- #1
mrund3rd09
- 21
- 0
I'm an international student who has been in the US for a long time. I go to a state college that excels in engineering, but it's mainly focused on industry. My major is chem e, and I'm still trying to decide between industry and grad school. My gut tells me I'm a better fit for grad school, but another part of me just wants to settle down with an easy job and look after my family (granted, it doesn't really come cheap for international students either way).
If I do decide to pursue a PhD, I would like to either work with the best, or not even bother. (I have a feeling people will challenge this perspective, but let's just keep it at that for now) This is why my past troubles me. When I was in high school, I took a good amount of college classes. For a number of years, I was emotionally overwhelmed and unable to perform my best academically. My senior year in high school, I managed to get a D-, D+ and an F on my college transcript (same college I go to now). A large part of my emotional distress came from having to live with my parents. But I'm moving out of the house this summer, and I am very optimistic that things will work out a lot better for me in the near future.
My cumulative GPA is currently sitting at 3.51, with 3 retakes (the ones from above) and a lot of withdraws (I've reached my school limit in withdraws). Particularly during this semester, I dropped 3 classes, which brought me below full time. (this was the only semester I had more than 1 withdraws) The reason was that I wanted to take a sort of a leave of absence to get my personal life in check, and catch up during the summer. My ambition is to focus on my classes and get 4.0s to possibly boost my GPA up to 3.6-7 before I apply for grad school.
So as you can see, my past was a little turbulent, but I am determined to make things better from now on.
As for research, I was added into a project with a professor last year, and that's ongoing. I'll probably finish this semester and get another research position in the fall.
I'm not yet sure where my letters of recommendations will come from.
Off the top of my head, these are the things I'm worried about right now. My hope is that I can use my next 2 years to demonstrate myself and make a grad school application that will make me a competitive applicant. I know that judging by the cover, I don't look like anything special, but I do believe that I have potential, and with the right state of mind, I can overcome the odds. Please help me address some of my concerns.
If I do decide to pursue a PhD, I would like to either work with the best, or not even bother. (I have a feeling people will challenge this perspective, but let's just keep it at that for now) This is why my past troubles me. When I was in high school, I took a good amount of college classes. For a number of years, I was emotionally overwhelmed and unable to perform my best academically. My senior year in high school, I managed to get a D-, D+ and an F on my college transcript (same college I go to now). A large part of my emotional distress came from having to live with my parents. But I'm moving out of the house this summer, and I am very optimistic that things will work out a lot better for me in the near future.
My cumulative GPA is currently sitting at 3.51, with 3 retakes (the ones from above) and a lot of withdraws (I've reached my school limit in withdraws). Particularly during this semester, I dropped 3 classes, which brought me below full time. (this was the only semester I had more than 1 withdraws) The reason was that I wanted to take a sort of a leave of absence to get my personal life in check, and catch up during the summer. My ambition is to focus on my classes and get 4.0s to possibly boost my GPA up to 3.6-7 before I apply for grad school.
So as you can see, my past was a little turbulent, but I am determined to make things better from now on.
As for research, I was added into a project with a professor last year, and that's ongoing. I'll probably finish this semester and get another research position in the fall.
I'm not yet sure where my letters of recommendations will come from.
Off the top of my head, these are the things I'm worried about right now. My hope is that I can use my next 2 years to demonstrate myself and make a grad school application that will make me a competitive applicant. I know that judging by the cover, I don't look like anything special, but I do believe that I have potential, and with the right state of mind, I can overcome the odds. Please help me address some of my concerns.
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