Can additional research make up for a low GPA in graduate school admissions?

[mcabbage]

Just looking for extra critique here: I'm a 2nd year math and physics student at a good uni in Canada. My average is in the 70s (B range, hoping to bring up to an 80/A- by the end of second year). The good thing is that Canadian unis will only look at my most recent 4 semesters or so (though I'd love to apply in the US/UK/Eur). I'm making up for a few previous bad grades by taking advanced classes early and trying to do very well in them (group theory, analysis, quantum physics 2). Luckily my physics grades are all pretty good (all but 2 are As) even if my math grades are worse. I only mention this because it mostly disqualifies me from the most competitive research internships until I bring my grades up.

I have a likely opportunity to start volunteering with a certain professor in theoretical astrophysics when he's back from sabbatical - this can lead to full time positions in the summer or between 3rd/4th year. He emphasizes getting his undergrads published in some form and I'm dedicated to making this opportunity work out. The only issue is that I won't be starting until I've basically started 3rd year, leaving only 1.5 years until I start applying to grad school.

I'm also the mathematics and modeling team lead on a student run research/design group in synthetic biology (we do combinatorial and ODE modeling among other things). We present a conference poster (iGEM) every year and can maybe (if we do seriously awesome one year) get published at some point between now and the time I graduate. My issue with this one is that since it's a team a lot of the research gets split up between each of us. It's not as significant as an independent/one-on-one project would be with a PI, though I will be in close touch with our advisor at all times. It also worries me because it's more closely related to dynamical systems and biophysics than the stuff I'd want to do in grad school (as fun as it is). At the very least it gives me a ton of experience programming and working on project design/management/funding.

I also will do an honours thesis in 4th year of course.

I'm just not sure if this level of research is enough to get me recognized for good schools in theory (mathematical physics, quantum information, cosmology, computational astrophysics, etc). My grades aren't/weren't good enough to get a USRA between 1st and 2nd year and this summer is very hit or miss.

Is there anything I could be doing (other than studying more lol) to raise my chances? Would taking a term or two extra just to do research or grad classes help? Any advice helps!

This forum is awesome, many thanks to anyone who responds!

 

[trurle]

Basically, you doing tactically everything right. The problem is what strategically timing for taking academic career is wrong. Currently low-grade researchers are over-produced, resulting in slower careers and higher competition at each step of career, and you feel exactly increased competition.

Search for trends of time between PhD and professorship for example.

No offense, but it may be better to search for less competitive field or scale down ambitions.

 

[mcabbage]

Basically, you doing tactically everything right. The problem is what strategically timing for taking academic career is wrong. Currently low-grade researchers are over-produced, resulting in slower careers and higher competition at each step of career, and you feel exactly increased competition.

Search for trends of time between PhD and professorship for example.

No offense, but it may be better to search for less competitive field or scale down ambitions.

Makes sense! I may end up going into more experimental/developmental quantum computing work rather than all that grand high energy stuff. I'm also interested in working on computational physics in the study of galaxies, stellar interiors, or maybe biophysics (which might be my best bet as far as experience goes). Thanks for the advice. We'll see where my next few terms take me I suppose.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I was admitted to PhD programs at MIT, Princeton, and Stanford in my chosen field (AMO Physics) with the following background:

Research:
Two published papers: one in theoretical astrophysics (Astrophysical Journal) and one in experimental atomic physics (Phys Rev A). My research supervisors wrote me rave recommendation letters because I was a more reliable and hard working undergraduate than they had experienced before. I was not particularly smart or skilled compared with the other undergrads - I worked harder.

Grades:
I graduated with a 3.95 GPA from LSU-Baton Rouge, winning the University Medal at graduation (highest GPA among BS recipients). Both the Bs I earned as an undergraduate were in Physics courses.

GRE:
My PGRE score put me in the 70th percentile. My Math and Verbal were near perfect.

It's hard to say how much additional research or publications might have pulled up a poor GPA at a given school. Clearly, two publications and very positive recommendations were enough with a great GPA. But GPA is a proxy for a couple of things that are very highly valued in graduate admissions: 1) Work ethic in coursework 2) Potential for passing a department's PhD qualifying exams. It's hard for additional research to balance out a low GPA in terms of how an admissions committee will evaluate your application in these areas. A much higher PGRE score than mine (say, 90th percentile) would convey a stronger potential for passing the department's PhD qualifying exams in ways that additional research cannot.

In the US, I strongly encourage the students I mentor to guard their GPA beginning in their first semester. Pretty much, aspirations for a top 20 grad school will be dashed the first time a semester GPA falls below 3.0. There is usually no amount of research that can compensate for a string of semesters with bad GPAs. And it doesn't matter where you are, a GPA below 3.0 is bad in the eyes of top 20 grad schools. At lower tier undergraduate schools (ranked below 50 or so), even GPAs below 3.5 are often considered bad when aiming high.

In the US, the path I'd recommend for someone with a mediocre undergrad GPA aspiring to a better grad school than they could get into directly would be to earn a MS in Physics from the best institution they can get into and make sure to earn both a great GPA in the process and impress their research supervisor while earning the MS.