Hello all! I’m a little confused on how to calculate my GPA for the purpose of applying to PhD programs. Most of the programs I’m looking at want your last 2 years primarily, but I’m wondering where that cut off is. I was technically a junior like halfway through my second year, and I have a lot of credits that don’t count toward my GPA as they are pass/no pass only classes. I calculated my last 90 graded credits which puts me in like winter term of my second year, which sucks because that’s when I was doing terribly in school (I was pre-med and didn’t know what I wanted). Is the 90 last graded credits a good way to go about it? And I know you send your whole transcript to grad programs anyway so do they look at the whole transcript and the “last 2 years” GPA calculation to get a more holistic view of the person?
Each school should tell you exactly what they are looking for, and if they don’t you should contact those programs because there is no one way of doing it.
There is no standard procedure. As you stated, an entire transcript submission is required. The latter years are looked at with more emphasis than former, and relavent areas of study are looked at with more scrutiny than electives. But there is no standard magical formula every school uses.