[...] post-grad: The admissions committee only cares about the following items (I’m listing them below to refresh your [...]

I just wanted to add something about people with lower grades who are aspiring to go to graduate school. I’m a fifth year undergraduate student doing a double major in biochemistry and microbiology which I will complete this April. My cumulative university average is between a B- and a B and yet I’ve been approached by several professors who said that they would be happy to become my supervisor for graduate school. How is this possible?

Last summer I obtained my first ever research-oriented job and I enjoyed it so much that I knew I wanted to do graduate school. Initially I was worried about my gpa… But since I couldn’t do anything about the previous four years grades, I set about working as hard as I could (which didn’t seem that hard since I loved the research). In the end, the results I came up with over the summer ended up being added to their paper (manuscript in press now) with my name on them. The principle investigator of the lab has said he would take me on as a graduate student… And so have several other professors that I got to know and work with over the summer.

Right now I’m completing my last year and doing a completely separate research project. Additionally, I was invited by the professors I worked with over the summer to give a brief talk about the summer work I did at a conference.

Basically… all of these things look very good on my CV. Even if I DIDN’T have the publication/conference to talk about on my CV, I would still have two research job positions (which show experience with research) and professors who would write excellent references for me.

For those hoping to get their foot in the door like I did, a post doc I worked with over the summer told me that I was hired rather than other students with significantly higher GPAs because of my enthusiasm for the work that I conveyed during the interview.

In short, for those who are worried, it’s not always about the grades. It’s about experience, persistence (for that first research job I applied at lots of labs and only got an interview with a few) and networking.

[...] Here is what graduate schools care about: your grades in the relevant subjects and your research experience. Nothing else matters. They really could not care less that you’re the president of the Aleutian Irish Eskimo Cultural Heritage Club. (See this article for more information on graduate school admissions.) [...]

Thanks!

[...] Can a Relaxed Student Get Into Grad School? Highlighting how the reality of many competitive pursuits — like getting into a good grad program — rewards simplicity and focus over grinding and overload. [...]

The thing is, my school seems to have so many projects! We have to do like, one for every single subject and they’re all pretty major ones, including research –surveys, analysis, reports, and all that, so if I want to do well in them I really have to put loads of effort in.

First things first, you have to get a handle on your academics. Your school assigns a lot of work. Okay, kick ass with your work. How do you do this? Make sure you abandon the typical high school mindset that it’s just a function of how many hours of effort you invest. Read the study tips and productivity archives of this blog. Man up (or woman up) and take control of your time. Start making schedules. Start things earlier. Replace inefficient study habits with efficient ones.

Once you have a handle on your courses, and you really feel like you’re engaging that material, and enjoy it, and are doing top-notch work, then remember the following: interesting things happen to interesting people.

This translates, for you, to take something you’re interested in, like writing or photography, and start asking what would be the coolest f’ing things I could do with this? Then talk to people who have. Try random stuff. Go out on a limb. Just be interesting and constantly seek cool new places to take your interests.

Good stuff — including, yes, success with college admissions — will follow.

If you click on the “About Study Hacks” tab above it has all my contact info. But now that you’ve asked, I’m happy to answer your question here.

The basic idea behind Tip #60 is that you should do some good just for the sake of doing good. Not for recognition. Now, if you’ve done a lot of volunteering then, of course, you can mention this in a relevant interview, as it’s a major part of your background. But for many students, who don’t really do anything along those lines, Tip #60 would say “go do something, just to be good, not for any other reason.”

I’m sorry this isn’t related to your entry. I just couldn’t find your contact info even after some digging (maybe I’m less tech-savvy than I thought). I just have a question about a tip in your How to Win in College. Tip #60 says I should volunteer but not talk about it, not even in interviews. I’m not a fan of showoffs either, but aren’t there points in an interview when a big volunteer experience would earn you lots of points? For example, I’m applying for summer internships in non-profit organizations, and I can’t think of a way to convince them I’m fit for the job without bringing up how much volunteering I’ve done and how it has shaped my thinking, etc. Some more elaboration on this would be great.

Before I wind up, let me reiterate the obvious: your book is amazing!

Thanks for chiming in. It’s great to hear other voices that have gone through this. It’s so true about the snobbery. I went to Dartmouth. That’s a pretty good school. But it’s not known as a science power-house. I’ve actually had (typically, non-American) researchers say to me: “what’s Dartmouth?” Not even on their radar.