American applying in Canada, GPA Question

[Rose22]

I am interested in applying to graduate school in Canada. The problem is, my GPA is quite low at 3.0. Most of the universities I have applied to say they look only at the last two years of study GPA more than the overall GPA. My last two years is 3.68.

How much will the weighting really benefit me? Am I likely to be saved by my last two years GPA at schools that say they actively look at that or will I still be pulled down by a 3.0?

None of the programs ask for GRE, so no boost from that.

[CanuckBoy]

I've seen a lot of cases like yours for domestic students and it has never been an issue for them. My suggestion is to contact the prof you're interested in working for since admission is based on professor once you meet the requirements for the major universities as far as I know.

Edited January 6, 2012 by CanuckBoy

[diciembres]

I am having a similar issue. I am a non-traditional student, and I nearly failed out of school when I was 20. I went back to school when I was 25, and now my cumulative GPA is a 3.31. In my last 60 hours, I have a 3.93 GPA. I am wanting to do the Higher Education program at the University of British Columbia, but I'm not very confident that I'll be accepted.

[brancan]

I wouldn't say 3.0 is excessively low, BUT we tend to mark harder in Canada. I've been a student in Ontario and in New York, and it's absolutely more common to get As in the US. It depends on the discipline, of course, but I don't know many people who routinely got 90% on essays (in the social sciences). Our marking system definitely worked to my advantage when applying to school in the US. I truly think so.

That said, a 3.0 average is going to go over better at some universities and worse at others. I'd avoid applying to the University of Toronto, UBC, McGill, or any other top school unless you have that as a "reach" school. But there are other institutions where a 3.0 won't immediately disqualify you. Check out the Maclean's rankings to get a list of schools.

[Blurry]

I am interested in applying to graduate school in Canada. The problem is, my GPA is quite low at 3.0. Most of the universities I have applied to say they look only at the last two years of study GPA more than the overall GPA. My last two years is 3.68.

How much will the weighting really benefit me? Am I likely to be saved by my last two years GPA at schools that say they actively look at that or will I still be pulled down by a 3.0?

None of the programs ask for GRE, so no boost from that.

Did you take most of your upper-division undergraduate courses/seminars in these two years or is the GPA inflated by A's in complimentary courses?

[Rose22]

It was mostly my upper division courses for my major/minor, and one graduate course in my major. My major GPA is 4.0.

[Blurry]

It was mostly my upper division courses for my major/minor, and one graduate course in my major. My major GPA is 4.0.

If you are applying in the same field as your major, then I doubt the overall GPA will hinder your application. It may affect your chances of securing entrance fellowships, etc., outside the department, but I do not think it will hinder your chances of securing admission. Add to this that your better grades come from upper division courses; you should not have much to worry about. I think you are a competitive applicant.

[DustSNK]

I was in the same boat. But I have to tell you, GPA is the LEAST of your worries as an international applicant to Canada

First, take a look at this site....

http://www.uoguelph....m?app=credguide

You will notice CAN does an A+ deal, so our "A" is there A+, at least on paper

Now sorry if I am gunna crush any spirits, but you NEED to know this info for your own sanity. GPA is an important factor yes, but you have to know as an international applicant you are in a special boat that is separate from citizens. Now I only applied to Sociology programs, and researched all in Ontario, so take what I say as you will. Most departments only admit 2, yes 2, international students. Think that admit number of 10-15 will help ya.... errrrrrr no you're in a special area for adcoms. Comes down to funding, from all the departments I spoke to, adcoms don't like to accept students they can't give funding for. They will do this for citizens, but not for visa students. So if you're from a state school (top 50) like I was, it is going to be hard to compete with people from the UK who had to do an undergrad thesis as part of their degree, published it, and presented it at conferences. That kind of work does not fall on our lap in the US you got to search for it. So as a visa student, from the USA, you are in a CRAZY competitive situation. Scaring done? Ok.

But there's hope. I had a very crappy UG record. Went from a community college to a university, did great in my major but decided the other stuff wasn't important enough for an A. I had some bad habits, and ignorantly thought "Hey if they see I got A's in my major it'll be fine!"... IDK why I thought this, but I did pay for it. 2.7 cumulative GPA... last year got rejected across the board when applying. Only saving grace was I got a 4.0 in my last semester... but hard to ignore the rest of my history. SO after I went depressed for a week, I started to ask all the adcoms what was up, how can I improve, and that's when I started to learn all this info from schools about the situation for USA students. Anyway, to fix my past mistakes I started to take non-degree graduate courses at a local uni. I did not just take grad courses, but I took more upper lv undergrad ones as well. Why? Honestly they grade harder, and from everything I read and people I talked to, adcoms know this. So I wanted to be safe. I busted my ass, talked to my professors everyday in class, went to office hours every week, did lit reviews- research essays- read a zillion books for class, and walked out with a 3.93 for a semesters worth of courses (2 UG, 2 Grad). I learned a LOT that I didn't know before, bought books on the whole world of Grad studies, wrote a better SOP, was not modest with what I thought was good experience I had (I was so modest in my first SOP a year ago, didn't want to sound snooty)and applied again. After all that I finally got an acceptance yesterday. Now it isn't the most "prestigious" school, but they do only accept 2 international students so it is competitive for us. Plus my POI there is amazing, so is the faculty, and they have the thesis option which if you are a good student anyway, you have your chance to shine there like anyone at a top school. Also they looked at your last two years which seems to be the standard (Ive seen some only look at last year GPA). In short no your cumulative GPA will not hurt you, I have asked and was told by several departments they go through your transcripts and calculate your GPA. Anyway before this becomes a blog, good luck.. apply to Canada it is an amazing place to be, and amazing academics are there. Anyone have any questions about anything feel free to msg me.

Edited March 1, 2012 by DustSNK

[Rose22]

Thanks for your encouragement, I've only just now seen this message and so I am probably resurrecting this thread a bit, but I figured I needed to elaborate based on your new information. I'll update it a bit more to present a better picture. I dual majored in Spanish & International studies, and would like to pursue one of those, but I haven't decided which. I have pretty similar grades across the board with both of them - my main issue came from core classes. I have pretty good softs with both of them - With Spanish, I studied abroad in Mexico for six months and I scored advanced-high on the ACTFL rankings, which is one away from the highest mark possible.

For international relations, I am in the process of finishing up an undergraduate thesis which I will have to defend in front of an interdisciplinary committee, and which I presented at my university's undergraduate research symposium. Given that, I feel that IR is probably my better chance for acceptance in Canada. I am equally passionate about both fields, so it will mostly come down to what acceptances I can garner. I had feared, however, that IR would be far more competitive than Spanish, even though more universities in Canada offer IR than Spanish/Latin American Studies.

My cGPA is quite poor, but I hope that the softs and the high upward trend will make some difference.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Rose22

[eltoro89]

I am actually worried about this, too. My cumulative average is 3.0, but I have a strong upward trend, so my last-two is 3.8. I am hoping that study abroad experience, the last-two GPA, my undergraduate research conference presentation, and under review publication in an undergrad journal will make a difference. I'm going to apply to a large number of schools in Canada. Hopefully one of them will be willing to give me a shot.

Edited June 19, 2012 by eltoro89