Anyone ever accepted with a low GPA to grad school?

[micromajor2011]

Just wondering if you know anyone or if you are someone that has been accepted to graduate with a low GPA or even low GRE score? Just for us people out there that are applying in similar situations.

[greysquirrel]

Just wondering if you know anyone or if you are someone that has been accepted to graduate with a low GPA or even low GRE score? Just for us people out there that are applying in similar situations.

do you consider 3.3 low? if so, then me. my gre may have balanced it out but I had some bad grades on that transcript.

[greysquirrel]

the average for my program is like 3.8- 3.9

do you consider 3.3 low? if so, then me. my gre may have balanced it out but I had some bad grades on that transcript.

[eklavya]

How low are we talking here?

A friend of mine, had 3.0X GPA and got into Georgetown for some ecology management (MS) kind of program - I am not entirely sure about the program, but was something bio related. He was telling us that the only reason he got in was because he had good LoRs. He took GRE few months before I did, and dude barely crossed the 1200 limit.

Another friend of mine got into UC Riverside plant genetics (MS), and he had about 3.1 something GPA, and <1200 GRE. Also his research experience was minimal - few months in a wheat research institute in Idaho and few months in our lab with another prof.

I see that you are in science, so if you have prolonged research experience, some conference posters and/or papers out, they should counterbalance your low GPA/GRE.

[micromajor2011]

I'm talking about 3.3-3.0 low

[fuzzylogician]

[repatriate]

Mine was in the range you give. Passed over for PhD on first round, started a 1-year MA, applied to PhD programs before nay grades were in, and had great PhD offers for second round.

[113]

Are you considering Masters or Doctorate? I think it's a big difference in terms of expectations for applicants. I have a low undergrad GPA, 3.2 specifically, with no intensive research experience, no working experience (aside from an internship), and a low GRE score. Yet I managed to get provisionally accepted to a Top-25 Masters program (in my field) straight from undergrad.

What saved my application was that I had a great Personal Statement Letter that laid out clearly what my goals for graduate study and a career were. I also got strong LORs from my former employer (for the internship) and two great professors. Furthermore, they school could see my the positive growth in my schoolwork from my dramatic GPA rise. The first two years of undergrad was a dumpster-fire of partying and immaturity for me and my GPA for those years showed that. But the past two years I've been almost a complete hermit and concentrated on my studies and my GPA also reflect that. I went from the mid 2s to the mid 3s in terms of GPA. I think that dramatic improvement really helped my application.

I

[joro]

I have a 3.09 GPA and managed to get into grad school. I did get into a top 20 school, but didn't want to attend and I settled for a school in the top 30s instead. I have a friend who goes to one of the top 5 schools and graduated with a 2.9 GPA alongside me. I've also been offered a Fellowship as a MS student for another school because they deemed me as a top entering student. Is it possible to get into grad school with a low GPA? Sure it is, but you should be pretty realistic about the schools you apply to based on your background.

[starmaker]

If you are including MS students, I got into a solid MS program, with a Dean's Scholarship (merit scholarship for which only the top third of acceptees are considered) having had a 2.5 in undergrad.

We will see how I do next year when I apply for PhD programs.

[labrat-t]

I'm an international, and I have a friend who got accepted into Northwestern IBiS last year. He had a 2.57GPA, but did 2 summer internships in Harvard and MIT (and got great recs) and just had a third-author manuscript to be published in Cell at the time he was applying. So you see, research experience is FAR more important than GPA. And the international student pool is more competitive compared to domestic applicants.

Good luck!

[Golden Monkey]

Many years ago, I got into UCSD and USC Biomedical Engineering programs with a dismal 2.9 GPA from undergrad. I got rejected from OSU and... somewhere else? Now I can't even remember because it was so long ago, and I didn't end up going to any of them. I went and got a job instead and spent the next 15 years working. I hope they'll consider that more important than my GPA from undergrad.