Hanyuye

I posted a while back about my adventures in applying to a mix of PhD programs and Master's. For some review, I was a serial major changer (I changed majors 13 times over 10 years, and I attended 4 different schools). I graduated with a 3.59 GPA from my undergrad school, but when you put all of my undergrad work together, my GPA is something like a 2.7. While at the time I was kind of bummed out, I was rejected from all of the PhD programs I applied to without so much as an interview. My LORs were great, I think my statements were pretty good, and my GREs aren't too shabby (160 verbal, 155 math, 4.5 writing). However, I was accepted to both of the Master's programs I applied to, and I already have the perfect thesis project lined up and funded at Bloomsburg University where I will be attending. Honestly, the project is a dream come true for an aspiring ornithologist and I get to travel abroad I am actually glad that I didn't get into a PhD program, because none of the potential research could hold a candle to this. Sure, there's no $25k stipend that I dream of getting, but since Bloomsburg is a state school, the tuition is cheap and it's close enough that I can still live in my parents' basement, though it may not be too glamorous.
 
Some other positive notes. Since sending in all my apps, I have gained a lot more research experience, got several awards for my undergrad research, got an outstanding graduate award from my department, and am in the process of submitting my research for publication. Hopefully, by the time I apply to a PhD program again, I will have multiple publications which will no doubt help my app, plus I will have more research experience. My only concern will be getting really good LORs. I will no doubt get a strong one from my thesis advisor (assuming I don't suck), but I will not have as much time to work with and get to know professors as I did as an undergrad.

Hey everybody, I created my account here on the grad cafe to share my story about being accepted into a fully funded PhD program and assistantship. Hopefully this story will make the sub 3.0'ers more optimistic about their grad school prospects.
 
A little background, I graduated 2 years ago with a BS in chemical engineering. This summer I applied to 15 different grad programs total, all within Ohio, that were a mix of MS and PhD programs, in both the chemistry and chemical engineering. The reason I applied to so many and spent a total of about $400 in the whole application process was to compensate for my qualifications, or lack thereof:
 
-2.72 undergrad cumulative GPA (GPA for engineering specific coursework was even lower)
-average GRE scores (151 quantitative, 159 verbal, 4.5 essay)
-no master's degree
-only 2 years of spotty industry experience (2 internships that lasted between 3-4 months, longest job I worked was the current one I had started working at this past february)
-applied way late after the application deadline, during this past summer for this upcoming fall term, because I just wanted to see if I could get into any grad program and get schooling out the way for the rest of my life. Wasn't expecting anything funded at all.
 
Anyway, I just found out last week that I was accepted into one of the PhD programs I applied to in chemistry, in a large university in central Ohio, with a 19k/yr assistantship that I dont even remember applying for. Obviously I took up the offer and now Im moving down to their campus this week to attend orientations and stuff.
 
So yea, even though some of you guys may have low GPA's and still have grad school in mind, just bear in mind that crazy strokes of luck happen and I would highly recommend using the shotgun method (applying to as many programs as possible) to see what comes out of it.
 

 

Hello,
I current have a 2.8 cGPA and was thinking about taking a masters programs before looking for a PhD program in the microbiology field. I was wondering how some of you guys found your master programs. Any links would be helpful. Many of the programs that I have found have a 3.0 req

Hi Guys,   I am decent in Maths and have done well in college level math courses and also in school. I find that I make silly mistakes (and also a few conceptual errors) here and there, due to which my score is stuck in the 166-167 range in Quant.  - How do I go about sharpening my skills to hit a 170/170 in quant ?  - What books do you suggest I practice from ? (My GRE is around 10 days from now)   Also I feel that I may be wrong in my attempting strategy. I spend a lot of time pondering, checking and double-checking the answer that I get instead of moving to the next question.  @the guys who scored a 170 - how did you guys approach questions ?  - Did you employ a single pass approach ? or did you first attempt all questions, marking the difficult questions to the end ? Did you double check your answers by plugging in values at the end of the test ?   I am left with two strategies: 1) To go as fast as possible in a two pass approach, at the risk of doing silly mistakes. But I can catch such errors in my second pass. The problem comes when I am stuck with tough questions (especially in the 2nd quant sections), I may not have time to come back. 2) To spend time properly, double checking the answer in my first pass itself, before moving on to the next question. This may be disastrous again if I may encounter tougher questions in the last 15-20 question range.   Kindly help me out with your advice and suggestions on strategy.

