Pharmacology Admission

[hockeyref24]

Hi All,

I am trying to get admission to a Ph.D. Pharmacology Program. I was just rejected for the second year in a row. Any advice would be helpful. Below are my stats.

Undergrad GPA: <3.0

Graduate GPA(master program): 3.6 (4 classes)

GRE Scores: 147-Verbal, Quantitative-141, Writing- 4.0 

Research Experience: 3 years (2 full-time job)

Publications: 2 (one primary research, one review)

Publications expected in next 3 months: 3 (all primary research)

Presentations: 3 (2 academic, 1 international conference)

Edited April 10, 2016 by hockeyref24

[Eigen]

In my experience, you can either have a low GPA, or low GRE, but both will make it really hard.

You didn't give percentiles for your GRE, but those scores seem really low. Ideally, you want 80-90th percentile, and below 75th is going to give you a hard time. 

Many schools have a 3.0 GPA cutoff for undergrad, so you're already at a disadvantage there. Your GPA went up for grad school, but 3.6, relatively, is fairly low for a grad GPA. 

Mu best advice would be to get your GRE scores up, as you need something to countr the low GPA. 

Your publication record is good assuming they're in well-thought of journals, but with low stats you might be running into cutoffs before people look at the rest of your application closely. 

[fucun]

I just applied to Pharmacology PhD programs this cycle, and I have got in to all my top choices. Here are my 2 cents...and I echo Eigen on the this.

Since you cannot change your undergrad GPA, work hard to score higher on your GRE. But remember that there will be programs that care more about research experience than your stats (hint: Vanderbilt), so you need to HIGHLIGHT your research experience in your statement. It's just that many programs have low cut-offs for GPA and GRE because there is no way they can accept an outlier to lower their mean stats for admission unless the student has a stellar research experience. 

[Eigen]

And even then, most GPA cutoffs are set by the graduate school rather than by individual programs. 

Even if the program likes you, they have to like you enough to cash in favors with the graduate school to get the requirements waived, and that can be a lot of trouble. 

[GradSchoolTruther]

It doesn't matter if you have funding or not. I was just giving the benchmark of what is generally considered to be the minimum standard in many programs. If you can't get your graduate GPA to 3.7 or higher, I think you might struggle to get into a Ph.D. program.

[eternallyephemeral]

I think it depends on how you do in those classes. As others mentioned before, graduate GPA is expected to be much higher than undergraduate GPA. In fact, you are likely competing against people that have extremely high Masters GPAs (like 4.0, I see a lot of these), if they have masters.

I understand it's probably very expensive for you to continue on this route, and you want it to be worth it. it's very important to understand that admissions committees want evidence that you can work on something until it is completed and that you can follow through. Is it possible for you to do some paid research or something else (like being a TA or getting a work-study job at the university) to help pay to complete the masters? Having that degree can help.

 

Alternately, I would focus on trying to improve your GRE scores. From what I know, a 141 in Quant is around the 10th percentile, meaning 90% of people scored better than you in this area. Schools typically don't look kindly upon this. If you want some tips, you can PM me for a recommendation of how to approach GRE studying. I helped my boyfriend improve all of his scores, and they started in the range where yours are.

Best of luck!

[hockeyref24]

Thanks for your reply Eigen, would you also suggest completing the masters program in combination with increasing GRE scores? I am only completing about 2 classes per semester currently.

Edited April 10, 2016 by hockeyref24

[hockeyref24]

Thank you both for your advice, however, I did not see my masters program addressed, any advice on completion or just continuation of taking classes?

[GradSchoolTruther]

You need to get that master's GPA up and the only way to do that is complete the program. In many graduate programs, a 3.5 is the requirement to keep funding.

[BernoullisWig17]

On 4/10/2016 at 7:24 PM, Eigen said:

And even then, most GPA cutoffs are set by the graduate school rather than by individual programs. 

Even if the program likes you, they have to like you enough to cash in favors with the graduate school to get the requirements waived, and that can be a lot of trouble. 

I'm interested in learning more about how a department might go about petitioning for the requirements to be waived. What kind of favors are we talking about here? 

[GradSchoolTruther]

Some universities allow departments a certain number of waivers. Maybe the department can convince the graduate dean for an exception for an exceptional case. These policies are university specific and information regarding the issue is tough to get unless you know someone at the school.

[hockeyref24]

12 hours ago, GradSchoolTruther said:

You need to get that master's GPA up and the only way to do that is complete the program. In many graduate programs, a 3.5 is the requirement to keep funding.

I do not have any funding, I was primarily using the masters classes as an example of successful graduate work. Thus, I am hesitant to complete the program if it does not increase my chances of admission into a Ph.D. program. 

[hockeyref24]

How many classes would satisfy?