Am I Wasting My Time?
Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:17 pm
Dear Forum,
I am currently a 4th year undergraduate at UCLA with a GPA of 3.05. I recently changed my major from Biochemistry to Biophysics. My goal is to apply for a PhD program either in Physics or Astrophysics, preferably astro. I was premed but I fell in love with physics and astronomy, and switched majors at the end of my 3rd year. I wanted to change my major to astrophysics but the physics department here would not let me because they said I would surpass the unit cap. The physics coordinator then told me that I could switch to Biophysics but that I had less of a chance of getting into a physics/astro PhD program over someone who actually majored in physics or astrophysics. I told her I would do it anyway because it was something I really wanted to study. So here is my dilemma, my gpa is obviously on the lower end. This is due to a C average in the math classes I have taken. I understand that physics is completely based on math but for some reason I really hate taking math courses and I can't do well in them. That being said I have a 3.7 GPA if you look at my physics classes only. For some reason I can teach myself the math when I'm applying it to physics. I am currently studying for the physics GRE which I will take this summer, and I have no letters of recommendation as of yet. I am going to start research this quarter so I will have a year and a half of research because I'm going to graduate in the spring of 2011. I also did a summer of research in the department of medicine at UCI. I would really love to go to school somewhere in California but I know the UC's here are very competitive. So my question is, how good of chance do I have in getting into a PhD program at one of the Universities of California (Berkeley, UCLA, UCI, UCSD, etc.)? Did any of you currently in a graduate school have similar grades in your undergraduate? Say if I score a little above the average on the PGRE, and my overall GPA is 3.1, majoring in Biophysics with a year and a half of research, and keeping in mind my C average in math, will I be able to get into a UC PhD program? Or what would my options be because I really want to stick with this.
Thanks so much.
I am currently a 4th year undergraduate at UCLA with a GPA of 3.05. I recently changed my major from Biochemistry to Biophysics. My goal is to apply for a PhD program either in Physics or Astrophysics, preferably astro. I was premed but I fell in love with physics and astronomy, and switched majors at the end of my 3rd year. I wanted to change my major to astrophysics but the physics department here would not let me because they said I would surpass the unit cap. The physics coordinator then told me that I could switch to Biophysics but that I had less of a chance of getting into a physics/astro PhD program over someone who actually majored in physics or astrophysics. I told her I would do it anyway because it was something I really wanted to study. So here is my dilemma, my gpa is obviously on the lower end. This is due to a C average in the math classes I have taken. I understand that physics is completely based on math but for some reason I really hate taking math courses and I can't do well in them. That being said I have a 3.7 GPA if you look at my physics classes only. For some reason I can teach myself the math when I'm applying it to physics. I am currently studying for the physics GRE which I will take this summer, and I have no letters of recommendation as of yet. I am going to start research this quarter so I will have a year and a half of research because I'm going to graduate in the spring of 2011. I also did a summer of research in the department of medicine at UCI. I would really love to go to school somewhere in California but I know the UC's here are very competitive. So my question is, how good of chance do I have in getting into a PhD program at one of the Universities of California (Berkeley, UCLA, UCI, UCSD, etc.)? Did any of you currently in a graduate school have similar grades in your undergraduate? Say if I score a little above the average on the PGRE, and my overall GPA is 3.1, majoring in Biophysics with a year and a half of research, and keeping in mind my C average in math, will I be able to get into a UC PhD program? Or what would my options be because I really want to stick with this.
Thanks so much.