript isn’t going to make a difference, so don’t worry about that.</p>