<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm kinda new to this... what kind of a GPA do you need for top grad schools? I know there's no GPA that will get you in, I'm just wondering at what point does your GPA become "oh, it's good enough, let's see the rest of the application." </p>
<p>Also, does doing well in a math competition outweigh one bad grade in a math class that I didn't find very interesting?</p>
<p>Thanks,
314seasons</p>
<p>Many places state an explicit cutoff of 3.0. My guess is for "top" schools (I don't know how "top" you're thinking) the minimum cutoff would be around 3.5, but this is speculation. Do other posters know of programs with absolute cutoffs higher than 3.5?</p>
<p>From the first page of the Grad School Admissions 101 thread:
[quote]
There are lots of different kinds of graduate programs.
Because each graduate program at a university admits students independently, we can't help you if you don't specify your field (history, IR, English, clinical psych, mechanical engineering, molecular biology) and the degree for which you want to apply (master's, PhD, MPH). And if you can't specify your field and the degree you want, you really have no business thinking about going to graduate school. Grad school isn't something you have to do, and you should be very comfortable with studying in a pretty specific area for several years. (Also note: if you are interested in medical school, business school, or law school, this is not the forum for you. Those are professional schools, and this is the grad school board.)</p>
<p>Graduate school admissions are not usually as numbers-based as undergraduate admissions.
We can't tell you the magic GPA or GRE score that will help you get into the program of your dreams. And actually, that data's not even generally available on the web -- very few programs publish their average GPAs or average GRE scores. That's because those numbers aren't usually used as major determinants of your status; a bad GPA/GRE score will probably hurt you, but a good one definitely won't secure you a spot. You should try to do your best in college and get a good GPA and good GRE scores, but there's probably no number that's going to absolutely keep you out of every program.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think a more relevant question is- how low of a gpa is required before your app gets placed in the maybe pile instead of the definite pile? I would hazard a guess that in the biomedical sciences, a 3.5 might be that number (it's a round number). Being in the maybe pile doesn't mean you won't get admission, it just means that your file will get further review before the decision is made.</p>
<p>Well, I had a 3.4, and I got into a top 10 program in my field (social sciences -- psychology and public health).</p>
<p>I think anywhere from a 3.3 to a 3.5 could be the lower bound depending on other factors -- GRE scores, quick review of your personal statement, who your letters come from.</p>
<p>I think it's also worth noting that at some schools, even a 4.0 won't get you put in the "definite" pile...or so I hear...so, depending on your top choices, another relevant question might be "How low of a GPA before your application gets put in the 'no' pile instead of the 'maybe' pile?"</p>
<p>In English, for instance, my fantasy school of the week says explicitly that they want a 3.7 GPA in your major. I get the impression that they might toss your file if your GPA falls much below that cutoff. Belevitt, I think that GPAs can often be lower in the sciences, so your point re: the 3.5 is well taken.</p>
<p>Still, the general message from the "101" page is important: in graduate school apps, numbers are useful for helping you get past the initial cutoffs and maybe not much else, or so it seems to me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"How low of a GPA before your application gets put in the 'no' pile instead of the 'maybe' pile?"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is what I want to know too. Everyone on this board seems to ignore this question. There has to be a gpa that no matter what automatically puts you in the "NO" pile without any further looks.</p>
<p>Is it sub 3.3? Sub 3.0? Sub 2.5? Any guesses?</p>
<p>i have a 3.0 or 3.1 from MIT and have thus far gotten all the interview invites i'm supposed to have gotten- all on the first day that others received their invites, all from good schools.</p>
<p>ymmit must have made a deal with Satan.</p>
<p>Kenshinsan, that question can't be answered. It depends on the school. However, most half decent schools worth going to won't take a student with a GPA below 3.0.</p>
<p>So ymmit, how many publications did you have? 10? What was your GRE subject test score like? 99th percentile?</p>
