Impacts of COVID-19 (Mandatory P/F grading)

[taoli29]

Hi, I'm a rising senior from Johns Hopkins, and I'm going to apply for Statistics PhD in the coming semester. My institution just made an announcement that the grading for Spring 2020 would be Mandatory Pass/Fail. Instructors will only submit pass/fail to the registrar and there will be no way to uncover it. I'm shocked and have no idea what to do. 

Please give me some advice on how to minimize the negative impact of this grading policy. Having only Pass grade for the semester right before my application is definitely devastating.

Some Background: My majors are mathematics and physics. My current GPA is 4.00. Research on 1. numerical simulation in general relativity;  2. applied physics
Courses taken in Spring 2020 are: Honors Analysis II,  Honors Algebra II,  Complex Variables (grad),  Numerical Analysis,  Undergraduate Research in Physics

Any ideas are appreciated.

Edited March 27, 2020 by taoli29

[Stat Assistant Professor]

I wouldn't worry about this. You have a perfect GPA and a double-major in math and physics from one the best schools in the entire world, plus research experience in physics. I think adcoms will give a semester of P/F a pass (if you are worried about it, you can ask one of your letter writers to clarify the situation, and you yourself can make note of this in your application, e.g. the SOP). 

I would be surprised if you didn't get into several top Statistics PhD programs.

[shuggie]

This outbreak is affecting the entire world, and schools are having to make decisions like this. Adcoms are going to be more than aware of the disruption this causes for all students. Given the prestige of your university and your already excellent background, you have nothing to worry about.

[cyberwulf]

Yes, we're quite aware that COVID-19 is a thing, and a lot of institutions are doing some form of optional or mandatory Pass/Fail grading. I would anticipate that we'll essentially just ignore Spring 2020 grades when evaluating applicants.

[taoli29]

Thanks for replying. My major concern is that whether my missing grades of Spring 2020 will weaken my math background. You see, I was occupied by physics courses (Quantum Mech, Statistical Mech stuff) in the first two years of my college. So I only started taking advanced math courses in my junior year. Before Spring 2020, I only have Honors Analysis I and Honors Algebra I plus the common seqence (Linear Algebra, ODE, Calc III). How can adcoms fully trust my ability in doing advanced math if they don't know my math grades for this semester? Especially for top programs that have applicants with tons of math courses?

 

Edited March 28, 2020 by taoli29

[bayessays]

You have plenty of math already, you're fine. You have a 4.0 and honestly people will probably just assume you still deserved As in these classes. This might be a concern for someone with really bad grades who was counting on this semester for a comeback, but there is absolutely no reason for you to spend any more time worried about this.