<p>I heard very often that how you did on your last 60 credits in your UG study can be more important than your overall gpa, but how about gpa from a non-degree post-bac study? </p>
<p>My overall UG gpa is not great at all (~3.45), but I've been doing pretty well at Harvard as a special student where I've taken 4 undergraduate courses so far and received 3.8+ gpa. The reason why I'm doing this extra coursework after graduation is because PhD programs I'm thinking about applying to is not very relevant to my UG study. </p>
<p>I would like to continue my coursework here although I'll only be able to add 1 or 2 courses before applying to PhD programs next year since I'll be spending most of my time working at a lab. Assuming that I do well on these courses and one of GRE subject test, would I finally be able to stop worrying about how my gpa would be perceived by admission committee at top programs?</p>
<p>If you have a similar story or heard of anything like this please share it with me. It'll be deeply appreciated.</p>
<p>Postbaccalaureate credits are very important, as they are most often in your field and are your most recent work. </p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with your undergraduate GPA, especially if your grades in your most relevant classes are higher. Most programs want people with around a 3.5 or so, and it’s more of a cut-off than an elevator - in other words, a 3.6 and a 3.8 may be considered equally at many programs, and the things that become more important are recommendations and research experience and fit with the department.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply Juillet! Would you be able to tell me if a good score on GRE subject test in chemistry can be a plus if I don’t have a formal coursework in organic and inorganic chemistry? I’ll be applying to biological science or neuroscience programs.</p>
<p>It can be a plus, although it may not (and probably won’t) replace those classes if they are necessary for what you want to do. In a neuroscience program that may not be an issue if you want to do research that does not involve brain chemistry. In a biological science program, it could potentially be a problem, so you may need to take chemistry (especially organic chemistry, which probably necessitates general chemistry first) regardless of how you do on the GRE subject test.</p>