Does first year Undergrad GPA matter for Clinical Psych PhD?

[ArchieJones]

My first semester at college was a big adjustment and I had a pretty low GPA the first year. I got a 2.9 the first semester and a 3.15 the second. I continued to have a steady increase in GPA, ewith 3.9's my last three semesters (taking upper level courses and writing a senior thesis), ending in at total GPA of 3.49 (bouncing back from those first few semesters was unbelieably hard!). Does anyone have experience with this? Will admissions see the strong finish and forgive the rough start? Or should I lower my expectations for what kind of PhD program I should apply to? 

[Clinapp2017]

If you continue on an upward trajectory and have other good experiences under your belt (e.g., publications, research, conference, a good GRE score), it shouldn't matter too much what your first semester was. Did you already apply, or are you applying in the future? If the future, I would probably mention (briefly) why the first semester was hard and how determined you are (as evidence by the grade change) to get better at your grades. 

[ArchieJones]

19 hours ago, Clinapp2017 said:

If you continue on an upward trajectory and have other good experiences under your belt (e.g., publications, research, conference, a good GRE score), it shouldn't matter too much what your first semester was. Did you already apply, or are you applying in the future? If the future, I would probably mention (briefly) why the first semester was hard and how determined you are (as evidence by the grade change) to get better at your grades. 

I'm hoping to apply next fall! Thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to mention it (in my statement of purpose?).

Also for reference, I graduated in 2018 so those are the final numbers.  

Edited December 5, 2019 by meanbean

[MiddleOfSomeCalibrations]

Some schools ask for your "last 60 credit hours GPA" in addition to your cumulative GPA. Some schools ask for your major GPA too.

I'm not sure if this is something you should include in your statement of purpose, in the separate "is there anything else we should know" section, or ask one of your recommenders to mention it. 

[JoePianist]

yes