Need a Reality Check
Hi y’all, I could use some advice. I’m now a week away from graduating from undergrad and I’m worried that I may not be as competitive as I wanted.
I had a 4.0 up until this semester, but I’ve ended up with two B+s, leaving my cumulative around a 3.93. I know that’s a good GPA, but I’m worried that it will look bad that I only started getting lower grades in my final semester.
One of those B+s was for my undergraduate thesis as well, which I decided to do to get some research experience (I only started thinking about the need for research experience a year ago. I was late to that game). My thesis also went wrong in every way. I couldn’t get through the IRB after several revisions, so it turned into basically an extended literature review, offering a way to use frameworks from one field to study sites in another.
I also wanted the two people who reviewed the thesis to be letter writers, but now I’m worried with the B+. They may still be able to write good letters since the thesis went through so many road blocks and I ended up with the final project concept about 4.5 weeks from the deadline and wrote it all in that time. I do have one letter writer who will write me an incredible letter, but I wanted three strong ones.
My plan was to apply to PhD programs right away, but I’m wondering if I’d be better off starting with a masters. Also, if I do that, could I be competitive if I applied to a lot of t25 programs in my field, or should I aim lower? Do I need a good GRE score for programs that have it as optional in my field (sociology)? I could really use advice. Thank you all!
P.S. I am in the US and planning to apply to US programs. My undergrad school is a t30 nationally and t25 in my field.