Please help with phd questions.

Graduate School
1

Hello,

I’m a 26 year old undergraduate student. I have a pretty shaky academic history from my old school that I attended a few years ago. I ended up leaving due to poor grades.

After a few years off I turned it around and decided to go back, this time with ambition and lofty goals in mind.

I currently attend a CC in Tennessee. In TN, we have the TTP program which ensures the seamless transfer of your credits to most universities in the state upon completion of the associate’s degree.

My big dream is to get my phd, and I really want to attend Vanderbilt. I want to do my phd in evolutionary biology.

My undergraduate major is computer science, and my GPA is currently a lackluster 3.48. However, I’ve got 5 more courses to go for my associate’s degree, and if I make all As it’ll go up to a 3.62 (which I know is still not very good). However I’m not sure if this matters since my GPA will start over once I transfer to my university (I think?).

The university I’ transferring to is TSU. The reason for this is because they offer the only computer science program with a bioinformatics concentration in the state. TSU is not a very good school, but their computer science department is disproportionately good compared to the rest of the school.

I just want someone to give me the lowdown on what I need to know about trying to accomplish this goal. I’m ignorant on many of these issues and I need to be educated.

I need to know, for instance, what should I be doing now? What kind of grades do I need? What kind of experience, resume, and accomplishments do I need? Is it even worth trying at this point? Should I go for this, or is it pointless to try? Should I just forget about it?

I’d also like to know what a phd program entails. How does one go about choosing a dissertation topic? How much does a phd cost? Etc.

Just any information and advice you can give is appreciated. If you respond, please try address all of my questions. I really need detailed information and advice.

Thanks so much!

2

Your CC grades may matter very little to a lot depending on the school you apply to. The CC GPA is usually not factored into the GPA of the school you transfer to, but you will be required to send transcripts of all colleges you attended when you apply to grad school. A strong upward trend will help if you can improve over the next two years. The higher your GPA the better, although a 3.6 wouldn’t be bad. You will also want to do well on the GRE, which most students take in spring of their junior year to allow time for retakes if needed.

Aside from grades and test scores, you will want to build relationships with your professors so they can write strong letters of recommendation. You typically need 2-3, but having a 4th writer in mind is helpful in case one declines to write for you. A great way to build relationships - and a great addition to your application - is to become a research assistant. You’ll learn what it’s like to do research, which will clarify your interests and goals, while giving your professors something to write beyond what grades you got in their classes. Let your professors know your plans and ask if they have any projects you can join.

PhD programs at reputable schools are generally fully funded, which pays your tuition, sometimes medical insurance, and a stipend or fellowship (your income). I would not recommend a program that does not fund. Some students need or want to take out small personal loans to help with living costs or extras.

The dissertation topic isn’t something you need to worry about now. In many cases what you set out to do at the application stage isn’t the same topic you choose after qualifying exams. My interests have already evolved a bit from my application 6 months ago to now, based on reading I’m doing to prepare for this fall. You will write papers in your first and second year courses and be involved in labs. This will help narrow down topics you enjoy and want to pursue further.

It’s definitely worth trying if it’s what you want. I recommend not setting all your hopes on one university. They may not be doing research you’re interested in, or they may not accept students the year you apply, or any number of things could happen. I was admitted by my “safety,” which turned out to be a great fit for me - better than some of the higher ranked programs I applied to. (As a side note, there really isn’t such a thing as a safety in PhD applications. It was just a lower ranked program with a great research fit, but even that doesn’t guarantee anything. The program only made 2 offers this year).

Applying to PhD programs is different than undergrad. School ranks matter less (program quality matters more), and “fit” is very important for you and the program. This includes research fit, your goals after the program, the types of relationships/mentoring you need or expect, etc.

3

TSU is a pretty good school, actually.

NovaLynnx gave great advice. The only thing I would add is that not only is becoming an RA the best way to get to know professors, but most PhD programs are going to expect you to have some research experience in order to gain admission anyway.

A 3.6+ is great for a PhD program.

4

Ph.D. programs admit differently, as was stated above. For undergrad there’s an admissions team going over your application. If there’s something special about your application that they need to weigh, like if you sing and want to be part of the choir, they may send your recording to the prof in charge of that. Otherwise the decisions are pretty much made by the Admission Committee.

