<p>I plan on graduating either this upcoming summer 2010 or fall 2010 (under the 5 or 5 1/2 year plan) and am thinking about applying to grad school to get my MA. Now the thing is, Iv spent the past 3 years going for a BS in zoology and getting a very poor GPA as a result (just barely a 2.0). I am transferring schools, (back to a university where I spent my freshman year), where as of right now my gpa there (after only 2 semesters)is a 3.3. I plan on finishing up my economics degree there and hopefully boosting my GPA to a 3.6 or higher.
How much will my lower GPA hurt my chances? I have alot of volunteering work, extra curriculars, and can get at least one good letter of recommendation from an econ professor. Do I even stand a chance or should I not even try?</p>
<p>Paulo,</p>
<p>First, try to use more descriptive titles when you start a thread.</p>
<p>Second, volunteer work and extracurriculars have ZERO impact on grad admissions unless they also count as research in your field.</p>
<p>Third, multiple transfers does not look good, and a low GPA anywhere does not look good.</p>
<p>You are not in a terrible place, but not a good one either. They will see your zoology gpa, so you need to show them a strong Econ gpa that they will care more about. If this is the only bad thing going for you, you can probably get past it.</p>
<p>Here is what you can do:
(1) Get as close to a 4.0 as you can manage for however long you have left in school.
(2) Do really well on the GRE. Start studying soon.
(3) Start developing more strong relationships with Econ profs - you will need 3 strong LOR’s at a minimum.
(4) Get involved in research, preferably published and year-long but unpublished and over the summer will do. Make sure your advisor is one of your LOR writers.
(5) Start thinking about how you are going to address the transfers and the failed zoology attempt in your SOP.
(6) Apply to some masters programs as well as PhD (assuming you even want the PhD) - admissions committees may need some reassurances about you, and a masters would give you the opportunity to further rehabilitate your transcript. If you go this route, realize that you would probably need to pay out of pocket for the masters.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>…I take it you’re looking to get an MA in econ?</p>
<p>yeah, i was hoping for a Masters program in economics (my current major) or even sociology (my minor)</p>
<p>which one? they’re pretty different.</p>