<p>I have 1 conference paper that I published to WDSI as first author and am currently in the process of writing another paper with a team of professors and doctorate students at another school, also as first author.</p>
<p>The problem is I have a low GPA (3.1 UW 4.1 W)</p>
<p>My ACT score is 33 Highest 35 Composite.</p>
<p>My first paper was about the practical application, common characteristics, and guidelines on crowd sourcing.</p>
<p>My second will be on the motivations of software piracy and if DRM protection is beneficial to profit margins. ( this is the working question but I havn't completed my literary review yet so it may change a little.)</p>
<p>I'm applying for undergraduate school.</p>
<p>My question is will my research be enough to outweigh my lackluster GPA or will my GPA force me to go to a college with no real research oppurtunities. :(</p>
<p>It’s my understanding that most graduate schools have a minimum GPA requirement of around a 3.0. I’m not sure how flexible that is, but their websites tend to sound like it isn’t. That said, I would imagine you would look better to an admissions committee for a master’s program if you get a couple years of work experience. If your supervisor likes your performance and the company will pay for your master’s, their support may make up for some of your academic weaknesses. I’m sure it will also help if your statement of purpose highlights the fact that you know why you didn’t do well and that you are working hard to improve yourself in industry.</p>
<p>I’m curious about this as well I have research experience (2 yrs) with publications+patent but I have an incredibly low SAT (1700) but high GPA (3.8)</p>
<p>Is that from a personal experience? I have been hearing different things from different people, some saying it’s really good and some saying it’s worthless.</p>
<p>Research will certainly help, and at top research universities it may really help, BUT that’s only if its coupled with great grades and test scores. Research should supplement good grades, not make up for bad ones.</p>
<p>It may depend on where you are applying. Harvard may not get over the 3.1 GPA, but other good research-oriented schools like U.Rochester or Case Western might. Did you say your ACT composite was 35 or 33? I didn’t understand what you wrote.
Did you take AP courses? honors courses? - the rigor behind the GPA also matters.
Intended majors?</p>
<p>The quality of the research really matters. Published in a peer reviewed journal? Very impressive. Paper accepted at a regional conference–less impressive. How it’s viewed really depends on what it is.</p>
<p>My first was a regional conference but my second will be peer reviewed, and I’ve taken all AP/IB/Honors courses throughout high school</p>
<p>My ACT is a composite 35 with my highest score being a 33</p>
<p>Also does it make a difference that I was first author, I know a lot of people do research but most I’ve seen has been co-author or just helped a professor on his paper, for my first paper I wrote it primarily with two other professors as editors and reviewers, and for the second paper, I am again writing primarily with the professors and his students mostly handling data collection.</p>
<p>Composite 35 with a highest subscore of 33? Composite is the overall average, so it’s impossible for your highest subscore to be lower than the composite (mean value theorem and whatnot). Are you assuming a superscore here and saying your highest overall composite is a 33?</p>
<p>Upward trend in that GPA? Many schools give little or no weight to freshman year (Stanford and the UCs for example don’t include 9th grade in their GPA calc). Many schools know that boys in particular take longer to mature and take that into account as well, so if you’re a guy, that helps. Will they completely overlook at 3.1? Not if they have similarly well qualified candidates with 3.8+s to choose from - and HYPMS generally do - but for most schools, your research is impressive and, with an upward trend, great recs and solid essays, you may have a good shot at some reaches. Look at the Common Data Set for each school (Section C) and, if you are above the 25%iles for grades, give it a try.</p>
I have research experience (2 yrs) with publications+patent but I have an incredibly low SAT (1700) but high GPA (3.8)</p>