Graduate Admissions GPA

[ainsworthk7259]

Hi,

I recently finished my associates degree and I am transferring to complete my undergraduate in CSD. I received a 3.4 cumulative GPA for my associates, and even though I can raise my GPA for my bachelors, I am concerned because I know that graduate schools look at the last 60 credits, and therefore some of my community college grades will be looked at. I received two A's and two C+ my last semester of community college. Should I try to retake the two classes I received lower grades in at the institution I am transferring to? I want my graduate application to be as competitive as possible.

[avflinsch]

In general your new 4 year institution will take the credits that you transferred from the 2 year school, but will not include them into your GPA.

When you do apply to a grad school, you will most likely need to supply both transcripts. They will get the GPA from your 2 year school, and a different one from the the 4 year school. They may or may not recalculate the last 60 credits, it would depend on the school (and possibly the program within the school).

As for retaking the courses, it would depend on the policies at your new 4 year school.

[Louly]

If I were you, I'd shoot for straight A's the next two years + experiences/research. That should offset your C's. My first two years in community college, my GPA was below a 1.0. Yes, it was that bad! But I offset it by getting a 3.8+ my last 60 credits along with tons of experiences (I was in a worst situation than your C's). If getting straight A's might be a challenge, redoing those C's isn't such a bad idea (if time & money isn't an issue). 

It varies from school to school on what they'll look at. I had schools that shut me down and their reason was because my cumulative GPA was below the requirement of a 3.0. I also had schools that specifically looked at my last 60 credits and gave me the opportunity to explain my story behind those bad grades. 

Good luck! 

[Pjeak]

Grad schools mostly care about the classes you took at your 4 year institution and your CSD courses. I graduated from community college too and transferred to a csd program. My cumulative gpa was a 3.0 and my transcripted was filled with Cs. There were more Cs on it than any other grades. Believe you will be fine, just be sure to get all As in your CSD courses. Hope this helps!

[November_Sky]

hi! my concern is about phd admission! most Canadian need to our last 2 years of gpa record. does it mean that for the phd program they only scrutinize our master gpa?

[SLPsingballs]

On 6/8/2017 at 8:15 AM, ainsworthk7259 said:

Hi,

I recently finished my associates degree and I am transferring to complete my undergraduate in CSD. I received a 3.4 cumulative GPA for my associates, and even though I can raise my GPA for my bachelors, I am concerned because I know that graduate schools look at the last 60 credits, and therefore some of my community college grades will be looked at. I received two A's and two C+ my last semester of community college. Should I try to retake the two classes I received lower grades in at the institution I am transferring to? I want my graduate application to be as competitive as possible.

This should not be an issue if you kick butt in your classes as a transfer student.  If you get all As and a B or two, your GPA should raise up even more and be acceptable.  For me, I had a 2.4 GPA before I transferred to a university to finish my bachelor's.  Yes, 2.4 (and that was after raising it a bit)!!  I lived a different life when I was younger, and my GPA reflects upon my immaturity at the time.  After I transferred, I received all As and one B (in Biology).  So, my department GPA was a 4.0, and my last 60 GPA (which did include some of my previous grades, but fortunately only decent ones) was about a 3.9.  It made my cumulative GPA drop down to a 3.1 at graduation, and CSDCAS calculated it to be a 2.97 (which screwed me for several of the schools I applied to).  In the end, I was accepted to 4 schools (2 off the waitlist and 2 outright acceptances) and rejected by 6.  About 3 of them did not even consider me because of my cumulative GPA.  

 

My best advice to you is to just get all As, especially in your department classes!!  If you do that, nothing can stop you.  Good luck, and don't give up!  You're in such a better place than I was entering my upper division classes.

[Paslp]

Will the schools you apply to use CSDCAS? If so they also calculate your GPA overall and last 60 credits. CSDCAS uses all grades from all institutions you have attended. For that reason it is really important to do well in any other classes.