how to hide my weak GPA

[seanArch]

Hi everyone. im new to the site, and I

[anese]

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news---but unless you have some exceptionally stellar publications/recommendations (like one poster who had Scates Gates at Harvard, for example) I don't think a search committee at Harvard or MIT would take your file seriously with a cumulative GPA below 3.0.

You can't really hide a low GPA--universities will find out these things! They are recorded, and if you were found out, this would be considered academic dishonesty and would seriously cripple any chances of acceptance.

A bit of explanation--

Now, what you are saying about the latter two years, it is definitely true that better performance will increase your chances of admission. You also may certainly have an incredibly strong portfolio, but my honest advice would be not to limit your applications to these schools. Remember that you are competing with people from some of the most difficult institutions (Ivy, Top 20 research) some of whom have impressive pedigrees, including high GRE scores and stellar recommendations. I think that you are on the right track with your strategy of giving an explanation, just keep in mind that many other students will have cumulative 3.5 undergraduate GPAs and 3.9 major GPAs with the same test scores and extensive portfolios. What makes your situation incredibly difficult is that you may not be able to make it through to the admissions committee, so they may not even SEE the explanations you are thinking of crafting! Without that minimum cumulative GPA (3.0 is usually the cut-off point) you are already fighting your way to the top.

Also--are you looking at Masters programs or PhD programs? I think a Masters program would be very feasible for you as an opportunity to boost your chances to enter into one of these PhD programs. There are also wonderful programs at other schools with incredibly impressive faculty, and I hope you would consider those as well--the best quality of education is not always tucked underneath ivory laurels.

In summary, I don't want to discourage you from applying completely to these programs---feel free to come back and spit in my eye if it works out---I just want to say that realistically, without a higher cumulative GPA, these schools would be quite the reach.

[seanArch]

Thanks for your well crafted response! Im applying to master

[anese]

Thanks for your well crafted response! Im applying to master

[rising_star]

What I want to do on the Harvard and MIT app; is to put the 3.55 on the app and explain that it

[minorthreat]

I'm in a similar situation to the one the OP's in - I have a terrible undergraduate GPA (2.6) and I'm currently trying to make up for it by doing a year as a non-degree student at Columbia. The nagging question in my mind, though, is if it will be enough.

[anese]

I'm in a similar situation to the one the OP's in - I have a terrible undergraduate GPA (2.6) and I'm currently trying to make up for it by doing a year as a non-degree student at Columbia. The nagging question in my mind, though, is if it will be enough.

It depends on what type of non-degree work you are doing. Are you earning straight A's? Would you make strong contacts with professors who could then write recommendations/vouch for you? Will you have enough work done to submit for publication? Columbia University is notorious for its distant administration--unattached faculty, advisers who disappear or find "better things to do", kicking students out of classes (weeks late!) because they are reserved for students of other depts, etc...if you can't find at least one positive contact during your experience I don't think it would be worth it. Finding a less expensive school with accessible faculty might even be a better option.

If you have not been out of school for a long time, now might be the chance to prove yourself to admissions committees in other ways. That said, depending upon what program you are interested in, it might be worthwhile to acquire relevant professional experience. What would you want to study in graduate school? It might be possible to achieve your goals without it. I wish that I could be of more help, 2.6 is a very hard hurdle to overcome.

[minorthreat]

It depends on what type of non-degree work you are doing. Are you earning straight A's? Would you make strong contacts with professors who could then write recommendations/vouch for you? Will you have enough work done to submit for publication? Columbia University is notorious for its distant administration--unattached faculty, advisers who disappear or find "better things to do", kicking students out of classes (weeks late!) because they are reserved for students of other depts, etc...if you can't find at least one positive contact during your experience I don't think it would be worth it. Finding a less expensive school with accessible faculty might even be a better option.

If you have not been out of school for a long time, now might be the chance to prove yourself to admissions committees in other ways. That said, depending upon what program you are interested in, it might be worthwhile to acquire relevant professional experience. What would you want to study in graduate school? It might be possible to achieve your goals without it. I wish that I could be of more help, 2.6 is a very hard hurdle to overcome.

I'm doing my damnedest to get straight A's, and yeah, I should make at least one stellar contact in my field (Korean history) whose recommendation would carry some really heavy weight should I manage to get one from her.

I haven't been out of school very long - I finished my BA in 2005 - but I did spend two years in Korea, which is what prompted a switch to Korean history in the first place. That may help, I don't know.

[anese]

I'm doing my damnedest to get straight A's, and yeah, I should make at least one stellar contact in my field (Korean history) whose recommendation would carry some really heavy weight should I manage to get one from her.

I haven't been out of school very long - I finished my BA in 2005 - but I did spend two years in Korea, which is what prompted a switch to Korean history in the first place. That may help, I don't know.

Korean history...that sounds fascinating. Would it be possible for you to do any studying in Korea during the intermittent time while waiting to apply? If you have a good professor contact, it might be a great idea to pick their brains about what historians they read, academic journals, conferences they attend...if you can really demonstrate interest and craft a stellar SoP you may be able to find yourself in an MA program where you can better position yourself for the PhD.

I completely just threw my resolve to post less here and lurk out the window.

