Can an exceptional personal statement make up for an otherwise mediocre application?

[InquilineKea]

Just wondering. Has it ever happened?

[Hatem]

I'm wondernig too,especially in the biological sciences!

[eklavya]

Just wondering. Has it ever happened?

how mediocre? but in some cases yes, it does. but it's the LoRs that do the trick more than your SoP. if you have some research done, GPA/GRE and some flunked classes won't lower your chances... i'm the proof!

I'm wondernig too,especially in the biological sciences!

for biology, it's mainly research and LoRs they look at. but of course, other aspects of your application are also important. i have about 3 yrs of research in genetics lab with couple publications. i also did 2 internships at very very highly acclaimed national (American) and international (European) institutes, and made the PIs of the institutes write LoR for me. i already have two acceptances (from my 2nd and 3rd picks), and am waiting on few (1st pick and safety schools), which i'm confident i'll get in. my gpa is not bad and bombed the verbal gre.

[drumms9980]

Yeah I'm wondering about this too. My undergrad GPA was really low but I did 2 summer research internships at different pharmaceutical companies and I work full time doing research for the past 2.5 years. I have a few patents and a publication and excellent letters of rec. so I'm hoping that outweighs my low numbers. It also doesn't hurt when your boss is close personal friends with the head of the chemistry department at the school you want to go to.

I guess we'll all find out soon enough. Good luck to everyone.

Edited December 25, 2010 by drums7890

[fuzzylogician]

Well, how many other parts of your applications are "mediocre"?

In general, yes. A strong SOP can make up for blemishes like lower GPA or GRE scores -- much more so than higher numbers can make up for a mediocre SOP, in fact.

The most important parts of the application are the SOP, the LORs and the writing sample (with different emphasis in different fields, those are in general the parts that count most). Just one strong component may not be enough; if your 'intangible' components are strong, you stand a good chance even if your numbers are not stellar. On the other hand, if just one component stands out as strong it may be regarded as an outlier and therefore not be taken seriously.

[2am_frosty]

a good SOP won't help you get in, but it can definitely hurt your chances, more so if the rest of your application is mediocre. i had a 3.3 GPA at the time of applications, and my GRE scores were far from amazing. I wrote different SoP's for each school, and the SoP that I feel was best written (got the most revisions, put the most thought into it, and did the most research about the school) was the last program I applied to. This program also happened to be the first school that I received an interview invitation from. I had some very generic SoPs, and yes, I did receive rejections from those schools. Coincidental? Perhaps. however, i wouldn't risk it. write a pretty SoP. you'll be glad you did

and if your curious, I applied to PhD- Neuroscience programs. all top-ranked.