high GPA within major, low cumulative

[profoundlypaige]

Hi, I'm currently a female student majoring in Geophysics, hoping to specialize in the planetary sciences when I enter into grad school. Currently, I'm going to a top-20 university in the US, which has a fairly prestigious Earth Sciences department and allows for a lot of connections throughout academia. I'm starting to do research, though a little bit late (this is my junior year).

My question is as follows: currently, my cumulative GPA is being brought down to around a 3.0 due to a failure in an English course, and average grades in other academic fields, though my course grades within my major have all been some form of an A or a high B (meaning that my GPA is around a 3.7 within). I have not yet taken the GRE, but I plan to do so this spring, as well as both the subject tests in Chemistry and Physics late in the summer my senior year.

I've been involved in a lot of extracurricular activities around my university (leading a service trip, holding an academic office, receiving scholarships from university alums, being appointed to an ambassador position, etc) - and I was just wondering how badly my cumulative GPA will affect my chances of entering into a top-tier grad student program.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Thanks

[belowthree]

Stay above a 3 and you have a much easier time than if you go below it. If you're doing well in your primary field you can make a good case on that in your SoP.