I’m a history major at a local university and was academically dismissed 1.5 yrs ago. This is my first semester back, so while I’m working hard and have a great feeling about this fall, I don’t know what the outcome will be.
Hypothetically, if I earned a kickass GPA for the rest of my undergrad, got some research experience, got a great GRE score etc. what are my chances of getting into a good state school? I live in OH, so I’d probably look into OSU. They have a pretty decent history dept and a couple of the faculty do research that really interests me. My husband and I are considering moving out of state by the time my BA is finished so he can find work in tech so, off the top of my head, UCLA for another example.
My way out there dream grad programs are Emory, UPenn, Columbia. I’m not writing myself off, but I think it would be unrealistic to think of those as options.
What do you think? Any similar circumstances?
Sit down with your major advisor and have a talk about this. That person is in the best position to help you determine your options.
I’d guess you could get into a grad school, but maybe not a top one. And funding can be harder to come by in subjects like history.
You need to talk to your advisor or profs because grad history is usually specialized. It’s not like undergrad where you explore a variety of eras and topics. You’re expected to have a reasonably set focus, a period or angle and the right prep in that. Admissions is partly based on the profs in that arena you can work with. And your UG recommendations are very important.
Generally, students are academically dismissed because they fail to maintain above a 2.0 (a C average). You don’t mention how far along you are when you were dismissed, but since schools usually give you at least one semester of probation, I’m going to assume that at the earliest it happened after your first full year of school.
Coming back from a sub-2.0 GPA is difficult. However, if you show a very strong upward trend, you could potentially come back from it - especially if you have a compelling reason why you did poorly in the beginning (illness, death in the family, etc.)
It also depends on what kind of program you want. MAs are less selective than PhD programs. Getting an MA first if you are aiming for a PhD program can also help.
I’m not comfortable with sharing everything about my dismissal but yes, I was dismissed after my 2nd semester.
The university I attend has a policy where if I get a semester GPA above 2.0, I can apply for academic forgiveness and have my cum GPA reset, though of course the dismissal will still be on record.
I will be looking into MA programs, then.
Thank you.