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Having an Anxiety Attack About Grades
Ultros64
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm currently a Senior enrolled at a State University with a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Bioscience. I would like to obtain a career in Neuroscience, or any branch thereof. With my grades, I think getting into a graduate program will be very difficult.
I have a 3.15 GPA. I had around a 3.4 in High School. My ACT was a 27 and I've yet to take the GRE.
I don't think that these grades or scores really reflect my potential. I've always been smart, eloquent, and a diligent worker when I've been interested in the material. I do have a major weakness, and that is for testing.
I always panic during tests. My teachers, across different disciplines, have all unanimously agreed that I "know too much", and that I overanalyze the questions. I try to refute that no questions have simple answers, but they only want A B C or D, not opinions.
When I'm not taking tests and developing ulcers, I'm usually one of the heads of the class. I'm always bringing up new material that I've researched (particularly in Psychophsyiology or pharmaceutical courses) and always have something new to bring to the table. I work hard and see relationship between the coursework and real-life application.
But it seems no matter how good of an actual student I am, I mess up. I always miss that A by a half percent, or just fuck it up right when I'm doing well in the course. I don't know why. All I know is that I have a crushing sense of guilt for this 3.15. I hate it. I hate the fact that all my work is reduced to a number that (if I'm lucky) I'm only going to be able to raise to a 3.3 by the end of my college career.
I always hear stories about the guy who did poorly in High School, then by luck went off to college and did amazingly well. I never hear stories about the guy who did alright in High School, and then went to college and did ok there too (tales of mediocrity aren't as inspiring I guess).
I don't know why I'm posting this here. There are guys out there with problems much greater than this one. I guess I just want to know whether or not I've royally fucked myself with this GPA.
Thanks for listening to me.
I have a 3.15 GPA. I had around a 3.4 in High School. My ACT was a 27 and I've yet to take the GRE.
I don't think that these grades or scores really reflect my potential. I've always been smart, eloquent, and a diligent worker when I've been interested in the material. I do have a major weakness, and that is for testing.
I always panic during tests. My teachers, across different disciplines, have all unanimously agreed that I "know too much", and that I overanalyze the questions. I try to refute that no questions have simple answers, but they only want A B C or D, not opinions.
When I'm not taking tests and developing ulcers, I'm usually one of the heads of the class. I'm always bringing up new material that I've researched (particularly in Psychophsyiology or pharmaceutical courses) and always have something new to bring to the table. I work hard and see relationship between the coursework and real-life application.
But it seems no matter how good of an actual student I am, I mess up. I always miss that A by a half percent, or just fuck it up right when I'm doing well in the course. I don't know why. All I know is that I have a crushing sense of guilt for this 3.15. I hate it. I hate the fact that all my work is reduced to a number that (if I'm lucky) I'm only going to be able to raise to a 3.3 by the end of my college career.
I always hear stories about the guy who did poorly in High School, then by luck went off to college and did amazingly well. I never hear stories about the guy who did alright in High School, and then went to college and did ok there too (tales of mediocrity aren't as inspiring I guess).
I don't know why I'm posting this here. There are guys out there with problems much greater than this one. I guess I just want to know whether or not I've royally fucked myself with this GPA.
Thanks for listening to me.
It doesn't matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection
Ultros64 on
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Since when is a 3.15 GPA considered "mediocre?"
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
You may have your work cut out for you if you're intent on getting into a top 5 school in your field, but even then it's not a forgone conclusion. You're not screwed.
When both your parents graduated Magna Cum and your sister recently got her second degree with a 3.93.
Guess I should have mentioned that.
In comparison to them, maybe. But honestly, that is still a pretty damn good GPA.
I will tell you one of my best friends graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering with a 2.5 GPA. He went on to grad school and got his Masters - I don't remember the exact focus, but his specialty is in robotics and A.I. He now works for a contractor making $texas interpreting pictures from satellites, and programming them remotely.
With a 2.5 in his B.S.
I think you'll be fine, especially when you consider Simon Moon's advice.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Also at least in engineering/technical fields, the gpa's are always lower from my experience because the coursework is so much harder. I can't vouch for bio sciences or the like though.
Most of my coursework consists of a combination of chemistry courses, human anatomy courses, and neuroscience categories. I honestly haven't looked into what the average GPA is for theses courses, but I think the the likelihood for the "A" can be pretty low ( guesstimating 6-9% ). I tend to set the curve for courses specifically dealing with neuroscience or anything related to the brain, but then fall behind when it comes to other courses I'm required to take.
