Hello there! I'm an undergrad from abroad wishing to apply to grad school in the US. Of course I would like to get into a top 10 school or a top 50 school, but my GPA is not competitive at all (around 3.2-3.3). I'm into developmental biology, specifically evo-devo. My dream schools are Stanford, Harvard and the University of Washington. Some of the other schools I would love to get into are Columbia, NYU, Berkeley, Rockefeller, UCSD.
I have the possibility of getting a Master's, and forfeiting my grad school application for one year. I'm pretty sure I can finish it in one year and could get a 3.8-4.0 GPA and maybe a publication as a first author and maybe a couple as a co-author. Do you guys think that is a good idea? Would a Master's high GPA make them forgive me for my mediocre undergrad GPA? And staying for two years in the same lab make up for the fact that I haven't produced anything as an undergrad and have been jumping from one lab to another and from area to area? Or do you guys think I should just apply this year anyway?
These are my stats:
Undergrad Institution: An unknown university. I also did one year abroad at an Ivy League. Major(s): Biomedical Science GPA in Major: I will finish between 3.2 and 3.3 in my university, and my GPA for my year at the US was only 3.12 Overall GPA: There is no such thing at my school Position in Class: I'm in the top 5, but my class is very small (35 people) Type of Student: International, female GRE Scores (revised/old version): I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I am preparing to take them in September so I think I will do well. I think I will take the biochem, cell and molecular biology subject as well. Depends on my finances 3 months from now
TOEFL Total: 115
Research Experience:
- 1 year and 3 months at the National Cancer Institute (molecular cancer biology and epigenetics, part-time during school, full-time during breaks)
- 6 months at the Ivy League I studied (molecular neurobiology, part-time)
- 3 months at another Ivy League (cancer biology, full-time)
- Will spend 3 months this Summer in Europe (developmental neurobiology, full-time)
- Been working on my Bachelor's thesis since January (protein modeling and SNP prediction on genes related to developmental neurobiology, part-time).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Had a research trainee stipend from the government for one year while working at the National Cancer Institute, had a full government scholarship to study abroad for a year, have a teaching assistant stipend, got into a competitive paid European summer undergraduate research program
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Biochemistry for one semester, TA for Organic Chemistry for 2 semesters