I only know Earth Sciences, not much about forestry. From an earth science perspective, you have a good (not great) application with a mediocre GRE score. An MS program is easier to get into than a PhD, and i'm not sure what you are expecting in terms of funding, but Yale, Berkeley, UMich, and University of Washington are all hyper competitive programs that Even the strongest applicants have trouble getting into. I suggest you apply to some schools with less of a name in addition to the reach schools. My feeling is that you will be lucky to get acceptance into one of these programs, meaning its possible, but not probable. The only applicants who almost 100% of the time get into these programs is if they have something like a "Best Student Paper Award" from a international conference. 
 
My overall suggestion is to apply to 10-12 schools total. I think you have a shot, it certainly wouldn't surprise me if you got into all of them, but on the converse it wouldn't surprise me if you got into none of them either.

Your LOR are going to be HUGE. They need to speak about your ability to learn Advanced Technical knowledge. From your description, you haven't really taken a very intense science course.
 
If you can prove that, at least to PI's through interviews or LOR, I think you would be a strong candidate for a masters program. I think a straight shoot to PhD would be difficult.
 
Depending on what types of energy you want to research, you are going to have to take geochemistry or geophysics courses that will require higher level math and physics or chemistry than you have seen in your coursework. Most first year geology graduate students have trouble with them even if they do have a geology background.
 
That's just my opinion, I think contacting professors you want to work with is the first step. If you don't get good responses for at least some of them, you may have to rethink your strategy.
 
Geosciences is definitely the field where a lot of people just "fall" into so to speak, but generally those people come from the natural sciences, math, computer science, and engineering. Though I do know of a philosophy major who is doing a PhD in environmental geology.

For actuarial sciences - no way.  The MS option at Columbia only mentions calc, econ and linear algebra.  I'd say go for it, emphasizing your performance in relevant coursework (it's what I did).

You can also take the 71 to Harvard Square and catch the 86 to BC. Dunno which is faster.
 
Morning traffic is pretty bad, particularly going N/S since there's not too many bridges (or good routes) over the Charles. I'd say driving ~30min, on the T, ~50-60min.
 
Were it me, I would not live in Watertown and commute to BC. I'd look at Brighton particularly. Not only does it half your commute, but it makes you much less reliant on the T. The T is slow, keeps a terrible schedule, and is often late. I haven't used it in many years; I prefer to bike in sleet and snow.

Buying Property in Ithaca:
 
To reintroduce an topic touched upon a couple years earlier in this thread, I'd like to know specifically about Ithaca's real estate market at this time.
 
I will start my PhD this fall and expect to be near campus for 5 - 7 years, possibly traveling for fieldwork for one or two of those years. 
 
I've heard about Ithaca being a desirable location to own property, and about it's recent transition to a "seller's market". 
 
Does anyone have insight into buying a home there? Is it economically sound at this time? Is it easy to rent?
 
Is the task of purchasing property doable while also juggling first year courses? 
 
Thanks!

Hanyuye,
 
I was a physics major, then civil engineering MS, now geophysics phd student. Keep in mind that petroleum engineering is very specialized. While you're surely capable enough from a math/science perspective, there would be a lot of catching up to do in other things, and many grad departments aren't flexible about this. Civil engineering, on the other hand, is very broad, and I was able to do research that could have easily been called applied physics.
 
When I think of applied geophysics, along the lines of your interests, I think of a few other schools in addition to the ones you mentioned: Colorado School of Mines, Rice, UT Austin, and Stanford. All of these have reservoir modeling groups within geophysics departments, and close ties to oil/gas. And I do think you'll have much better luck at geophysics departments than petroleum engineering.
 
Best wishes!

Hello, new member here. I don't like posting these "chance" threads but since I've been just recently thinking of applying to grad school, I am completely in the dark about my chances. Any input appreciated!
 