I mean, I'll get a "C" in an Intro Physics course, but then I'll beat the shit out of an advanced Physics course dealing with the idea of Chaos and Variability because I can do a project on predicting neuronal firing in the brain and how it could theoretically be calculated with proper the mathematical formulas.
It's shit like that which kills me. I either am king of the roost or just sucking balls.
You seem to be really upset about this. I'm not trying to pass myself off as a psychiatrist, but maybe if you work out a few of the assumptions you're operating under, you'll be a bit calmer. Does it matter that your GPA is lower than your sister's? It has to be higher or lower, I suppose it could be identical but that would be a fluke. Is there some disaster that is going to befall you because your GPA is only in the top, say, 20-ish percent, instead of the tp 5-percent? Is there an army of job offers, gorgeous supermodels, movie directors, apprentices, sidekicks, and research grants that are going to disappear because your GPA is only well-above average?
I don't know how hard or easy it will be, but maybe try to logically assess your situation and where you want to go. It sounds like you're having an anxiety attack over your inability to achieve goals that seem rather arbitrary. So your sister has a higher GPA than you, what terrible event does this foretell? I had a higher GPA than you, but you're probably going to be paid more than me when you graduate. Which of us should be freaked out about that?
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
I guess you're right. And my sister did graduate with a degree in... uh... I think it's Recreation and Tourism management. I don't know how difficult of a course that is, but I will say it's leagues different from mine.
I just don't want to be brushed off. I don't want to sound like a jerkoff, but I'm pretty smart in some areas. I'd hate it if other people ignored what I had to say just because of a number.
EDIT: And your first paragraph made me laugh. I'll be moving down to the basement to write all my posts now, kthx.
Personally, and I'm more than a bit biased having taken engineering*, I would calls yours a "real" degree and that other one a "fake" degree, speaking in terms of difficulty.
*my amount of smug will only make you angrier when you find out I didn't even finish that degree!
It's hard to not "live up" to expectations...but, really...I'd rather be REALLY good in the thing that I'm passionate about, and maybe not so good at some other things rather than just be mediocre over all and good at taking tests.
You know you're smart, you're just freaking yourself out. STOP IT! ;-)
Obviously there's exceptions, but you know what's annoying? The guy that freaks over getting an A- instead of a A+.
Now you're just being ridiculous. There is zero comparison between those two kinds of degrees, I don't doubt recreation and tourism classes can be hard, but not nearly on the level of neurosciences or advanced math/physics. Tests suck, no doubt about it, I used to do terrible on them as well until I hit this point where I quit worrying so much, and then of course started acing them. I mean, really a test is only a gauge anyway, and anyone hiring for a position isn't solely going to look at grades, or they would be an idiot you wouldn't want to work for anyway.
Personally if I was ever hiring people I would probably be more partial to take an energetic, likable person with a high B average, than a 4.0 over achiever with zero social skills.
I hate that guy.
But I am being that guy.
Valid point.
So far we've commented on your issues of comparing yourself to your family and not being satisfied with your grades. I want to target this: your problem with test writing.
I used to have some problems with test anxiety as well so I can definitely sympathize with what you're going through although my problems had a different root cause than yours.
Listen to the advice your instructors have provided you so far. It sounds to me like you are really good at doing reports and other things that you have to hand in - things that you can allot as much time as you need towards (at least, relative within your course load). You need to get better at being quick and efficient within a set timescale. Instead of over analyzing and thinking about everything you know, you need to take in the information at hand and only focus on that. Sometimes there is a simple answer.
With multiple choice questions I understand the difficulty - sometimes an answer doesn't fit accurately into A, B, C or D. But it can seem to be A and C, but more A than C. Maybe you know this already, its not exactly a secret.
A good way to practice this stuff would be to get sample tests or old tests and do them on your own within the same time scale as the actual test. Get used to hammering out answers quickly. Get yourself into a "zone" of concentration where you are focused on the test and not about your grades or failing or what will happen if you fuck up or how you don't remember anything.
Get into a neuroscience lab & do some research if Neuro is what you're really interested - if you get good enough recommendations from good people, your grades (as long as they're not bad enough to cause an issue) will really not matter very much
When I've been marking exam scripts, the exams are always worded in order to tell you how you're supposed to get the marks. If it asks for "Explain", write a paragraph (or more). There is usually only one good answer unless the question mentions "compare" or "contrast", or mentions it specifically.
It's far easier to be lenient with offering marks to answers to questions that are expanded passages on one possible answer only. Using more than one area makes it look like you're covering your bases, and I have not given marks to otherwise OK answers because I wasn't confident that the student actually knew what the "real" answer (ie. answer the question is looking for) is.
I guess such advice is a bit late now.
