<p>I'm just curious. Which matters more? Your overall GPA or your major GPA?
The reason I ask is I'm am looking at grad schools, and my overall GPA is a 3.1 (due to bad choice in majors) but my GPA for my major (which is what I'm going to Grad school for) is a 3.5. Would the 3.1 make me completely non competitive or would I still have a fighting chance at some good schools.</p>
<p>Different schools do things differently. A lot of schools use the overall GPA simply because it is more consistent - “major GPA” can mean different things to different people. There will certainly be schools that will credit your major GPA higher than your overall.</p>
<p>Thank you. Would anyone by any chance know about Vanderbilt? My department chair wants me to apply there and thinks I have a chance, but I’m not quiet sure since I’m not sure what GPA they would look more towards. It only says that want individuals with a B GPA (Not sure is that a 3.0?) I’m looking at going for Sociology.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Vanderbilt admissions in particular, but a B GPA is a 3.0 on the 4.0 scale, so it if that is what they ask for then you are at least eligible for admission. Whether or not you are competitive is something else entirely.</p>
<p>Just apply, and you shall soon find out!</p>
<p>Vanderbilt doesn’t charge application fees so it’s not even going to be expensive to find out. Pretty much just $25 to send your GRE report. If your department chair thinks you have a chance, then you probably have a chance.</p>
<p>^^ Plus the cost of transcript orders, and possible postage. </p>
<p>If you have the funds to apply to some more competitive schools, then do so. Imagine if you only apply to less competitive schools and are accepted by each of them - you will be left wondering “what if…” </p>
<p>…and keep in mind that the GPA is only one component to your application, and seldom the most important.</p>
<p>Do most universities charge for transcripts? Mine doesn’t, and I didn’t think that was unusual…</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, most of my applications had a charge of ~$75, the GRE charged ~$25 per report, and my transcripts were ~$6 each, all postage included.</p>
<p>Note that unofficial transcripts are almost always free, but official transcripts, mailed by the school without you touching it, are usually not.</p>
<p>I also was told (not by a professor, just by a friend) to try to emphasize on the fact that my GPA being a 3.1 comes from a period of time that I had a lot of difficulty with a major bread winner in my household passing away. Prior to and after the year this happened I had 3.6 GPA semesters, however during the year this happened, my GPA was pretty well about a 2.3-2.5 both semesters. Also it was under a different major all together. Will that be accounted for or should I avoid drawing attention to the bad?</p>
<p>All three schools I attended charged to order official transcripts, which can add up (especially since I did have 3 different schools, not one). Some schools may even ask for 2 copies of each. Postage would be for additional application materials, unless all else is electronic. It’s still not a major expense, but might be difficult for someone on a strict budget so I wanted to point that out.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of people addressing weaknesses, but I would touch on it as a loss in the family (saying bread winner implies that the loss of money was a bigger tragedy than the loss of a person, and I don’t know if I’d want to send that message). I would make it a soft point; don’t dwell on the GPA, just touch on the reason and then move on to point out your other strengths and upward trend once finding the appropriate major.</p>
<p>Interesting. My university only charges if you want it express FedEx-ed somewhere.</p>
<p>Anyway,
Yeah, I’d be careful about how you word something like that (though I’m guessing you wouldn’t use “bread winner” in your essay for real anyway). You don’t want to come across as making excuses or whining. I think Nova is right - touch on it as a struggle and then move on to the progress you have made.</p>