<p>I currently am a freshman in college. I am wondering how it would look to graduate admissions committees if I took less than full courseloads for most semesters for the purpose of a high gpa? Meaning, if I am able to graduate in say 5 years with a very high gpa, 3.95+, but have only the last few semesters with a full course load, will they look poorly on this? I currently have a lot of financial difficulties and family issues that make it really hard for me to take a full course load. If I take say 1-3 classes for the first 4 semesters, then when things get better, I take 5 classes a semester and do well in them, will it be cause for alarm? Any insight would be appreciated!</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone would care. I took the minimum courseload for full-time status (= 3 courses/semester at my college) in my junior and senior years and got into every single graduate program I applied to - including PhD programs at Stanford, Princeton and MIT. </p>
<p>PhD programs are more interested in your letters of recommendation than your transcript anyway.</p>
<p>More or less what Barlum says. The GPA matters more than your course load.</p>
<p>If LOR’s Very Good Sources & Content then >> GPA to some extent else GPA can compensate for Sources but not Content. Barlum…what sayest thou?</p>