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Posted

Hi every one. I have a question and it's kinda emergency. Can you please help?

I got the admission for Mcmaster university for fall 2017 master program and I accepted the offer, but the problem is that the offer is a conditional one. It states that (here is the exact sentences from the offer):

        This offer is conditional upon the receipt of an official transcript confirming that your Bachelor's degree has been conferred with at least a B- average in the final year (in the discipline you  are entering)

I assume B- is equal to 2.7/4.  I understand that B- is not a high GPA but the problem is that last semester, I did not do well at all. Currently, I am studying for my final exams (for the last semester) but I'm afraid I cannot meet this condition. My professor is very interested to have me in his research group and my overall GPA is still above the minimum required to be accepted in McMaster, but I predict my final year GPA will not be so good. I am really worried about the situation. Will my offer really be rescinded if I don't meet the condition or I can do something about it?

Thank you

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Posted

I received offer letters from each department, then a formal letter of acceptance from the dean of the grad schools. One formal letter stated it was conditional on my overall GPA and receipt of degrees and the other said in order to remain registered and to finalize admissions, they must receive official transcripts that showed my BA/MA degrees being conferred within six weeks of semester beginning. That sounds pretty official to me and as soon as I graduated with MA and it was on my record, I forwarded official transcripts showing degrees conferred. You need to be talking to someone now, because all hope is not gone. Don't wait!

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Posted
17 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

I received offer letters from each department, then a formal letter of acceptance from the dean of the grad schools. One formal letter stated it was conditional on my overall GPA and receipt of degrees and the other said in order to remain registered and to finalize admissions, they must receive official transcripts that showed my BA/MA degrees being conferred within six weeks of semester beginning. That sounds pretty official to me and as soon as I graduated with MA and it was on my record, I forwarded official transcripts showing degrees conferred. You need to be talking to someone now, because all hope is not gone. Don't wait!

So, your condition was based on your overall GPA, am I right?

Is it a good idea to talk to my professor about it? I'm afraid it will have a bad impact on him and it will create a lazy image of me in his mind.

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, mcmaster2017 said:

So, your condition was based on your overall GPA, am I right?

Is it a good idea to talk to my professor about it? I'm afraid it will have a bad impact on him and it will create a lazy image of me in his mind.

Yes, the admission letter that comes from the grad school after the offer letter from the department. One was based on my overall GPA and degrees being conferred, and the one I actually accepted, was based on official transcripts showing degrees conferred. Because they had seen my grades, which were high, I never thought about it twice. Every university is different. You definitely need to speak with someone about this.

BTW, look at this post. It's about a conditional admission.        

<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1280028528720225&ev=PageView&noscript=1" />
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SRod2015

 

Advice Needed: Admitted as Undeclared/Non-Classified Student
Edited by cowgirlsdontcry
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Posted
2 hours ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

Yes, the admission letter that comes from the grad school after the offer letter from the department. One was based on my overall GPA and degrees being conferred, and the one I actually accepted, was based on official transcripts showing degrees conferred. Because they had seen my grades, which were high, I never thought about it twice. Every university is different. You definitely need to speak with someone about this.

BTW, look at this post. It's about a conditional admission.        

<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1280028528720225&ev=PageView&noscript=1" />
  •  
SRod2015

 

Advice Needed: Admitted as Undeclared/Non-Classified Student

I cannot open the link :(

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Posted
15 hours ago, mcmaster2017 said:

 

        This offer is conditional upon the receipt of an official transcript confirming that your Bachelor's degree has been conferred with at least a B- average in the final year (in the discipline you  are entering)

I assume B- is equal to 2.7/4.  I understand that B- is not a high GPA but the problem is that last semester, I did not do well at all. Currently, I am studying for my final exams (for the last semester) but I'm afraid I cannot meet this condition. My professor is very interested to have me in his research group and my overall GPA is still above the minimum required to be accepted in McMaster, but I predict my final year GPA will not be so good.

It sounds like the school saw these grades, decided they were willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for one semester of poor grades, and admitted you anyway. The condition sounds like their way protecting themselves in case a semester of bad grades turned into a year of bad grades. 

It doesn't matter that your overall GPA is higher than their minimum requirements. Schools reject the vast majority of students who barely meet their minimum requirements. If they thought of you as someone who can only meet the bare minimum requirements, they would not have admitted you.

 

16 hours ago, mcmaster2017 said:

I am really worried about the situation. Will my offer really be rescinded if I don't meet the condition or I can do something about it?

 This is a stressful situation and I am sorry that you are in it. However, schools CAN rescind their offer if you don't meet their stipulations. They can obviously choose to waive the condition, but I don't see why they would. Conditions like this usually aren't added by individual faculty members. They are usually added by your department or, more likely, the Department of Graduate Studies.

This is only my guess, but based on everything you've posted I imagine this what happened. Your professor liked your application and wanted to add you to his/her group even though you had low grades in one of the semesters in your final year. Your department/Graduate School initially refused to admit you, but your professor really pushed and they relented but wanted to add a condition to admission to ensure that the bad grades were an anomaly and not a trend. 

You can e-mail your professor about the condition, but I would assume this is out of his/her hands. Worse, they might have no desire to fight for you again if you complain about it.

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Posted
7 hours ago, DiscoTech said:

It sounds like the school saw these grades, decided they were willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for one semester of poor grades, and admitted you anyway. The condition sounds like their way protecting themselves in case a semester of bad grades turned into a year of bad grades. 

It doesn't matter that your overall GPA is higher than their minimum requirements. Schools reject the vast majority of students who barely meet their minimum requirements. If they thought of you as someone who can only meet the bare minimum requirements, they would not have admitted you.

 

 This is a stressful situation and I am sorry that you are in it. However, schools CAN rescind their offer if you don't meet their stipulations. They can obviously choose to waive the condition, but I don't see why they would. Conditions like this usually aren't added by individual faculty members. They are usually added by your department or, more likely, the Department of Graduate Studies.

This is only my guess, but based on everything you've posted I imagine this what happened. Your professor liked your application and wanted to add you to his/her group even though you had low grades in one of the semesters in your final year. Your department/Graduate School initially refused to admit you, but your professor really pushed and they relented but wanted to add a condition to admission to ensure that the bad grades were an anomaly and not a trend. 

You can e-mail your professor about the condition, but I would assume this is out of his/her hands. Worse, they might have no desire to fight for you again if you complain about it.

Thank you for your answer. I think my explanation of the situation is a little misleading. When I applied for this university, I had not finished fall 2016 semester yet. It was in February  and I was in the middle of final exams (final exams of fall 2016 - the semester with low grades) so I sent them my "good" transcript, the one with no low grades. So they are still not aware that  I made a mess last semester -_- Even my professor is not aware of that. Now, I am in the middle of my final exams for Spring 2017 and I am trying hard to meet the condition, but I am not sure about it.

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Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

I guess the link broke when I copied it. Paste this into search on the top right and it will come up: Admitted as Undeclared/Non-Classified Student

Thank you. I read the thread but I didn't realize what happened to that guy  :) Was he admitted?

Edited by mcmaster2017
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Posted
On 6/11/2017 at 10:51 PM, mcmaster2017 said:

Thank you. I read the thread but I didn't realize what happened to that guy  :) Was he admitted?

Hi

Did you finally get it sorted out?

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