<p>yes. BrownParent, I’ve read that gradschooltalk.pdf long time ago. This is exactly why I was asking question like: why do most people accepted have 3.8+ GPA, especially when research experience is highly valued? </p>
<p>Again, I am not trying to denounce the value of research experience. In fact, I plan on doing it for a significant length of time on an applied topic I enjoyed. However, since nearly ALL my classes taken now are relevant to my research interest in the general sense, I really wonder whether or not I should indeed slack off on them, especially those advanced/rigorous ones after what you said about the importance of GPA. Initially, my motivation has been to do well in them so that I understand the topics really well to put my own thoughts into it while writing mini-research paper / doing projects in these classes. Hence, I treat these advanced classes as a foundation that I will build upon to further my research interest/ideas and knowledge base. So naturally, in the process of doing so, I would indeed obtain a good GPA. That’s why I feel odd about obtaining a poor GPA but still yield quality research.</p>