MarieCRL

As others have stated, your attitude is a major hindrance. I don't think you are interested in how you can "fix" your current situation, as others have offered suggestions you have decided to ignore. You are only interested in how you can get into grad school with an incomplete application. It's cool to go against the grain, but you also have to acknowledge that it's going to be an uphill battle that you may not win. Most grad schools will not look at an application that only has 2 letters when they requested 3, especially if that person has a GPA below the minimum. Adding another letter, even if it is a medicore, "Did well in class" LOR can only help your situation. If it is going to be an issue obtaining another letter, take relevant courses at a nearby university or get a job. That will not only give you an additional LOR, but strengthen your application as well. Having a GPA below the minimum means you need to work harder than the average applicant to make your application stand out. In some cases, this involves going far beyond what the typical applicant has to do. It's going to be near impossible if you are only willing to go below the minimum requirements. Is it possible that you can still get into a program with a 2.8 GPA, no GRE, and 2 (instead of 3) LORs? Maybe. Is it likely? No.

It doesn't really hurt to annoy them at this point! You've already been admitted by the department. The graduate school just gives the official word. As long as you don't call 10 times, I can't see why it would be a problem. They may not be able to provide you with an answer, but it's worth a try if you're worried.

I understand your concerns as someone who also has a 2.8 undergraduate GPA. I was worried about the same thing. Since graduating, I have taken courses as part of a post-bacc program, but I was not sure if the school would count those as part of my undergraduate cumulative GPA (some schools don't). I received my official acceptance a week after the department recommendation with no problem. The most important thing to remember is that the department would not have recommended you for admission if they did not believe the graduate school would accept you. And considering you were accepted from the waitlist, that statement matters even more. If there was even a small chance you would be rejected by the graduate division, they probably wouldn't have made the offer. While the graduate school has the ability to reject a recommendation, it does not happen very often. As the head of the admissions committee told you, you will most likely be admitted. In about a week, I would recommend calling the graduate division and inquiring about the status of your official acceptance. That would help put your mind at ease. Take a deep breath and relax. Be excited that you got into a doctoral program!

I graduated from Pitt (although, I majored in something other than SLP). However, one of my best friends from college went on to Pitt's SLP graduate program. She loved the program and was able to find a job shortly after graduation (and passing the Praxis) in her specialty. She currently works with children at a school outside of Pittsburgh. It's a great school, especially for SLP, and it's in a great location. The campus is surrounded by hospitals, clinics, medical facilities, and schools. So, depending on what your interests are, you will have a variety of different options for clinical experiences. BUT...if this other school you are considering can provide you with a great learning experience in your area of interest, I wouldn't say it would be "stupid" of you to turn down an other from Pitt if location is important to you. Does the other school have a high pass rate on the Praxis exam? Do they have a good job placement rate for the area you are interest in? Can they offer you a great education and clinical experiences in the area(s) you are interest in? Those are the important questions. If you can answer "yes" in relation to the program that is closer to you, then go for it! My advice would be to research both programs and compare the curriculum, clinical experiences, and post-graduation statistics. If Pitt is more in line with your future goals, than I would say that is where you should go. But if both programs are comparable, then that's when other factors, such as cost and location, can serve as a tie-breaker. Congratulations on your acceptances! You have great options to choose from!

Are your dreams entirely dead? No. There are Low GRE/Low GPA success stories all over this forum. Mine included. I performed abysmally my first 3 semesters in undergrad, and it wasn't for a lack of trying. I spent my last 2 years trying to make up for it. When I graduated, I had an overall GPA of 2.85. I decided to enroll in a science post-baccalaureate program in order to boost my GPA and figure out exactly what I wanted to do career-wise. I was able to increase my GPA to a 3.08, allowing me to at least meet the minimum graduate school requirements for most programs. My GRE scores are decent. I also got a job related to my field, allowing me to gain some research experience and obtain some great letters of recommendation in the process. I'm going to graduate school in the fall, and I'm very excited about it! There are some schools out there that are willing to overlook an underwhelming GPA. You will have to work harder than some, and your path will be a bit curved, but you can do it. Work experience, strong letters of recommendation, good GRE scores, and a great statement of purpose can offset a "bad" GPA. As for whether or not you should double major, that's up to you. If you plan on moving forward with psychology, it would be beneficial to double major. That would allow you to hone in on your interests and decide exactly what you want to study in the field of psychology (if you don't know already). Plus, you only have 16 more credit hours. That's like 6 courses? You might as well just finish those classes. But, if you decide to graduate, you could take some graduate-level courses at a local college, which would help GPA-wise and show graduate schools that you can handle graduate level coursework. And work experience always helps! I would imagine that while most graduate schools set the minimum GPA requirements, the actual psychology program is going to be more concerned with your performance in your psychology courses, which you are doing well in. Not all hope is lost. It's "difficult" for anyone to get into a graduate program, no matter how awesomely high (or low) their GPA is. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. If this is what you really want, then you need to be willing to do what you must to make it happen. No one said it was going to be easy.