- - - - -
 
Background: Rising senior at an ivy league school majoring in math. Was not thinking about graduate school at all so my first 3 summers were spent doing random things (consulting, finance).
 
gpa: 3.94/4.0
other stuff: top 500 scores on putnam, academic prizes for math
 
gre: haven't taken yet, expect to do well on quantitative portion though
 
completed math coursework includes: linear algbera, set theory, multivariable calculus, 2 semesters of real analysis, abstract algebra, complex analysis, topology, probability and statistics, stochastic processes,
 
research: none...
 
- - - - -
Ok I assume that if I applied with just that next year I'd be screwed, but I'm getting genuinely very interested in probability and statistics. I have been thinking of working for a year and then applying, so I get the full senior year to prepare. Here's my rough plan for senior year:
 
coursework: measure theory, functional analysis, data analysis, machine learning, quantum mechanics, galois theory (yeah I know the last two aren't relevant but I just want to)
 
research: spend the year working on an independent research project with prof supervision
LOR: get letter of rec from prof I work with and some others, hopefully would be decent?
 
 
 
Thanks!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I was a Physics BA with a minor in math/comsci, having taken 0 geology classes and I am doing fine. I think i am probably the only one who has gotten A's in all of the geophysics grad classes here, though I got a few Bs in normal geology classes. Don't worry about your background. Its much easier to make a mathematician a geophysicist than a geologist a geophysicist. 
 
The people I know with pure math backgrounds went into atmospheric sciences, but i think its the same case. Most of your geophysics classes will only touch on Linear Algebra, V-Calc, and PDEs. They probably won't even have you solve  them, just want you to be aware of the ideas ( such as tensors/focal mech) ect. Most of the advanced stuff you do will be in your research, where you should be able to pick up anything you know.
 
I even taught Intro geology without taking the class before.... its really NO BIG DEAL.  It sounds like you have a stronger geology background that I have (i doubt i could identify rocks, minerals, though I know there properties and how they interact with tectonics n such).
 
Suffice to say, I found that my MSc coursework has been significantly easier than the upper level physics and math courses (such as real analysis, complex, Advanced Linear). I am sure you will do fine, most geology students aren't as strong as they need to be in math and physics until later on in their career, and thats basically what the MSc is designed to do; teach you some technical stuff and adress the weaknesses in your education while giving you research experience  That way it provides you a good background to A) Go into industry or Go to PhD. 

As an Austinite, it's interesting to read these threads with people bemoaning the heat here, because I'm thinking about the reverse. Several of my graduate school options are in cold places, and I have never lived somewhere cold. I hate the three-ish weeks of cold weather we have here!
 
I work on UT's main campus, but I had an office out at the Lake Austin Building for awhile one year. It is right next to the graduate student housing complex you guys are discussing. I can't speak to the quality because I haven't been inside them, but they are in a very quiet area of town. The area west of MoPac (Loop 1) is the more upscale part of town, so it's definitely a safe area. The bus ride to the main campus is probably about 20 minutes. In addition to the Capital Metro transit that someone linked to above, which is free with a student ID, students can take the UT shuttles. UT operates the largest campus bus system of any university in the United States (or so I've been told). Here are the UT shuttle routes: http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transportation/shuttle/index.php  The graduate student housing is on the Lake Austin route (LA).
 
In general, you can get fairly far away from campus and still be on those routes. They serve quite a few apartment complexes around town. 
 
For those of you looking for cheap non-university-owned housing that's bikeable, I would look at the East Side (east of IH 35). It's the historically lower-income part of town, but it's being gentrified in many areas. Some neighborhoods there are really neat, the housing is colorful, and there tons of good places to eat, especially along Manor Road. However, some areas there are undesirable, so look in person and ask around before you sign a lease. Feel free to shoot me a message if there is a specific place you're curious about.
 
Hyde Park was also mentioned above. It's a fantastic neighborhood that's a mix of single family homes and small apartment buildings. However, rent is soaring there. I rented a small studio on 47th Street for $500 a couple of years ago, and it's now going for $625.
 
As a graduate student, I would be inclined to avoid the West Campus neighborhood - bound roughly by Guadalupe, 21st Street, N. Lamar, and 29th Street. It's overrun with undergrads, parties, fraternity and sorority housing, etc.

