<p>I went to a top NESCAC school and majored in Political Science. My cumulative GPA was about 3.3 and my major GPA was only a tiny bit higher. The usual excuses/reasons...I made a lot of silly mistakes early on, like taking a challenging science class freshman year that was designed for science majors, jumping into a higher level language class that I wasn't prepared for, and trying to take multiple high-level seminar courses in one semester. If I go to graduate school, I really want to aim for a Top 20 in Political Science, but does a 3.3 totally destroy that possibility?</p>
<p>Short answer: no.</p>
<p>Longer answer: You can’t change your GPA, so worrying about it is useless. Furthermore, graduate admissions are holistic; they look at more than just your GPA. Your major classes, and your grades in your last 60 credits, will also play a role - as will your experiences, your letters of recommendation, your personal statement, your writing sample and your GRE scores.</p>
<p>What you CAN do is make the rest of your package as outstanding as possible. Gain some research experience in political science. Take some graduate courses as a non-degree student to prove yourself. Craft a polished personal statement. You can still get into a great program with a 3.3 GPA, but you’ll have to work a little harder.</p>
<p>FWIW, I am currently in my fourth year of a top 20 PhD program in my own field, and my cumulative GPA in college was a 3.4.</p>
<p>Thanks! That gives me some hope!</p>