"b" average applicants

[hopefulNJSLP]

Has anyone been accepted to any grad programs with a "b" average? My cumulative gpa is a 3.3 right now and a 3.6 gpa in my major. Has anyone been accepted anywhere with these stats? I'm worried I'm wasting my time with even applying anywhere.. I'm applying for fall 2015

[Acrain313]

I was accepted with lower stats than yours. You have to find the right program for your stats. Then write a strong letter of intent and great LOR's. I had 5 LOR's this year.

[DeafAudi]

I was accepted with lower stats than yours. You have to find the right program for your stats. Then write a strong letter of intent and great LOR's. I had 5 LOR's this year.

 

Me too .

[Rolling Circles]

Plus research experience and/or internships helps to offset gpa.  However, all of the programs I applied for had a minimum 3.0 gpa requirement at least if I remember correctly.

[mamaSLP]

Has anyone been accepted to any grad programs with a "b" average? My cumulative gpa is a 3.3 right now and a 3.6 gpa in my major. Has anyone been accepted anywhere with these stats? I'm worried I'm wasting my time with even applying anywhere.. I'm applying for fall 2015

 

My stats are similar to yours. I got in the first year of applying. Pick the schools that don't just look at numbers. The schools I received my acceptance at looked at the overall picture such as GPA, volunteer and multicultural experiences, personality, and strong SOP and letters of rec. Make sure to put your face out there and if you have a particular school you really want to attend, go visit the program and faculty!

[hopefulNJSLP]

thank you all so much! Reading this made me much more relieved. So many people on here have 3.9 GPAs, it's intimidating

[twinguy7]

Like the others have said, research programs and find those programs that look at your last 60 units GPA and your CSD GPA only.  If you apply to those programs you should have a better shot.  I have one of the lowest GPA's, Last 60 GPA, CSD GPA's on this site that I know of and I was accepted to 2 schools and 3 wait lists.   You will do well as long as you put in the work to research programs and do well on LOR's and interviews, etc.  

[Chandru1]

I'm the same as you (low GPA), but I don't have a degree in the field. I'm hoping to postbac in order to improve my GPA. I've also heard that it may be a good idea to stay a 5th year in undergrad, if that's feasible...

Edited April 22, 2014 by Chandru1

[HippoPirate]

My undergrad GPA was 2.66. My postbac GPA was 3.86, bringing my cumulative GPA up to 2.9. I was accepted into a program that got over 400 applications for 35 places. The program had a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 (I was wait listed for another competitive program with a minimum 3.0 GPA).

 

That said, my undergrad was done 10 years ago, and I have a lot of fairly relevant work experience, personal experience, and work on an ASHA grant. And I had a really good interview, I think. I don't think either program really cared about my 10-year-old GPA.

[Missthang]

My undergrad adviser scared me into thinking I would not be accepted to any schools due to my low cumulative GPA. I transferred from community college to my undergrad university with a 2.8 and will graduate in a couple weeks with an overall of 3.4 or 3.5 if I'm lucky. What I was told is if there is the slightest chance that a school would frown at any part of your application (like low cumulative GPA or low GRE score, etc.), then you need to do something to make up for that. Basically say "ok my cumulative GPA might be a disadvantage, BUT I have this, this and this which are advantages that the schools should know about me"... something that can sell you as an applicant in case there is something that could potentially hold your application back. If there's a low point that you really can't fix, then do something else to make you and your application shine to sort of gloss over anything that may not be a high selling point in your application.

 

I know for me it was my low cumulative GPA and 1 slightly below avg. GRE score out of the 3 that were my negatives. Since I can't do anything about GPA and didn't want to retake the GRE, I made sure that my personal statement addressed the GPA issue. I also received awesome letters of rec, perfected my resume, did tons of observations and volunteering, etc. so that all of these things would sell my application. Don't be afraid to address it in your statement because it'll allow you to tell the admissions committee who you are and explain anything that would need clarification. I think it's smart to address why your GPA is low rather than them just seeing the number alone on your transcript. Hope that helps!

[Persis]

My undergrad GPA was 2.66. My postbac GPA was 3.86, bringing my cumulative GPA up to 2.9. I was accepted into a program that got over 400 applications for 35 places. The program had a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 (I was wait listed for another competitive program with a minimum 3.0 GPA).

