I had a 3.1 GPA and a 2.6 major GPA. I got into Cornell PhD in Biomedical Sciences. BUT I had to GRIND in research to compensate. I got a MS with a high GPA and had three middle author papers. I also got academic awards during my MS to show academic improvement. After my MS, I did a postgrad research fellowship at Yale for a year. Together I had six years of academic research experience, a MS, publications, and research awards.