Anyone know much about university admissions and how flexible they can be?

[BigToque]

When I went through university before I graduated (in 2006) with a 2.0 GPA (on a 4.5 scale)

In most cases, the minimum GPA at my university for admission to graduate studies is 3.0 with competitive scores usually from 3.5-4.0 depending on the faculty you want to go into.

Fast forward 3 years and I've gone back to take a bunch of undergraduate classes (will get a 2nd degree out of it) and so far my GPA since coming back is about 3.8. If you include all my courses though, the GPA drops way down to under 3.0, falling short of the minimum GPA.

My mom has a friend at the university (a dean of one of the faculties) that has said that there are always ways to get in if you can show you've done some hard work and if you can get a professor to vouch for you, etc.

I'm just curious if this only applies when your GPA exceeds the minimum but just isn't competitive, or would it also apply in cases where the GPA falls just short of the minimum.

I assume it would always be decided on a case by case basis, but have any of you heard of people getting into grad programs when not meeting the "minimum requirements"?

 

[50]

You should list what majors you were doing for each of the degrees and what you are going for in grad school. If you got a 2.0 in engineering then went back and got a 3.8 in fashion management and wanted to go to grad engineering, your 3.8 doesn't mean shit.

 

[zinfamous]

Why did you suck so much the first time? But GJ on going back and putting some solid effort into it. :thumbsup:

i don't know there are ever actual minimums, more like suggested averages. Regardless, having an inside contact is always a huge benefit. An alternative is to look at taking some night classes for credits in the program that interests you. You can then argue "Hey, I'm already a student here, I've taken these 1st-year courses, what about letting me in?" Tends to work rather well.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: 50
You should list what majors you were doing for each of the degrees and what you are going for in grad school. If you got a 2.0 in engineering then went back and got a 3.8 in fashion management and wanted to go to grad engineering, your 3.8 doesn't mean shit.

My first degree was a BA in Psychology/Sociology.

This second degree will be a BSc in Biochemistry/Microbiology.

 

[kranky]

You'll get in. Your recent 3.8 will matter much more than the earlier 2.0. The "average" won't even be considered.

College is a business, and they look for ways to admit people, not keep them out.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Originally posted by: BigToque

Originally posted by: 50
You should list what majors you were doing for each of the degrees and what you are going for in grad school. If you got a 2.0 in engineering then went back and got a 3.8 in fashion management and wanted to go to grad engineering, your 3.8 doesn't mean shit.

My first degree was a BA in Psychology/Sociology.

This second degree will be a BSc in Biochemistry/Microbiology.

I assume the graduate work will be in biochem/microbio & not psych/soc?

You'll have a solid chance. Most graduate advisers realize GPAs mean two things: intellectual competence & motivation. Your solid second time around GPA suggests a lack of motivation, not mental inability, was to blame for your poor first attempt. This seems especially obvious given the fact that a BSc in biochem is a slightly more rigorous degree than a BA in psych, haha. It also indicates that the lack of motivation is no longer an issue. That said, you'll need to do everything you can to really show them you're motivated. This entails many things, the most important of which is making appointments to meet with your prospective graduate faculty & impressing them. Be prepared to take it on the chin when they bust your chops for doing so poorly in psych classes, hehe.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: BigToque

Originally posted by: 50
You should list what majors you were doing for each of the degrees and what you are going for in grad school. If you got a 2.0 in engineering then went back and got a 3.8 in fashion management and wanted to go to grad engineering, your 3.8 doesn't mean shit.

My first degree was a BA in Psychology/Sociology.

This second degree will be a BSc in Biochemistry/Microbiology.

wow. fail at Psych kick-ass at Biochem.

:thumbsup:

I somewhat know how that is, though. I doubled with BA in English and BS in Bio. While English was a walk in the park for me (though very time-consuming), I found the "easier" Bio requirements to give me the most trouble. the minimum psych and anthro courses weren't tough, but they required a little more time than I was willing to commit because of the Biochem, Genomics, MoBio courses and such. I found that courses like Biochem, which consume massive amounts of time to succeed (a lot of which is simply memorizing structure) tend to be more fulfilling in that you end up learning something, whereas the Psych and Anthropology courses prepare you for nothing more than passing the exams in those courses.

I think if you legitimately show that improvement you have a good shot. Of course, it all depends on which program and the actual school you are applying. Also, some graduate programs only consider the final 2 years of coursework anyway. Or at least, only the coursework in what they consider upper-division courses. So if you showed solid improvement the final years of the BA, and with the higher-level courses for the BS, you should be in good shape

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Originally posted by: kranky
You'll get in. Your recent 3.8 will matter much more than the earlier 2.0. The "average" won't even be considered.

