Trouble finding a PhD advisor due to low undergrad and grad GPA

Graduate School
1

I am doing my MS in Electrical Engineering at a university that isn’t one of the very top ones, but it is one of the Tier 1 ones. I got in as MS+PhD, so I’ll move onto PhD, given I pass the prelims and I find an advisor, which is what I need some advice on.

Here’s some background. I got my BS in EE at this same university in June 2015. At my university, for most EE courses, the class average is considered a B-/C+. In my case, no matter how much time I spent on a course, time and time again, I used to end up with the class average in the exams. Consequently, for most of my courses in undergrad, I ended up with B-. Sometimes Bs. So until the end of 3rd year, I was mostly at a GPA of 2.9. Then in the 4th year, I took a bunch of courses whose grades mostly depended on projects and not exams. I was able to salvage some As from those, and finally ended up with a GPA of 3.1.

When I applied for grad school at this same university, I did not expect much as the average undergrad GPA of students that attended was 3.5, and the cutoff was 3.0. But then, maybe they saw something in my essays or something, and admitted me as a MS+PhD (with no grants, just government loans). So I thought, well now that I am in, my undergrad GPA is not a big issue anymore. But not quite.

I already did two quarters in MS, and again it’s the same thing. I ended up getting the class average in all the courses so far, and have been getting B or B+, as the average is considered B/B+. And in grad school, B- is a fail, so getting a B is like getting a C in undergrad. My current grad GPA is 3.1.

Whenever I go to a professor to ask if they would be my PhD advisor, the first question they ask is my undergrad GPA and current GPA. Whenever they hear my GPAs, they get unenthusiastic. One of them even told me, “Why are you still here? Since you have a BS in EE, you can just go work.” Honestly, I am getting tired of this battle with my GPA. What can I do now to find an advisor? Please don’t state the obvious and just advise me to improve my GPA, as I have tried that for almost 5 years now.

TL;DR: I am trying to find a PhD advisor, but professors are unimpressed by my undergrad and grad GPA. What can I do?

2

Have you been involved in any research or anything that would help you build a relationship with your professors and show them what you can do outside the classroom setting? I think their primary concern right now is that you may have a hard time grasping concepts that will be crucial to successful progression in a PhD program (based on your GPAs). You will need to show them that you can succeed, either through improving your GPA and/or doing other work that impresses them to some extent.

3

First, doing a PhD on government loans is a dubious investment. Even if you get a great job afterwards, we’re talking about loans in the $150-200K range for private school (assuming you are also borrowing for living expenses). That’s a lot of debt for programs that normally fully fund their students, especially in a field like electrical engineering at a tier 1 school. In fact, the fact that you were admitted without funding is a sign that the program didn’t have a lot of confidence in you as a student, unfortunately.

In some programs - especially if everyone else is funded - some professors are reluctant to take unfunded students into their research groups. This is for a variety of reasons: philosophical (some professors don’t like the idea of unfunded students in general, as it undermines the current system of compensating PhD students for their work), practical (unfunded students are more likely to drop out or need to take breaks for financial reasons, and PIs might be afraid that a particular student will do that), and academic (unfunded students tend to be the weaker ones in the department as far admissions statistics go, so some PIs perceive them to be less capable, for better or worse). So that could be contributing to the problem, even if no PI has outright said it to you. Then, unfortunately, your MS GPA is so far unintentionally confirming the already conditional ideas they may have had about accepting you. It’s just like you said - your 3.1 GPA in the MS program is kind of like having a 2.1 GPA from undergrad, since getting a B is like getting a C.

In any case, how many professors have you approached, and how do you approach them? If it has only been a few (<3), then it may be that you need to broaden out but change your approach a bit. You’re starting at a disadvantage, so you need to wow them. Do your background research on their work, maybe ask their current students what kind of research they are doing in the lab, and think about how you can use your expertise and knowledge and skills to build novel projects that may get papers and grants. Then when you meet with them, don’t just say “Can I be your student?” but say “Here’s why I would be a great student for you: our research overlaps in X and Y ways, and I have an idea for projects A and B that could potentially be excellent papers/push the field forward/whatever.” Let them know up front that you are an excellent researcher and give them a reason why they should take a chance on you.

If you have asked more than 4 professors already and all of them have turned you down, or you are approaching them with some version of the above and they are still not willing to take you, unless your department is very large you need to do some thinking about whether this department is ever going to support you the way that you’re going to require support - and quickly, before you spend too much money. A doctoral student who has to go through this many professors in the department to find support has increasingly diminishing chances of actually graduating and getting solid research opportunities post grad school. You need support not only from your PI, but from other professors in the department who know your work and can write you recommendation letters, network on your behalf, vouch for you, etc. You want the department to have a generally positive view of you and your work. If a decent percentage of the department is turning you down and questioning your ability to work (regardless of whether it’s true or not), you may need to go to another department where people are more willing to support you.

In fact, I would be a strong advocate of dropping out of this program, working for a few years (potentially in a research-related position) with your BS - putting some distance between you and your poor grades - and then re-entering a different PhD program with funding.