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I am a student from Poland. I am bachelor in Economics and Logistics and now I am doing my Masters from Econometrics. I have quite good achievements (1-year scholarship in Japan, ambassador program for a big NGO, few wins or good places in the contests etc). I am also waiting for publishing my first research paper and plan to do 2 more untill I will graduate.

There is one problem though. My GPA is not very good. It's a combination of 3 varriables. First, on the beggining of my studies I planned to go to bussiness rather then academic work. Second I have a mild/average form of brittle bone disease which result of having to take 3 years of medical leave (not at once). And sometimes in cases when the injury was not to bad (for example 2-3 months) i tried to make up the classes and I left deciding that i rather not lose another year and pass on B- or C then to go the other way. Third factor is the fact that going from economics to very math-based field as statistics and econometrics is not easy. I am managing this but with having to make up the material from bachelor's in this field it's rather B on average then straight A.

I love to do the research, and to analise data. My papers and articles are usually recieved as really good. And I would love to be able to get to one of top 100 Universities for a PhD program. Is there a chance if I would have a good Master's thesis, nice GRE/TOELF score and 3 academic papers?

I would be gratefull for all the answers :)

Amd6
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  • Although there are top 100 universities outside the US your mention of GRE/TOELF make me think US making https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/38237/how-does-the-admissions-process-work-for-ph-d-programs-in-the-us-particularly relevant – StrongBad Jun 13 '17 at 15:45
  • I suppose you are talking about the top 100 econ phd programs? – Yes Jun 13 '17 at 16:12
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    I have voted to close as possible duplicate even though you don't specify US because most of the advice in that post applies here as well. – jakebeal Jun 13 '17 at 16:47

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I am not in your field, though I have been a faculty member in several PhD programs in the social and health sciences. So, I'm not sure how much of this would be relatable. However, PhD programs typically have a minimal GPA requirement. You do not mention what your GPA is exactly, but typically programs don't require an A (4.0) average. If the application requires a cover letter or personal statement, you can explain challenges you have had in the past, though you should make sure that you describe how these challenges would not impede on your future success. Also, you mention a good TOEFL score, though I would suggest working on your writing in English or have a native English speaker proofread your materials, if you are applying to US programs.

Nicole Ruggiano
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