<p>Three years ago, I came to CC as a well-rounded valedictorian curious about the art and tricks associated with applying to highly selective institutions. You taught me about hooks, helped me find what ivy I was a match for, and helped me get in early. I’m very thankful - and I’ve tried to do my part to help new applicants learn what you’ve taught me each subsequent year. </p>
<p>Now, 3 years later I approach you once again for help. But this time I’m a very different candidate, which I’ll explain. I write this with two goals: to plea for advice, and maybe scare some people who still have time into doing their work. I could go into tons of detail, but I’ll try to just stick to the quick facts.</p>
<p>These grades, while mediocre, did require work, a lot of work - but not nearly the level of work required by an ivy. I tried to balance a highly social life with a serious academic life, and sometimes I’d prioritize the first. </p>
<p>First semester, I was excited and ready to work, and got a 3.4. Not great, but I had a lot of fun, and that’s not disaster territory.</p>
<p>Second semester - I joined a fraternity while taking the max load for classes. Bad idea. My GPA plummeted to a 2.8, and my would-be major GPA a fantastic 2.6. The next year and a half was pretty similar - I got really involved with the fraternity, became social chair, and actually started planning the parties that were responsible for my academic demise. Don’t get me wrong - I had a lot of fun, more fun in one and a half years than in my entire life, but all at the price of my future options. </p>
<p>As this happened, I stopped caring about grades - and began justifying my work ethic and poor grades because I didn’t want to end up like the sops in the library on friday night (lame, antisocial, slow, nerdy, etc). While I’d still study frequently - more often than not it was social studying, where we’d mostly goof off instead of doing any serious work. I spent my weekends with girls instead of studying for monday midterms, learned but never memorized material because I was lazy, and never did more than the minimum asked or attended a single office-hours for the same reason. </p>
<p>Now I’m learning the graduate school game, and I’m terrified of these average GPA’s I’m seeing. The partying did sort of pay off- for example, shmoozing got me into a nobel-quality lab of which I am now a star (I seem to be much better at real work than grades). The variables of the biology (my major) graduate school game seem to be GPA, GREs, lab work/work experience, LoR’s, and interviews. I’m a biology major with a minor in math. My GPA(s) are: 3.05 cumm, 2.99 biology, 2.82 chemistry, and 2.50 math - making my science GPA a 2.81. But this is not a chances thread - I’d like to propose a very specific question:</p>
<p>I will get grad school interviews because I’ve been lucky enough to make good connections and impress the right people while I’ve been at school. However, the question is going to come up:</p>
<p>Why are your grades so bad? </p>
<p>How would you answer it? Should I tell the truth:</p>
<p>My grades suck because I’d rather party and meet girls, I don’t feel like memorizing something I can look up in minutes, and some of the teachers I’ve had have managed to make an intrinsically fascinating subject boring. I never cheated myself from learning, but never went the extra mile.</p>
<p>Or do you have a more tactful response? Thanks, I sincerely appreciate it, and sorry for the novel.</p>