 

That said, my undergrad was done 10 years ago, and I have a lot of fairly relevant work experience, personal experience, and work on an ASHA grant. And I had a really good interview, I think. I don't think either program really cared about my 10-year-old GPA.

If you don't mind which schools were these?  They didn't care about your 10-year-old GPA?

[Rolling Circles]

My undergrad adviser scared me into thinking I would not be accepted to any schools due to my low cumulative GPA. I transferred from community college to my undergrad university with a 2.8 and will graduate in a couple weeks with an overall of 3.4 or 3.5 if I'm lucky. What I was told is if there is the slightest chance that a school would frown at any part of your application (like low cumulative GPA or low GRE score, etc.), then you need to do something to make up for that. Basically say "ok my cumulative GPA might be a disadvantage, BUT I have this, this and this which are advantages that the schools should know about me"... something that can sell you as an applicant in case there is something that could potentially hold your application back. If there's a low point that you really can't fix, then do something else to make you and your application shine to sort of gloss over anything that may not be a high selling point in your application.

 

I know for me it was my low cumulative GPA and 1 slightly below avg. GRE score out of the 3 that were my negatives. Since I can't do anything about GPA and didn't want to retake the GRE, I made sure that my personal statement addressed the GPA issue. I also received awesome letters of rec, perfected my resume, did tons of observations and volunteering, etc. so that all of these things would sell my application. Don't be afraid to address it in your statement because it'll allow you to tell the admissions committee who you are and explain anything that would need clarification. I think it's smart to address why your GPA is low rather than them just seeing the number alone on your transcript. Hope that helps!

 

3.4 or 3.5 GPA is just fine. It's not low.

[HippoPirate]

If you don't mind which schools were these?  They didn't care about your 10-year-old GPA?

I got an offer from Pacific University (which I accepted!) and wait listed at Portland State University (I was in the mid-range). I'm just assuming that they didn't put too much weight on my undergrad GPA, as they evidently liked me well enough. An advisor at PSU did tell the post-bacs at my orientation 3 years ago that the longer ago you did your undergrad, the less important it is.

[Persis]

I got an offer from Pacific University (which I accepted!) and wait listed at Portland State University (I was in the mid-range). I'm just assuming that they didn't put too much weight on my undergrad GPA, as they evidently liked me well enough. An advisor at PSU did tell the post-bacs at my orientation 3 years ago that the longer ago you did your undergrad, the less important it is.

Oh really?  For what i no most schools don't accept the prerequisites if they were taken more than ten years ago.  It is interesting how each school is different.  

[Missthang]

3.4 or 3.5 GPA is just fine. It's not low.

Well at some of the schools I applied to it is considered low. It's slowly gone up so when I turned in my applications it was slightly lower, maybe .1 or so under that. My current university (where I accepted my seat for grad school at) gives us the averages of the previous year. Their cumulative average was 3.85 and major GPA is 4.0, so of course everyone expects they need to hit that number or be above it. I think what really saved me was the personal statement, letters of rec, being a NSSLHA officer and very active in the department and volunteering. While most schools do put more emphasis on the major GPA and your last 60 hours, they'll still look at your overall too. There are some schools that specifically state you must have a 3.xx or they have a formula of adding/multiplying GPA and GRE, so you have to have great numbers to hit above their minimum requirement.

[hopefulspeechie16]

Do you they expect all your undergrad classes to have an individual grade of atleast 3.0.  Let's say one of the classes that counts towards your 60 semester hours is the one you got  C on. Would they look at that individual mark or just the overall 60 semester GPA?

[Missthang]

Do you they expect all your undergrad classes to have an individual grade of atleast 3.0.  Let's say one of the classes that counts towards your 60 semester hours is the one you got  C on. Would they look at that individual mark or just the overall 60 semester GPA?

