Grade History Question

[djg07]

Hi all,

So this is my situation: I first attended University A straight out of highschool about 6 years ago. At the time, I was not exactly sure of what career I was interested in pursuing and ended up taking a Computer Science program. My grades were extremely poor as as a result of my lack of discipline, awful academic attitude and non-existent motivation. (about 2.3 gpa or so). After two years of strugglesand disappointment, I finally decided to drop out of school A to pursue my true passion at University B - Environmental Studies. I am now in my final year at University B and my grades, attitude, and motivation have blossomed. I currently have a 3.7 gpa and intend to get it even higher in the coming year. The issue that concerns me is that all graduate applications require a transcript from ALL post-secondary institutions, including my extremely poor performance in University A (despite dropping out).

So my question is: Will my poor GPA acquired at University A reduce my chances of being accepted into a graduate school despite my excellent GPA in University B?

Thanks very much.

[runonsentence]

If you and another candidate are neck-and-neck, it could perhaps matter. My gut feeling is that it's not going to make or break your application, especially if you address it (briefly!) in your SOP. You don't want to dwell on it, but the SOP is your chance to explain these sorts of situations to an adcomm.

Your second degree program shows that you've become a more serious student, and it's in a field related to your applications (while the first is not). The GPA and transcript at your first institution isn't going to look great, but I don't think it's going to mean you have no chance at getting into grad school. My $.02.

[djg07]

Thanks for the advice. Is it a bad decision to simply not inform the school that I am applying to about the grade history?

[runonsentence]

Thanks for the advice. Is it a bad decision to simply not inform the school that I am applying to about the grade history?

If by that you mean, "Is it bad not to send in my transcript from School A and pretend I never attended there?" the answer is yes. You should never hide this kind of information on an application: not only is it unethical, but if and when an adcom discovers that you withheld this information from your application, they'll revoke any offers of admission they may have extended.

If you're asking, "Should I just not mention it in the SoP?" then it's up to you: opinion will be divided on this, I'm willing to bet. Personally I'd probably do a drive-by mention in a sentence somewhere..."Although I had trouble finding direction at University A right out of high school, you can see from my transcripts at and recommendation letters from School B that I'm motivated to study Computer Science." But you can also choose not to mention it as well, if that makes you more comfortable; the SoP should, after all, be a positive document that reflects on your potential.

Edited July 4, 2011 by runonsentence

[Teelee]

Your studies in the first school has absolutely nothing to do with your intended studies (Env. Science) in grad school so the admission committee won't really care. In addition, your high GPA in the sciences will show that you are a mature student and is very serious about pursuing higher education in science. Probably should mention something in your personal statement without focusing too much on your mistakes in the past.