[minorthreat]

Korean history...that sounds fascinating. Would it be possible for you to do any studying in Korea during the intermittent time while waiting to apply? If you have a good professor contact, it might be a great idea to pick their brains about what historians they read, academic journals, conferences they attend...if you can really demonstrate interest and craft a stellar SoP you may be able to find yourself in an MA program where you can better position yourself for the PhD.

I completely just threw my resolve to post less here and lurk out the window.

I was planning on studying in Korea, yeah, but mostly to improve my language skills as I'd prefer to be fluent or near-fluent when finally entering a PhD program.

One thing I neglected to mention that may also offset the bad GPA is that it's from a top university that's notorious for being both extremely difficult and having a brutal core curriculum. (If I mention that it's not in the Northeast, you should be able to guess which one.)

[anese]

I was planning on studying in Korea, yeah, but mostly to improve my language skills as I'd prefer to be fluent or near-fluent when finally entering a PhD program.

One thing I neglected to mention that may also offset the bad GPA is that it's from a top university that's notorious for being both extremely difficult and having a brutal core curriculum. (If I mention that it's not in the Northeast, you should be able to guess which one.)

Sometimes that can make a difference, but when you are below a 3.0 I would try to prepare myself as if that wasn't even a factor in the admissions process. That is, do everything possible to demonstrate your aptitude and dedication. You are definitely on the right track--is there anyone from your undergrad that can write a strong letter for you in addition to the Columbia professor?

[firecolon]

I survived the process last year myself, and I am now a graduate student in mathematics at Texas A&M University. I should be able to give you some advice.

You will likely have to complete a statement of purpose. That will be the best way to hide a sub-par GPA. Although your GPA is not as bad as you think, despite what you hear most people do not have a GPA close to 4.0, in fact most people are not even close to that. Although acceptance rates are generally low everywhere so you might want to apply to more schools (the schools you mentioned are especially hard to get into).

Did you take a lot of challenging courses as an undergrad? If so explain that in your statement of purpose. My GPA was not as high as I would have liked, but I took a lot of challenging courses and highlighted them on my statement of purpose and that is why I got a lot of offers for Fall 2008.

You will also want to mention on the statement of purpose that you had a rough start to college, but that in the last couple of years you have done a lot better. Improvement will help your application. If a statement of purpose is not required, then you will still want to somehow illustrate this.

Most schools do not use litmus tests to narrow the number of applications, although a few do. There is usually no way to tell so you're better off not worrying about it. If they reject your application by use of litmus test, then they're assholes who shouldn't be running a graduate program anyway.

Good luck with the application process. I won't be on the site much because I have finished this process, but I will occasionally be on here check things out.

[minorthreat]

Sometimes that can make a difference, but when you are below a 3.0 I would try to prepare myself as if that wasn't even a factor in the admissions process. That is, do everything possible to demonstrate your aptitude and dedication. You are definitely on the right track--is there anyone from your undergrad that can write a strong letter for you in addition to the Columbia professor?

There is, but he's not in the field I plan on going into. That's one of the other complicating factors - I was a political science major as an undergrad, yet want to go to grad school for history. The non-degree courses I'm doing right now are all history related.

[anese]

There is, but he's not in the field I plan on going into. That's one of the other complicating factors - I was a political science major as an undergrad, yet want to go to grad school for history. The non-degree courses I'm doing right now are all history related.

Sometimes you can submit more than one recommendation letter. If you have at least one strong writer from your undergraduate years, I would include him as a fourth writer, or even as a third if you could not obtain one. Poli Sci and History are not that far off from each other. My undergraduate work was in politics, policy and history, it is what I got my degree in. The strong undergraduate school might mean a lot more if it comes along with the confident rec of a professor who saw your work there. That may offset the very low GPA.

ETA- I guess "not that far off from each other" should be put into context, my interests were US history, US urban planning, and US political science...so for me there wasn't that grand of a difference. However, that is besides the point if that professor can speak to your general abilities and accomplishments as an applicant. Seriously consider including him as an additional recommendation to the the three or two you are already securing.

I am also someone who comes from one of those "notorious universities" my GPA was above 3.0, but not in the ideal range. I think that having strong recommendations from faculty I worked with moved my application out of the "maybe pile". If you contact him and find that he can't write a strong letter, don't worry about it--but if he can, I would consider the possibility of adding it as an additional boost to your app.

[rising_star]

There is, but he's not in the field I plan on going into. That's one of the other complicating factors - I was a political science major as an undergrad, yet want to go to grad school for history. The non-degree courses I'm doing right now are all history related.

Doesn't matter that he's not in the same field. The admissions committee will be able to see that you majored in polisci so it won't seem odd to have a letter from that as obviously professors from your major will know you better than those from outside of it. I really don't understand why people seem to think and say that all of your letters must be from profs in the field when that's not what works best for lots of people. For the record, when I changed fields for my MA and all three of my letters were from my undergrad major. I got into 4 of the 6 programs I applied to.

[docstudent]

I think your GPA's too low for the caliber of schools you're aiming for regardless of how you "manipulate" your performance. You might want to shoot for a master's at a less prestigious school and work up from there. I'd send one app to a pie-in-the-sky school just so you never wonder "what if."