Test Scores, GPA, and Extracurriculars for Grad School


Worried that you won't be able to get into the graduate school of your dreams because your GPA is low? Don't be. Less-than-stellar grades can be overcome as long as you take a programme.

Nearly all graduate school applications require transcripts. Only a large reason for that requirement is to (1) verify that you earned an undergrad degree, and (ii) ensure that they have an official record of it. In curt, but because a transcript is required doesn't hateful it's of paramount importance.

Your transcript is ane component of your application, and information technology is considered together with your statement of purpose, recommendation messages, and usually some samples of by essays or other piece of work. Many schools also crave standardized test scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Others may ask for additional materials, as well.

Some programs weight GPAs heavily. But others might be more interested in how you did in courses relevant to the program. Certain programs might look foremost at your portfolio, recommendations, or statement of purpose to provide a sense of how yous'll fare in their program. Still others might desire to run across relevant feel, such as piece of work or an internship, and not be peculiarly concerned with a GPA.

The bottom line: You'll need to know how the programs you lot're interested in think about GPAs during the admissions process. Hither are eight steps yous should accept to proceeds admission to your tiptop-pick graduate programs, regardless of your undergraduate GPA.

one. Know the requirements

You'll need to do your research to find out whether the graduate programs y'all're interested in have specific requirements regarding GPAs. Check to see whether a minimum GPA for applicants is listed on each program'south website. Some sites may too give boilerplate GPA scores of past successful applicants.

It's a adept idea to research GPA requirements for all the programs you're considering. Ultimately, y'all should program to apply to about five graduate programs: two prophylactic schools where admission should be pretty piece of cake, 2 solid schools where your chances are good, and a dream-but-still-possible school.

And then, appraise how you stack up vis-à-vis the requirements. Maybe your GPA gives yous a fighting chance afterwards all. Or peradventure it seems every bit if the schoolhouse is going to look at that one number and send a sparse envelope, not a fat one. If information technology'south the latter, read on to find out what you should to next.

ii. Talk to the faculty

Make an appointment with some kinesthesia members you're interested in working with. Afterward demonstrating your interest in (and enquiry of) the program and discussing how your experience makes you a solid fit, ask them bluntly how your application would be viewed, given your GPA. If there are whatsoever mitigating circumstances surrounding your low GPA, permit them know. If y'all were going through difficult life circumstances, for case, some programs accept that into business relationship.

If, however, yous were thrown by the cloth, the response may vary, depending on its relevance to the plan. Going for a master'southward in computer science? If your transcript shows a C in calculus, eyebrows might be raised because calculus is very important in computer science. Simply admissions committees are likely non to care every bit much if your lower grades are in not-and then-relevant areas. Earning a C in French literature may not sink a computer scientific discipline application, as long as you can come across the program'due south subject-specific requirements.

3. Complete additional coursework

If the program wants you to demonstrate more or improve cognition than your GPA signals, taking ane or more courses might do the trick. Earning an A in a standalone calculus class would show that you've mastered that key cloth. Depending on the subject matter, you may also be able to earn a certificate for completing online courses.

4. Pursue relevant field experience

You can also demonstrate skills mastery via work feel. Await for internships, research assistantships, volunteer opportunities, and other professional leads that will help you acquire hands-on experience in your prospective graduate field. The network you'll cultivate in that pursuit is besides likely to help you institute yourself in the field—during graduate schoolhouse and across.

v. Publish in your subject

If you lot do original research, work on an exciting project, or otherwise brand a contribution to your field, so write about it—and get your work published! Showing that y'all can pass muster in peer review volition exist a significant plus for your candidacy.

6. Employ your statement of purpose

Write a thoughtful, conspicuously formulated statement of purpose in which you communicate—past showing, not telling—your understanding of and passion for your chosen field. Write with specificity well-nigh the research yous promise to do in graduate school. Demonstrate your familiarity with the faculty past expressing how—and why—y'all hope to work with a few specific professors. You'll need to make a compelling affirmative case, with plenty of specifics. (That'south true regardless of your undergraduate GPA!)

vii. Consider submitting a separate letter of caption

Depending on a plan'southward GPA requirements, you may be advised to submit a separate alphabetic character of caption. (In some cases, your explanation may exist included equally role of your statement of purpose; you'll need to follow the guidelines of each program to which you're applying.) In your explanation, you'll want to be clear and curtailed. If your relatively low GPA doesn't reflect your abilities, explain why. If, for example, you had a family emergency one semester, you can explain that your grades fell due to those personal circumstances—simply in that case, committees will probably want to see that you successfully pulled them back up. If the cause of your low GPA is even so ongoing, the commission will want to ensure that you'll be able to complete your graduate work satisfactorily.

8. Focus on recommendations

Most graduate programs ask for recommendation letters. Your recommenders can hash out your qualifications, including your GPA, and make the example for the kind of work you are capable of doing (and take washed for them!). Say you have a GPA on the low side, but your environmental bio research project really blew your professor away. If she recommends yous as someone with great potential for enquiry, her endorsement can significantly strengthen your application. If you're able to practice inquiry-assistant work for someone in your field (perhaps even someone in the graduate program yous're hoping to gain admission to), so that person's recommendation may conduct even greater weight.

Takeaway

In short: At that place are several ways to overcome a low GPA. Grades are an important—merely not exclusive—signifier of futurity academic success. If your grades alone don't make your case, then let the work you have produced and the relationships you lot have nurtured earn you admission to your chosen graduate program. While you lot don't need to act on all of the suggestions presented hither, you should strive to fix yourself apart from other candidates. If y'all ensure that the other (non-GPA) parts of your application smoothen, yous may very well earn a coveted spot in your dream graduate plan.

Read More