Will 2 B's in my major obliterate any chance for graduate admissions to top schools?

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>I'm a Computer Science/Biology double major, looking to go to graduate school for Genetics/Bioinformatics. </p>

<p>My mind is much more mathematical than it is biological, but I'm still very sharp in biology. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, I've made 2 B's in Biology. Everything else is an A so far. </p>

<p>I've made A's in my CS classes like Artificial Intelligence, Stochastic & Simulations, Theoretical Computer Science, Programming Abstractions, Fuzzy Logic, Data Mining, etc.</p>

<p>I've made A's so far in my Biology Major classes like Genetics, Microbiology, Virology, Organic Chemistry's, Genetic Evolution, etc.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I made a B in Bio II and a B in Molecular Cell Biology.</p>

<p>Both classes were taught by the same instructor, same format of pure rote memorization, and I'm a thinker...I like knowing how things work systematically or deriving solutions or ideas from facts and logic. The professor used their own written manual as a textbook, and it blatantly contradicted legit published textbooks and had the worst grammar, syntax, etc. (Russian lady who spent 4/5 of the class berating us about research in the USSR). Both were close B's (88 and 89, respectively), unfortunately a B is a B. </p>

<p>I was just wondering would this hurt my application? </p>

<p>I don't like the physiology aspect of biology, but I LOVE the genetics part. I've taken 3 graduate Genetics classes (Genomics, Population Genetics, Human Genetics) in the college of life sciences on my campus as undergraduate elective (allowed up to 4 total graduate classes), and I've made A's in all of them. I even made an A in a graduate Databases class offered under the college of engineering (computer science). </p>

<p>My GPA is ~3.9+, and I've done research at the NIH, research in genetics and modeling at my institution, an a summer REU at UCLA. </p>

<p>I'm in my 4th/5th year for my curriculum. I want to apply to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA. I might trim it as my curriculum advances.</p>

<p>Other tier schools I'm considering are UT Austin, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Emory.</p>

<p>I really want to go to somewhere in the first set. Do you think it's still possible with 2 B's?</p>

2

<p>No, it won’t matter.</p>

3

<p>Agreed. GPA is not the most important factor in admissions decisions. In most cases, it seems like once you’re above a certain threshold, it has little impact (and that threshold is definitely below 3.9). As you pointed out, you’ve taken challenging, relevant courses and have good research experience. With good GREs and letters of recommendation, I highly doubt anyone is even going to notice the two Bs.</p>

<p>As for specific schools, a huge factor in determining whether you get in is based on fit - how well do your research interests match those of the faculty/potential advisors at the institution.</p>

4

<p>I agree. GPA is not the only determining factor. There are other factors you should pay attention to, such as leadership, volunteerism, etc. You would then separate yourself from others.</p>

5

<p>For science grad school I would argue that volunteerism and the abstract concept of “leadership” are of less significance, unlike for undergrad.
The main things that are considered: research experience, letters of recommendation, grades, and GRE. (Possibly teaching experience, but I think that’s seen as more of a bonus card, and depends on the type of program you’re applying to.)</p>

6

<p>Well, your applicants are going to have research experience, high GRE scores (my Cell Bio Professor did not even do well, but she still was accepted), letters of recommendations, etc too. You have to look more competitive and separate yourself from the other applicants. I am not saying GRE, grades, etc are not important because they are. You just want to stick out.</p>

7

<p>Yes, but that’s a very low-weighted factor relative to all the other things. In terms of how they read applications, it’s going to be icing on the cake. But you need to have the cake to ice. Don’t sacrifice research opportunities to try to get extra volunteering on your resume, but if you have time for both, it can’t hurt.</p>