The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Low GPA / Grad School
Distram
__BANNED USERS regular
__BANNED USERS regular
I want to apply for Grad School but I have a sub-par GPA. Am I fucked?
Also, anyone taken the GRE? How well would someone with a poor background in Math do?
Also, anyone taken the GRE? How well would someone with a poor background in Math do?
Distram on
0
Posts
How poor? The GRE math is a decent bit harder questions than the SAT, but I believe the topic range is pretty much the same (nothing past pre-calculus, from what I remember), although with a bit of probability added
what type of grad school?
I can tell you that I got into a decent grad school in the social sciences with a 3.27, which I considered crappy, but I had a LOT of practical experience in the field and got good recommendations and GRE scores. Those are also important. I know that most places would like you to have at least a 3.0. If it's lower than that, what might help is a recommendation from a professor you have worked with or that really likes you that says "he's smarter than he looks on paper and has additional positive qualities x, y, z."
The GRE is a little harder than the SAT but still doesn't go past trig; it's also pretty lenient on the scoring, at least for math. I answered about 80% of the questions before running out of time, got a few of the ones I did answer wrong, and still got a 720 on the math part. Reviewing your stuff is key; me and my buddies got one of those Kaplan books and just chugged through it on our own in the evenings. Oh, and I hadn't taken a math class since high school, so I was basically just re-learning everything.
The grad school/program that I want to get into is Master of Comping and Information Systems.
The program reqires a unrecalculated 2.7 GPA and I have a 2.33 recalculated. I have a ton of credit hours and so rasing my GPA to 2.33 before I graduate will be impossible.
The graduate admissions website under my university says that those with a below a 2.7 GPA have to take, and get a satisfactory score on, the GRE in order to be let into the program.
I have some people who could write me letters of recommendation. So, I figure if I do well on the GRE they'll let me in. But, I'm not sure.
Also, I'll basically be like you Grizzled. I haven't taken a Math class in forever so I'll have to relearn things. Know, exactly, what I should relearn?
i dunno, as much as i don't want to say it, a 2.33 and a problem with math pretty much sinks your boat; your gpa isn't always indicative of how smart you are/how hard you work, but if i were a graduate admissions guy, a 2.33 would say to me that this person doesn't work very hard and isn't particularly motivated
Its kind of annoying that it's fairly impossible to greatly recover from poor early undergraduate performance. Messing up at college right after high school prevents me from doing what I want when I've actually gotten my proverbial shit together; what a bunch of b.s.
Also, the CIS graduate program I'd be going into is partly built around the idea of people going into it from other disciplines. There isn't a lot of advanced math involved in the program. It's not a CS degree. Almost all of the curriculum is made of electives so you can build it around what you're good at and what you know. I've talked to a few people about this already. They've told me that someone without a background in Math could get through the program just fine if they didn't take math intensive CS classes. Also, I'm an English major now but I used to be a CS major and I did well in the classes I was in before I changed my major.
As it stands, I may not even bother. It sounds like they make it impossible to do any post-grad stuff once you've fucked up your GPA.
However, it also depends on who this gets sent to. If you're sending it to a graduate college admissions office, they're more likely to just toss things that don't meet the formal requirements. If you're sending it directly to the program or department, they're much more likely to look at everything before deciding.
That makes me feel better about my chances.
To add to what Reiten said, I would suggest finding a professor in the program that are interested in working with and contacting them directly to express your interest and explain your situation. Definitely if the only people that see your application are admissions drones, they will probably shuffle it aside in favor of someone with more solid numbers.
The other advice I can give is that if you don't get in, try to find work in the same field that you are qualifed for and then apply again the following year, emphasizing your increased experience and your now-demonstrated ability to handle the subject matter in a practical setting. This has worked for a couple of guys that I know.
GRE Math: Algebra including constructing equations from word problems, basic stat (do you remember the difference between a mean and a median?), probability (there are 73 white beans and 24 red beans in a jar...) and basic trig/geometry (here's a big triangle cut into a bunch of smaller triangles with some random sides and angles labelled, what is the sin of x?). Seriously, just invest in a test prep book (NOT a class) and grind your way through it.
You already know this though, and you also seem pretty clear on the fact that you have to ace your GRE to compete. I'd suggest taking a prep course. Just be aware that acing the GRE won't guarantee you a spot either as you'll still be competing with kids who did well on the GRE and well in their undergraduate programs.
