<p>I just finished my junior year as an undergraduate. I have a 3.02 cumulative GPA, but got a 2.75 in my second semester of junior year. This is because I picked up a Biology minor in addition to my psychology major, knowing it would be a challenge, because I really want to do research in behavior. I find biology to be a challenge, I'm not really sure why.</p>
<p>I know this isn't a great GPA and I was wondering if improving my GPA my senior year will affect getting into graduate school. Also, I will most likely be doing undergraduate research with a professor next semester (in animal behavior/communication). I will be taking the GRE in July. If I do well on that and I am involved in research, will I still have a decent chance getting into graduate school?</p>
<p>I either want to apply for a behavioral neuroscience program, or specifically animal related biology (zoology) or behavior.</p>
<p>I’ll let someone else comment on other aspects of your application - but I will quickly say this: you are hovering on the 3.0 GPA cut-off (offical or unofficial) that a lot of grad schools have - so make sure you graduate above a 3.0 (you don’t want to be that person posting here post-graduation with a ~2.9 GPA and freaking out)</p>
<p>If you are applying to PhD programs and will be getting your first research experience in the fall, I recommend waiting a year and trying to secure a research position after graduation. With a GPA hovering around the 3.0 mark, you’ll need to be really strong in other areas.</p>
<p>I am also applying for 2012 application season. Here are my stats, </p>
<p>7 years of research (3 REUs, 4 years of industry research)
GPA 3.19, but I have a research credit from a course taken at LSU which should make it a 3.20.</p>
<p>Although I have alot of research experience, I still worry about the cutoffs (GPA, GRE).</p>