How F-ed are my dreams? (personal story)...help?

Graduate School
1

<p>The time period between my junior year of high school and freshmen year of college has been characterized by depression, immense pressure, and a steady decrease in motivation. It was like everything that could have gone wrong was going wrong, and then some.</p>

<p>I went from straight A to straight not-so-well. I didn’t resort to drugs or alcohol, but I didn’t really have an open heart talk about it either(didn’t feel like I needed to). Bottomline, I’m going to do my best to put this behind me, pray, and worry about the future. I want to eventually get a PhD, amongst other things, and I want to go to a top notch university to do my graduate study. And for that, I’m going to pick my @$$ up and do work.</p>

<p>So here’s my big problem right now. I’m a freshmen, but I’ve taken college courses since 11th grade. My cumulative college GPA, after Fall '09, is 2.96/4.00. I averaged at least a B in all of my college courses, so I don’t even know why it’s that low. I already have 32 credit hours that actually count toward my GPA. I have had 3 retakes: D+ to B+; D- to A-; and F to B+. could’ve aced them all, but just didn’t.</p>

<p>2.96… And I want to go to places as prestigious as MIT and Stanford. Do I have screws loose or what? I am trying to cover other things that would be required of me, such as research, work, scholarships (hopefully), etc.</p>

<p>Really, I don’t think I stand a chance. Those guys coming from China and Singapore are pretty damn smart and those with 4.0s can get outright rejected. Ultimately, I have say that me even considering this is personal business. I have this vision of someday finally making certain people really proud and other people really jealous, so I’d be the one with the arrogant smirk.</p>

<p>That being said, I welcome any comments, constructive criticisms, and reality checks.</p>

2

<p>see, it’s possible for a 2.9 coming out of an ivy, but much harder from a lesser known school. but grades generally don’t mean a great deal when applying to phd programs. regardless, you have nothing to lose by applying so give it a shot.</p>

3

<p>GPA is not the only criteria being assessed in admission applications.<br>
Criteria used:
quality and rigor of student’s chosen coursework
clear demonstrations that the student has explored the proposed field of graduate study (research experience or volunteering in field)
demonstration that the student has aptitude and passion for proposed field of graduate study (again research experience or volunteer in field during summer or academic year)</p>

<p>You are a freshman and still have quite a bit of time to explore, develop and demonstrate your aptitude and passion for a specific graduate field</p>

4

<p>I think you still have plenty of time to recoup. I understand some of the issues you are dealing with and I think that the most important assets that you have right now are your motivation and passion for going to graduate school. I would encourage you to get involved in research within your chosen field as soon as possible. If you can get some publications in during your college years, that would be even better. </p>

<p>I wish you the best of luck and encourage you to do the best you can from here on. I really don’t think that grad school at a good institution is impossible for you, at all.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the responses so far.</p>

<p>I am getting a job as lab assistant the coming semester. I’m in the engineering department of a “lesser known college” btw. I honestly don’t know if grad school is my best option, since I haven’t even dealt with anything very esoteric in terms of research. I think part of what would drive me if I really do decide to pursue this path is because it’s the only way to prove I can do it (that I’m as good as those punks at MIT, or at least can be). Other than that, pursuing a PhD seems like a better fit to me than working right out of college. </p>

<p>Anyways, I forgot to mention the ridiculous cost of grad school, and how I will never be able to afford it by myself. I would need to investigate this matter further, but can anyone provide a picture of the different sources of scholarships in grad school? (eg. fellowships, financial aid…) How competitive is it? Is it need based (it better be)? Any information regarding money for grad school is also welcome.</p>

6

<p>As an engineering student pursuing a PhD you will not have to pay anything. In fact they will pay you. You will get a tuition waiver and a stipend. You will probably have to work as a teaching assistant or a research assistant, or you might get a fellowship. But you will definitely not have to pay at all. </p>

<p>Going for a masters is a different story, you would probably have to pay but it seems like you are going for the PhD.</p>

7

<p>I’m not sure about engineering, but in biomedical sciences, GPA doesn’t matter all that much for PhD admission process as long as you have at least a 3.3 - 3.5. Admission committees put a lot more emphasis on research experience and letters of rec, so starting a lab assistantship is a good first step. Also, going to a smaller school doesn’t have to be a disadvantage although you should seek out some lab experience at bigger universities over the summers (REU, etc). Finally, as for grades, showing an upward trend over the years is very favorable as it shows that you have learned from your mistakes and put a lot more effort when it counted. Actually, some applications want you to compute grades from the last two years, so your freshman year grades might not even matter at all for some schools.</p>