Grad Panic Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Ok, so I am applying for MA programs in Cultural Anthropology. In a nutshell, I was at Loyola U., and failed a semester (not to get too personal, but my mom & I were the victims of a random assault and carjacking on the way back to college - should have taken a semester off to get a grip, but didn't and there you go). I studied for a semester at Oxford U. and in London with Sarah Lawrence (got a 3.5 from these institutions) and finished at USF. The last 2 semesters of school, I finished with a 3.9, BUT my cum GPA is now a 3.2 b/c of grades at Loyola. I did re-take the classes I failed while I was at Loyola, but they didn't have a grade forgiveness policy, so they are still shown:( GRE: V (680) Q (450) AW (5.5) I know Quantitative is pathetically low, but from what I understand, Quantitative is not taken as seriously for Cultural Anthropology (it's more humanities than social science as I understand it) Should I throw in the towel? Start grabbing kleenex? I do have several friends who are PhD profs at a private university helping me with my writing process for the letter of intent. Do I even stand a chance, though? Should I start applying to the University of Idiocy and Embarrassment? Apply to the Jedi Academy instead and give up on grad school altogether? Seriously, any feedback will be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahlan_amnell Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 3.2 isn't that bad. People do get into grad school with GPAs below 3.0 even. What is your GPA in your major? That is more important than your overall GPA. I think you might want to retake the GRE after studying math a bit more. Aim to get above 500. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylogician Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Don't give up, you absolutely do stand a chance. People get into grad schools with much lower grades than yours--scores are probably the least important part of the application, after the SOP, recs and writing sample. You might want to think about explaining the bad semester and/or the upward trend since then in your SOP. Do you have any research experience or internships? Those would be more relevant to admissions than your GPA and GRE scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grad Panic Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Thank you so much for posting back:) My GPA in my major is a 3.65. I have some friends who have PhDs from Harvard and assisting me in editing my SOP. I did teach at college level in Freiburg, Germany, presented a paper for publication, and I have attended several conferences on semiotics and linguistics. My writing sample is, evidently, very, very good. I'm just so embarrassed about the dismal GPA. I really appreciate your feedback - you have no idea how much this helps me:) I have taught theatre for 8 years (which is what I want to do in Cultural Anthro - ritual & performance). I thought about explaining the bad scores in the letter of intent, but from what I understand, they don't want to hear any sob stories. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belowthree Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 People do get into grad school with GPAs below 3.0 even. *waves* Hello! OP: Yeah, you have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahlan_amnell Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 *waves* Hello! OP: Yeah, you have a chance. Me too, in terms of undergrad GPA. To the OP, your major GPA is pretty decent. I'd say you might want to enclose an addendum with your application explaining that you had a bad semester due to personal reasons, and those grades were not reflective of your abilities. Do put this in an addendum, not your SOP or personal statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyeray Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 No no, never give up! However, you should also try applying to Jedi school as well... Jedi mind tricks are very useful in the realm of Cultural Anthropology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepoorstockinger Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I thought about explaining the bad scores in the letter of intent, but from what I understand, they don't want to hear any sob stories. What do you think? I feel like "carjacked and assaulted on way to college" is a reasonable excuse for one poor semester. (but what do I know) I'd just mention it as "I was the victim of a serious crime at the beginning of the semester" or something similar and ask a professor I was close to to also mention it in a LOR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasses Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Don't do this: I'd just mention it as "I was the victim of a serious crime at the beginning of the semester" or something similar Do this: ask a professor I was close to to also mention it in a LOR. Think about it this way . . . you don't want to sound like you're making excuses (even though your reason is, of course, valid). You also don't want to tread on any territory that makes you say "not to get too personal," which is how you felt like you had to preface your story to us. Finally, I don't know if you have an adequate forum in your part of the application to bring it up. A special note/addendum seems kind of overwrought. Your statement of purpose is to discuss your goals for future research. There just doesn't seem to be a place for the kind of thing you want to say. If you feel comfortable talking to a professor about it, he/she will know how to bring it up appropriately, and it can be worked into a letter of recommendation far more neatly than it could be inserted into anything you could write for the application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarski Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 About mentioning your low grades: I've noticed some schools, in their SOP prompts, actually say that it's a space where you can explain anomalies in your GPA/GREs, etc. So if they say that, do it. Just make sure to explain it as something you got over: "I was upset in 200X by an assault and my grades in that term suffered, but as you can see, I wave worked past that: since then I have maintained a much higher GPA, presented at conferences, etc.". I'd second that it's good to have a prof mention it also/in more detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnlikelyGrad Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I had a 1.9 after my sophomore year of college. Turned around and got a 3.6 for the last two years, but overall GPA still sucked. My GRE scores were higher...but I had other problems with my app. During the app process, I was reluctant to even apply to any good schools. my current PI told me: "You never know until you try. Why not give it a shot?" I did, and I got into a top-10 school in my field. Didn't end up going there, but that's a different story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grad Panic Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Awesome responses. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply and giving me feedback:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natofone Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 MA programs aren't terribly competitive. You'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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