Post undergrad, work experience, low gpa..any chance?

[Jun85]

Hi there

I graduated with a B.Sc in 2009 with a major in Biology. Immediately after I graduated, I volunteered in a laboratory for a year (2009-2010) and then found a lab tech job (2010-present) where I am working at now.

Although its a lab tech position, I have my own project which I am running experiments and etc.

My marks during undergrad were not great at all (65% overall although my marks in my last year included more A's, and B's. During undergrad, the courses I took were mostly science, psychology, stats related. During my undergrad time. I found an intern position in a lab overseas, and pursued a thesis for my 4th year project.

I applied to grad school (in the sciences) last year, but to no avail, things didnt work out, which is why I pursued this lab tech job that I have now.

I don't have any paper's published but hope to in the next year or so.

My question is, is it worth it to apply to grad school for this coming September or will I more likely than not, be shot down again because I don't have good credentials? ie: Will my two years of working in labs make any differennce?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

[Vacuum]

I think this a hard to determine since many schools base their decisions on a wide set of criteria. Some programs state you need at least a certain GPA in order to be considered; however, there are many posters on these boards who had just below that cut-off and still made it in, while others have 3.9 GPA and don't get in. Some people have horrible GREs and get in, no work experience and get in, etc. I think it just depends on what the school is looking for and the other applicants you are essentially 'competing' against. Also, if you are writing a personal statement as part of your application, you could explain your low grades (if there is a reason) and show why they improved in your final year (perhaps you became more interested in the subjects?, something like that). You could also mention working in labs and of course you could include what you hope on doing in the future (having papers published).

If you think you are close to what they are looking for, I would say go for it and apply. You don't have to apply to a ton of schools, but at least you might get a sense of where you stand in the discipline. Also, don't just apply to really well known schools that everyone will apply to, but instead spread out your applications. Sometimes if you are rejected, you can give the school a call and they will tell you what parts of your application were weak. This would help you out to determine 1) how to improve your application next time or 2) if you still want to try to get in next year.

Hope that helps you out a bit!

Edited February 8, 2011 by Vacuum

[ellefash]

Hey Jun85 - I'd say it's definitely worth applying! You'll never know if you have a chance of getting in.... especially if you don't even bother applying, so I say just go for it! You might benefit from reading some of the articles on http://www.bschool.com about when to apply for grad school. Hope that helps a bit, and good luck with everything

[ogopo]

I think it's possible for you to get into grad school with poor grades because that's exactly what I did. Work experience as a lab tech is exactly what got me in. What I would suggest for you is to volunteer or find some other way to get to know a prof at a local school then do a masters with him or her. From there, you can boost your CV as well as your grades then hopefully that will help you to get into a PhD program. I'm currently in the process of applying to do dream research with a great prof at a good university. I'm not sure I'll get in but without my masters I wouldn't have had a chance.

Goooood luck!