an international student's worries about GPA / too afraid to apply

[WhiteWine]

Hello everyone,

I am a graduate student from a non-English speaking country. I have a BA and an MA in Political Science. However, I saw my interests change in the last few years. Now I am about to start a new MA program in history and all I want to do after that is to work towards a PhD degree in history at a good, well-known university in the United States. If you want to be employed at a fine university in my country it is almost an unwritten law that you should have studied at a top university in the US or Europe.

I am afraid I have a way too low undergraduate GPA to get into an Ivy League university.

I had my undergraduate degree in my country at a university where language of instruction is English. First two years were a disaster for me. I just couldn't adapt to classes in English though in the last two years I did a good job. Yet, due to my bad performance in my freshman and sophomore years I could increase my undergraduate GPA only as high as 3,2.

My GPA in the political science master program is 3,6. And as I said above I am about to start a new master's program in history. My only reason to do this is to achieve a really high GPA to get into a top history PhD program in the United States.

I am so ashamed of my GPA that I might not apply anywhere at all out of the fear that I might be ridiculed.

So, how high places should I hope to get into?

Let's say would it be too courageous if I applied to Yale?

Best.

Edited October 21, 2017 by fuzzylogician
edited for privacy at OP's request

[ExponentialDecay]

You should really be asking this on the history board. Your question is not trivial.

[MathCat]

GPA is far from the only consideration. What does the rest of your profile look like?

[have2thinkboutit]

Your GPA in your masters was better and you said you're about to do another masters where you you will surely be just as good or even better. So there will likely be a strong upwards trend and universities you'll apply to will see that as a positive thing. So don't be ashamed but work with your strength and focus on what you're doing well.

As a side note - you loose nothing by applying.. Sure, it's a lot of work, time and effort but NOT applying definitely decreases your chances of attending. To about zero

[WhiteWine]

You should really be asking this on the history board. Your question is not trivial.

 

Thank you ExponentialDecay.

I will post it on the history board too.

[WhiteWine]

On 7/4/2015 at 8:49 PM, MathCat said:

GPA is far from the only consideration. What does the rest of your profile look like?

Hmm, I have been working as a research assistant in my country at a private university for 3 years. I also spent a semester at an Ivy League university as visiting research fellow. But I have no published work.

Edited October 21, 2017 by fuzzylogician
edited for privacy at OP's request

[WhiteWine]

Your GPA in your masters was better and you said you're about to do another masters where you you will surely be just as good or even better. So there will likely be a strong upwards trend and universities you'll apply to will see that as a positive thing. So don't be ashamed but work with your strength and focus on what you're doing well.

As a side note - you loose nothing by applying.. Sure, it's a lot of work, time and effort but NOT applying definitely decreases your chances of attending. To about zero

 

Thank you very much for this encouraging, nice response!

[fuzzylogician]

(moved here from the Applications forum)

[mvlchicago]

We really should get a "BEFORE YOU ASK US IF IT'S RIDICULOUS TO APPLY" sticky on this thread; I feel like we've been/will be answering this question a lot over the next couple of months. 

[TMP]

I understand that you might not want to disclose your country but it does help.  For example, adcoms in the US know that Canadian and British GPA scale is different from the US and take that into account.  There are many other factors at play such as the quality of your writing sample (your MA thesis or best research paper that includes primary sources (not interpreted by scholars), languages, and personal statement.

[WhiteWine]

On 7/6/2015 at 1:35 PM, TMP said:

I understand that you might not want to disclose your country but it does help.  For example, adcoms in the US know that Canadian and British GPA scale is different from the US and take that into account.  There are many other factors at play such as the quality of your writing sample (your MA thesis or best research paper that includes primary sources (not interpreted by scholars), languages, and personal statement.

 

Thank you TMP,

Our grading system is similar to the American one. So the maximum grade you can get is 4.00.

Edited October 21, 2017 by fuzzylogician
edited for privacy at OP's request

[TMP]

What are your research interests?  If you're interested in Turkish/Ottoman History, I'm not sure if Yale is the place to go.  My program has a sizable Ottoman program and it usually competes with UCs, Princeton and Harvard.  Have you been able to speak with other Turkish students who are studying for their PhD in the US?