Will I be kicked out of my program?

[Anteaters]

I'm an international student doing a graduate program in IR. This is my first semester. At the beginning of the semester, my advisor told me that I had to get at least a 3.0 in my first semester or else I'll get kicked out. So it looks like I'm going to get 2 B's and C this semester. Is this the end of the line for me? Is there any way I can stay in the program? I've heard from a lot of fellow grad students (international as well) in different programs that they don't have the same requirement. They just get placed on probation if they fall below 3.0. Some of the policies regarding GPA seem really confusing and contradictory. I just emailed my advisor and am waiting for her reply. What are my chances? Thanks.

[ktel]

Typically in most programs I know of you also get placed on probation if you are below a 3.0. But if your policy is what your advisor says it is, then what most programs do isn't going to matter much. Most universities have these sort of policies in writing, you should be able to find a document that says what the deal is.

[Anteaters]

OK, I checked the guidelines. It says here "Prior to advancement to candidacy, if your program GPA falls below 3.0 in any semester, you will be placed on probation. If you are placed on probation any two semesters, you will automatically be disqualified from the program." Does this only apply to domestic students or all students???

[ktel]

Typically that would apply to all students. The only exception would be if you are already admitted on some kind of probation, which happens rarely, and you would know if you were.

[Anteaters]

I hope you're right but why did my advisor tell me at the beginning of the semester that I had to get a 3.0 GPA to continue? Was she trying scare me into bringing my grades up?

[fuzzylogician]

Because you do, and there are concequences if you don't. They just don't include expulsion right away, according to the guidelines you quoted above.

[Eigen]

Your advisor may also have been saying that she would not keep you on as an advisee if your GPA fell below a 3.0, but I'm sure that will become clear when you hear back from her.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Eigen

[ed_psy]

I think they will give you a chance to pull up your gpa in the Spring Semester. Do they have "Probation" in your school? or some sort of warning first.

[CarlieE]

Is there a reason (ie. an extenuating circumstance) that you have a 3.0 this semester? I'm not a foreign student, but I'm not American by birth (I became one) and so I tend to hang out with a lot of the foreign students in my department (we all come from the same region generally) - I know that some of them have poor English language skills and so they get a lot of help from the writing center and also a lot of the other students are willing to help them read and edit their papers etc.

Are you having a similar but different "cultural" problem adapting to the US university system? Your English is great, so I'm not suggesting that your problem is exactly the sort I describe above, but there are cultural differences that might contribute. If so, perhaps your adviser will be willing to help you so that your next semester will be more successful? Or perhaps there are resources to help you adapt to the US university way of doing/grading etc?