College is a business, and they look for ways to admit people, not keep them out.

I disagree. Undergrad is a business. Some grad programs are, too, but not the research sciences. You get into those programs by showing potential graduate faculty that you won't waste their time.

 

[dbk]

I thought they only looked your las two years or in major gps

 

[tk149]

Are you a minority?

/thread

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: BigToque
I assume it would always be decided on a case by case basis, but have any of you heard of people getting into grad programs when not meeting the "minimum requirements"?

You can bet money on somebody with a 2.0 GPA but has first authorship on multiple peer-reviewed papers WILL get into a research based grad program, and probably be much desired as well. In the sciences and engineering, professors don't care as much about grades as they do research productivity/potential.

 

[miniMUNCH]

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus

Originally posted by: kranky
You'll get in. Your recent 3.8 will matter much more than the earlier 2.0. The "average" won't even be considered.

College is a business, and they look for ways to admit people, not keep them out.

I disagree. Undergrad is a business. Some grad programs are, too, but not the research sciences. You get into those programs by showing potential graduate faculty that you won't waste their time.

This.

But as others have pointed out... you go to grad school for biochemistry/microbio... they are gonna look at your 3.8 in core and be pretty happy with that.

Be honest in your cover letter and explain what happened with your earlier GPA in pysch... you just weren't interested, you were partying, whatever.


Possibly for the purposes of getting past application prescreening you may want to list your second core GPA as your 'GPA' and then explain the whole GPA thing in the 'notes section' of your application. You can also try to contact someone at perspective universities to try to get some communication going to get your application through to the professor/panel review stage.

And/or... I'd recommend to start looking into to where you'd like to go for grad school and who you'd like to work with/for and try to communication with the profs directly, if possible. You have a HUGE advantage if you have a prof saying they want you in the program and have grant money for you.

 

[Bateluer]

BS, if you have cash, you're going to get in. So long as you can afford the tuition, there's not a school that will turn you down.

 

[miniMUNCH]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
BS, if you have cash, you're going to get in. So long as you can afford the tuition, there's not a school that will turn you down.

If you are doing a MS only then the school may just want your tuition... but the good schools still have standards

Sciences and engineering Ph.D students generally get free tuition and a stipend... at least at the good schools. At some schools the grad students have to teach some and at others they don't.

I got free tuition for 5 years and 21-24k a year while i was doing my Ph.D. in chemical engineering... I only had to TA a lab course for three semesters.

 

[uclaLabrat]

You should be fine. Maybe not top 5, but a good school overall.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
BS, if you have cash, you're going to get in. So long as you can afford the tuition, there's not a school that will turn you down.

Business/law school for sure.

Any real program, however....no.

 

[Freshgeardude]

Originally posted by: BigToque
When I went through university before I graduated (in 2006) with a 2.0 GPA (on a 4.5 scale)

In most cases, the minimum GPA at my university for admission to graduate studies is 3.0 with competitive scores usually from 3.5-4.0 depending on the faculty you want to go into.

Fast forward 3 years and I've gone back to take a bunch of undergraduate classes (will get a 2nd degree out of it) and so far my GPA since coming back is about 3.8. If you include all my courses though, the GPA drops way down to under 3.0, falling short of the minimum GPA.

My mom has a friend at the university (a dean of one of the faculties) that has said that there are always ways to get in if you can show you've done some hard work and if you can get a professor to vouch for you, etc.

I'm just curious if this only applies when your GPA exceeds the minimum but just isn't competitive, or would it also apply in cases where the GPA falls just short of the minimum.

I assume it would always be decided on a case by case basis, but have any of you heard of people getting into grad programs when not meeting the "minimum requirements"?

For a final project, make something FUCKING amazing. not like, oh hey best in class woo hoo. something that will get into the newspaper.

colleges accept people based on their numbers for statistic purposes. if you do something amazing, they will want to keep you.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Take some Grad courses before applying.

That way you can show that you can handle the load.


I had all but 2 grad courses completed before getting my BS.
I knew that my lazieness for the first couple of years would hurt plus I did not have the time to fully devot to education because of raising a family.

 

[Mo0o]

Why dont you speak w/ the admissions dean or someone with some authority over at teh graduate program yo'ure interested in and see what the deal is.

 

[Parasitic]

Most programs only ask for the last two years or last 60 units to be included in your GPA calculation. It's wise to check the applications to schools you're interested in. Recommendation letters also matter, and most of the time more than your GPA.