Low GPA, High GRE and Decent Research/Work

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>Another chances thread with a couple of questions:</p>

<p>I graduated (in May) from UC Berkeley with a 2.8 GPA in MCB (Biochem emphasis) and GRE scores of 161V/165Q 5.0 AW. Additionally, I've done internships every summer during college at a biotech company, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and two at Genentech. Currently I'm working at Genentech until next June at which point I hope to move on to a PhD program in Biology.</p>

<p>I won't justify my GPA in college, I treated it like high school expecting to skate by - but this was not the case. I have professors that i've done well with that will write me a letter of rec and I consider myself a strong writer so my SoP should be relatively well written.</p>

<p>My questions are: How much does the name of a school matter? Perusing CC i've found a lot of mixed answers. I won't be relying on this at all, i'm simply curious.
Also, whats the difference between a LoR from a boss vs. a professor? I feel like I have worked more closely with my bosses and thus they would be able to write a better letter, but do universities look at the letters differently?</p>

<p>I'm not looking to get into the elite programs (Cal, Stanford, etc.) and I don't have a preference for place in the country, but some of the places i'm applying to are:
George Washington, UT-Southwestern, Duke, Boston University, UMass - Boston, Rutgers, Albany, Cornell</p>

<p>Does anyone have more recommendations in those areas that I can look into? I know the research fit is way more important than the school, but the typical cutoff of 3.0 for GPAs is really limiting my options.</p>

<p>Many people will read this and suggest going to a Master's program first then transitioning to a PhD program, and that is certainly an option for me - something that I'm currently looking into. However, as far as my chances for PhD programs go, how do you all think they are?</p>

<p>Any help/advice you can provide is both welcome and appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Name of school is indirectly important - it is not the “name” so much as the reputation of the university and the department in which you were trained. Professors have friends at top schools; they respect the preparation of undergraduates from favored departments, which won’t necessarily map onto what lay people presume is important. I think UC Berkeley is a good department, but I’m not sure what you are expecting.</p>

<p>Yes, universities look at recommendations from bosses differently than from professors. Departments want to know whether or not you will excel academically and at research in the field; they want to know whether you can successfully complete a PhD program. Professors, who have done their own PhDs and often supervise doctoral students, are the best equipped to make that judgment. If your boss at Genentech, or one of the previous bosses, has a PhD and supervises you in research-related work (very likely) then I would say that one recommendation from a boss should be okay. But the other two should come from professors.</p>

<p>Normally I don’t comment on chances, because that’s really impossible to know. I will say that a 2.8 GPA will make things difficult for PhD programs. The good thing is that you have an otherwise pretty impressive package, assuming that those three internships and your job are all research in the field. If you have recommenders who LOVE you and can help you explain the low GPA - and if your bio GPA is higher - then you might have a shot.</p>