healthypsych Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Hi everyone,I am sure you read this here on the forum quite a bit but I have a concern I was hoping you guys would help me with. So when I enrolled into college, I enrolled as a bio major. My first two years were horrible as a bio major as I suffered from severe anxiety (was diagnosed my sophomore year) and I was unhappy in the major. Once I switched to psychology my junior year, my grades were like night and day. I started getting straight A's and A-s and my life really turned around. I knew I wanted to get a PhD in health psych but didnt have enough research experience by my senior year (3 labs in two semesters and a clinical internship and research internship) (as i only switched in my junior year) and my bio grades really dragged down my GPA. My overall GPA was a 3.0 but my psych GPA was about a 3.9 and my last two years my GPA was a 3.76. Anyway, I decided to complete a Master's instead to show I can handle graduate level work. I completed my masters of science in health psych this september at a really well established school (#2 for psych/psychiatry in the world) and I did really well. Because I decided to do it in the UK (I am a dual citizen and health psych is more established there than it is in the US and the program was really strong) the grading system is a bit different. My final grades are to come out in November but I should be getting a high merit or distinction (so either a 3.7 or 4.0). I am applying to doctorate programs now....I know they look at undergrad GPAs...how badly do you think my first two years (back in 2010/2011) will influence me given I have completed a Master's in the same field I intend to do my doctorate in? I know other aspects of my application matters and other than my grades I think my overall application is pretty strong. I am working on improving my GREs but I just wanted to know they wont completely ax me out based on my GPA from undergrad which is dragged down by my first two years as a bio major. I will put in a sentence or two explaining that too in my SOP. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generic_Applicant Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 I'm in a similar situation. Most schools will look at the final one or two years or only relevant credits. I've been okay, I think you should be too esp if you are going to explain it in your letter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gellert Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Plenty of people start off as pre-med before realizing they can't make the grades and switching majors. It's nbd. It's your last 2 years that matter most. healthypsych and ihatechoosingusernames 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SocialHealth Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 You'll be fine. I was fine. Just make sure you have everything else in order. PM if you want specifics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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