Will low GPA matter while other factors are OK?

[scutlds]

Greeting to everyone,

I'm an senior undergraduate student who have finished my application to Physics PhD of 9 schools and is waiting for decisions. Since I turned my interest to research in the beginning my junior year, my  GPA was not satisfying (overall 3.23/4 and major 3.30/4). Although the interest came late, it's well-tested and solid, with which I paid a lot of effort in my junior year. Within one year, I got an first-authored paper of theoretical work, study and lab experience in UC Berkeley, 3 Good LORs (2 from Professors in Berkeley), Okay GRE(V163+Q170) and TOEFL(101) scores and some contact with professors in the universities I'm applying to. Besides, in Berkeley I got 3.55/4 GPA while a death in my family greatly impact my preparation of finals. 

However, until now I have been rejected by 2 top universities (U Chicago and UC Berkeley) early, which indicates my application cannot even pass the first-round elimination regarding scores. I'm now very depressed and anxious about my application. Will low GPA kill my application without mercy, even if all the other factors are Okay (According to some reviewers, I even have an "outstanding SOP")? If I was rejected by all schools, will it worth to apply again next year?

[scytoo]

Your hard stats matter a lot, way more than they ever did for undergraduate applications. 

Having a publication, research experience, good LORs, and okayish GRE scores will mean that you get accepted into plenty of pretty good programs, but when it comes to the absolute best, your GPA is just very low. These programs would only rarely accept a candidate below ~3.8, and you're not even borderline for that. Even your 3.55 at Berkeley is low when you're applying to do physics. Given that you have experience and personal connections at Berkeley, that was going to be the good program you'd get into if you were going to get into one. 

So yeah, it looks like your GPA has killed your apps. I hope you applied to some lower programs, and if you haven't, make sure you do that next year if you apply again. And look into grade replacement schemes too. 

[scutlds]

4 hours ago, scytoo said:

Your hard stats matter a lot, way more than they ever did for undergraduate applications. 

Having a publication, research experience, good LORs, and okayish GRE scores will mean that you get accepted into plenty of pretty good programs, but when it comes to the absolute best, your GPA is just very low. These programs would only rarely accept a candidate below ~3.8, and you're not even borderline for that. Even your 3.55 at Berkeley is low when you're applying to do physics. Given that you have experience and personal connections at Berkeley, that was going to be the good program you'd get into if you were going to get into one. 

So yeah, it looks like your GPA has killed your apps. I hope you applied to some lower programs, and if you haven't, make sure you do that next year if you apply again. And look into grade replacement schemes too. 

Thanks for your answer even it's cruel. Yes, I did apply to some lower program. In fact, Berkeley and Chicago are the only two top programs I applied to since I have some connections and want to gamble. For other programs like them, I don't dare to apply. Besides, may I ask if the situations are different in lower programs? How low the program should be for not scrutinizing GPA too much and being possible for my case? Thanks!

Edited February 1, 2019 by scutlds