- #1
poochie_d
- 18
- 0
Hi all,
Could anyone recommend any Canadian university offering a master's in physics that is likely to accept students with subpar grades in their upper year courses but who do have some research experience? I guess the top tier schools like University of Toronto or McGill are probably out of the question, but are there schools in the middle range that may accept students in such a situation? (e.g. Ottawa, SFU, etc.; how difficult is it to get into these places?)
The reason why I ask is because I have a cumulative gpa of 3.3 (which I admit is not very impressive to begin with), but my gpa for 300-400 level courses is only ~2.4 (gpa for 100-200 level courses are 3.8). I am a physics undergraduate at U of T and I expect to graduate by Dec 2012. My marks have been low recently mostly because I was feeling burned out and losing motivation; I often handed in late assignments and did not study enough for tests. In any case, I know I should have worked harder, and I have in fact done well when I did so, even in upper year courses (a number of my low marks actually came from math courses, not physics). I suppose taking an extra semester or two to boost my gpa may be one option, but having already spent 6+ years in undergrad (including a one-semester break), I am worried that this might make my application look even worse (or maybe it doesn't; do graduate schools look at the number of years spent in undergrad?).
One bright spot is that I have some research experience, with 2 papers for which I am co-author and 2 more pending publication (but two of the papers are in chem/medical, not physics). In fact, part of the reason why I did poorly is because I spent too much time doing research and not enough on courses. Looking back though, it seemed like a pretty silly thing to do since, from what I've heard, your gpa matters the most for graduate school admission.
Are there any institutions that would accept someone in this situation? Is there anything I can/should do to increase my chances? Or should I just face the fact it's too late to right the ship? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Could anyone recommend any Canadian university offering a master's in physics that is likely to accept students with subpar grades in their upper year courses but who do have some research experience? I guess the top tier schools like University of Toronto or McGill are probably out of the question, but are there schools in the middle range that may accept students in such a situation? (e.g. Ottawa, SFU, etc.; how difficult is it to get into these places?)
The reason why I ask is because I have a cumulative gpa of 3.3 (which I admit is not very impressive to begin with), but my gpa for 300-400 level courses is only ~2.4 (gpa for 100-200 level courses are 3.8). I am a physics undergraduate at U of T and I expect to graduate by Dec 2012. My marks have been low recently mostly because I was feeling burned out and losing motivation; I often handed in late assignments and did not study enough for tests. In any case, I know I should have worked harder, and I have in fact done well when I did so, even in upper year courses (a number of my low marks actually came from math courses, not physics). I suppose taking an extra semester or two to boost my gpa may be one option, but having already spent 6+ years in undergrad (including a one-semester break), I am worried that this might make my application look even worse (or maybe it doesn't; do graduate schools look at the number of years spent in undergrad?).
One bright spot is that I have some research experience, with 2 papers for which I am co-author and 2 more pending publication (but two of the papers are in chem/medical, not physics). In fact, part of the reason why I did poorly is because I spent too much time doing research and not enough on courses. Looking back though, it seemed like a pretty silly thing to do since, from what I've heard, your gpa matters the most for graduate school admission.
Are there any institutions that would accept someone in this situation? Is there anything I can/should do to increase my chances? Or should I just face the fact it's too late to right the ship? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!