How
I Got Into Graduate School With Mediocre
Grades
It
took me five and a half years to complete
a four-year program and finally earn a
B.Sc in Psychology. My grade-point-average
(hereafter referred to as GPA) was not
very competitive when I applied to graduate
school -- my average was between B and
B-plus. Still, I was accepted into a Master
of Science program and later into a Ph.D.
program. Things went well for me in graduate
school. Within sixteen months of becoming
a graduate student I had an M.Sc., and
in another three years, a Ph.D.
To
get into graduate school, I had to do
several things to make up for my mediocre
grades. (It had nothing to do with studying
harder and getting better grades)! Not
surprisingly, some of these things are
described in this e-book. After two years
of postdoctoral research, I was offered
my current academic position at a major
Canadian university. The point is that
even though I was a mediocre student as
an undergraduate, this did not stop me
from accomplishing all of my career goals.
But, it scares me to think of where I'd
be right now if I hadn't applied for and
been accepted into graduate school!
“Get
Started Now!”
Something
that I hate having to do as part of my
job is denying certain students entrance
into our graduate programs. Many wishful
applicants are rejected each year. I often
consider that many of these rejected students
are probably well-suited for graduate
school but may never find out because
their applications were unable to convince
me that they truly have what it takes.
I feel sorry for these students, but there
is nothing I can do about their inability
to sell themselves.Occasionally,
one comes across applicants who do an
exceptional job of demonstrating that
they possess attributes necessary for
success in graduate school and in a related
career afterwards. Those are the applicants
who are accepted. You should be one of
those applicants, and there is no reason
why you can’t be if you are willing
to make appropriate use of the information
and advice in this book.Whether
you are in your freshman or senior year,
the time to begin planning for your graduate-school
application is now. Don’t wait until
you are in your final semester of your
senior year to begin taking the steps
outlined in this book. Some of the recommended
steps take a good deal of time to implement.
The longer you wait, the more difficult
it will be to improve your chances of
getting into graduate school. Conversely,
the sooner you begin, the easier it will
be. But don’t panic if you discover
that you do not have enough time to take
advantage of all of the strategies described
in this book. There are a great many things
that you can do “at the last minute”
to improve your chances.
If
you have weak grades and no notable and
relevant accomplishments, then you might
decide after reading this book that you
don’t have a realistic chance of
getting into graduate school this year
no matter what you do. Consider it a blessing
that you figured this out before you wasted
your time and money, and experienced much
anguish. If you are serious about getting
into graduate school, then you have plenty
of time to take advantage of the advice
in this book and prepare for application
next year. |