In my last 60 hours I think I had 3 B's and 1 B-. All the others were A or A-. I think they mostly look at the actual GPA of those hours rather than specifically each individual grade. I had a couple of C's that are the reason my GPA is pulled back and obviously that didn't directly affect me overall. My C's were in biology and a few classes I transferred from community college when I wasn't truly focused on school and what I wanted to do so I think they let it slide. They should mostly be looking at the grades of your major classes (hopefully B or better in CSD classes) and the different GPAs though. I discussed this a little in my personal statement and basically said I know that I may have a few lower grades in these random classes, but my CSD classes are all A's or A- with the exception of 1 B which was a terrible semester for me personally. Hope that answered your question.

[Chandru1]

My GPA is also low due to some mishaps in freshman and sophomore year (I learned that I should not be an engineer the hard way). Is there a good way to show the people looking at my application that even though my cumulative GPA is low, I've been doing well in my current major, and that I will succeed in their M.A. program?

[mamaSLP]

My GPA is also low due to some mishaps in freshman and sophomore year (I learned that I should not be an engineer the hard way). Is there a good way to show the people looking at my application that even though my cumulative GPA is low, I've been doing well in my current major, and that I will succeed in their M.A. program?

I was concerned about my low overall GPA as I was applying to grad school. I was afraid the couple of F's I have on my transcript from 10 years ago was going to come back and bite me when it came to getting an acceptance. Fortunately, I did really well the past several years in both my general education and major courses. The schools must've looked past those F's and looked at the overall picture because I got into more than one school. Just like the other people on this forum said, you can still get into grad school without having straight A's. Heck! You can still get into grad school with more than one F on your transcript. Just remember to make yourself shine in other ways!  

[HippoPirate]

Oh really?  For what i no most schools don't accept the prerequisites if they were taken more than ten years ago.  It is interesting how each school is different.  

 

I didn't do any prerequisites in undergrad (unless you count my math/science/social science requirements for ASHA). Like many people here, my undergrad degree was in a different field and and I did all my CSD coursework as a postbac. As that was done much more recently (2010-present) and my GPA was very good, I don't think my undergrad GPA was much of a factor.  

[Rolling Circles]

My GPA is also low due to some mishaps in freshman and sophomore year (I learned that I should not be an engineer the hard way). Is there a good way to show the people looking at my application that even though my cumulative GPA is low, I've been doing well in my current major, and that I will succeed in their M.A. program?

 

That's what you get to say in your statements.  You realized that Engineering was not for you and decided to change your major into whatever you have now.

[Chandru1]

I was concerned about my low overall GPA as I was applying to grad school. I was afraid the couple of F's I have on my transcript from 10 years ago was going to come back and bite me when it came to getting an acceptance. Fortunately, I did really well the past several years in both my general education and major courses. The schools must've looked past those F's and looked at the overall picture because I got into more than one school. Just like the other people on this forum said, you can still get into grad school without having straight A's. Heck! You can still get into grad school with more than one F on your transcript. Just remember to make yourself shine in other ways!  

 

 

That's what you get to say in your statements.  You realized that Engineering was not for you and decided to change your major into whatever you have now.

 

I will definitely do that! I'm glad to see that people get in with prior F's (I have two in multivariable calc and organic chem :/), but my GPA in linguistics classes is much higher!

[kumapanda]

How do you figure out the gpa of the last 60 units you're takings?  I mainly have lots of A's and some B's, but I got a C in General Chem (it was a baaad idea to try the pre-pharm route) and for Language Acquisition (I found out the hard way that short summer classes isn't my forte and that the prof gave absurd tests). 

[Rolling Circles]

How do you figure out the gpa of the last 60 units you're takings?  I mainly have lots of A's and some B's, but I got a C in General Chem (it was a baaad idea to try the pre-pharm route) and for Language Acquisition (I found out the hard way that short summer classes isn't my forte and that the prof gave absurd tests). 

 

What I did was just go through each class I've taken and go back 60 units.  There are gpa calculators you can use to put in your units and the grade associated with them.  For example, an A in a 4 unit class impacts your GPA more than an A in a 3 unit class.

[Missthang]

Take your most current  unofficial transcript and count back 60 hours. You'll probably get a little over, I think I went back and it was a funky number like 61 or 62 hours. And like the poster above said there's websites with gpa calculators that can help you. Since I applied and didn't know my grades for this current semester, I just put N/A and didn't count them but they were still listed on the form.