rubyslp23

I'm sure this should not be posted here, but I just wanted to say...
 
Congratulations to everyone for getting in.  I know we've all worked so hard for this and I am so proud of all of you. 
 
For those of you who missed the mark this time around, PLEASE do not give up.  Your acceptance is right around the corner. Keep pushing.  

Yep - and apparently PSU had around 600-700 (!!!!) candidates this year? I feel like when you have that many applicants, its very difficult NOT to create a high GPA or GRE cut off just to reduce the number of applications in review. 

I have a 3.09 cumulative GPA and got interviews, acceptances and wait lists! They clearly valued my life experiences/letters of recommendation/information beyond my academic performance. Check out the University of Maine (I believe they explicitly state on their website that they look at every student holistically - there is no GRE or GPA cut off), Utah State University, Pacific University, Arizona State University, Western Washington, and GVSU. 
 
General PSA, I wouldn't recommend PSU or U or Oregon - hah.  

I have a 3.09 cumulative GPA and got interviews, acceptances and wait lists! They clearly valued my life experiences/letters of recommendation/information beyond my academic performance. Check out the University of Maine (I believe they explicitly state on their website that they look at every student holistically - there is no GRE or GPA cut off), Utah State University, Pacific University, Arizona State University, Western Washington, and GVSU. 
 
General PSA, I wouldn't recommend PSU or U or Oregon - hah.  

I got my email just a bit ago too! I really hope they offer some information regarding funding sooner rather than later. That's a huge factor for me as an out of state applicant! 

The only good thing about losing an hour today because of Daylight Savings is that we are one hour closer to Monday and possible acceptances.   

I didn't have any problems, but I made sure to send in my transcripts SUPER early (like, September/October) especially because I had four schools worth of materials to keep track of - I then had my final transcripts immediately sent after the fall semester ended. Since my fall transcripts arrived before my application was even verified, they went ahead and added in those grades for me without having to use the academic update which sped up the process. I think the key is to get materials in before the mad dash season starts - it seemed to get crazy as soon as January hit!! I do think the GPA/course designation process is ridiculous, although it ended up helping my overall GPA in the long run. 
 
My main gripe with CSDCAS is how hard it is to individualize the application. Also, I'd love the option to just upload a resume - the activities/honors/whatever portion was awful.

Thank you all so much for all of the advice/kind words! I appreciate it so, so much  I will definitely start narrowing down my list of potential schools and begin getting in touch with the program directors - hopefully it goes well! 
 
@twinguy7 - Thanks so much for the suggestions, and CONGRATS to getting in!! So excited for you
I'm actually really quite confused when it comes to my transcripts. When figuring out my cumulative, I just looked at the transcripts for each school I've taken classes at (four, which is a huge pain in the butt!) and added it up using the all credit points/all attempted credit hours=GPA formula. I'm just not sure if my classes that I retook will count? For example, in that awful freshman year I had a general psych course and wound up with a D, and an intro to sociology course that I got an F in - both of these were worth 4 credits. I eventually retook both and got A's, but it was at a different college and they were only worth 3 credits there. All of my other classes were ones that I ended up not touching again since I was an education major at the time - philosophy, geology, media and society...really random stuff. I'm actually a little excited for the CSDCAS applications just because I'm curious as to what they make of my mess, haha.