What to do now?

[phonyreal98]

At risk of sounding like I'm trolling, I just found out that I got a B- in an upper level chemistry class, will this have any substantial impact on my application? Honestly, I took this class because it sounded interesting, but due to a myriad of personal issues, I wasn't able to put in the time that I needed to to do my best work in this course. While I do have an interest in chemistry, I want to do my PhD in a completely different area, cognitive neuroscience. I think I'm pretty solid elsewhere in my application: 3.8 overall GPA, ~3.7 sciGPA (though this could dip to about 3.68-3.69 depending on how my biochem exam on Thursday goes), 36 MCAT, solid research experience (3 years, was awarded highest honors for my thesis, 2nd author publication, 3 posters...2 2nd author at an international and local conference, 1 1st author at undergraduate symposium, obtained own funding to support myself last summer). I'm a senior, so I don't really have a lot of room to improve my GPA...so I'm wondering what its impact may be....and maybe trying to adjust my school list accordingly.

Edit: I realize that I B- isn't going to kill me and that my overall science GPA is still good, but I'm concerned about the impact of this because it's one of a few upper level science courses that I've taken (even though I guess I got an A in an upper level cognitive neuroscience course, which is more relevant to what I want to do).

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[QofQuimica]

One B definitely isn't going to kill you. It looks like you have a pretty strong app overall, though you might want to add in a little shadowing if you haven't done some already. Best of luck with your apps.

 

[phonyreal98]

Thanks for the response. Complicating matters a bit further, the professor whose class I got a B- in agreed to write me a LOR earlier in the semester (I took another class with this professor, and made an A). How should I approach this dip in performance, if it were to come up in my correspondences with this professor? Would it sound like I'm just "making excuses" by saying I was having personal issues during the semester, now that the semester is over (I never really mentioned or hinted at having any sorts of these issues during the semester, even though I was having them and they were impacting my school work)?

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Thanks for the response. Complicating matters a bit further, the professor whose class I got a B- in agreed to write me a LOR earlier in the semester (I took another class with this professor, and made an A). How should I approach this dip in performance, if it were to come up in my correspondences with this professor? Would it sound like I'm just "making excuses" by saying I was having personal issues during the semester, now that the semester is over (I never really mentioned or hinted at having any sorts of these issues during the semester, even though I was having them and they were impacting my school work)?

So as not to wreck your reputation, allow him to write that letter but don't send it out. You don't want to be damned by faint praise, a la "Strong student with solid understanding. He got a B-, blablabla." That's the kiss of death. I'm not saying he will do that, but he might.

Don't mention any issues unless they affected a whole semester or year in a major way (suddenly C's popping up out of nowhere). People tend to diminish the significance of life events that do not occur in their own lives, and think it's just excuse making.

I requested a letter from a professor in whose classes I got an A- and a B, and this letter was sent out to schools, and I think it went OK.

Just request another LOR from another professor in a similar field, whom you know to a comparable degree and in whose class you got just an A- (at a minimum).

 

[Neuronix]

Find a new letter writer if you can. The B- on its own isn't a big deal, though you need to stop that. As for personal issues, they are never an excuse, only a liability. Don't bring it up at all.

 

[QofQuimica]

Find a new letter writer if you can. The B- on its own isn't a big deal, though you need to stop that. As for personal issues, they are never an excuse, only a liability. Don't bring it up at all.

Agree, *especially* if these issues are still ongoing.

OP, the less said about personal issues, the better. You don't want to start off your app season being known as the person who has personal problems that interfere with their academic life. Yeah, everyone has personal problems, but that doesn't mean you should advertise them. You are your own best advocate, so make sure you portray yourself as polished and professional as possible.