You should go lower. Way lower.

I disagree with toypajme. I don't know the indian system well, but I do know that the grading isn't entirely comparable to the american system (its much easier to get high gpas in the american system). You have a lot of heavy duty courses underneath your belt and I think that a lot of the places you are applying to are reasonable. That said, you may also want to include some lower ranked schools as well since most of the schools you listed are quite difficult to get into.

2.9 GPA here, applying for PhD'S and MS's in Biostatistics/Biomath. I returned to school to complete more advanced math/statistics courses and ante up my GPA but I still got rejected to 7/9 schools so far. My gpa is that bad because I had SEVERE domestic issues within the first two years of undergraduate school ( went to the wrong school, majored in the wrong major initially, no familial support, advisors at school were HORRIBLE), included a brief description of my issues in my SOP but didn't drag it on.
All in all, I tend to excel beyond my expectations when I'm alone or have my own space. Things I never had and still don't even at this moment of my life. I was hoping for a life-changer starting September 2012 but it seems bleak. Now I'm applying for Spring 2013 in applied math/biomath/applied math programs to reverse the two years of chaos that as I say, ruined my life.
Congrats and glory to those who rectified themselves through hardships, I can't seem the see the light.

below a 2.7 GPA undergrad, won the NSF fellow and accepted to my top choice program.  There is hope you guys LOL  Also I have below 50% rankings on all sections of the GRE.  Such is life, I barely studied.
 
I was rejected by a lot of professors.  One professor even questioned my intelligence despite the fact that I had way more research and presentation experience than most coming out of undergrad, then after explaining my situation, he never emailed me back! I told my teachers and they all labeled him a jerk and told me some professors are full of themselves...so I felt better. Lol I went with the 1 professor that agreed to take me on one there was funding despite my low GPA and before I even applied for the GRFP.  Plus it was my first choice school.
 
One thing I recommend is if you are like me and you see your GPA decreasing fast during your undergrad then get as much experience in a lab, volunteer if you have to, do a few technician and summer jobs.  Stick with doing jobs at universities so you can Build up your connections that matter the most.  Remember you're trying to get into grad school, so it's just smarter to keep working with professors or university owned organizations.

Hmm...it depends what city you are in. I am in the Los Angeles area and have boost mobile. I have a Samsung S2 (Which was about $300 out of pocket) but I pay only $40.00 for unlimited talk, text, and 4g web. You start off paying off $55.00/ month and payments shrink by $5/ every six months. I <3 Boost Mobile.

Whatever. I ask a question, even if it was a bit tactless, and people jump down my throat. And no, I was initially quite excited about going to the UofA, then I got that magical letter from my dream school and with my dream professor, so I no longer had any reason to consider UofA. Meanwhile, they already had booked my flight, so it would have looked bad to turn them down and make them eat a non-refundable plane ticket. Do you think I enjoy missing a full week of school and then having to pretend for the whole time that I'm interested in them?

It hardly matters, though, as I can see I'm not welcome on this forum, so adios.

I graduated from a top 20 US university with a very dismal barely 2.0 GPA.  I spent the next 6 years working a little but still screwing around in life before I finally stepped it up and applied to a low ranking MA program.  I switched from MA into MS after performing well and finished up a masters thesis in biochemistry.  I finished my MS in biology with a 3.74 GPA, and I managed to publish one first author paper into a decent journal.  I also had great LORs from my PI and others in the school.  My GRE scores are a bit above average (Q 65% V 77%, Writing 92%) but nothing stellar (in retrospect, I shouldn't have been lazy and should have retaken the test).  I applied to a number of upper and mid level schools in the area and in surrounding areas and managed to secure interviews from all of the mid level programs I applied to.  I was granted acceptance to 3 out 4 of the programs that invited me for an interview and will be starting next semester at a mid ranked (about 90-100 depending on what you look at) program with a promising PI.
 
So while it may sound a bit easy, I have to note that while I was doing my masters, I pulled about 80 work weeks, spending hours upon hours in the lab doing research and reading and absorbing every scrap of information about my field that I could.  I did the best I could to get to know my department and get a good name at the university.  If anyone else is in the same boat that I am/was in, keep hope.  As the old saying goes, if there is a will there is a way.  Just make sure you grow up (like I did) and stop messing about and get serious about your field.
 
