How realistic is it to do a masters before applying for a PhD in order to compensate for poor performance in undergrad?
I’m an incoming third year undergraduate at a top ten school for physics in the USA, and for several reasons, my GPA is atrocious. I’m talking 2.9 ish, and I will certainly graduate with below a 3.5. I had very serious extenuating circumstances and took a medical leave for a year after freshman year, but have not done well in my classes since returning due to very poor mental health and feeling demotivated due to how bad my freshman year grades were.
I am currently doing summer research at my home institution in quantum computing, which is going well, and have a decent network here. I feel as though I can improve my GPA by the time I graduate, but obviously only so much can be fixed. It was originally my hope to get a PhD at a similarly ranked school and remain in academia as a professor. I still do not wish to give up on the dream I’ve had since I was 12 because I had two years of me going insane and getting bad grades because of it.
I am trying to leverage my options now. Is it best to transfer to another (almost certainly lower ranked) undergrad institution and start over in order to obtain a better GPA? Or should I opt for a masters before applying for PhDs? I do not think I am ready for or would do well in the process of applying directly for a PhD program after finishing my bachelor’s degree, although that is of course an option too. The main thing is that I wish to start over and I am willing to do whatever it takes (including spending however much money) to accomplish my original goal.
Any advice is appreciated. I hope this post does not come across too stubborn, I am just very frustrated about my apparent lack of promising options.