"Final two years of undergraduate studies"?

[summergirl]

Hi, this might be kind of obvious to people..but I was wondering, when grad programs say they look at the GPA of your final two years of undergraduate studies, and you are applying to it during your year four of your undergrad (most of their deadlines are around Dec), would they be looking at your year 2-3? Or year 3+4? Thanks.

[gellert]

Good. Question. Been wondering this myself, and anxious to see what everyone says.

[ktel]

Final two years = year 3+4 (even though you won't have all your grades for year 4 upon application)

That's what I've been led to understand

[Lexie05]

Hey, (hopefully) quick piggy-back questions: 1) What if you are graduating with more than 4 years of undergrad?, 2) If the last 2 years are split between two schools, how would you report that GPA? Thank you.

[gellert]

Hey, (hopefully) quick piggy-back questions: 1) What if you are graduating with more than 4 years of undergrad?, 2) If the last 2 years are split between two schools, how would you report that GPA? Thank you.

And another question piggy-backing on THIS one: what if the final two years includes a semester studying abroad, in which all classes are language classes unrelated to your field of study?

[ktel]

If you're doing more than 4 years of undergrad, you may have taken a reduced course load. If this is the case I believe they will take into account the equivalent of 2 years of courses. So if you're supposed to take 20 courses in your last 2 years normally, I believe they would look at the last 20 courses completed.

For the study abroad semester I would imagine they would exclude that from the previous 2 years.

All of these are questions best answered by the schools you are applying to.

[CageFree]

I have the same question. I had a HORRIBLE year in Engineering. I had to start from scratch and it took an extra 3 and 2 quarters to finish. But it was my third year that was stellar - taking all upper division classes. This kind of wording gets very confusing to me.

[Lexie05]

How is masters coursework factored into GPA, if at all?

[juilletmercredi]

I wouldn't use last 2 years as such a strict guideline - the idea is that they want to look at your most recent work, because the way you were at 18-19 may not reflect the way you are at 22-23 (especially with the initial adjustment to college). So if you did 5 years, they will probably still concentrate mainly on your last 60 credits/years 4-5. But if you started your major work in your 3rd year, they will look at that, too. They may just look at the last 3 years especially if you took a lighter courseload in your 5th year.

As for master's work...remember, they will not just have raw numbers - they will also have your transcript. So if you did a 5 year BS/MS program, the MS classwork may be factored into your GPA, but a more qualitative evaluation of it will weight those master's classes higher than the undergrad ones. If you did a separate MS and BS, then they'll be two separate GPAs I believe.

[CageFree]

Okay, another thing is... I have a teaching credential and had to take some history courses to help me get ready for standardized tests (the CSET, kind of like the Praxis II). Would those count at all toward "upper division work in history?" These courses were taken 2 years after my graduation.

[Lexie05]

Thanks, juilletmercredi. But what if the MA GPA is significantly higher than that of the BA? Will the MA still be weighted more, even when adcoms compare me to applicants with high undergrad GPAs? I worry that my initial performance in college will prevent me from achieving my goals.