For graduate work, your letters of recommendation count a lot. More than your grades, even. Get cosy with professors who know you now. Stop wasting time worrying about tiny numbers and spend it getting someone who will write you a great letter.
1. GPA is a big deal but keep in mind a 3.0 GPA in one school is not a 3.0 in another.
How highly rated is your school? a slightly lower grade in a high rank school is better than a high GPA at a lower ranked school.
2. a 3.15 is pretty good. particularly if you have any real world experience and good boards. it will get you a second look if you have good GRE scores
i know a guy who this is like the worst thing, since he still has a perfect 4.0 average. he gets a A-, and he can never get back to a perfect gpa again
And some people can be brilliant as fuck, and suck at testing
thank god life isn't a multiple choice exam
Stop obsessing. It'll only make you feel like shit. You're holding your own with a 3.15 when some students seek to coast through with a 2.5 or so. Hell, I'm running a 3.11 right now.
I'll say it again: relax. You're doing great. Anyone who can pull a three-point average in most things medical should be applauded.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
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1) Will you improve the department's prestige (have you published any papers in the field, do you have a high GPA or (more importantly) GRE? Do you currently work in the field? Etc.)
2) Your staying power (grades and institutions you have been in before, if you completed degree programs/job references/etc.)
3)Your academic potential (will you graduate successfully and with a high GPA)
As a Graduate Student you are both a customer and a resource. Graduate Programs want to let you in, in most cases. Your application gives the reviewers reasons to not accept you. Less than stellar writing samples, GPA, and GRE scores are warning factors. If enough add up, things may be bad for you.
As for your GPA, there are two parts of this we look at: Last 60 hours (measuring how well matched you are/how much effort you put into your program) and overall (measuring how much effort you put into schooling as a whole). If you have a low overall but a very high last 60 hours, explaining that you turned your priorities around in your statement of intent will probably make this a smaller issue. A 3.0 is the lowest possible GPA to be accepted for Graduate Programs without a special admissions status being made. This doesn't mean you are necessarily bad off, but keep in mind your GPA isn't going to stand out, and make up for it with the rest of your application.
Again, most programs are looking to fill their ranks in this economy, but it is always better to have as shiny materials as possible. Anything that makes you more memorable than another candidate will help you.
Take the GRE and get as high as possible a score. The GRE is a major "effort factor" for admissions committees and it is one of the things graduate programs are reviewed on administratively. The better your score, the better off the program is.
Also, scores 1300 and above usually qualify you for scholarships or fellowships, depending on the program/availability. A GRE over 1200 (with a higher math score for your programs, I'd imagine) will probably offset your GPA quite nicely.
Lastly, get amazing letters of recommendation, preferably from faculty at the institution you are applying too, or barring that, the most prestigious professor you have. Never (ever) use personal references in lieu of faculty references. This looks like you have no connections. If it is a choice between a stellar recommendation from a less known faculty member and a moderate recommendation from a well known professor, GET BOTH.
Best of luck to you, and remember: programs want students. Like all institutions, they walk a fine line of maintaining the prestige of the program for grants and maintaining student credit hours. Scientific programs always lean more towards grants to make their money, where humanities and arts generally lean towards students numbers. The smaller/newer/less well known the program, the better your chances (though you will be going to a smaller/newer/less well known program).
I hope this helps!
1. If you are a borderline student, ok grades and ok GRE, then an exceptional letter could get you in.
2. If you are already in communication with someone at that school and they will offer to support you if you are accepted.
other than that really. grades and GRE scores followed by your personal statement/experiences are the big things to have.
Anything under a 3.0 is terribad for graduate studies. You have to fill out additional paperwork just to consider these students, plus it places a risk factor on your program by lowering the admittance GPA levels. Most scholarly institutions see anything below a 3.0 as a liability or (at best) a risky gambit, and only then when they have amazingly stellar materials.
My guess is your friend either had an amazing GRE/References/other materials or the program desperately needed students. Again, if you go to a newer/underpopulated/less prestigious program, getting in with weak materials is more likely. Graduate programs want to accept you, but only if you make them money in some fashion (prestige, student credit hours, or grants).
1) How's your class standing with those currently in the same program?
2) Contact some schools with graduate programs you want to get in and ask them about the various things they want to see in a graduate trying to enter their program.
3) Has your Major GPA typically gone up throughout your time? Or is your major GPA higher without elective courses?
I had a < 3.0 GPA for chemistry as an undergrad and after 5 years in the workplace, I got accepted with no difficulty to a master's program after taking the general GRE and doing above average on it. GPA isn't everything. If need be, go get a job for a year and then apply to school. The work experience should help your application.