1. Your 2.33 GPA is a serious liability and so you're gonna have to work to make this happen. It's not impossible.
2. Take prep courses and nail the GRE. It is very do-able. I think you can take it more than once, too, so if at first you don't succeed...
3. In your application materials, emphasize that your academic performance has significantly improved. Mention, but don't belabor, what happened to cause the low performance early on. One sentence is not too short. Don't make excuses.
4. Get fantastic letters of rec and have THEM emphasize the same.
5. This is the most important one: make an appointment with the admissions counselor at the place you're applying and meet with him/her personally. Explain what happened and ask what you can do. Make an effort. I have seen mountains move for people that did this.
Good luck.
This is the best list I see. Combine it with personal contact with a professor and you've done all you can. However, I would evaluate how much time you want to spend on this. Given the severe hit your GPA is, I think you're best off finishing school as good as you can and entering in the work market. Proficiency at your job may take a lot of the edge off of your GPA.
PSN: TheScrublet
I've heard (anecdotally) that retaking the GRE over and over is not such a great idea, since you (as far as I know) can't send individual math/verbal scores from different tests, so I'd definitely not go in with a mindset of retaking it until you do well
I'm in a pretty different field (biology), so the other advice might be more towards your field... but with your GPA, you might stand a much better chance if you can do some sort of internship/work in the field you're applying for. I know that for bio programs, having really good research experience can make an enormous difference compared to just GPA
The guy in charge of the grad program that I was wanting to get into did say that I could probably get into the program if I demonstrated, via programming at networking classes, that I could grasp the material and if I scored into the top 50th percentile on the GRE. But, it still sounds like a crap shoot to me and so I am just going to get a B.S.A.S. in IT instead. Along with my B.A. in English, that should make me decently employable - I would hope.
It's not a bunch of b.s. That attitude isn't going to prove to an admissions officer that you got your proverbial shit together. Everyone's given really good advise, and I cannot add much to it aside from my own experience. I had a 2.4 undergrad gpa. I really wanted to get my MIS, so i applied to grad school. I got recommendations. I scored high on the GRE. I put forth the effort to get the best grades possible for my last 60 credits, knowing full well that they won't raise my gpa much. Why did I do it? Because I wanted to succeed. I wanted to prove to myself, and anyone who would consider me that I am a different person then what my early grades show.
I took a year off and got real experience in IT. And it worked. I got into the program I wanted to, and now I'm halfway through my MIS degree and I have a 4.0.
that being said, if you can retake some classes where you did not so well in, that would look favorably if you did better.
There is moe leniency when going for masters rather than a PhD. If you really want the doctorate, I think if you can get into a masters program somewhere and do well, it looks better for you.
i would still apply, but it doesn't look good. If you can ace your GRE, it will also look good, and hopefully your application is great otherwise
Less. How much less depends on the institution and the individuals involved. GPA is a convenient filter, but anywhere worth attending should know that there are many other factors that could be worth considering.
Because that exam royally fucked me. I had a 3.8GPA from the year I spent abroad in the US, and the Comp Sci GRE popped me out at the 25th percentile, after I'd studied for months. I was devastated.
I don't have a defeatist attitude. Even so, I wasn't thinking of doing the Master's program just so I could prove something to anyone or to myself. I know I could handle the work in such a program. However, sometimes a person is just fucked. I may try anyway but I am considering what is best for me and right now simply double-majoring is better for me than trying to get into a Master's program.
If you're expecting it to help you in a job hunt or impress someone, it won't. Most people act confused more than anything.
When I'm done I'll have a B.A. and a B.S.A.S
No one will care about that?
I have a BA and BS. Most people will ignore the less relevant degree (or the one they think is less interesting), and then totally forget altogether. Again, I haven't really met anyone that's been impressed, but plenty who've been perplexed.
I'm not saying it wasn't worth it, it just depends on your reasoning behind it. A minor would be just as good, and work experience matters the most.
Well, I don't really agree with the minor being "just as good" because you won't get quite the depth you do with a double major. However, I do know from experience that you're pretty much right about people focusing on the relevant degree and not really caring that you have another. If you're not sure what you want to do later but have it narrowed down to two general areas, you could get a double major so that you have a relevant degree for either field. However if you're just doing it to pad your resume it's kind of pointless.
I was hoping potential employers would be impressed. I was hoping it would pad my resume. But, that's not why I am double-majoring. However, I am dissapointed to hear that its fairly useless as far as getting a job goes.