<p>Hi all, long time lurker first time poster.</p>
<p>Basically, I have a 2.78 GPA and have one more year after this before I graduate with a degree in molecular and cellular biology. My grades were NOT good my first year, though an upward trend is clearly visible with my GPA.</p>
<p>How badly will this hamper my ability to get into grad school? I'm looking at UCLA, University of Colorado (Denver) University of Washington (Seattle). Should I be stressing out? If I get insanely good rec letters, will that offset my lackluster GPA?</p>
<p>Generally, graduate programs want to see a 3.0/4.0 GPA unless there are serious mitigating circumstances. You might want to work for a bit before applying to gain laboratory experience. I have found that students who come back to graduate school after some time are highly motivated and do much better than their college GPA would indicate.</p>
<p>As far as I know, those are some top biology programs (top 30 at least). While a 3.0 minimum is expected I think most accepted applicants probably have at least around a 3.5+, or maybe a 3.3+ if they have an otherwise outstanding application. So yes, a 2.78 will give you significant problems getting in, even if you have 2-3 years of research experience and stellar recommendation letters. They won’t offset a lackluster GPA THAT much.</p>
<p>I agree with xraymancs (who is a science professor, incidentally) in that you should probably take some time off and work in a laboratory. You can do this as either a lab technician or full-time research associate in a lab (either at a university or at a government or private lab), or as a research manager/coordinator for a research lab (most of the time it is universities who have this, but look beyond biology departments and also consider schools of medicine). You could also gain this experience part-time by volunteering or working it as a second job, but note that this may be kind of difficult - some labs run through the weekends and late into the evenings (many, actually) but you may be kind of exhausted doing it around another full-time job.</p>
<p>Personally, I think 2-3 years is best. If you take only a year, you are essentially applying when you’ve been in the lab for only 3-6 months - that’s not enough distance or time to get a recommendation from your PI. If you take at least 2 years, then when you apply you’ll have a little over one full year with your PI and will get a better recommendation letter. I would say 2-3 years is the most common amount.</p>
<p>In my field, these jobs usually come out in the late spring, once the current crop of managers has gotten into grad school and decided that they are leaving. (Project coordinator positions are a little more year-round, since those aren’t always occupied by recent graduates attempting to go to grad school, but they usually are.) I found out about them mostly through professors and listservs - so ask your professors if they’ll keep you abreast of any jobs like this that their colleagues might need. You can also just look on the websites of large universities in your area that have laboratories/research being done in your area.</p>