<p>I’m a current undergrad sophomore (just finished Fall sem), in a tough Ivy League environment. Being college-ready was already a tough battle for me, as I came in with a lot of disadvantages (lowest income bracket, drug and incarcerated parent home environment, poor public high school). I was focused on finally being on the same playing field as everyone else when starting college, but was halted around midterms season my first sem of freshman year-- one of my parents died suddenly under horrible circumstances that I can’t really detail here. </p>
<p>My advisers wanted to send me home for a leave, but it would have been for a year. I didn’t have much at home (this includes basic necessities), and insisted on staying in school. This decision came at the expense of a LOT of professor sympathy-- some professors were great and let me have an assignment extension or two. Others, when I went to speak to them in person (I was in a weird state and wanted to be pseudo-responsible by going to their office hours) literally told me “Well, you’re here now, so I expect you to be in class in 20 minutes.” and no extensions. I didn’t miss more than two days worth of classes after the death and pressed on but went a little nuts and the grades badly suffered. I didn’t know self-advocacy then, and I didn’t know how to make wise, GPA-friendly choices about this (nobody helped me).</p>
<p>Enough with the sob story-- I ended up with a 2.7-something GPA that sem. My awesome As at the beginning of that semester went to Cs. With it being too late to drop anything, I didn’t take any Ws even though some of the point values for the scorned professor classes were HUGE (so big mistake). Two semesters later (now) I am a bit above a 3.3, on a consistent upward trend and courseloads much more demanding than average (20-21 credits). I do a ton of extracurricular work that I love and have an amazing summer job set up for me. The upward grade trend isn’t dramatic enough though–this is because I have been bulldozing through my tougher gen eds and haven’t really dove fully into courses for my major (I expect I should be able to get more solid As rather than the A- or B+ here or there). </p>
<p>I’d really love to get into a top Ph.D program eventually, but it seems really far-fetched. If I did even fairly okay next semester (a B+, some A-es, and a few As) I am pretty sure I can get up to a 3.4 by the end of sophomore year. But again, I know it isn’t good enough-- by the end of junior year maybe a 3.5 or 3.6 would be bestowed upon me which I recognize still isn’t all that jazzy for Ivy and other top grad programs. I don’t know what to do–should I mention what happened freshman year on my grad apps? I’m scared of making it like an excuse. And I don’t intend for it to be, this is my fault. I should have went home or something; my disadvantages don’t entitle me to anything. But will they want to know?</p>
<p>Also, should I even bother with grad school? It seems so impossible to get in and after all the mud on my hands so far, I might be wasting my time and money when I could focus now on beginning to build a career or something. </p>
<p>I’m an undergraduate myself, so take this with a grain of salt. However, I believe it is worth it if you can significantly back your claim and present it professionally. Don’t make it a distracting part of your application, put less emphasis on it and use it only to complement your strengths.</p>
<p>However, being honest, income is going to be an important issue. You need to improve your GPA, which will require sacrifices. Specifically - once you’ve moved as much past this ordeal as possible - consider what you want to do for graduate school. Once you’ve found it, drop your extra-curricular activities that are not associated with your grad school interest. You need more time to focus on your grades and other factors are more important.</p>
<p>You have to research specific universities to best understand entry requirements, but a good rule of thumb is 3.5 minimum for PhD and 3.0 minimum for MA. Additionally, even if your overall GPA reaches a 3.5 if your work/research experience, GRE and major GPA are not good you might not be accepted or you might be required to complete a MA first. Master degrees receive very little funding and you would likely build up a significant debt.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much influence your situation will have on admissions and funding, and a response to this will require a much more experienced/profession statement. However, under general guidelines, you need to work extremely hard or it will be too expensive. There’s a good chance you won’t make it into top tier program either (but plenty of phenomenal educations still exist elsewhere).</p>
<p>Let me give you my perspective as a physics professor and someone who ran the university graduate admissions office. Don’t worry about this now. You are a Sophomore and have two more years of courses to put on your record. You clearly have the chops to do well as your GPA has risen 0.6 in two semesters of work. You might not be able to get the GPA to dizzying heights but that is not necessary for graduate school. here is what you should do:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Keep doing well in your classes. Graduate programs DO look at the last two years of study as more important than the first semesters.</p></li>
<li><p>Get research experience. You don’t say what major you are in or what kind of graduate program you want to follow but you will need research experience in any case. Go talk to professors in your department and volunteer and then seek out summer research experiences. The more experience you have the better.</p></li>
<li><p>In your Junior year, start looking for graduate programs which meet your needs. Do not get hung up on going to an ivy League school for your Ph.D. There are plenty of really good researchers in the other 200 or so [research</a> universities](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_in_the_United_States"]research”>List of research universities in the United States - Wikipedia) in the United States. Ask your mentors at your school about which programs might be good for you.</p></li>
<li><p>When it comes time to apply, you should definitely mention your background and your first semester troubles but don’t dwell on them or put a lot of effort into “explaining away” the poor grades. The Admissions Committees know how to read between the lines and you can simply let your later academic record do the talking for you. Instead in your statement of purpose, you should be specific about what you have done to prepare yourself for the specific graduate program you are applying to. Do your homework and know what the strengths of the program are and who you could see yourself working with. Finally, make sure that you apply to a range of programs. There is no guarantee that you can get into one of the highly selective programs which have many, many applications. It is a numbers game, not just about the quality of your application. Find one or two less selective programs which will give you full financial aid and which you could see yourself attending. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, although a 3.5 is a good minimum to shoot for, it’s not absolutely necessary. I had a 3.42 coming from undergrad and, like you, and a really rough semester. I did go to an Ivy League for my PhD. So it’s quite possible even with what you have now - but like xraymancs said, you still have 2 years to raise your GPA.</p>