jokerjoe

Thank you everyone for your input. To clarify, I am more interested in a Student Affairs or practice-based master's program. I would like to go into academic or career counseling, but want to get more experience in other offices and departments on campus that I am unable to get as an undergrad. University of Virginia's program is appealing to me because of the internship component and ability to do work in places at the University during the year. On the other hand, I have completed research at the undergrad level and have presented at several conferences both at my school and at other schools. I enjoyed doing research with faculty with a background in Higher Ed, so I would not rule a research/theory master's program out completely either. I will look into other schools definitely, but I'm also hoping to get some consideration since I am right below a 3.0 GPA. As of right now, my overall GPA is a 2.92 and my in-major is actually at a 3.2 (just checked earlier). If you look on my transcript, I've had a GPA above a 3.0 from Spring 2010 to Spring 2012, with two semesters at 3.7 and 3.6. Only three of my semesters have been below a 3.0. Additionally, half of my low grades come from before I changed my major. Do those low grades really hurt that much, even if the semester GPA is above a 3.0?

I understand what you're saying completely, michigan girl! The online course format does not seem to be the right kind of learning environment for me, so I'm not planning on exploring it further in the future. Most of my other classes that require participation (Political Theory courses especially are discussion based) weren't a problem for me, so I'm hoping that class was a fluke. What regional universities are you referring to? I'm from Maryland, and I've looked at programs around my home area as well, but haven't looked too much in depth aside from University of Virginia.

ZeChocMoose: The only in-major course I struggled with was a sociological theory course, that I got my C in this semester. The other two bad grades from these past semesters were required for my major, but they were electives in other departments. I had to take one course online, which was an ethnic studies course. I learned that online learning is definitely not for me, hence the D+. I struggled with the material so I didn't do well on the exams, and also missed a few assignments (which is my fault entirely). The other C- grade was attributed to a bad participation grade (difficult to get in a class of 60). For that class, I got really good scores on the papers and reading reflections, but my participation and presentation grades were not up to par. I would definitely understand a conditional admission, that would also probably help me prove myself. I've done really well in my other in-major courses (Research Methods, Political Theory, Social Inequality, etc). Another concern I have for graduate school is funding and affordability, of course. Do funding opportunities usually go to students with higher GPAs, or more higher ed experience, or are the requirements varied? I do know that some schools don't offer any funding to Master's students, but I'm applying to a lot of schools so hopefully it won't be too big of an issue for me.

yea, my GPA overall is right around 2.9, so I'm barely missing the cutoff. I've also been kind of nervous since my GPA this semester was just above a 2.5. Makes me feel like I hurt myself staying this extra year since I could've graduated last spring. My GRE Scores are: 160V, 150Q, and 4 Writing, so I hope that makes up for my GPA. Thanks for all your advice guys! Comforting to know I'm not the only one that's had to think about this!

Hi everyone, I'm a current 5th year senior and I have recently discovered what I want to do with my life. I'm really hoping to continue to graduate school to get a Master's in Student Affairs/Higher Ed. I'm nervous about the application process, since about 90% of my experience has only occurred during my 5th year, and I still don't meet the 3.0 GPA requirement that most places ask for. Some backstory, I am staying a 5th year by choice. I could have graduated no problem last year, but didn't decide until the fall that I wanted to pursue graduate school at all. My GPA has been steadily increasing since my sophomore year. Fall of sophomore year was the worst and I changed my major to Sociology, since I was doing so badly and my GPA plummeted during my worst semester. On my transcript, my grades are still across the board, but thankfully no Fs. My GPA History: -Freshman Year: (Fall) All Bs, (Spring) 3 Bs, C, D+ -Sophomore Year: (Fall) 3 Ds, C, B, (Spring) A, 3 Bs, C -Junior Year: (Fall) A-, 4 Bs, C, (Spring), 4 As, B -Senior Year: (Fall) 2 As, 2 A-, 2 Bs, (Spring) 2 As, B, D+ -5th Year: (Fall), A, B, C, C-, (Spring) Probably will get a 3.0 Does my GPA not reaching the 3.0 minimum requirement that is usually stated in applications hurt me? My in-major GPA is a 3.1, but my Cumulative GPA is about a 2.8. To balance out my GPA, my GRE is good and I think I'll have some decent letters of recommendation from my activities for this year. I am also nervous about my experience only being in my 5th year. I wasn't really interested in anything at school until this year, so nothing was really worth getting involved in and I couldn't find a job I liked. I am really interested in continuing on this path now, so I really need to get into graduate school. I am currently applying to: Loyola-Chicago, Vanderbilt, NYU, Columbia, George Washington, Stanford, UCLA, University of Virginia, and Michigan. Can anyone provide insight on my concerns with GPA and how I've only been really experienced for one year? Thanks alot!