Will my grades hurt my chances? I need a lot of help!

Graduate School
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<p>(I apologize for the really long and detailed post).</p>

<p>I'm a junior at a local 4 year university right now. Technically I'm a double major in biology and psychology. When I first started college I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I let my mom influence me to think about medical school. After taking 3 science classes (2 biology, and 1 chemistry), and volunteering at the hospital I realized that I didn't want to go into medicine. I stopped taking science classes after my first semester of my sophomore year. I have an overall 2.96 GPA. I received a C in both biology classes, a C+ in chemistry, a C in precalc (I did get a B+ in calc 1 though), and a C+ in psychology of animal behavior and health psychology. Because of those 2 C+s in my psychology classes, my psychology GPA isn't very nice either. I plan to retake health psychology, but I definitely do not want to even attempt another semester of animal behavior. All the other psychology classes I've taken I've received A's and B's.</p>

<p>I don't want to blame anything, but my lack of interest, as to why I did so horribly. However after my freshmen year I was going through a few things psychologically that really restricted how motivated I was. I talked to a counselor at the university and she said I may be depressed. But I didn’t take it very seriously. I was able to get up and go to class every morning. I didn't see why it would affect my study habits. It got to the point where I didn't do projects that were worth 30% of my grade, and I didn't study for exams that were worth 20% of my grade, etc. After my first semester of my junior year I transferred universities, thinking that maybe a new environment could help me somehow. Right now I'm at this new university, but I already know that I'm transferring back in the fall. I’m not happy here and the psychology department at my old university was a lot better. I know I can probably do an independent study with one of the psychology professors when I go back. I'm also going to try to get a psychology internship somewhere once I go back. The opportunities at my old university were definitely there, I just couldn't see past the mistakes I made. I've also been able to really fix myself psychologically. I think I needed a semester off to stop and think about where I was headed. Transferring may not be a semester off, but it definitely took me away from a stressful environment. </p>

<p>I know that I probably won’t graduate within a year. That idea is completely fine with me. It'll give me an opportunity to hopefully get enough research experience. I'm taking the GRE this summer. I'm hoping to do really well. I want to go to graduate school for either school psychology or cognitive psychology. I know I want a PhD. I've taken a few psychology research courses and they've always been my favorite. I know 100 percent I want to go into psychology research. I'm just worried that my GPA will hurt any chance of getting into a PhD program. If I retake health psych and get an A, it won’t raise my GPA significantly. If I retake another 2 psychology classes I received B-'s in, it'll raise my GPA probably 2 points. By the time I graduate, hoping I get 4.0s from now until then, I'll graduate with around a 3.4 GPA. I don't know what kind of LORs I can get. I'm hoping I can get at least one really good one from the professor who I want to supervise my research. I'm definitely going to try really hard to form some type of relationship with my professors. I’ll probably also ask around to see if I can be a research lab assistant. </p>

<p>To the question: Would applying straight out of my undergraduate career hurt my chances of being accepted? Should I even apply for PhD programs? I was thinking about maybe applying for a specialist degree in school psychology and then go onto a doctoral program later on. I do have my heart set on psychology research. I'm not looking to get into the best programs. Right now I'm trying to find programs that really meet my interests (in both cognitive and school psychology). I'm just a little bit scared that I don't really have the right credentials to even be a prospect and that my grades will hurt me. Also, should I bother retaking the biology and chemistry classes...for the sake of my GPA? Oh, and how bad will transfering and then transfering back look? </p>

<p>Again, I apologize for this really long and detailed post. I’m trying to put myself in the right direction before I transfer back in the fall...and before I set an appointment to talk to an advisor at the university.</p>

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<p>a 3.4 should be fine assuming the rest of your application will be excellent. it doesn’t seem like you gathered a lot of research experience though. if that’s the case, your best bet is to take some time off and work in a psychology lab and then apply for PhD programs. also, cognitive programs and school psych programs are completely different areas.</p>

3

<p>I know I have no research experience at all. I was hoping I could do an independent study in the fall. I was also going to ask around the psychology department to see if I can work as an assistant. I know that area in my app is completely empty. But I’m also assuming I have about 4 semesters/2 years to improve that. </p>

<p>I also know the 2 programs are completely different. I think once I do research, I’ll figure out what area I’m more interested in. I have found interest in both, but I don’t plan on applying to both programs. I like the counseling and working with children side of school psych. And I enjoy the cognitive side of cognitive psych.</p>

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<p>I have just graduated with a BA in psychology this December and am applying to PhD programs next fall. From everything I have heard, and after having detailed conversations with my advisor, research experience is MUCH more impressive than grades, and doing quite well on the GREs will make the GPA less of a concern as well. If you have good grades in your psych courses, are involved in research, can maybe get your name on a publication or two, you are in good shape, along with strong letters of recommendation and a well focused personal essay. </p>

<p>Does your school offer an honors program or a year-long senior thesis? If you are interested in research, an internship will do nothing for you unless you intern in a research lab elsewhere. Maybe if you go into school psychology it will be helpful if the internship is highly relevant, but PhD programs want students with research experience. Doing an independent study is good if you have an experimental component - don’t just study a topic and write a simple paper about it; design a study and collect/analyze the data yourself. See if any professors have current projects or papers you can join in on, especially if any have research interests that match yours. Speak up and let them know you want to go to graduate school and they will most likely help you by offering you opportunities you might not know even existed. I noticed that once I voiced my seriousness about applying to graduate school, my professors tended to pay more attention to me and talk to me more. I think they were taking mental notes to prepare to be asked for a recommendation, so don’t keep your ideas quiet. </p>

<p>Even if your research experiences are with different subjects, that won’t matter too much if you apply to different programs. It is more important to understand that you enjoy the scientific process, have good ideas to contribute, and are able to follow through with a study.</p>

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<p>JPD879: read my background info here –> <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/982117-applying-grad-school-low-gpa-but-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/982117-applying-grad-school-low-gpa-but-experience.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I F%$^#d in undergrad.</p>

<p>Buuuut… I’ve already received two interview requests and I know I’ll be getting a third from another university (because my potential prof at that institution was impressed by my application that he asked the selection committee to invite me to the school). One of the universities I applied to I know I won’t be going because the prof recently wrote to me and told me that he failed to get funding for the next few years. So so far, 3/4 schools I have a chance to go to I’ll be interviewing with.</p>

<p>In short, maybe if you take some time off and get into research at a lab or in the psych industry, AND your grades show an upward trend (coincidentally, the worst grade I received in my senior year was in psych), then you may have a good application and a reasonable chance</p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>