How hard and fast in the undergrad GPA minimum?

[Milo_10011]

I have a bit of an unusual academic path.

Did very badly my first undergraduate year (I failed several science courses.)

Got kicked out for the grades.

Got back in.

Did much, much better in a non-science major (including one semester with a 4.0).

Final GPA, 2.7. If I cut away the first year, I probably managed around a 3.2. (I've never gotten around to doing the math.)

Went to grad school. (Yes, I already have a master's.)

Got a 3.25.

Lived my life. Took some additional coursework, did well in the non-science stuff, made some recoveries in some of the sciences (I took the chem final, 15 years after getting a 12 on the chem final as a freshman and started laughing at the end of the exam because I was the first one done. I got two things wrong on the entire exam.)

Now, going back to school, this time for PoliSci.

The school's undergrad GPA "cut-off" is 3.0. Obviously, I don't have that. So I made an appointment, sat down with an adviser with my transcripts and said, basically, "Here are my grades. They aren't perfect. But when you take into account my lousy first year, my improvements afterward, and that I've done graduate school already, I think there's at least a somewhat reasonable argument that the 3.0 undergrad GPA should have a little wiggle room. What I'd like to know is, if I apply, do I have a reasonable chance of getting admitted, or should I simply not bother? Because I don't mind being told 'No.' But I'd much rather be told right now that there's simply no way I'll get in with these grades. There's no point in wasting the committee's time or my own in a pointless endeavor."

I was told that I should apply, that I certainly wouldn't be automatically rejected.

Has anyone else gotten around the undergrad GPA minimum? Or have any stats or information on that sort of thing? I don't think the adviser would lie to my face. He certainly could have said something more vague, like, "Well, we really can't comment on that because we have to exam you in comparison to all the other students, blah blah blah." But I'd really like to get the, um, community's feel on this.

[pikaStardust]

very recently one of my friends was admitted to a master's program which wants minimum 3.0 GPA and 4.5 in analytical writing but her GPA was around 2.8-2.9 and she just made 3.5 in GRE. if you don't have really serious problems with the rest of your application, then GPA becomes a minor point in final decision, as far as I observe. and what adviser said seemed promising to me, also. if it is certain that you will not be automatically rejected, I think you should give it a try. because that friend of mine also asked whether they are strict about their minimums and she was advised to apply in response.

good luck

[mike218]

I had a 2.58 for my undergraduate and a 3.66 for my graduate . I was told exactly the same thing from Georgetown's Security Studies program so I have to agree with evilBean. (please note that I have not been accepted or applied to Georgetown yet)

[fuzzylogician]

The general wisdom seems to be that it is possible to overcome a (serious) weakness in the application and still be admitted to graduate school. As weaknesses go, lack of research experience, weak LORs and an unfocused/weak SOP are much more difficult to recover from than a low GPA. That's especially true if you're not applying straight out of undergrad but rather have other kinds of experiences that you gathered along the way, and even more so if you can show that you did well in your masters program. If your background, SOP and LORs are otherwise strong, it should be possible for you to convince an adcom to admit you. This, however, is only provided you get past initial sweeping cutoffs. If the adcom doesn't ever get to see your application, it'll be impossible for you to convince them that you are a strong talented applicant. So it'll be important for you to research the schools that you are interested in and inquire about cutoffs, and maybe also contact faculty there beforehand to secure more interest in your application -- you'll need to make sure your application does not get tossed automatically by some general cutoff.