International student (Biology Major in US School) asks your opinion about Cum. GPA and Grad School

College Majors Science Majors
1

Hello everyone,
I am an international student at Quinnipiac University and I am at the sophomore year. I am really happy that I choose Quinnipiac to invest the 4 year of my undergrad degree. I recently apply to change my major from Biochemistry to Biology. The basic reason are the Grad schools that I am interested. I am not interested in becoming vet or MD (I never like the feeling of cutting someone’s else skin in a surgery). I am mostly interested perusing career in the research area and mostly in stem cell research (Another reason why I am going back to EU since there are well-established regulatory frameworks for stem cell research). The Biology major gives you the opportunity to take many special courses compared to Biochemistry. In my college at least Biochemistry is mostly Physical Chem with the exception to take 2 Bio 200-300 level courses which is a shame I believe. Nevertheless I can work freely in the market (outside the campus) while I am doing my Masters, something that I can not do with Student Visa (F1) here in US. Also count the tuition fees costs another cause to choose EU over US. I can’t afford +30,000$ tuition fees per year for grad school.

I am really interested applying to UK (~5000$ per year/ 1 year), Sweden (Free Tuition/ 2 years), Denmark (Free Tuition/ 2 years) and Netherlands (Reduced tuition 3000$ per year / 2 years) to peruse my Master’s and later on my PhD if everything is ok until then. But the educational systems are different in terms of grading. They have different entry criteria but mostly are the same. My basic question whether a Degree from an US institution looks good to an EU university. Are they recognizable? Sure a degree from Quinnipiac is not a degree from MIT, Harvard to name a few. But in most EU countries most degrees are bestowed with Hons automatically. Will their admissions offices will “understand” that I am coming from a US college?

I know that another factor is the CV but I don’t have any worries about it since I am doing research from the freshman year and many other things. Do think there any other factors that may affect my entry to an EU university apart my CV and GPA?

My Cumulative GPA (so far) = 3.612

Freshman
Fall= 3.59
Spring=3.84

Sophmore
Fall=3.45
Spring= In progress

I got only a C+ in my Orgo Chem I. Is it bad in terms to be accepted in the grad school? I am really stressed for the Orgo II and the first estimate from the test I gave today are not good in my opinion. I am also nervous for the semesters yet to come. This semester I took quite difficult classes: Physics II, Orgo II, Abnormal Psychology, American History II and to tell the truth I didn’t have the greatest start in most subjects (C’s and B-'s in tests, mostly A’s and B’s in the assignments). I really have to do anything to keep my GPA high. But most importantly is my GPA so far good? Because I still don’t understand how the GPA really works (along with the non-metric system units! :slight_smile: ). Do you have any suggestions to boost my study habits? I am thinking to delete permantelly mt FB account since I spend unnecessary time on it. Do you have any other comments or suggestions? I will happy to share them with me.

Excuse my bad English if there is any and the long post! I know this is a forum mostly for US colleges. I will happy to share (or send me via inbox) with me any links to continue my research.

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If you are looking to go into research, then I presume that you are looking at PhD programs. If so, then that means any program you would go to in the US would be fully funded. You should not pay to get a PhD in the sciences - typically, they pay you (either from a fellowship or with a research or teaching assistanceship). So I would not rule out doing a PhD in the US.

I would not be concerned about your university being respected in Europe. It’s an accredited 4-year university, so you’re fine there. Yes, it doesn’t have the name recognition of MIT or Harvard, but neither do 99% of the universities out there.

You said that you are already doing research, which is great. That is the biggest component of an application for a research graduate degree; they want to know they you know how to do research and you know what you’re getting into. GPA seems to function more on a “cutoff” system - if your GPA is above a threshold, it doesn’t make as big of a difference. The UK usually requires a 2:1 degree, which starts somewhere around 3.2-3.4 in the US system. So you’re not out of range on that front, but a higher GPA will of course be to your benefit. To improve, I would suggest taking advantage of resources that are available to you on campus. Most universities have some sort of free peer tutoring available, which can really help with the subject material and improving your study skills.

Another potentially important factor can be recommendations. You’ll need to have recommendations from professors and/or researchers you’ve worked with. You’re doing research, so you should have a start on this, but definitely work on cultivating relationships with faculty members for when the time comes.