s0m1 Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) I am applying for PhD program in computer science (AI/ML) with these stats: (in chronological order) BS Physics : 3.0 GPA MS Mechanical Engineering: 3.6 GPA no thesis 3 graduate computer science ML courses all A's 1 conference publication first author 1 year research experience GRE: 160 V / 168 Q / 4.0 W Great, good, and decent letter of recommendation ------------------------- Schools I'm applying to: Brown, Northwestern, Rutgers, U of Oregon, U of Colorado, UT Dallas, UT Austin, NYU, USC, ASU I am worried about my undergraduate gpa precluding me from places I'm applying too. Do you think that the rest of my application will cover for my low undergrad GPA? I suppose I should talk about it in my statements of purpose? Edited December 6, 2018 by s0m1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teaching Faculty Wannabe Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 1 hour ago, s0m1 said: Do you think that the rest of my application will cover for my low undergrad GPA? I suppose I should talk about it in my statements of purpose? I think your undergraduate GPA will be okay, especially with all the other aspects of your application. I think GPA is important, but not nearly as important as your SOP (and other essays), your research experiences, and your references. You also have great GRE scores, so I think you will be good. The most important thing is that you establish a good fit with the university and the department. If you don't do that, then even an application with perfect scores, a perfect GPA, and tons of research experience is pretty useless. I hope that reassures you! Good luck with all of your applications! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s0m1 Posted December 7, 2018 Author Share Posted December 7, 2018 @Moods Thanks for the reply. It definitely reassures me. Did you write any additional essays that weren't required? How clearly did you outline research that you wanted to do? I am applying to quite a few different research areas (my interests are sort of broad), so my research interests will be different for each SOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teaching Faculty Wannabe Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 On 12/6/2018 at 7:13 PM, s0m1 said: Did you write any additional essays that weren't required? How clearly did you outline research that you wanted to do? I am applying to quite a few different research areas (my interests are sort of broad), so my research interests will be different for each SOP. If a school asked for an optional statement, like a Diversity Statement, I wrote it. I think it shows that you really care about the program because you are putting time towards the application and doing something that isn't required. I was kind of specific about my research interests, but not to the point where they were super narrow. So, for example, I was want to develop and characterize biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. So, I talked about liking polymers as a biomaterial and why they are important to tissue engineering. I then discussed the research of professors that were conducting research on polymers for specific tissue engineering applications, such as bone regeneration or scaffolds for ovarian growth. I got more specific when it came to talking about the schools in my SOPs because I wanted to show that I could easily fit into their program by being able to work with multiple professors. So, for each your SOP, talk about your interests in a more broad way, but with some detail. So, for me, I didn't just say "I like biomaterials". I stated that I like polymers and I want to research them in tissue engineering applications. Earlier on in my essay, I also talked about how I became interested in polymers and tissue engineering (classes, mainly, for me). You can maybe go a little bit more specific than that, but not too much. Then, when you talk about schools, go specific as you can. I hope that makes sense and helps. This is just the way I wrote my SOPs, so I am not sure if it will work for you exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troplop Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 I've been getting invited to interviews (highest schools were UNC-chapel hill/WashU) with a 3.1 GPA, including an F. I didn't write any additional essays. I've worked in research for a few years post-bacc and have incredibly specific goals, I skyped with professors prior to applying and my essays were tailored to those specific professors, it was not broad in any way other than commenting on the prestige of the programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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