Actually, I would say that an A is much easier to get these days with grade inflation. When I took comparative anatomy under Lauren Brown the class dominated our life, staying in the lab until 2 & 3 am every night just to get a B. Now I see many students with As in that course that can't tell you basic anatomy. So, that is why high grades are increasingly important (in my opinion) since they are frankly easier to get. Or, at least there are enough "easy" schools around to water down the crop.
However, grades are not everything. You aren't going to get funding in your situation, so that is unrealistic. What you can do is rack up a few minor publications. Contact a professor who you are interested in working with and ask them if you can work on a project with them. Or, go to your local university and do the same. My guess is that you can get at least a couple of minor papers pretty easily. This will go a long way to getting into graduate school. Why? Because graduate school is more about producing new knowledge than learning former knowledge. People who prove they can publish are few. In fact, I know a lot of PHDs who seldom publish anything, meanwhile you have several BS and MS people who publish out there ears. Its not that hard to do, just people get lazy. Or maybe I should say publishing isn't hard, but publishing in good journals is. Ecology is hard to get a paper in, it is not so difficult to get published in a naturalist journal. If you need guidance in setting up an easy project to work on in your spare time, I'm sure many people would help you out. MLM If you are willing to pay your own way, you also have no issue. In the states there are a lot of programs. On Tue, August 14, 2007 7:07 pm, Emily Gonzales wrote: > I believe it is becoming increasingly competitive to enter graduate > school and get funding. > > An "A" is the new "B". > > (In Canada) There are two ways to get "in" with a low GPA: > > 1. Find a supervisor (with access to funding) and demonstrate you're > a good worker with academic potential. Working as a field assistant > is a good way to do this. With all your technical skills, you'd > probably have your choice of jobs and projects. Once you're a known > quantity, there's a better chance a supervisor will take you on as > long as the minimum GPA requirements are met. > You may have less independence in terms of project development, but > it's a good way to break into the system and there's always > opportunities at the PhD level to be creative. > > If you're interested in applied fields with economic bases (e.g., > forest sciences), supervisors tend to have more funding for students. > > 2. Find your own funding first. Nearly any student that comes in with > a scholarship will be welcomed with open arms. Clearly, a good GPA > helps but there are funds that don't require that killer GPA (e.g., > NSERC Industrial), just someone willing to network. Once you snag one > scholarship, it becomes easier to win more. > > Best of luck! > > At 04:18 PM 8/14/2007, Malcolm McCallum wrote: >>Many people are late bloomers, but 2.77 (A = 4.0) is not an abyssmal GPA. >>I suspect you will find many PHDs whose undergrad GPA was in this >>ballpark, I know of several. others are very focused on a particular >>subfield at an early age. Occassionlly people are both! These things >>cause GPA's to be a little lower. Your last 60 hrs is particularly >>important. There are many schools that will admit you, but you can't >>expect to be admitted to Harvard. Look into the smaller regional state >>universities and I bet you can get admitted to an MS program. I suspect >>you may even get an assistantship at a smaller state institution. >> >> >> >>On Tue, August 14, 2007 2:09 pm, S wrote: >> > I am posting this message to solicit advice. My situation is that I >> > graduated in 2000 with a B.S. in wildlife biology with an abysmal GPA: >> > 2.77. During school and since I've done a lot of technician type >> jobs in >> > the fields of wildlife and ecology but at 30 years old I no longer >> find >> > these types of positions intellectually fulfilling, feel that I can >> > contribute more, and would like to pursue a graduate education. I >> took >> > the GRE for the first time this year (with 2 weeks to prepare) in >> order to >> > apply for a RA (didn't get it). My scores are 720 quantitative, 580 >> > verbal. I can likely do better. >> > So my question is how can I pursue a graduate education with a less >> then >> > stellar GPA? Is it even possible? Would taking classes help? >> Classes >> > would be expensive, as I've moved a lot for the temporary jobs and do >> not >> > qualify for instate tuition anywhere. >> > In hindsight I should've taken undergraduate education more seriously, >> but >> > I feel I've gained experience and maturity since then and that it is >> > really time to move forward. >> > I am particularly interested in advice from those who have served as >> > graduate advisors and from those who have completed a M.S. despite >> having >> > a low undergraduate GPA. >> > Thanks. >> > >> >> >>Malcolm L. McCallum >>Assistant Professor of Biology >>Editor Herpetological Conservationa and Biology >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Emily Gonzales, Ph.D. Candidate > Centre for Applied Conservation Research > 3041-2424 Main Mall, Forest Sciences > University of British Columbia > Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 > 604-822-1256 (office) > Malcolm L. McCallum Assistant Professor of Biology Editor Herpetological Conservationa and Biology [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
