Would My GRE Scores Make Up for My GPA?

[bh1ge3u1hqwdjb]

Hello. I’ll be applying for a PhD in education (possibly education policy), and I wanted to know if you guys think my GRE could make up for my mediocre GPA.

V 167 (98%) / Q 160 (73%) / AW 5.5 (98%)

Undergrad GPA (from an average state public university) : 3.34

Law School GPA (from a top 30 law school, studied education law/policy) : 3.34, which is exactly the same as my undergrad…

Masters GPA (from one of the top Ivies, degree in education) : 3.8

Part of the reason that my law school GPA is so low is that I was a visiting student at two other law schools (one was a different Ivy) for a semester each in my final year, where I had a 4.0 for one semester and a 3.7 in the other. My school transferred the credits but had a policy of not counting any grades for courses taken at other schools, so my final year grades didn’t raise my GPA at all. I have the transcripts though, so I can show them in my application and possibly explain the situation). Also, I got my master degree in education with the better GPA after that, but I don’t know how much that would matter since it was only a one-year program versus the three years of law school prior to it.

(Even though I went to law school, passed the bar, and became a lawyer, I’m much more interested in education policy and research, and have been working in the education field for a few years now, so I think it’s still relevant, especially in my research.)

But do you guys think that my GRE score will have any major weight on my applications and therefore make up for my average GPAs, or do you think it’s simply something the universities will just check off their list? My GRE scores are currently higher than the average for admitted PhD students at the schools I’m applying to (for the schools that did post the numbers on their websites), but my GPA is lower than the average…

Edited June 8, 2021 by nanakimmy9

[sbidyanta]

First of all, congratulations on those GRE scores. Also, if you could explain it in your essay, then your GPA shouldn't be an issue at all. Your school seems to have a really weird policy though, did you know about it before taking the courses at other schools? In any case, you should be good to go. Wishing you the best. 

[bh1ge3u1hqwdjb]

@sbidyanta Thank you so much for your response! I wasn’t sure whether to mention the GPA issue in the statement of purpose or elsewhere in the application, but I guess I will briefly explain it in the statement. Actually, I had known about my school’s policy before taking all those courses, but both semesters ended up being extremely relevant to my current field and research and I had wanted the experience, so I don’t regret it at all. I hope the admissions team will take that as a positive thing.