Will "NS" (No-Show) grades hurt my admissions chances?

[Ahtlatl]

Ugh, guys, I am losing so much sleep over this, please let me know if my fears are justified (crossing my fingers and hoping not).

 

I'm applying to UCLA's MA in Latin American Studies program, and U of Utah's MA in history program. My overall GPA is 3.44 and my major (history) GPA is 3.68 (3.72 if you include the Nahuatl classes I took that are related to my specialization). As you can see, I didn't do too bad, got on the dean's list for 3 quarters in a row (my final 3). I finished up all my graduation requirements in winter quarter, but I had registered for a few philosophy courses for the upcoming spring quarter (philosophy being an interest of mine). I decided it wouldn't be worth taking those courses, and instead opted to head home and work, as I was offered a job back in my hometown. I didn't officially drop those courses so, lo and behold, this year, when I printed out my unofficial transcripts so I could scan them and submit them on my apps, I saw, in spring quarter, 3 "NS" grades.

 

UC Davis apparently gives you an "NS", "no-show", grade if you don't submit any work or show up for a class. It didn't affect my GPA at all, but I did get put on "academic probation", even though that never amounted to anything since I technically graduated that quarter (even though I had already moved back home and completed my requirements and in the end received my BA). I am afraid that UCLA and U of Utah will look at this and see the "NS" as meaning "Non-Satisfactory" and thinking that I couldn't wing it in those philosophy classes, due to poor scholarship. I am also afraid that the "academic disqualification" thing will also scare them,even though, like I said, it never really affected me. Moreover, I saw on U of Utah's  catalog that their equivalent of an "NS", "EU" or "unofficial withdrawal", counts negatively on your GPA, so even if they do recognize it for what it is, I am afraid they will treat it like an "F" in their calculations of my GPA. This isn't the first time I've done bad though; I also bombed one quarter a while back when I was a math major and did terrible because I was losing interest in math and thus had difficulty concentrating. Will that make them think there is some "troubling pattern", even though my transcript is overall pretty good, and I've never done bad (never less than a "B+") in history?

 

On the plus side, my verbal GRE is in the 96th %, my major GPA is good (I think) and I have a LOR from one of the most successful scholars in the sub-field I aim to specialize in, who is professor emeritus at UCLA. I've also met  with the director at the UCLA program who seems to think I have good potential.

 

Will those pesky "NS" grades hurt me? Will they cancel out everything else? Are my chances ruined? My girlfriend told me not to worry about it, and to not mention it in my already stuffed-to-the-gills SOP, so I did not mention it in my app to UCLA which I already submitted. I can still go back to the application and submit supplementary info; should I submit a brief text document, explaining the "NS" grades? Should I email the director? There is still time to submit my app to U of Utah, should I mention it in my SoP there? Should I email them about it?

 

Thanks for letting me vent my concerns; hopefully all is not lost.

[Ahtlatl]

Additionally, should I maybe put an asterisk next to my "NS" grades on my unofficial transcript when I scan them and submit them to the U of Utah app, and then at the bottom write "*stands for 'no-show'"? Or would it be very unprofessional to write anything on my unofficial transcript?

[hj2012]

I wouldn't write anything directly on your transcript. In online applications, there is usually an addendum box where you  can explain anything else related to your academic performance. I'd write a short description (1-2 sentences) accounting for the quarter of no-shows and leave it at that.

[VioletAyame]

Are those programs requiring you to send in the official transcript? Most official transcripts will include a legend for the grades used, and what NS stands for should be listed in there. In the meantime, I second the poster above's advice to use the addendum.

[Ahtlatl]

Thanks for the suggestion; I did not consider using the "addendum" feature (although the UCLA app doesn't have it). U of Utah doesn't require an official transcript until they offer you acceptance. I just found out that their equivalent of a "No Show" grade is the "EU" grade, which represents "unofficial withdrawal". They count "EU" grades a failing grades with the same grade point value of an "E" (their equivalent to an "F" grade). Do you all think that, when they calculate my GPA, if they know that "NS" stands for "No Show", they will calculate those "NS" grades as their equivalent "EU" grades with 0.0 grade points, and thus assign me a much lower undergrad GPA than UC Davis did? I have heard that some graduate AdComms will count any non-passing "NP" grades as "F" grades, so I'm wondering if U of Utah will do the same with "NS" grades.