For Ph.D. program, you’re seeking a fit with often individual professors. They only have so much time to give and / so much space in their lab. Each year they may take one or two students and perhaps dozens of applications or more. If they have funding for the student, so much the better. But that can depend on whether they have a grant that year or not. Sometimes institutions fund outside of grants, but that depends on the institution.

As you grow and change, it might do you well to start looking at the profs in not just Vandy’s program but other programs. Look at what their academic interests are. You can do this by going to the website, finding the prof pages, and downloading their papers. Reading them – or at least the abstracts at first-- will help you understand their interests. You can also see how active they are. Their CVs and other parts of the website may tell you if they have an active grant and what their research program is currently. You can find others with shared interests by looking up the co-authors of the papers.

At first it will feel strange and weird. New jargon. New topics. But then you will start finding your areas of interests.

Also, spend time on your GREs. Make sure they are super high. Keep practicing until you achieve that goal.

Also remember you have time. You do not need to go straight from undergrad to grad school. You can (and probably should) work in the field of your interest for awhile.

best of luck.

5

I appreciate all of your responses. I was wondering if perhaps you guys could recommend some universities I might look into that might be achievable for me?

Keep in mind that a few years before I attended the CC I’m currently going to, I went to a different school and did terrible. I ended up leaving in bad standing with my former school. When I finally had my “awakening”, I started fresh with a different school, and now I’m doing pretty good. But my experience at my former school will undoubtedly be a grotesque dark spot on my transcript. Also take into consideration my age. I’m not exactly “old”, but I’ll be 28 by the time I graduate with my bachelor’s. Going up against legions of early-20-somethings from around the globe who are outstanding will surely make this an uphill battle for me, and the odds seem to staggeringly stack up against me. Nonetheless, I’ve mapped out a list of schools I’m currently considering trying for. Those include Vanderbilt, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Caltech, and potentially some schools in the UC system.

I’m just wondering if my academic history is such that I should just forget about it? I would love to accomplish this goal, but I don’t want to be under any illusions about my prospects. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

6

Can you clarify what you intend to do with your PhD when you complete it? A PhD is pretty grueling – 5-7 years depending on the field, subsistence wages with long hours and minimal time off. And that information might inform recommendations for schools, too.

7

I essentially want to enter a career as a researcher. I’m not sure exactly what my expertise will be in, but I know that a career as a professor/researcher/scientist is what I’m aiming for.

8

After doing a lot of research on this and considering my chances, the odds just don’t seem to be very good. I think it would be in my best interest to just drop it. Given how shaky my past in academics is, and given the fact that I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore, I just don’t think it will pan out for me. I’d be competing with outstanding young kids from all over the world. It just doesn’t seem possible. I don’t think doing well from here on out is going to make much of a difference. So what if I made a high GPA at TSU? Any idiot could get a bachelor’s degree if you give them ten years to do it. They are looking for bright young people who did excellent in high school, went straight through university with high grades, and have excellent credentials. That just isn’t me. I’m just a red neck who flunked out of my first university, and took ten years to complete a bachelor’s degree. I think that is pretty much a death sentece for my chances of going to a nice school for a Ph.D. It probably ruins my chances of prusuing a Ph.D. at ANY school for that matter.

9

Judging by the researching I’ve done, the odds just don’t seem very good for me. I’m thinking that it’s probably best just to face the reality, realize that this goal is untenable and impossible, and drop it. The people I’d be competing with are outstanding young kids from all over the world. I’m just a red neck who flunked out of my first university. I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore either. So what if my GPA at TSU is good? Any idiot could complete a bachelor’s degree if you give them ten years to do it. These universities are looking for top notch young kids who did outstanding in highschool and went straight through their undergraduate degrees with excellent grades and credentials. They will be laughing at my application on their way to the shredder. I just don’t think it’s possible for me at this point.

10

Sorry for the two similar posts. It delayed posting the first one so I reiterated what I said thinking it failed to post.

11

I went to a very poor high school, transferred college twice with a few low grades early on, and am a little older than you’d be when you graduate. I was admitted to a great program in a different field. Grades are helpful to get your application looked at, but are not the deciding factor in PhD admissions. I had two publications and over a year of research experience when I applied, and relevant work experience (not all fields appreciate work experience the same way). That is what got me in - not my grades. It’s worth a try, but honestly, you can’t be so easily turned off by obstacles if you want to make it through a PhD program. It’s a long road and a lot of hard work. You need creativity, determination, and resilience. You do have time to put together a good application.

