Could I ever get into graduate school with a 2.5 GPA?

[badstudent]

I have a Bachelors degree in Psychology from Hunter College in New York. I graduated in 2009. My GPA was a 2.5 overall and 3.1 in my major. I'm currently working as an RA for a neuroscience professor at Brooklyn College. I am a co-author of several research papers. I eventually want to get my Masters in Experimental Psychology. Would it be difficult for me to get accepted anywhere with a 2.5? My professor told me that he could give me permission to take some graduate-level courses as a non degree student. This time, I will study hard and get straight A's.

[lewin]

Will it be difficult? Yes. Most candidates have GPA's of > 3.5. The graduate-level courses is a good idea; it gives you an opportunity to show that you can handle graduate-level work. Make the most of it!

You have an odd situation, having a bad GPA yet co-authoring several(!) papers, which is something that few undergraduates get to do. How the heck did that happen? Did you spend so much time on research that you didn't study? (I'm genuinely curious.)

Edited June 13, 2011 by lewin00

[neuropsych76]

I have a Bachelors degree in Psychology from Hunter College in New York. I graduated in 2009. My GPA was a 2.5 overall and 3.1 in my major. I'm currently working as an RA for a neuroscience professor at Brooklyn College. I am a co-author of several research papers. I eventually want to get my Masters in Experimental Psychology. Would it be difficult for me to get accepted anywhere with a 2.5? My professor told me that he could give me permission to take some graduate-level courses as a non degree student. This time, I will study hard and get straight A's.

A 2.5 might be hard because most programs have cutoffs at 3.0. That said there are still many programs with no cutoffs and if you have outstanding GRE scores, LOR's, and personal statement I think you can get into a master's program. If you do well in the masters program, you could then get into a PhD program. It seems like you have a lot of research experience and that is the most important factor for graduate school.

Good luck!!

[carlyhylton]

Good luck!

I would be interested to know how your app process goes, you should blog about it

I have a Bachelors degree in Psychology from Hunter College in New York. I graduated in 2009. My GPA was a 2.5 overall and 3.1 in my major. I'm currently working as an RA for a neuroscience professor at Brooklyn College. I am a co-author of several research papers. I eventually want to get my Masters in Experimental Psychology. Would it be difficult for me to get accepted anywhere with a 2.5? My professor told me that he could give me permission to take some graduate-level courses as a non degree student. This time, I will study hard and get straight A's.

[chak]

Quite frankly, I believe anything is possible - and I will use my example as the case in point:

With about 60 credits left in my undergraduate career - and nothing to show for my graduate school application except for a 2.5 cumulative gpa, no laboratory experience, no publications, and a lack of clinical experience; so somewhat similar to your position about graduate school, I was left unsure about my success in getting accepted. However, with the help of several professors advising my and offering opportunities so everything could be put onto my C.V., I graduated with a 3.05 cumulative gpa (last 50 credits is around a 3.9), double majored with roughly 3.85 gpa for both, one national poster publication- and several in the works, an abundance of laboratory research experience in various research labs (project manager in one of the laboratories), and two clinical internships. With this, I got accepted into a decent master's program in Clinical Psychology, in which I would then go onto a PhD program.

So yes, anything really is possible - just as long as you put your mind to it (and judging from your post, I believe you are). I also agree with your professor's suggestion on letting you take nondegree courses as this is just another alternative to getting accepted into a program. Just never get disheartened by a minor detail because PhD programs look into a multitude of variables before giving the applicant their acceptance into the program.

Hope this helped!

[honkycat1]

I would recommend emailing the programs and tell them that your GPA is not stellar but you have your names on multiple publications, just be honest and ask them to review your app... the process isn't all done by computers if you talk to them, they will make exceptions.