Realistically- can I get into a Ph.D. program?

[Madeline O'Hara]

Hello, I am currently an undergrad psych major (neuroscience and behavior/biology minors) and am expected to graduate in Spring 2023. I graduated high school in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, causing my first two semesters to be online. This went pretty badly for me as I don't learn as well online and had many personal issues during that time. My last two semesters in person were significantly better, and I've managed to get my GPA from 2.9 to 3.33. I'm worried that this won't be enough with most Ph.D. programs having December 1st deadlines, and my next semester won't be on my transcripts to beef up my GPA. This fall I will be an officer in the Psychology Club, and I also have credit in two labs on campus (physiological psych lab since Spring 2022 and neuroscience lab in the biology dept since Spring 2022). I regret not having looked into the labs on campus earlier, however I was unable to be on campus my first year. Everything is moving fast for me since I'm graduating a year early, and I was wondering if anyone knows if grad schools would take this into account? I know that I could stay another semester or two to get my GPA up and get more research experience, but I'm already graduating with more credits than I need and I don't want to extend my time in undergrad for financial reasons. So the question is, realistically, do you think I would be able to get into a Ph.D. program? What maximizes my chances of doing so?

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[summerbabe]

Everything is moving fast for me since I'm graduating a year early, and I was wondering if anyone knows if grad schools would take this into account? I know that I could stay another semester or two to get my GPA up and get more research experience, but I'm already graduating with more credits than I need and I don't want to extend my time in undergrad for financial reasons. So the question is, realistically, do you think I would be able to get into a Ph.D. program? What maximizes my chances of doing so?

You may be served best by getting post-bacc research experience (can be either paid or unpaid, ideally in a subject area related to what you’re applying for) that would result in a good letter of rec and hopefully authorship credit on a poster or journal article.

If you can connect with a productive lab and are willing to make a strong time commitment where the PI will invest some time in your development, this can easily be done without paying tuition.

If you continue to do well academically and your graduation GPA is like a 3.5 with steady increases from your first year, that should be fine if the other pieces of your application fit with the programs you are considering.

I doubt most PhD programs care whether somebody did a bachelors in 3, 4 or 5 years. Good luck!