Preparing for Applying(Hear me out!)

[Aqualh]

Question: How can I tailor my application with a low gpa in the next 2 years?

 

I am in year 3/5.5 in my dual degree engineering program. I would like to go to Georgia Tech for a PhD.

1)I have a 2.8 gpa and really want to go to graduate school.

2) I have started research and will continue through the next year with hopes to do more. So far I have this semester and next year lined up with undergraduate research at my institution. 

3)I will have my 4th internship this summer.

4) I have a low gpa because in high school I had 2 jobs while helping my chaotic family pay the bills and taking dual credit college courses. I still do that but considering I started at a 2.5 and am now at a 2.83 I believe I can get to at most a 3.3 before I graduate.

How do I overcome this? I want to get a start on the grad school application mindset early. Thank you for any and all help 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

A low GPA isn't the make it or break it aspect of the application. It sounds like you have a good reason for the low GPA and you should be able to explain that in the application. I'd say just make sure you have a great SoP, good grades or an upward trend to your grades your next couple of years, and good GRE scores will be able to round out your app to make that GPA not as important. Do note that some schools have a minimum GPA requirement so keep that upward trend going and check for that before applying. 

[OhSoSolipsistic]

- Do well on both the verbal and quant sections of the GRE. One of the best ways to counter poor undergrad grades is high GRE scores because both are supposedly objective measures of predictive grad school performance. I'd start studying for the verbal now since the vocab and reading comprehension take time to develop.

- Develop strong relationships with professors with whom you do research in the next few years, and give extra effort to their research. Let them know of your desire to attend grad school and your low GPA concerns early on so they can provide guidance and assess your research skills. This will provide them with the information they need to give strong letters of recommendation.

- In addition to those at Georgia Tech, find potential advisors/POIs and plan to apply to at least 4 schools where they do research. Find topics that genuinely interest you, look for researchers who work on those topics, and learn more about their specific work. Ideally, this will be centered around research that is aligned with the work you're doing now. Look up the POIs publications and commonly-cited references, learn about their grad students and their work, go to conferences to meet these POIs, etc. Get on their radar so when the time comes to accept or reject your application, you'll be more than an applicant on paper with a GPA that is less than stellar.