Want to get into top PhD program, no research experience and poor GPA, help? :(

Graduate School
1

<p>I graduated from a top-tier university for undergraduate with a degree in Economics. I did very poorly GPA-wise (overall = 3.0 / major = 3.1) due to changing majors a lot, juggling part-time jobs, and just general immaturity. After graduating, I job-hopped for 2 years trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I accomplished some pretty cool things at each of the jobs, but none of them lasted for more than 8 months.</p>

<p>I took a few months ("gap summer?") off to really think about what I want to do, and have concluded that I'm happiest when I'm 1) learning and discovering new things, 2) writing analytical papers, 3) teaching others. Natural conclusion - looks like I'm heading to grad school!</p>

<p>End goal is a PhD in Nutrition with a focus in public health applications. However, due to my lack of science background and lack of research experience, I have no idea how to make myself competitive. I plan on getting an MPH (Master in Public Health) first and then moving on to the PhD in Nutrition. I'm taking some prerequisite classes at a local community college now as a post-bac student and doing really well... but since it IS a comm college, compared with my undergrad GPA I have no idea if anyone will even take my post-bac GPA seriously.</p>

<p>Here are my stats. Any suggestions or help would be great :(</p>

<p>Undergraduate school: HYPSM
Undergraduate GPA: 3.0 (overall), 3.1 (major)
Undergraduate major: Economics
Post-bac school: community college
Post-bac GPA: 4.0
Post-bac classes: chemistry, biology, physics, nutrition, sociology, psychology, anatomy/physiology, genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, pathophysiology</p>

<p>Job experience: 2 years in finance, marketing, and business development
Research experience: none in college; did a lot in high school and won many awards at major competitions (STS, ISEF, etc.)
GRE: 164V (93%), 163Q (86%), 5.0 AW</p>

<p>Target school for MPH: Tufts University (they also have a joint MS Nutrition/MPH program that I would kill to get into)
Other schools I plan to apply for MPH: University of Texas, Boston University, UMass Amherst
Target schools for PhD: Tufts University, Harvard University</p>

<p>Biggest question: HOW DO I GET RESEARCH EXPERIENCE? :(</p>

2

<p>in your situation, you get the research experience in the Masters program. Personally, I would encourage you to not only apply to the Masters programs but maybe submit a Ph.D. application or two as well just to see how you stack up. You need to be upfront about your lack of research experience (don’t mention the HS stuff, please) and lean on your strong GRE scores as well as your record in the post-bac courses and your new-found motivation. My guess is that you might not be competitive for the most selective Ph.D. programs right now but one of those a bit less selective might just be willing to give you a shot on promise. </p>

<p>However, your plan to get a Masters first is a good one too and might eventually open the door to a more selective Ph.D. program after you have gained some research experience.</p>

3

<p>Forgot to mention that I do have “research” experience (at a top-three business school). I basically 1) collected lots and lots of data, 2) ran regressions on said lots of data, 3) rinsed and repeated. It was data analysis training, but of course since it was at a business school, it’s not a traditional lab research experience at all. Is this worth mentioning? I wasn’t on the published paper (prof running the project left out all of the undergrads on the project, actually).</p>

<p>Not surprised, but is there a reason why mentioning high school research is frowned upon?</p>

4

<p>First because it is at least 4 years out of date and then it is at a different level than you would get in college. You can certainly discuss the research that you did in college even if it is not in your eventual field.</p>

5

<p>You seem to be on the right track. Perhaps choose a wider variety of MPH schools and choose one where you are likely to get research experience. </p>

6

<p>If you are taking the prerequisites at a CC, your CC professors are unlikely to be doing much research. However, if you live nearby a four-year school, one way that you can get some pre-master’s research experience is by contacting professors at the four-year school who do interesting research and ask if they need/want/would take on an undergraduate research assistant. Give them a short backstory in 1-3 sentences, and attach a CV.</p>

<p>However, the best course of action is probably to get it during your master’s. An MS in nutrition/MPH program is going to take 2-3 years, which is plenty of time to get some good research experience (lab or not).</p>

<p>Columbia has an MS in nutrition that’s designed to be a gap year/stepping stone for people who want to pursue further graduate education: <a href=“http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/ihn/prospectivestudents”>Application Information | Institute of Human Nutrition;

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<p>For some reason I never even found that program at Columbia while researching schools. Thanks for sharing, I’ll definitely give it a shot.</p>