BigThomason51

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Got accepted to University of Maryland's BISI Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics Ph.D program.

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Hello to all! Posting here to maybe give hope to someone in the education/ed policy/higher ed field looking at graduate programs.
I was on academic probation/suspension 3 times before I graduated. I have gaps in my education since I took time to work when things weren't going well (best decision I've ever made tbh). I had to basically get all As once I returned to school in order to graduate, and I did, but my cumulative GPA is literally a 2.0. My in-major GPA is a 3.2, so good, but not stellar.
I graduated in the summer, then rushed to apply to graduate school despite having tons of doubts with my 2.0 GPA. First step was taking the GRE. I'm not a great test taker, and I wasn't super motivated to study for the GRE. I'm also super super terrible at math. Sooo.. my GRE scores ranged from terrible (20 percentile Quant), to average (50something percentile Verbal), to above average (90+ percentile Writing). 
Stats wise, literally everything was against me. So I worked very hard (and fast) to make sure the rest of my application was strong. So far, I've been accepted to 3 out of the 4 schools I've applied to, including 2 Ivy Leagues. I've received significant funding at two schools, waiting on financial aid from one, and waiting for an admissions decision from one.
I know I'm an exception, but I never expected to be. I'm not great at giving advice, but hopefully someone like me will read this and get that extra kick of motivation they need. 
My end goal (eventually) will be a PhD, so who knows how my past will come into play when the time comes. For now, I'm still playing the waiting game and will have a very tough decision to make next month!

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Happy to say I just accepted an offer of admission from one of my top choices and a top 20 school in my field.  For all of those with low-GPAs, there is hope! Find a masters that will accept you... do extremely well and the door will open for Ph.D programs! 
EDIT:  Also, thank you to this community for the great advice and support along the way! 

Epigenetics, I feel for you.  I was in the same boat, I had an interview at my "dream" school, and ultimately it seems like I will be getting rejected.  However, I had an interview at another program, and I completely feel in love with them.  I just received an acceptance, and I'm so happy that things turned out the way they did because I might have missed out on this opportunity.  Let yourself grieve for a couple of days, but then get things together and kill your next interview!  
 

Epigenetics, I feel for you.  I was in the same boat, I had an interview at my "dream" school, and ultimately it seems like I will be getting rejected.  However, I had an interview at another program, and I completely feel in love with them.  I just received an acceptance, and I'm so happy that things turned out the way they did because I might have missed out on this opportunity.  Let yourself grieve for a couple of days, but then get things together and kill your next interview!  
 

Just dropping here to post!  Very low uGPA (less than 2.7), but was able to get accepted into a Masters, and now have around the 3.7ish range.  Currently applying to PhD programs in the same field as my masters.  I have slightly above average GRE scores (50-60th.)  Applied to 6 schools.  Hoping for an acceptance!  

I saw a rejection posted on the survey, but we've all heard nothing haha. I contacted the program coordinator like a month ago, no response...

Based on my experience it shouldn't be a big deal. I thought I screwed up 2 interviews at 2 schools because I didn't answer the follow-up questions about my own research well. I felt really bad, but I ended up receiving very positive emails from those two interviewers and got into both schools. Thing are usually better than we thought, so don't worry too much!

Applied as well, have not heard a thing

Has anyone heard from Case Western BSTP? 

I wouldn't flat out say "top choice."  Just thank them for the invite, but you unfortunately must decline the interview.  They'll read between the lines, but it's less awkward than telling them about your acceptance to your "top choice." 

I wouldn't flat out say "top choice."  Just thank them for the invite, but you unfortunately must decline the interview.  They'll read between the lines, but it's less awkward than telling them about your acceptance to your "top choice." 

My research mentor called the director and the director emailed the lecturer, asking him to consider adjustments. The director called what the instructor has done as unreasonable and said the faculty should not hinder students' success. Don't know if this will irritate the instructor and exacerbate the tense...

Thank you to both of you! I really appreciate your input. I agree that I'm overthinking this-- something I have done throughout this entire application process... Also, my math does not at add up at all. It's closer to eight months. I was worried and tired and wrote this post without double checking my math. If I can figure out when I actually started volunteering I'll call the school and let them know, otherwise, I'll let it go since  probably doesn't matter that much.
Thanks for your help!

Hey you guys, after almost giving up hope and crying..I finally got my first interview for Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics, PhD at Drexel University. I'm so excited. Don't ever give up hope, everyone's time is coming! Interview dates are Feb 6-7, Feb 16-17 and Feb 27-28.

Thank you so much for posting this.   You're stats are almost identical to mine!  Glad that you found success!  

I am so glad there is a thread like this!

I had a low uGPA as well (2.8), was accepted to a Masters program (GPA 3.8) and then was admitted to a PhD program outside my field. 
Just finished my first semester with a 4.0! Haven't been able to say that since high school

Anyways, I would like to encourage anyone who has a low GPA and is considering graduate school to go for it! Your GPA does not define you!! I have a lot of issues with the way GPAs and GRE scores are used to weed out "weak" applicants. These factors matter the least when you look into what makes a successful graduate student/researcher. 

If anyone is looking for advice or reassurance, feel free to reach out!

this may make me a bad person, but I came to this thread to feel better about myself and my chances to get into grad school. lol 
sorry

Really happy for you!  That's amazing!  I'm also coming from a lower uGPA side, but hoping my Masters helps with admissions!