Good luck to everyone!  If someone with my awful background could work hard to turn things around, I know you can too!

I haven't made a final decision yet, but I'm really leaning towards UCLA's masters program in education (SSCE).  
 
With out of state tuition  + rent, you can imagine that I am terrified, and my bank account will be empty at the end.  Sure hope I do well enough to get into a quality PhD program!  
 
I will also be moving from Japan and bringing a cat.  If anyone is looking for a laid-back upper-20s female roommate (who has a cat) for a place somewhere near campus (won't have a car), please don't hesitate to contact me!  

Hello all,
 
I was a PhD student in a highly ranked institution (top 5). Since i was in a such a prestigious program, it was very hard for me to quit despite hating every day of my life at grad school. But finally I have made my mind and want to take a masters and leave. The thing that discouraged me from getting a PhD in physical chemistry was that most people who were graduating from my lab and other labs at my school were doing post-docs after post-docs to support themselves or getting really shitty jobs in industry. It does not seem like getting a PhD will advance my career in any way. My friends who I did undergrad with are earning much more money and have better job options than those that are graduating with a PhD. 
 
Money is not super importnat to me, but after all that hard work and sacrifice, I feel that I deserve better. I did chemistry and math as an undergraduate. I regret that I did not continue with my math career and went into some job that paid better. Has anyone made a transition form a science career to business or consulting or any job that pays well? If so, can you please give me some tips.
 
 

A couple of things:
 
- The grading scale in graduate school is different; at most places, anything below a B is a de facto failure, so averages are inflated. I view a student with a 3.7 GPA in a Masters program as having been about average for that program.
 
- While the average ability level at a good Masters program might be higher than most undergraduate institutions, these programs are also typically lacking the really high-end students you find at most good undergraduate programs (these high-end students generally go straight to PhD programs). So, it's somewhat easier to get an A when there aren't a small number of 'elite' performers who really distinguish themselves and gobble up the highest grades.
 
 
 
 
The more accurate tennis analogy would be someone who had a mediocre junior career, then all of a sudden showed up and won a small pro tournament. Sure, there's a chance they could compete consistently at the pro level, but I'd much rather bet on that 18-year-old who just won the junior U.S. Open but has never played a professional event.

Serious question -- why did you post this asking for advice if your just going to argue/refute with the advice given? It seems as if your mind is already made up on your competitiveness, so good luck to you.

The statistics program I am in is top ten, there are a handful of schools that would be considered better.  Graduate students are mostly international and undergraduate students are mostly domestic.  The competition in graduate school is global.  The courses taken in graduate school are harder and the competition is certainly stiffer at my graduate program than any undergraduate group in the country.  A good gpa at a good undergrad seems to imply a high probability of success in grad school, but a good gpa at a high ranked graduate program implies that success is certain.  So we have a probabilistic event compared to an event on a set of measure one.  Furthermore, few undergraduates do not have research at the graduate level.
 
At my institution the masters and phd students are in the same group, take the same classes, and are on the same track until qualifiers.  Masters can switch to phd track at faculty discretion, which I was offered but I can't stay in this area.
 
 
 
Only half of undergraduate courses are major related, so 60 relevant credits.  Only about 45 of those will be on the application.  I am on my second masters so I will have over 30 from my first master plus 9 next semester.  About 45 credits for the undergrad compared to about 40 for me.
 
 
 
Isn't getting a 4.0 at a high ranked institution after getting bad gpa at a low ranked institution a testament to a persons perseverance and resilience.  A low gpa at a low level may imply a lack of ability, but a high gpa at a higher level would contradict and override that implication.  If a player walked away from a junior tennis career then came back to the game ten years later to win a pro championship that player still has a lack of ability?  This is holding onto a belief that is contradicted by the facts of reality, it defies logic.
 
This is all I have to say about this.  Try as I may, I can not provide an objective opinion on my own profile so I will await the decisions for next year.  Good luck everyone and I hope to see some of you out there!