<p>Hi!!
I will start grad school next fall. I am currently taking a graduate course (and had taken one before) since I'm done with my undergrad courses and also because I will attend grad school in the same school where I did my undergrad.
I love my field of study and I'm pretty confident I will want to go for my PhD as well. My GPA fell last quarter (it is now 3.34) and I had a mediocre GRE score. I am already accepted to this program, but I wonder if this stats will affect my chances when applying for the PhD program.
I would like to apply to a top program when I finish the MA, should I retake the GRE? Also, assuming I will do good in grad school, do I have a chance of entering a good program in spite of my poor undergrad?? What can I do to maximize my chances???
BTW the my gpa for the major I'm doing grad work in is 3.8 or 3.9 and had great LORs.
Thanks!</p>
<p>If you have a 3.8 or 3.9 in your field they will not care about your 3.34 (unless it's due to low grades in related coursework, like mathematics for an economics program). You can consider retaking the GRE if you have reason to believe there was something severely lacking in your previous preparations.</p>
<p>What is your field of study?</p>
<p>In some fields, such as the sciences, 2 years of graduate level research doing a master's seems to be a big plus for getting into PhD programs. According to some of my interviewers, they liked the fact that I knew basically what the work would be like and wanted to do a PhD. They do not have to "worry" as much about the student getting overwhelmed and dropping out if they have essentially tried it already and know they like it. Also the LORs from your committee are some of the best you can probably get. It is much easier for them to judge your ability to handle grad school then it would be for them to judge an undergrad who did well in their class, etc.</p>
<p>If you can improve your GRE score, I say go for it. If there is any chance you will do worse, then maybe not. It does not look great to have your score go down after 2 years of grad school.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>