Yet Another Profile Evaluation (Pretty....mediocre? Math grades)/ Advice Thread

[Shield616]

So I'm pretty worried about my math grades...advice? The C's can be explained by extremely bad timing of a chronic medical condition I've had since high school. It's the lack of A's that worries me...a lot. I'm a recent transfer so my ability to take on upper div math was restricted to my ability to finish my other major requirements at the time. Should I retake "off books" from my University and do it at a local CC? Or should I try to offset it by acing upper div math. How much would a Masters help my profile?

 

Thanks for the input!

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 50 US; Top 50 Econ Grad

Undergrad GPA: 3.7

Type of Grad:N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE:Waiting for results

Math Courses: Calc 1 (B), Calc 2 ©, Calc 3 (B), Linear (C-, retook for B), Diff Eq (Scheduled) Real Analysis I (Scheduled), Intro to Probability (A), Intro to Stats ©, Econometrics I (IP, on track for A), Econometrics II (Fall '14)

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A) Intro Macro (A) Quantitative Intermediate Micro 1 (B) Quantitative Intermediate Micro II (A-) Quantitative Intermediate Macro (A-), Money and Banking (A), Public Econ (IP), US Econ history (A) The Quantitative Intermediate Track is basically the honors track at my institution meaning the courses are equivalent to an honors track/math heavy sequence.

Other Courses: Bunch of other random GEs (Mostly As, with a B in one or two other courses), Econ Honors Thesis Courses (IP)

Letters of Recommendation:

1) Director of Grad Studies for the Econ Department (FP): She's my research advisor; she'll be supervising and working with me on my senior honors thesis.

2) Director of Honors Program for Econ Dept. (AP): Pretty much same as above, except he has a more hands-off position in regards to my research. He just oversees the program and guides us through the process.

3) Visiting Professor/Econ Department Director of Economics Learning Center: Worked with him through Money and Banking and Quant Macro. Will work for him as a Undergrad Peer Tutor in the econ department.

4) Possibly my econometrics professor

5) Possibly the dept. chair.

Research Experience: Honors Thesis

Teaching Experience: Peer Tutor...LOL?

Research Interests: Macro, Monetary Policy, Finance

SOP: Pretty okay, I was advised to use it to explain the Cs on the transcript, (which stem from a chronic medical condition that is being treated)

Concerns: My stupendously mediocre math grades. I'm considering doing the masters first to help mitigate the math, but I honestly need some advice regarding that. Do I even have a chance at Top 30? 40? Would the masters allow me to even attempt Top 20? Ideally would like to stay in CA due to family obligations and such, but out of state won't be that huge of a problem.

Other:

Applying to: Advice Needed

[Econhead]

The C's can be explained by extremely bad timing of a chronic medical condition I've had since high school.[/Quote]

 

 

My concern, as an adcom, would be whether this chronic (rather than acute) medical condition will affect you in the future. And why did it only affect the Math grades? These are both relevant questions even for a Master's.

 

We don't need a run down of what the illness was, is, or will be, but framing in your SoP and from your LoRs could be everything. It would be helpful if your strongest LoR could explain away the math grade concerns. Likewise, it would be great if you had upper division courses that could show your competence. For example, having a 400/grad level Stats/Probability course to brush away the C in stats, or having an A in grad Micro.

 

The B in linear, to me, is a huge concern because you initially earned a C- and then retook it and only earned a B. Either you retook it because you had to (department wouldn't allow you to graduate with a C-), or you retook it because you did not want it on your record. Either way, you retook it and earned a marginal grade the second time around in a (comparatively) easy course. Also, did you retake it while this medical condition was ongoing? If so, why didn't you wait?

[Shield616]

[/b]My concern, as an adcom, would be whether this chronic (rather than acute) medical condition will affect you in the future. And why did it only affect the Math grades? These are both relevant questions even for a Master's.

 

We don't need a run down of what the illness was, is, or will be, but framing in your SoP and from your LoRs could be everything. It would be helpful if your strongest LoR could explain away the math grade concerns. Likewise, it would be great if you had upper division courses that could show your competence. For example, having a 400/grad level Stats/Probability course to brush away the C in stats, or having an A in grad Micro.

 

The B in linear, to me, is a huge concern because you initially earned a C- and then retook it and only earned a B. Either you retook it because you had to (department wouldn't allow you to graduate with a C-), or you retook it because you did not want it on your record. Either way, you retook it and earned a marginal grade the second time around in a (comparatively) easy course. Also, did you retake it while this medical condition was ongoing? If so, why didn't you wait?

 

Thank you for replying, I really appreciate it!

 

In regards to the medical condition affecting me in the future, it's pretty squared away in terms of treatment with a low chance of relapse. So I'm not too concerned about it down the road given that the treatment is currently working. Through the powers that may be, the timing of the flare ups coincided with quarters that I had the math classes. Which also happened to be when I took other less intensive classes that didn't require much studying or the flare up occurred during a summer session where the only class was a math course. I know it sounds super sketchy, but the way my classes were scheduled, the most study intensive classes were those math course--partially because the brunt of the math coursework were taken when my doctors and I were figuring out a treatment plan and as such, the condition was prolonged.

 

In regards to the SoP, how exactly should I be framing it? I don't want it to sound like I'm just giving off one big excuse.

 

I had to retake because: 1) Had to get C- off the transcript and 2) scheduling nightmare, so I couldn't wait without sacrificing other required courses. Opted to take summer for the LA retake. and this was with the condition ongoing.

 

I'm just not sure what needs to be done (besides doing really well on the GRE and my upper-divs coming up). How much help would getting a masters be?

Thanks again for your input!

[publicaffairsny]

That's a good question. I would also like to know what considerations should be made when addressing undergrad performance in an SOP.

 

Thank you for replying, I really appreciate it!

 

 

In regards to the SoP, how exactly should I be framing it? I don't want it to sound like I'm just giving off one big excuse.

[sulebrahim]

the best you can do right now is focus on acing your Analysis class. To help remedy the stats grade, can you take another stats class like Math stats?. You got an A in probability, so you should be able to ace it.

 

I mean that's just a suggestion, there are people on these forums who had Bs and Cs in some math grades but still had success because the other parts of their profile (econ grades, LOR, Research experience) were stellar.

[chateauheart]

If the medical condition was a huge factor in your grades and is no longer one, then this is one of those rare occasions where doing a master's or spending another year in your university (taking upper division math and grad econ) may be optimal.