Competitive programs, GPA, and slightly unusual situation

[ridgey]

I'm an international student, applying to PhD programs. I did the course work part of my Masters right after undergrad, and I would estimate my GPA for both to be about 3.1 (just an estimate, a completely different system is used here). Then I worked in research for a couple of years, found some self discipline, and was an author - not first author - on a couple of publications in prestigous journals, in a very different subfield of my field than the one I will do my PhD in. I returned to uni and took a series of advanced undergrad courses to give me the background I needed to change direction somewhat, and I would say my GPA for these classes was about 3.75 (remember, just an estimate, grading systems here don't convert to 4.0). Now, I'm a research Masters student, doing a year long fulltime research project.

I expect to cane the GRE,and have fantastic letters and essays. The GPA is definitely my weakness. I wouldn't be as worried if 3.75 were my only GPA. But I'm not sure that outweighs the poor showing earlier, given that the 3.1 included graduate courses. Does my application get weeded out, unread, because of the poor grades in previous grad courses? Or does the improvement in the recent classes prove that I am now a serious and committed student? A couple of the programs I'm applying to are highly ranked - both are in the top 10. One of those is my "dream" program. My other applications span the range, including a program ranked 90 something.

Would anyone care to specualte as to my chances of admission - or at least the degree to which my GPA will be a problem? In particular, the chances for getting into highly ranked Dream U? And will the likely unfamiliarity of the admissions committees with the grading system used help, hurt, or have no effect on my application?

[rising_star]

Your GPA will be somewhat of a problem. You really need to find a chart online (from a university) that helps you convert your grades to the American system. Your GPA could be higher than you think!

[belevitt]

It really all depends on your field. If you're in a science then a 3.1 wouldn't really be a problem (undergrad grades in sciences are usually lower than for their counterparts in the liberal arts) however if you're looking into engineering or something like that a 3.1 would be problematic.