Some Guidance

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi, haven't posted on this site in a while. I'm going to be a sophomore this upcoming year at UW Madison. I'm a molec. bio. major and I'm starting to think about grad schools. I was just wondering if some of you more experienced members could offer me some assistance as to how I could improve my undergrad experience in order to not struggle in gaining a spot at the grad school I want.</p>

<p>Anyways, I guess off the bat I started off my first year off poorly. I received a 3.3 cum. gpa. It's very low, I know, but I'm very motivated this year to improve it. </p>

<p>I'm in the honors program at UW and I am in a prestigious biology program as well. It's called BioCore.</p>

<p>I'll be going to research interviews this week to get a spot in a lab and begin doing research this upcoming sophomore year. </p>

<p>I'm in two activities, not that special.</p>

<p>So, I'm pretty low right now in regards to how I rank in the pool of grad school applicants. I was wondering if you guys could offer some suggestions as to what I should really be doing this year to improve my resume. Once again I'm majoring in molec. bio. and I hope to do similar work in grad school and spend most of my life doing research on the pancreas. In terms of location for grad school, I'd like to experience something different and try the east coast. Thank you for any assistance provided.</p>

2

<p>I wouldn’t worry about your freshman year grades. Kick ass in your upper level Bio classes and it won’t matter really. You have two years (that count in terms of admissions) to raise the GPA. </p>

<p>Get into research as soon as possible and make sure you are doing some work in there too! Really apply yourself to understanding WHAT the research means, and why you are doing. Summer REU’s at UW or elsewhere are pretty important. Make sure you actively engage professors in lab, as well as course. These are the people that will be evaluating you, and you’ll learn alot more if they are willing to intellectually challenge in and out of the class room.</p>

<p>Most importantly though, enjoy your time.</p>