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I had a ? in my DMs about how to get the attention of a professor for grad school when UG GPA is lower than you would like. Others are likely also interested in my answer so I& #39;ll add it here.
Disclaimer: my response is geared toward PhD applicants and n = 1.
1/10
Disclaimer: my response is geared toward PhD applicants and n = 1.
1/10
Go in with the understanding that grad school is a more mature kind of thinking / learning than UG coursework, and is more self-driven. Show them you want to, and can, think this way. Don& #39;t depend on them to make connections / assumptions or explain their work to you.
2/10
2/10
Do your homework - know what they do, why it& #39;s important, how you want to add to it. Read at least one of their papers. Check out their website / twitter. Emphasize that you UNDERSTAND their work. Be specific in what you like about it and what you want to do with it.
3/10
3/10
We get A LOT of email that look like this:
"I like your work and I took an ichthyology class in UG that was fun."
That& #39;s all great, and a place to start, but it& #39;s generic and doesn& #39;t convey that you understand what you would be a part of.
4/10
"I like your work and I took an ichthyology class in UG that was fun."
That& #39;s all great, and a place to start, but it& #39;s generic and doesn& #39;t convey that you understand what you would be a part of.
4/10
What we want to see:
"I like that you think about interactions between traits, and how different prey types change these interactions. I would be curious to see how sensory physiology explains this..."
5/10
"I like that you think about interactions between traits, and how different prey types change these interactions. I would be curious to see how sensory physiology explains this..."
5/10
Essentially, show us that you are ready to be a colleague, that we can work on these ideas TOGETHER. We know there will still be a lot to learn, so are there also skills, concepts, techniques you want to learn? Make sure the ones you list are ones we actually do.
6/10
6/10
If you have experiences that back this up, mention those, but also tell us about how you grew, scientifically, because of them. Ex. I did an internship with a marine mammal rescue that taught me that I wanted to ask questions about animals, not clean their poop.
7/10
7/10
The right email can convey that even though your GPA isn& #39;t the best, you have grown past absorption of knowledge (UG thinking) and are ready to start creating knowledge (PhD thinking). These more targeted emails also stand out more.
8/10
8/10
Also, the more specific info you can give, the more likely your email is to spark a connection with ongoing or future work (that may not be listed publicly) that will help us see how and where you could fit. This spark is what tips the scales.
9/10
9/10
TLDR: Doing your homework and writing a thoughtful, specific email SHOULD* go farther than courses on a transcript.
* There will still be profs / grad programs that rely on GPA more than experience and growth and you& #39;ll probably still encounter difficulty.
10/10
* There will still be profs / grad programs that rely on GPA more than experience and growth and you& #39;ll probably still encounter difficulty.
10/10