12

I’m not. I just don’t want to have any delusions about my odds of accomplishing it. The odds seem very unlikely at this point.

13

From your posts, it appears that you have two major concerns: your age and the disastrous academics of your first university. I suggest that you not concern yourself too much with either right now. You are planning to transfer to a 4-year school where you will be spending at least 2 years. Your GPA at the CC is quite acceptable and if you continue to improve academically, the initial transcript, when you were young and immature will matter less and less because you will have demonstrated that you can handle the academics NOW. Over those 2 years you will have time to decide if graduate school is precisely what you want to do. If you decide it is what you want then you should go for it, independent of your age. I have known many PhD students your age or older in my 34 years as a faculty member.

What you need to to is to do all you can to figure out whether a graduate program is for you. You can do this by getting involved in research as soon as possible. Not only will this provide you with answers but you will start getting those valuable personal letters of reference that are necessary to get into a graduate program. The advice provided by others in this thread is all good and I won’t repeat it but it is key to realize that you should not point to one specific graduate program to the exclusion of all others. This was said before but bears repeating. The choice of graduate school is complex but involves not only the ephemeral “rankings” but the match for the research that interests you, whether the program really wants you, and whether you are willing to attend. Putting all your eggs in one basket, an particularly a highly selective one, is not how you can best realize your ambition to get a PhD. Get advice from your research mentors and find a range of programs that you would be wiling to attend and then go to the one that fits you best and which has admitted you with full support.

14

Thanks for the advice. I’m just down myself because I pretty much threw my youth down the toilet. When I could have been doing productive things, I squandered all my time sleeping and being lazy. Since the time I dropped out of my first university I’ve spent the subsequent years trying to make up for it by setting my goals really high and trying to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do something outstanding. But once you get into actually trying it, you start to find out why you never made it. I’m just not smart enough or talented enough I’m far behind even young people these days as far as education is concerned, and well below average. I’m poor at math and computer knowledge. The problem is that I certainly have no skills for the work force to make a decent living. If I don’t get a degree, I’ll be working at McDonald’s for the rest of my life. I get up every single day dwelling on what I’m going to do with my future. I don’t appear to be able to do anything, and I have huge learning deficiencies. I even struggle with simple things. It’s all very stressful for me. I’m a wreck.

15

Seeing all of these bright young kids who are doing more advanced work in high school than I am in college, and are bright shining stars just makes me want to give up. Sometimes I find moments of encouragement where I think, “Yes, I can do this! Success stories happen!” But I often have thoughts like, “Who am I kidding?” I fantasize about having my Ph.D from a prestigious university, being a researcher, giving lectures at large lecture halls, engaging colleagues in intelligent discussions, and ultimately having made it to that point. It just seems like the harder I try, the more elusive my goals get, the further away success gets. I seem to slow down progress the harder I try. I’ll probably die before I finish my associate’s degree. It’s all surreal. I just can’t seem to accomplish anything.

My rough history with school (and life in general) is the primary driving force behind my wanting to get a PhD from a prestigious school. I will never get this monkey off my back until I accomplish it. I can never feel like I’m worth something or accomplished until I achieve this. I know I sound insane, but this I how I feel. I know this isn’t a “good reason” for wanting to do a PhD, but I have all those other reasons as well. I’m genuinely interested in biology and want make science my career. I’m just a wreck at this point in my life.

16

You are overthinking things and letting yourself get down about it. Just continue to do well in your CC courses, then, one step at a time, transfer to a 4-year school and then decide what you want to do next. The first goal should be to get your BS.

17

OP, I flunked out of school and then re-enrolled 6 years later with a clean slate. I graduated at 30 with good grades and PhD offers that I had to put off. I’ll be over 40 when I finish my PhD. It can be done, the only question is whether or not you WILL do it.

And the colleges will have a mixed response, but most were more than happy to ignore my bad years as irrelevant in the face of more recent good performance. In one case it required me to plead my case in person, the rest did not.

Good luck.

18

Looks like I’m destined for a C in my calculus 1 class. I have to make a 90 on the final exam to get a B.