Non-Matriculated Student?

[bioo]

I don't really get this. So the DGS emails me and says they have decided to admit me as a non matriculated student. That it allows me to take three courses and then enroll as a regular fully matriculated student if my gpa is 3.0 or higher. He said my letters were fine, my gpa solid but this was because of my GRE scores. I really don't know what to make of this.

[peachypie]

Is this for a masters or phd program?  Do you have to pay for the courses they are asking you to take (more important if this is for a phd program in which they would be having you on scholarship).   is it a guarantee that you would be admitted the following season as a full matriculated student as long as you achieve at least a 3.0 gpa?  These are all important first questions before you agree to anything.

[Crucial BBQ]

It means you are "admitted" on a probationary condition.  It means that your application is essentially good enough but there are doubts.  Basically, it is your way to prove you can hack grad school academics on your own dime and time.  If you get that 3.0 (probably a minimum 3.0 per course, not total GPA...but I could be wrong), you will automatically move into officially admitted grad studentdom. But if you don't, you are gone. 

 

Ironically, which ever admitted student has the 2 or 3 more GRE points that you are lacking has some wiggle room to screw up a few times.  You don't. 

[bioo]

It's for a Masters program. And yes, according to the graduate director, I would automatically switch to being a matriculated student immediately, as long as I get a 3.0 gpa the first semester. It's a good offer. I'm just wondering what the implications are, generally. Also, I don't know if my FAFSA will matter since their financial aid website says  financial aid isn't available to non-matriculated students and certificate program students. Although, as soon as the DGS sent me the unofficial email of conditional acceptance, I asked if this would affect my funding. He said he wasn't sure about the implications regarding assistanships because they tend to be awarded based on academic criteria and tend to be rather competitive. So he's sure how competitive I would be given my dossier.