Grad school with a low GPA

Graduate School
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I graduated in 2007 from Stanford with a degree in CS and I'm seriously thinking that I want to go to graduate school. Unfortunately, I goofed around as an undergrad and graduated with a 3.12 GPA (overall) and a 3.4 (in major). If you looked at my transcript it might seem a little bizarre, because I have relatively high marks in upper division classes and questionably low grades in very basic classes that were outside of my major. I also have a bit of research experience; I was the second author on a paper that was published in a well respected conference (ACM CCS). Since graduating I've been working at a startup and I am confident that I could get very strong letters of recommendation from my bosses.</p>

<p>So, my question is this: what are my chances of getting into a relatively decent program? </p>

<p>My plan was to apply for masters programs, take things seriously, and hopefully get accepted into a phd program afterwards. I'm assuming Stanford is probably out of the question, but I was hoping for a program like UCSD. Also, how can I improve my chances of being admitted?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I think you will get into some great masters schools.
You come from a great university and 3.12 isn’t THAAAT low for masters. You have good work experience too!</p>

<p>You can improve your chances by doing well on the GRE, past that don’t stress about it.</p>

3

<p>Make sure you get at least two LORs, if not all three, from Stanford professors. As you know, Stanford has one of the best CS departments, and letters from your professors will go a long way in admissions.</p>

4

<p>Oh, and if your upper level grades were good, then you might want to apply to both PhD and master’s programs since you eventually want to get a PhD anyway.</p>