[VioletAyame]

I'm not familiar with how adcoms calculate GPA for unofficial withdrawal grades. I always thought your GPA stays the way your undergrad institution calculates utility, and any extra calculation on adcoms' part would be for major GPA and upper-division (junior & senior level) GPA. I might be wrong; hopefully other people can weigh in. But perhaps your best bet is to ask the department directly how they treat such grade?

[Canis]

You can always submit an additional page to explain the transcript if there isn't a legend for what the abbreviations mean. When they get an official transcript there will usually be a legend enclosed, but not always.

 

Schools usually use the legend in order to calculate your GPA, but yes  - I'm afraid to say that some schools will re-calculate your GPA using their own standards. This is a terrible practice, and in the past I've had to deal with it by having the registrar send a signed letter to the school telling them what the grades mean. Even then, they still didn't use the grading legend from that school - but their own instead.

 

Most programs care more about a complex picture of you as a candidate than only your GPA. They also look for trends - so if your grades got better and better, and were great toward the end that is very good and might help the committee understand your potential beyond those NS 'grades.'

 

It's completely standard in grad school apps to explain anything in your record that you don't think reflects your candidacy. This is a thing you might want to explain, but I would ask your LOR referees for advice about it.

[Ahtlatl]

Thank you all for your helpful advice, which has assuaged my fears considerably. The U of Utah has an addendum section. But U of Oregon (which I forgot to mention), does not. On my U of Oregon app, I plan on adding a slide to the scan of my unofficial transcript, with the following text (which I plan on adding to the U of Utah addendum as well):

 

"NOTE: The “NS” “grades” appearing towards the end of my transcript stand for “No-Show”. They do not stand for “Not Satisfactory”. One can confirm this by consulting the UC Davis course catalog. I registered for those courses, but I did not attend them or submit any work, hence the “No-Show”. After the fall quarter of my final year (2010), I only needed to take one more history course in the following quarter in order to graduate. For personal enrichment, I planned on taking other courses outside of history in addition to the one remaining history course, so I registered for more classes. Yet, due to pressing financial concerns at the time, I eventually decided to instead work rather than attend courses that I did not need. In my final spring quarter of 2010, during the early part of that quarter, I received a job offer in my hometown of San Diego. I moved back and began working, and thus did not attend the philosophy courses I had registered for in that quarter. These “NS” marks do not affect my GPA, I received them for courses that were in philosophy and had nothing to do with my major, and thus they should not detract in any way from my otherwise strong academic performance. Please disregard them. Also disregard the the “subject to academic disqualification” status at the end of my transcript as well, which I received in my final quarter when I received those “NS” marks. It had no effect on me and did not prevent me from graduating as the enclosed scan of my bachelor's degree shall show."

 

What do you all think?

[Canis]

Explaining is good, but what you've written there is too weaselly. It sounds like you did something wrong and you're trying to convert up. It also sounds like you're making excuses.

First your note should state that you are including the explanation because the transcript does not include a legend.

Take out the line about "not satisfactory" - NS could stand for many things, and you don't need to explain what it doesn't stand for.

Don't tell them what to think about it, they won't take kindly to that. Explain factually, without making excuses what it means, why you got it, and that it isn't factored into GPA. Then describe your amazing work and achievement after that in a brief factual way, and ask them to consider you based on your record of achievement.

[Loric]

Just be careful, after a certain number of days, semesters, etc.. NS can automatically become F's if you don't petition for a retroactive withdrawal at some schools.

 

I got slammed with that Never attend a class or do any work and somehow get an F? Gee, thanks academia.. I'm sorry, I was used to things auto-dropping if you don't attend. It never occurred to me to drop a class for a semester AFTER I withdrew.

 

After much back and forth I'm stuck with the bad grades as what they are, but my applicant adviser knows about it and i've explained everything the best I can, so, it is what it is.

[Ahtlatl]

Canis, you are a fountain of wisdom. You're right, I will edit that down, and just mention the bare facts.

 

Loric (*BroHoof* to you by the way), I registered for those classes more than 3 years ago, so I'm sure they won't turn in to "F"s. I don't even think I have the option to retroactively withdraw anymore (or maybe I do). Glad to see I'm not the only one to forget to drop a course. I also see it could have been worse for me; "NS" isn't quite as bad as an "F'. Really sorry to hear that you got hit with all those "F"s. Hopefully adcomms will look over our "NS" and "F" grades and concentrate on things that actually matter. Best of luck to us.

[Loric]

I have W's the semester before it too - so it's like "Hello! I obviously wasn't there!"