that1asian21

Just accepted an offer for a Ph.D position for biology with full funding for 5 years couple weeks ago, the school was my top choice and i never would have applied if the professor that i reached out to didn't encourage me to apply. My gpa at the time of application was 2.95 and i brought it up to 3.05 by the time they were looking at my applications, I am 100 percent sure grade was not a factor at the time so please do not freak out like i did. I'm finishing my undergrad at a mid-sized SUNY school, i think the most important factors that got me in was my research experience (3 years) and the letter of recommendations, one of which was from my research adviser since my freshman year and we'll be co-authors on a manuscript. When i was looking at grad schools I was really paranoid because my grades sucked, my GRE's sucked (Verbal and Writing was below 50th percentile) and i barely had any luck connecting with PI's. I mostly applied to masters' programs since i thought i had a better chance to get in, then work towards my Ph.D. I applied to 2 Ph.D schools and got rejected from one, the Ph.D program that i got accepted to is literally 15 minute drive from my parent's house. It was my top choice by far. Seriously though, get some experience in and apply to wherever you think you'll enjoy the next 5 years of your life in every aspect. The worst thing that can happen is you wasting around 100 bucks and a rejection letter from someone you're never going to meet.