GPA and Low Grades

cosmicfish
Sat, 09 Apr 2016 21:33:31 +0000

My GPA is currently 2.41, with 2 C’s in NE101 and NE203. I also have a 1 D in CH101 and another D in NE202. I only took around 16 classes and will take 49 classes in total that should be 3.2 ideally. Is this okay to be off to a PhD program in Alzheimer’s research? Please help.

If you are only about 1/3 of the way through your program then you are not dead in the water, but you are definitely in a rough spot. Your overall GPA is important, since many programs use GPA to winnow down the field of candidates before even looking closer, but if you can get past that round they generally just want to see that you did well in your relevant advanced courses and that your recent history suggests that you can handle grad coursework. So if you can get up to a 3.00+ GPA overall and have a solid last few years, you have a shot.

That having been said, you have two problems.

First is that a person who pulls a 2.41 across 16 classes is not likely to suddenly turn around and start churning out 4.00 semesters. Whatever was hurting your grades previously will likely continue to be a problem unless you can clearly identify and rectify that issue. Most cannot do so.

Second is that grad school is competitive. There are a lot of people competing for very limited slots, so a 3.20 GPA might make you eligible but might not get you in anywhere you actually want to go. Remember that undergrad programs churn out a lot of graduates with high GPA’s, so you’re starting out at a competitive disadvantage. The best way to make up for that is with quality undergrad research, but many professors have GPA expectations for their research teams, so it can be hard to make up that ground.

Push hard, work smart, and remember that whether you have a 2.00 or a 4.00, you should always have backup plans in case you don’t get into grad school. Good luck!