3.36 Undegraduate GPA, recovered from an atrocious first semester

Graduate School
1

<p>So when I entered college, I was pretty naive and thought excercise physiology might be an interesting subject to major. I attempted to manage my commute to college along with a full-time job and intense science courses. This had disastrous effect on my performance in class, especially because I had not recovered from being lazy in my last semester in High School. This pretty much ruined my academic record for the first semester. I soon contemplated dropping out of school. My family situation has always been pretty severe and unstable. Finances have always been a matter of uncertainty. I'm sure many can relate to this.</p>

<p>I switched majors after my 1st semester and before my fifth semester, I declared myself as double major in History and Political Science. </p>

<p>GPA/semester progression</p>

<p>pre college - one course at a local accredited univesrity 4.0
semester 1 0.75 (failed a course, got a C in another, and took other non-credit courses)
semester 2 3.33
semester 3 3.8
semester 4 3.06
semester 5 3.58
semester 6 3.56
semester (summer) 4.0
semester 7 3.6
semester 8 3.43</p>

<p>Cumulative gpa after graduation, 3.36. Cumulitive GPA since 1st semester was 3.53. ( I did the hour calculations, etc.</p>

<p>Major curriculum made up 59% of all classes by the end.
History: 3.625 GPA
Political Science 3.625 GPA</p>

<p>Entered into Pi Sigma Alpha - national political science honor society(although I'm convinced this matters very little).</p>

2

<p>sorry for the typos</p>

3

<p>am i screwed for graduate school?</p>

4

<p>I am in similar situation…</p>

5

<p>I failed a course my first year. I did re-take it and get the old grade removed from my GPA, though it still showed up on my transcript. Ended up with a 3.53 actually, overall. I got into some great programs which were at or near the top of my list. Granted, I didn’t get into the one Ivy I applied to (quite fine with that, really, though in answering your question “am I screwed?” - for some people not getting into ivies may mean exactly that.), along with another school I was very much (more so than the Ivy) interested in. </p>

<p>There could be various reasons for the rejections, but I think the F stirring an admissions committee member the wrong way is certainly a safe bet. Can’t say I blame them. As someone once said, “there were a lot of qualified applicants this year”.</p>

6

<p>I asked if I could retake the course but I’d apparently waited too after transferring out of the Kinesiology Program at my university. I’ve spoken to some of my professors whodid their Ph.D at top tier universities like Princeton and Chicago, and they told me that grade may hurt me less because it came in my first semester.</p>

<p>But my confidence is pretty low. The Ivy League sounds like</p>

7

<p>My GPA was similar to yours. I’m going to Carnegie Mellon in the Fall.</p>

<p>You’re not screwed.</p>