Applying to Notre Dame MTS; concerned about GPA

[ascension]

I'm applying to the MTS at Notre Dame this season, and would appreciate any advice that successful past applicants might be willing to share. I'm particularly concerned about GPA. I finished my BA at an Ivy with a 3.48 cumulative GPA. The rest of my application -- personal statement, letters of rec, curriculum vitae, writing sample, GRE -- should be excellent, but I'm just worried about the GPA since I've heard that MTS admissions are extremely competitive. Advice would be much appreciated.

Edited June 25, 2019 by ascension

[xypathos]

You already know what the issue is - that GPA at an ivy is going to hurt you. Hopefully everything else mitigates it. Stuart Rojstaczer, I think, use to maintain an ivy league grade inflation calculator that got floated around but I just did a cursory Google search and couldn't find it. I recall a 3.5 correlating to a 2.5-3.1, depending on the school and field in question, Brown being the primary abuser. It's probably buried on his website somewhere.

Hopefully your subject GPA is actually pretty good and a strong upward curve in your last 90 credits. If both are bad and your field is related to theology, that's a nasty hill to climb.

Is ND the only school you're interested in?

[ChristoWitch87]

15 hours ago, ascension said:

I'm applying to the MTS at Notre Dame this season, and would appreciate any advice that successful past applicants might be willing to share. I'm particularly concerned about GPA. I finished my BA at an Ivy with a 3.48 cumulative GPA. The rest of my application -- personal statement, letters of rec, curriculum vitae, writing sample, GRE -- should be excellent, but I'm just worried about the GPA since I've heard that MTS admissions are extremely competitive. Advice would be much appreciated.

Sharing your research interests and/or professional goals would be useful to the rest of us who may be able to recommend other good fits for you to apply to. I don't think Notre Dame is out of the question (as you said, you expect the rest of your app to be great, and your UG is still an ivy) but I think everyone should apply to at least 4 schools both for security and options in case their situation changes.

[sacklunch]

It's important to note that MTS programs are not especially competitive, but ND's MTS is. It's also important to ask what was your major/s? If it's in e.g. a STEM field, then things change considerably. Inflation is a known issue at top schools, especially in the humanities, but I doubt anyone will be pulling out their calculator to adjust your GPA accordingly. For what it's worth, I think it will slightly hurt you, but in the end having that Ivy for undergrad will mean a great deal to many American academics, regardless of what it may or may not say about you and your academic progress/prospect. 

[xypathos]

4 hours ago, sacklunch said:

 in the end having that Ivy for undergrad will mean a great deal to many American academics, regardless of what it may or may not say about you and your academic progress/prospect. 

That's a solid point I overlooked but certain schools will absolutely open doors for you.