Not a friendly offer, should I accept?

[bellaflor77]

I have received an admission. It has some conditions on the funding though. It says your fellowship will continue into your second year only if your cumulative grade point average is at least 3.25. What would happen if I don´t get 3.25 which the letter does not say.

 

I am still waiting on two other schools to tell me. Any advice and what could be the reason for offering admission this way or is it common. 

[smpalesh]

3.25 is a quite low GPA.  I don't think it is unreasonable in the slightest for them to put the condition that you maintain a certain standard educationally.

[iphi]

That's not unfriendly, most graduate programs actually kick you out if you earn lower than a B average.

[juilletmercredi]

I would take it.  In grad school usually grades are inflated, with As being awarded for meeting expectations and Bs being more akin to a C in undergrad.  A 3.25 should be fairly easy for you to maintain.

[TakeruK]

I don't think that's unfriendly either! At one school I was at, a B+ was the minimum passing grade for a PhD student. The class grade distribution usually meant As for everyone who met expectations, A+ for those exceeding, A- for those who were just below and a B+ was a minimal pass.

 

Also almost every offer will have stipulations on continuing funding only if you "make satisfactory progress" or something vague like that. Usually "make satisfactory progress" means "do not get kicked out". So, this is just a more concrete way of saying the same thing (check also to see if getting less than a 3.25 GPA means you get kicked out).

[fuzzylogician]

I join the "not unfriendly" choir. If you are concerned, you could ask the DGS how frequently students lose their funding (or are thrown out of the program) because of a low GPA. My guess is it doesn't happen often at all, because 3.25 is quite a low GPA for graduate school.