For what it's worth, here's my experience. I have two bachelor's degrees, and I did pretty poorly during the first one (B.A. in Liberal Arts with concentrations in psychology and marketing). I graduated with a 2.9 and had two semesters where I got "WFs" in all of my classes. I actually failed my first intro. psychology course. However, I did better my final year, getting a 3.4 in the fall and 3.7 in the spring. Three years later, I went back for a second bachelor's degree with the intention of trying to get into grad school. I completed my second degree (B.S. in psychology) with a 4.0 (around 60 additional credits). So, there was a steep incline in my GPA. I also took part in research, presented a poster at a regional conference, got a study published in an undergraduate journal (which hardly counts as a publication) and had strong letters of recommendation. This was enough to get me into a Master's program but not enough to get me into the two doctorate programs I applied to. So, I went on to get my Master's with the goal of going on to a Phd. I graduated with a 3.98 and made sure I was involved in research as much as I could be. I also presented at two more conferences, one state and one national. Again, I made sure to build relationships that would lead to strong letters of recommendation. In the end, I applied to five doctorate programs: 1 clinical, 1 social, 3 counseling (all at least decent programs with APA accreditation). I was outright denied at the clinical and social programs, which are notoriously hard to get into. I was waitlisted at all three counseling programs, one of which sent me a letter not long after the interview saying that the faculty member I applied to work with left the program, so that was a no go. Ultimately, I got an offer from ONE program at the beginning of April, and I accepted. Oh, and my GRE scores were far from great (around 78th percentile in verbal, 23rd in quantitative, and a 3 in writing). So, I'd say it is possible to overcome a poor undergraduate GPA (and crappy GRE scores), but not without a lot work. You can have a weak area or two if other areas are strong. It also depends on how competitive the programs are you applying to.