>bawww I don't have the grades to get into grad school

Why don't you just get a PhD by prior publication? If you're really talented, you can do independent research, publish a bunch of papers, and basically apply to get a free PhD (you just have to write an introductory section/summary that ties all your research together and then have a defense of all your papers). Some colleges still allow this type of PhD program as an alternative to having one big dissertation.