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Are Grades and Undergraduate Research Important for Graduate School Applicants?

-- | April 26, 2016

Question: Hi, I am an undergraduate freshman at University of California, Berkeley. I am interested in astronomy and currently in the path of an Astrophysics major. My question is, what is the most important advice you can give to a college undergraduate pursuing a suitable graduate school at the field of study he/she is in. I find it difficult to keep my GPA up and I’ve been reading that your GPA does not matter however it does in terms of finding research early on and applying to graduate school. Right now, I believe the most important thing to do is to look for research and find connections.

Answer: You hit the nail on the head with your last sentence. Grades are one piece to an undergraduate’s application to graduate school. The other components are GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and research/publications that the undergraduate has participated in as an undergraduate. It is best to treat all of these factors as equally important, as there is no formula which weights one factor more or less than the other when it comes to the evaluation of graduate school applications. So, I would say that you have the right idea in that you should get involved in research early in your undergraduate career. A demonstration that you are keenly interested in astrophysics research through a strong undergraduate research record would definitely make your graduate school application much more attractive.

Jeff Mangum

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