<p>I've read several admissions-related books in my field (psychology) that say that the general "minimum," even though most programs won't admit to one, is generally around a 3.3 for Ph.D programs and a 3.0 for master's programs. However, they also noted that this is variable, and that students with otherwise outstanding stats whose GPAs are slightly lower than the minimums can often be admitted. Beyond that, there are often mitigating circumstances for low cumulative GPAs. Someone could have a 3.1 cumulative GPA but have a 3.6 in their major, or could have a 2.9 cumulative undergrad GPA because they went to one college, did terribly, and transferred to another where they did a lot better. Or perhaps they had a terrible freshman year. Or perhaps they got really sick and tanked some classes one semester (this happened to me, and my cumulative GPA was a 3.4 -- but my major GPA was a 3.7). Or perhaps they didn't know they were going to want to go to graduate school when they were in undergrad 10 years ago, but they have since worked some good jobs and gotten some research experience and some publications out.</p>
<p>So I think the answer is -- there is no absolute minimum cut-off that gets you tossed in the "no" pile. I know it's only natural to try to put some formula into graduate school admissions, but there really is none. Admissions committees look at your entire package, not just your cumulative undergraduate GPA.</p>
<p>hahaha @ mastermoe :) I did not take a subject test, but I do have very good GRE general scores and some great research resulting in 2 publications, with 1 more on the way. Plus 3 stellar recs from tenured profs at MIT who supervised my research. Therefore, to second juillet's final conclusion, it's really the total package. What you lack in GPA, be sure to do your best to make it up in other areas.</p>
<p>I have also heard (?) that MIT grading is relatively brutal. A 3.0 at MIT might put you much higher in your graduating class than a 3.0 at another school. So your Ph.D. programs might have taken your school into account.</p>
<p>I've also heard the 3.0 figure floated as a general cutoff for competitive programs, though I imagine that the real cutoff is significantly higher. Juillet, I don't have the kind of quality info that you do, but your 3.3 figure sounds about right.</p>
<p>The only other hard stat I've encountered is on the Harvard website, which says that applicants to the English program should have no lower than an A- average in English courses taken previously. My guess is that most competitive programs would prefer to see an A/A- average in an intended field of study accompanied by a significantly lower GPA overall (say, the 3.3 that juillet mentions) rather than to see a solid GPA (say, a 3.5-3.6) across the board.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This is what I want to know too. Everyone on this board seems to ignore this question. There has to be a gpa that no matter what automatically puts you in the "NO" pile without any further looks.</p>
<p>Is it sub 3.3? Sub 3.0? Sub 2.5? Any guesses?
[/quote]
There's no single answer to this question -- it's not that people ignore it, it's that it's unanswerable. The answer will vary quite significantly by field, by individual program, and by the mitigating factors in your application, such that it's meaningless to try to define the minimum GPA for all fields and all programs everywhere.</p>
<p>Context matters in graduate school applications.</p>
<p>We will never know until WE become professors and have the privilege of determining applying undergraduate minion fates.</p>
<p>I'm no expert and actually i'm not a graduate student yet. But, after performing some online search, i got the impression that at least some schools have admission indices in which GRE and GPA can compensate for each other. Each school puts a low cutoff which varies by univrsity and program, but let's say 1000 for GRE and 3.0 for GPA for top schools. It then uses some type of formula, something like ((500 times gpa)+ gre) or (200times gpa) + gre to compare applicants. Other programs may rather use a points system , something like 1500-1600 gre gets 10, 1400-1490 gre gets 9,... and again 3.8-4.0 GPA gets 10, 3.6-3.8 GPA gets 9,.... and so on, then they add both points. Apparently, if you have a relatively low gpa 3.0 or so, you need a very high GRE score to be a competitive applicant. Again these are just speculations and i absolutely have no idea how they handle research experience or LORS but i'm sure the above formulas are true at least for some programs.</p>
<p>my guess is that some schools do have a cutoff. However, if you stand out by other means, like publishing papers in top journals or have a very strong rec from renowned scientists in your field, they may make up for your deficiency in GPA. And compared to research experience and publication which speak more for your research abilities and are thus probably more important and crucial to a graduate student, GPA may be less a determining factor in graduate school admission.</p>