<p>After I graduate I really want to attend graduate school but I have a big problem, My freshman year at school I was at the worst college ever and I won't post their name. At this school the teachers honestly don't care, they take the students money, and they will fail you to keep enrollment up. I'm lucky I transferred. Freshman year second semester I fell terribly ill come to find out that the dorm was so old that there was black mold growing in the wall. It was terrible. It was so bad that it grew on the side of my bed. And it grew fast because my roommate and I kept our room clean because we didn't want to get sick because we both were on band scholarships. It scared me and my roommate half to death. When your sick your put on quarantine from the rest of the students. My roommate and I were put on quarantine for half of the semester. They wouldn't let us go to class or anything. They called my mom and lied to her having her thinking everything was fine. So basically when I transferred I had to start all over. But at my new school I'm doing great! They let me in on academic probation. I'm thankful for that because the school I was at actually changed my transcript so I had the lowest gpa possible. They thought I wouldn't be able to transfer out but I did. When I went home the Summer before I transferred my doctor said that if we were in the room any longer we could have died. I'm already a sickly student but I cope. This is the first time that I couldn't do band but I'm focused on my academics for my future. My gpa is steadily coming up but my transcript from my first year looks horrible. It hurts me every time I think about it. We called the national, state, and regional health department and they told us there was nothing they could do. So talking to consultants and counselors if I keep doing good in school I can graduate with at least a 3.6-3.8 gpa and I'm willing to work hard for it. I really want to apply to Ivy League School. I know my chances are slim but it doesn't hurt to try. Any advice on what I can do to tell them my story? I don't want to get denied right off the bat because of my beginning gpa when the situation was not my fault. And is there anything I can do know to raise my chances and to make my application in the future more attractive. I want to start now. I'm very passionate about what I want to do.</p>
<p>Thank you. Sorry if there are any errors I was trying to hurry up and get this out.</p>
<p>There are many things that make up your graduate application other than your GPA, such as GRE, research, letters of rec, personal statement. </p>
<p>Without knowing your field, it will be hard for anyone to give you advice. Also, why do you want to go to Ivies? Some (if not most) fields have top programs at non-Ivy and in some fields, Ivies are not ranked as high as public universities.</p>
<p>If you have a 3.6-3.8 when you graduate I wouldn’t even bother explaining it, especially if you retook core courses at your new school and got high grades. That GPA is high enough to offset the lower first year and your last 60 credits count more than anything else.</p>
<p>If your GPA is lower than around a 3.5, then you can make a short statement (2-3 sentences) in your statement of purpose about having health issues at an earlier college, but when you transferred your health improved and your grades got much better, as you can see on the transcript. I would not go into the entire sob story because in all honesty, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Telling the first part (about the teachers failing you and changing your transcript out of spite) is going to HURT you more than help you, because you’ll look like a whiner to the school and we have no way of knowing whether you are right or just making excuses for poor grades. Leave that part out.</p>
<p>Even better is to get one of your recommenders to comment on your vast improvement after bad experiences and sickness at an earlier school. They are familiar with applying to grad school and with what professors want, and will be more eloquent. And as the earlier commenter noted, your GPA is only one component of an application that requires a lot of other things.</p>
<p>In addition to all of these things (and co-signing on the comment about Ivies - some of the best programs in certain fields are not at Ivies or at schools that are considered top in undergrad), consider taking some time off before graduate school, especially if you want a professional degree (MBA, MPA, MPH, MPP, even a JD in some cases). I am currently doing an internship in corporate and many of the people I’m talking with here worked 2-5 years before getting an MBA. The advice I’m getting all around is to work until you “hit a wall” and realize that everyone in the positions you want to be has this degree or that. It’ll also give you some time to figure out what it is you really want to do. I’m in a PhD program and while I don’t regret it, I also think that I could’ve gotten to most of the jobs I’d like to do by working and then getting a master’s in something else later.</p>
<p>I’m majoring in Psychology right now. I want to become a Psychiatrist. I don’t have to go to a Ivy League school because I have back up schools like Howard University for instance but I always looked at their programs. If I set my mind to a high standard I can achieve more. They were always included in my list of schools. Thank you for your advice I really appreciate.</p>
<p>I want to do a PhD program but since I have 2-3 years left before I graduate I’m trying to research and get as much knowledge as I can before then and look into a vast variety of programs. I’m just really passionate about Psychology.</p>
<p>Alot of the different programs I looked at I would have to do graduate school under Clinical Psychology and PhD programs in order to be a Paychiatrist but some programs are different that’s why I’m still looking around. The different categories have sub categories and things like that. So some programs say Psychologist and then they list different careers and in alot of cases Psychiatry is listed. I still have 2-3 years of school so I can do as much research before I graduate.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to say more because I don’t and honestly that still confuses me but when I look at different programs that’s what comes up but I thank you for telling me that because your right. Since that’s a M.D. Program what track am I suppose to take in graduate school?</p>
<p>Medical school for psychiatrist. The opposite is not a medical doctor.
To get into medical school you need to take the MCAT exam, which involves reading, writing, math, and science (bio, physics, chem, basic science).</p>
<p>The transcript would hurt you more for med school than for grad school. Med schools seem to look for anything they can use as a weeder and that GPA will count. For grad school, don’t whine, don’t go into details, just say (as mentioned above) that you were ill before the transfer, then prove that you are a stellar student in subsequent years. I think many grad schools will look beyond that first year transcript when the later work proves your point.</p>