th3rdthatcher

This is a tremendously helpful plan of action-- thank you! I will take all of this into serious consideration. Do you know of any programs off the top of your head that exclusively look at the last 2 years' GPA? I know Texas A & M is one, but that's the only one I've found so far that mentions such a policy specifically on its site.

I've noticed that a few programs actually explicitly state multiple times on their site that they only look at the last two years (e.g. Texas A & M, #11 in research productivity; top 20 in most other rankings). I've heard of the "Last 60 credits / 2 years" being broadly applied, but the information on it seems to be mixed. However, I do agree with you on the issues of fellowships/scholarships. However, most programs that I've seen give 100% tuition waivers automatically, so it shouldn't be a massive problem.

Definitely agree with that. Would you say a decent plan would be to shoot for top Masters, then try for PHD? (I want to go into academia, and so rank actually matters).

Mediocre as in generic-- nothing bad, but nothing exemplary (whereas I did research independently under the other professors). Would you think that in light of this info, a shot at top 20 PHD programs wouldn't be completely absurd?

Hey guys, I am a fourth year student who will be applying to grad school in organizational behavior or I/O psychology this coming December (won't be graduating until then, too). I am considering both masters and doctorate programs, and would really appreciate you guys weighing in to help me discern if a doctorate program is even feasible without a Masters first, given my situation. The most pressing issue is my GPA. At my first University (mid-tier state school) where I spent 3 years, my UGPA was a miserable 2.8. However, I transferred to a new school (top-tier private school) the past summer, and my performance has drastically improved-- overall, my final 60 credits there will have a GPA of about 3.75. My overall uGPA should be about a 3.1 (assuming the last fall semester is included in my reported uGPA). I'm also predicting a good enough score on the GRE, given that my HS ACT score without studying was a 31. My research experience is pretty decent: worked in 3 research labs won 2 university-wide research grants (one at each school) 3 regional/national/international conference presentations 2 undergraduate conference presentations hopefully a publication under my belt before I graduate lead for an ongoing consulting project my I/O lab does for a nationally recognized marketing firm 2 good LORs, 1 mediocre one TA in psychology department I am pretty certain that I'll be able to get into at least a MA program somewhere, and perhaps even a PHD. However, I really have no idea the calibre of programs I should be applying for, given the strange nature of my situation. Thank you very much for your input.