I obtained my Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1992 and am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and a member of the Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology. I supervise graduate students and have served on graduate admissions committees. I am also an academic advisor for the Psychology Department and hold frequent workshops on graduate school and the application process. For more information on getting into graduate school visit my web site at http://MyGraduateSchool.com

How I got into graduate school with mediocre grades

It took me five and a half years to complete a four-year program and finally earn a B.Sc in Psychology. My grade-point-average (hereafter referred to as GPA) was not very competitive when I applied to graduate school -- my average was between B and B-plus. Still, I was accepted into a Master of Science program and later into a Ph.D. program. Things went well for me in graduate school. Within sixteen months of becoming a graduate student I had an M.Sc., and in another three years, a Ph.D.

To get into graduate school, I had to do several things to make up for my mediocre grades. (It had nothing to do with studying harder and getting better grades)! Not surprisingly, some of these things are described in this book. After two years of postdoctoral research, I was offered my current academic position at a major Canadian university. The point is that even though I was a mediocre student as an undergraduate, this did not stop me from accomplishing all of my career goals. But, it scares me to think of where I'd be right now if I hadn't applied for and been accepted into graduate school!

“Get Started Now!”

Something that I hate having to do as part of my job is denying certain students entrance into our graduate programs. Many wishful applicants are rejected each year. I often consider that many of these rejected students are probably well-suited for graduate school but may never find out because their applications were unable to convince me that they truly have what it takes. I feel sorry for these students, but there is nothing I can do about their inability to sell themselves.

Occasionally, one comes across applicants who do an exceptional job of demonstrating that they possess attributes necessary for success in graduate school and in a related career afterwards. Those are the applicants who are accepted. You should be one of those applicants, and there is no reason why you can’t be if you are willing to make appropriate use of the information and advice in this book.

Whether you are in your freshman or senior year, the time to begin planning for your graduate-school application is now. Don’t wait until you are in your final semester of your senior year to begin taking the steps outlined in this book. Some of the recommended steps take a good deal of time to implement. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to improve your chances of getting into graduate school. Conversely, the sooner you begin, the easier it will be. But don’t panic if you discover that you do not have enough time to take advantage of all of the strategies described in this book. There are a great many things that you can do “at the last minute” to improve your chances.

If you have weak grades and no notable and relevant accomplishments, then you might decide after reading this book that you don’t have a realistic chance of getting into graduate school this year no matter what you do. Consider it a blessing that you figured this out before you wasted your time and money, and experienced much anguish. If you are serious about getting into graduate school, then you have plenty of time to take advantage. For more information on graduate school visit http://MyGraduteSchool.com