<p>If there is a large gap in overall GPA and your major GPA will it harm you. This is all theoretical at the moment but it is a very likely outcome for me. I am doing splendidly in my major but I am simply not interested in my other classes mainly because they are General Education Requirements and I am forced to take them. Would a major GPA of a 3.7 with an overall GPA of a 3.0 be extremely harmful or do you think graduate schools will focus on the major GPA since it is what you'll be studying at the school?</p>
<p>Uh, a .7 drop? Assuming even a 50/50 split(though your major will probably have more units associated with it) that's like saying you got C+s in your other classes. It's true grad schools want people dedicated to their field, but they also want to see some competence overall. If you got a B in non-major courses and ended up with a 3.4 or 3.5, that might be ok, but 3.0 is way too low for an overall, barring extremely good recs from nobel prize winners or what not.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that's true, it seems to me plenty of people, not just in graduate admissions but undergrad to some degree as well, are rather lopsided. I'm not an admissions officer, far from it in fact, but I'd imagine if I'm recruiting for my theoretical math department, it wouldn't bother me too much if the applicant didn't do well in advanced poetry, i might just wonder why they took it lol</p>
<p>Is a 3.0 cumulative bad even if the average at your school is 2.8?</p>
<p>merper, at my school a major is usually 1/3 of your total credits, perhaps a little more, not near 1/2 though. I'm not talking about engineering where the major takes over your entire academic life. Specifically, I'm majoring in linguistics from a school that offers the program as an interdisciplinary major English/Anthropology. Despite the fact there is no Linguistics Department, I believe the education I'm getting is very good even though not much research is available to be involved in.</p>