Doomed by GPA?
Howdy everyone,
So, I've completed the first semester of my junior year of college. I'm a microbiology major at a state school and I'm interested in pursuing a bioengineering graduate program - Arizona State seems really appealing at the moment.
I've struggled in school and I've got a 3.03 out of 4 cumulative, which is all right, but not particularly competitive. In major, I have a 3.5 or a 3.6. I'm on my second year of research in a lab where I work hard and accomplish a lot (comparatively - haven't published anything though). The professor I work with would probably write me a strong recommendation, and I'm thinking about prospective others.
The courses I end up struggling with are outside of my major, though. Because I want to go into engineering, I figured math was a pretty indispensable tool, so I took linear algebra, and received a C-. I also took an upper-level biochemistry course and after a very huge effort ended up with a C+. The entire justification for the (not required) upper-level biochemistry was when I took the (required) introductory biochemistry (really cell biology) course, I received a C and my idea was to show improvement. Oops.
I have not taken the GRE yet.
Most undergrads in my major don't branch out as much as I do, but I have a feeling that if I were a grad school, and I saw someone trying to branch out and not succeeding, it wouldn't sway my decision too much.
My question is - what should I aim for at this point? Initially I was thinking to apply straight to PhD programs but all things considered, should I broaden my application to master's programs also, work in industry after undergrad for a while, or both? Does anybody else have any wisdom to share?
Thanks so much!
So, I've completed the first semester of my junior year of college. I'm a microbiology major at a state school and I'm interested in pursuing a bioengineering graduate program - Arizona State seems really appealing at the moment.
I've struggled in school and I've got a 3.03 out of 4 cumulative, which is all right, but not particularly competitive. In major, I have a 3.5 or a 3.6. I'm on my second year of research in a lab where I work hard and accomplish a lot (comparatively - haven't published anything though). The professor I work with would probably write me a strong recommendation, and I'm thinking about prospective others.
The courses I end up struggling with are outside of my major, though. Because I want to go into engineering, I figured math was a pretty indispensable tool, so I took linear algebra, and received a C-. I also took an upper-level biochemistry course and after a very huge effort ended up with a C+. The entire justification for the (not required) upper-level biochemistry was when I took the (required) introductory biochemistry (really cell biology) course, I received a C and my idea was to show improvement. Oops.
I have not taken the GRE yet.
Most undergrads in my major don't branch out as much as I do, but I have a feeling that if I were a grad school, and I saw someone trying to branch out and not succeeding, it wouldn't sway my decision too much.
My question is - what should I aim for at this point? Initially I was thinking to apply straight to PhD programs but all things considered, should I broaden my application to master's programs also, work in industry after undergrad for a while, or both? Does anybody else have any wisdom to share?
Thanks so much!