<p>I know that a lot of grad schools separate major GPA with that of overall. But I was wondering what constitutes a Major GPA. Is it just upper div classes or does in include lower division classes also????</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>One's major GPA includes all courses taken within that department. ALL of them.</p>
<p>What if, say, for an economics degree a student had to take calculus. Calculus is, obviously, in a different department than economics, but because it is a required course for the degree would it be counted in the major GPA?</p>
<p>I've wondered about something concerning that too... If a grad school wants to know what one's undergrad major gpa was, and if one wants to go to grad school for a different subject/field than the one he/she majored in, should the person list the gpa for the field he/she did major in, or should the gpa be listed for the field he/she wants to go to grad school for?
For example, if I did an undergrad degree in communications but also took several psychology classes and want to go to grad school for psychology, for the major gpa, would I list my communications gpa or the gpa for the psychology classes I've taken?</p>
<p>Your major GPA is confined to the courses taken WITHIN one's department.</p>
<p>However, admissions committees will have your entire transcript at hand, and will take a look at courses relevant to your INTENDED area of specialization.</p>
<p>For example, economics graduate programs will look at your calculus grade, but it is NOT part of your major GPA. This is because not every undergraduate economics program requires calculus as a part of the major (although in my humble opinion, they should). ;) </p>
<p>If, as (hypothetically) in red sox 7327's case, your intended subfield of specialization within economics involves the use of calculus, AND you got great grades in calculus, you will surely want to bring this to the attention of the committee by referring to your calculus expertise in your statement of purpose.</p>
<p>When applications ask for your major, and your major GPA, they want to see your ACTUAL major GPA, not your intended specialization GPA. </p>
<p>If, as in plot93's case, your grad field differs from your undergrad field, you MUST address this in the statement of purpose. The SOP would also be a good place to calculate and cite your GPA in THAT field of study. However, do keep in mind that since that field was NOT your major, the admissions committee will have some questions about your level of preparation for graduate study in that field. Again, address this in your SOP.</p>
<p>I hope this helped.</p>
<p>I'm a double major in classical studies and literature/writing,</p>
<p>But I have a 5 series GE course of HUMANITIES that I have to take. </p>
<p>Would those GEs be counted into my major gpa also??</p>
<p>Now, what of applied mathematics courses? Or statistics courses? Do they count towards major GPA? My school has no applied mathematics major - nonetheless, it is the department with the graduate courses that are most relevant to the scientific fields I'm interested in.</p>
<p>I also have one more question for my friend. </p>
<p>He's a bio major and his a lot of this prerequisites for his major are chemistry classes. Would the grad schools weight heavily on his chemistry classes also??</p>
<p>You guys are WAY overthinking this! There is no magic major fairy who secretly defines what's what.</p>
<p>What is (or is not) part of your major is defined by YOUR department and university. </p>
<p>Just go to your department's website and look for the pages where they discuss what a major consists of. If it isn't online, it will be in your undergraduate handbook or some other readily available publication. </p>
<p>That's all there is to it.</p>
<p>Professor X said it twice, and I will say it a third time. Your major GPA is calculated using ONLY the classes in the DEPARTMENT of your MAJOR. Usually, classes have a two digit number corresponding to their department. </p>
<p>Let's say neoclassical flute ensemble had a department number of 99. Then, to calculate your major GPA, you would only use courses that have the number 99 preceding their course number.</p>
<p>...and if you screw it up, nobody's going to come after you, either.</p>
<p>I am reasonably sure I included chemistry classes required for my biology degree in my major GPA, which appears to be wrong, and for which I am kicking myself retrospectively, because my major GPA would have been much more impressive without all of those stupid chemistry courses. :) But it obviously didn't end up mattering at all for me.</p>