astaroth27

Doing a master's was a good play in your situation as that GPA and lack of research experience would have disqualified you from the majority of PhD programs. You are basically doing right now all you can do to make you a good candidate for those schools you listed though I wouldn't apply to quite so many. Refine that list based on your interests in geophysics over the next two years as you learn what you like and don't like in research. Get at least one good quality publication, present at conferences where you can network with potential PIs at the institutions you are interested in, and get a 3.5 or so GPA and you should be fine.

If you are seriously considering pursuing a PhD in the US then a Master's is a total waste of time in almost every circumstance. I believe it is different in Europe and Canada where they expect you to come in with a Master's. The only time it may be worthwhile is if your undergraduate grades were sub 3.0 and even then you might still get into some mid-tier PhD programs with enough research experience and good letters of rec. Even as a fallback for someone who isn't sure about research I wouldn't recommend it. I don't know what the hiring prospects are in marine biology with just a Master's but in most biological fields the job prospects aren't really any better than for someone with a Bachelor's.

I don't think it is necessary to do a Master's for the research experience. That is the most expensive way to go about it and I am not sure having the degree helps with PhD programs all that much unless your undergraduate grades were really bad. Your GPA is fine for the majority of PhD programs so I wouldn't worry there. Most of my colleagues either came here straight from college (those with research experience) or worked as a tech for 2 years or so (those with limited experience). You can still get strong letters of recommendation from being a tech as well, especially if you are doing it at a school which you plan to apply. I know I give this advice a lot but it is worth repeating: never, ever, ever pay out of pocket for grad school. It just isn't worth it.

It depends. At my school most students have around a 3.5 and a few really exceptional students have a 4.0. It really means very little though. They just want you to do well enough to pass then go and do research. If your grades are too high they accuse you of sandbagging your rotations. If you do too badly they just make you take the core courses again (if they like you and your research) or give you the boot (if you suck).

If you were not international I would say you would be in the very top tier of applicants. You are still extremely competitive but the sad fact for international students is that there are far fewer slots available and you are competing against some of the smartest and most driven people in the world. I would still say your chances are very good but I would apply to more schools to be on the safe side. I am not sure how many slots Stanford has for international students in Biotech Engineering but I would be surprised if its more than a dozen.

If it is fully funded and research you are interested in I would go for it. If you were passionate about your work it will show in your PhD applications and be a huge plus for you, regardless of the institution you came from. What PhD programs are looking for is passionate people who have a track record of success doing research, every other consideration is secondary. However, I don't know about your field but in mine a Master's doesn't really help your PhD application unless you did poorly as an undergraduate. If a PhD is your goal, why not apply directly to PhD programs? Good luck!

My degree isn't English-related but I do have advice. Never do an unfunded graduate program. Ever. The return on your investment just isn't there. It sounds like you're doing great with your BA. All a master's degree will get you is debt. If you can find a funded offer, even from a lower ranked school, I would defer to the advice given by Between Fields.

I think you are overvaluing the impact GRE scores have on your application. As long as you are over that school's unofficial cutoff, they don't really help you. You are much better off spending your time getting research experience, perfecting your SOP, and getting good contacts for letters of rec. You have to put some time and energy into studying for the GRE but I honestly wouldn't spend more than it costs to buy the test. Save that money for when you move cross country to your graduate school. That action will set you back thousands of dollars.

Reading this made me angry and would likely piss off an appeals committee as well. Do not include anything like this in your appeal. Citing personal problems is a lot more honest than claiming you have a disability and accusing the school of not working hard enough to accommodate you.

You will have to do some explaining in your SOP about your first time around in school but they tend to like stories where you start off weak then turn everything around. Some places will outright reject you for your GPA being under their cutoff but not many. At this point all you can really do is work on your SOP and do as well as you can in your classes and GRE. LORs and research experience is what gets you into grad school, if you are strong there then I would say go for it. Make sure to do well on your GRE though, low GRE coupled with low GPA tends to result in automatic rejection before faculty even see your application. Good luck!

Totally different scenario if you haven't accepted yet. Then it is just an oversight that needs to be corrected. If you get kicked out of grad school you are essentially blacklisted. If you are rejected from a grad school you can apply to some other ones next cycle, no harm no foul. Go ahead and let them know you forgot to send a school's transcripts or got confused by the wording of the application or whatever and hope for the best.

That is a bad situation to be in. I wish I had better advice but if you come clean they will probably kick you out. If they find out later they will definitely kick you out. If they find out after you graduate they may revoke your degree. There are a lot of "maybes" and "probably's" here because it all depends on your school's policies. You could keep it to yourself and maybe they never find out but you could be throwing time into a degree that becomes worthless. I would come clean and hope for the best but no matter what you do its probably the end of your graduate career. Sorry, I know it sucks.

I can't speak for SLP specifically but in general where you go to grad school matters quite a bit. Lower ranked schools tend to be lower ranked because they have less money. Less money correlates with poorer quality of research, publications, and less competitive PIs which makes it harder to get the resume builders which are necessary for subsequent steps in your career. Even if SLP does not require a lot of money to grease its wheels like biological sciences do; higher ranked institutions do attract higher quality faculty which means more impactful letters of recommendation. If your field is very in demand your school's rank probably doesn't matter as much but I would never say it doesn't make a difference.

Wow. Entitled much? For those that don't want to read the whole thread let me summarize. Jim1986: WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I would leverage my power on the admissions committee to obtain financial benefit from applicants. After I get fired I will reminisce about how quickly power went to my head.