<p>Hi guys. I'm currently a junior at the University of Washington. I went through some medical issues part way between my freshman and sophomore year. Currently, I am majoring in Math (B.S) because computer science here is competitive. My GPA right now is about a 3.0, and I'm guessing it'll be about a 3.1-3.2 by the time I graduate. I know I need some more experience, I have only been working as a legal assistant, and had a IT internship for about a month. How reasonable is it getting into a grad school like Oregon State, Arizona, Michigan State, Notre Dame?</p>
<p>For a Masters, it is possible but your GPA will be a hindrance. If you can get a job and work for a few years, your undergraduate GPA becomes less important and when you return for a Masters you have the advantage of real work experience.</p>
<p>I’ve read on the websites of some universities that they pay more attention to your later grades, so if yours has an upward trend, it might compensate for your GPA to some extent. Just my thought.</p>
<p>I’d be more concerned about your undergraduate classes. Even the least selective CS graduate programs typically won’t take you if you can’t program in Java and C or C++ and don’t have some introductory courses on your transcript. Certainly, you could have picked a worse major, but mathematics provides the foundation for CS and acts as a tool for CS; it doesn’t magically give you any CS knowledge.</p>
<p>Be sure to take some undergrad CS courses, and definitely minor in it if you can. Beyond that, good recommendations and a decent GRE score ought to sufficiently compensate for a lowish GPA.</p>