Bad Grade in Major Class (Mathematics); How to compensate? (PhD, computer science, high school)
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I'm a mathematics major undergrad at a research university and have a predicament that I find worrying. I'm beginning my last 60 credits and just got a 'B-' in Advanced Calculus I (a very important class, more so for theoretical students). The reason behind this poor grade was time management: I had recently gotten a $2000 stipend research scholarship in Biology w/ a deadline, but put too much time toward this commitment. The project will likely result in a first authored publication within a decent journal (someplace people actively read).
I got a 4.0 in my other classes that semester (non-major). As a result, my overall GPA is now 3.79 and my major GPA 3.72. I want to obtain a PhD in Applied Mathematics specialized toward gene regulation and system's biology; however, how will this B- impact me?
To try and correct this mistake, I'm going to crack down HARD during Advanced Calculus II next semester to reach my best possible grade and I'm going to take Modern Analysis I (MA-I) next Fall. MA-I is essentially an accelerated review of AC-I integrated with more advanced topics, so it should be equivalent to retaking the course at a higher level. Is there anything else you, the community, can recommend?
Finally, since I completed an A.A in high school, all of my electives are science based. I'm completing a Computer Science Minor (Currently a 4.0) and my remaining electives are all in math or graduate courses centered around Bioinformatics/Genetics (again, currently a 4.0). For example, this Spring I'm also taking a 6000 level Transcriptomics/Genomics class with 3 exams, 4 semester projects and an Article Presentation. Hence, I would like to think that I'm still competitive.
Regardless, thank you for your comments! I guess I'm just afraid of doing bad in Advanced Calculus II as well. My institutional interests lie in attending a graduate program associated with a NIH funded center for Systems Biology (such as UC Berkeley, MIT and Stanford).
Ok, a B- is simply NOT a bad grade. It may feel like it to you since it seems you've gotten 4.0s easily in the past. Heck, if you come out of undergrad with that as your worst grade, you're doing just fine. I know it may feel like a disaster to you but it's really not. Seems like you're pretty much loading yourself down with everything you can trying to compete with some unknown others. But overloading yourself and worrying too hard over a single grade could cause you to make other mistakes.
Here's the secret -- you are competitive. So, my advice is do the best you can, but don't try to overload yourself in hopes of outcompeting an undefined someone else. Because in the end, an acceptance to a specific program won't be based on the last sig fig of GPA, or having more first authors than the guy across the hall, but on whatever random factor the decision maker AT THAT TIME decides is most important to him/her.
Thank you for the response tnff! Though, to be honest, I'm more completing these classes because they're fun and in line with my career goals. Though, I cannot deny that I'm competitive. I don't feel particularly overloaded because I've almost never gone above full time enrollment.
Nevertheless, this is reassuring to an extent. I wouldn't normally mind a B-, but I was worried because this was a grade within my major and near the end too. I should be just fine if I keep my grades high, although I will probably still take MA-I because it's a very useful course going into advanced probability theory and its axiomatic derivation.
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