Low Undergraduate GPA

[hungrytime]

I have a pretty low undergraduate GPA (~2.6). I graduated with a degree in Chemistry from Duke; initially I wanted to go to med school, but with my grades so low, I don't think it's a possibility. Perusing some of the grad school sites, at least the Maryland: CP one, they say you have to have a UGPA above 3.0. Does anyone know if this is a rule? a guideline? Am I severely hampered from being admitted from just that one stat?

[orst11]

3.0 typically is a guideline for a lot of programs. You can find some programs on the lower end that simply require a lower gpa (2.5 for example), or another possibility is doing a Masters program and doing well so you can jump up into a better program. With that said, if you were to take the GRE and had other excellent credentials, your gpa is only one factor and some schools will give you some lee-way. Also, most programs are aware that it is a little harder to get a high gpa in the physical sciences than other majors so they don't expect absolute perfection. You do have possibilities.

[Mal83]

You might want to consider taking a few classes and get the best grade possible as a non degree student in order to prove yourself academically, especially if you don't have any other aspects of your application that would scream "I belong in grad school." You'd probably be able to transfer those credits once you got into a Master's program...not sure how that would work with med school though. I'm not intimately familiar with the physical sciences programs and schools so I can't say whether or not you'd have options as of right now. I mean I suppose if you did find schools with a 2.5 as opposed to 3.0 cutoff than you'd have a shot of course, but is that going to be a school that will meet your own standards and requirements? It depends on your priorities.

You can also try reaching out to the admissions offices of a few schools that are of interest and explain your situation in order for them to give you feedback, they might encourage you to apply depending on the other components of your application such as work experience, high GRE scores, or high grades in your major classes. Or they might tell you exactly what to do in order to be considered competitive next time around. There have been stories on this board where people with slightly lower than 3.0 GPAs have gotten to grad school...good ones too, but lower as in a 2.9 as well as something stellar about their application like a lot of relevant work experience, decent time abroad, foreign language fluency, excellent GRE scores, and solid letter of recommendation. So it depends on the rest of your application too, but, worst case scenario is that every admissions rep you contact tells you politely not to bother without doing something to improve your application, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it will save you the time, money, and stress of the process when you wouldn't even make it past the "no way" pile. So reach out to them before you get too attached to the idea of attending next year...if that's when you plan on it. But there's always a way if you really want to do it, you just have to find the right program and school.

[emmm]

I second the suggestion to take more classes. Some schools may add them to your GPA. Even for those that don't, it will only help you to prove that you are capable of doing well. Med school is probably out - you'd have a tough time even with a 3.0, I think.

[hungrytime]

OK. So do a lot of grad schools have classes that you can take as a non-degree seeking student? I guess it's the same application as the grad school app?

[tt503]

It depends on how far removed from your ugpa you are...in some cases. If you can demonstrate that you've matured, it would be in your favor.

Here's my advice: Don't just go to any Master's degree program that will take you, unless you're financially able to do it. Many probably wouldn't provide funding, and 2 years is a lot of loans, and a department's reputation is mildly important when considering PhD apps. It would probably be in your best interest to take a year off, discover what you really want to do (e.g. going for a PhD just for the sake of it because you don't think you're competitive for med school...that's not really going to go over well in a personal statement). If you still want to pursue it, during that year you should:

-read up on some of the literature in the field, get an idea of who interests you, where they are/what programs you would be a good fit for

-study hard for the GRE (and I think there is a Chem Subject GRE)...both are opportunities to show that you aren't your GPA

I chose to attend a Master's degree program because of a low GPA (I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, and basically sunk my GPA from a 3.4+ to a 2.7...my school didn't have a grade forgiveness policy), and when it was time to apply for PhDs, I was told my M.A. wasn't from a "rigorous" enough program to be taken seriously. I've had to do an additional Master's degree...and even now I'm not sure how my stats are going to be viewed by adcoms, despite the fact that my undergrad GPA is 10 years old, all my graduate work is 3.7+, and I've TA'd at a very rigorous school (in pretty much opposite disciplines) and taught my own classes, etc. I'm trying not to think that 5 years of successful graduate work might still not get me into programs, and I might've just wasted approximately 6 years of my life...but who knows. :-)