EDIT: I noticed I may have posted in the wrong section.
EDIT2: My high school GPA was a 4.0, and I obtained multiple course excellence awards, meaning that I achieved the highest gpa in that course out of everyone in my grade. Funny how times have changed. Don’t choose the physics program if you’re not 100% passionate about it everyone.
Hey guys, first of all, thank you for taking the time to read through this and any constructive advice is welcome!
I graduated with a BSc in Physics in a top university in Canada. My gpa really isn’t that great, about a 2.3 on a 4.0 gpa scale.
However I really want to pursue further education as I feel that a Bachelor’s degree is not enough. I do have work experience already, I was able to secure a data analysis job right out of school which I’m really grateful for.
I wasn’t planning to apply to some top school to do my masters and really just want to find a mediocre US school to do an online master’s program for data science (related to my current job but another level up), preferably part time while I work full time. By mediocre, I also don’t want schools that have such terrible rankings that an education from them is useless.
I’ve done my research and found about 30 online programs that various universities offer but I wonder what my chances are in terms of admissions if my GPA is so low.
I’m not sure those Data Science online programs are that hard to get into. About 6 of these programs email me all the time since I once sent an inquiry to one school. Those online masters programs are basically moneymakers for the universities. I think you can get in, especially if you explain the grade deflation at Canadian top universities…perhaps look at the average GPA or ask a counselor there, so it puts the 2.3 in persepective.
Perhaps take the GRE so they can see some high test scores that will show them you have the brainpower to do the work (look into whether they take GRE).
Thanks, I looked at my gpa again, and for my 3rd and 4th year, it’s 2.7 (a little higher but not by much). I usually don’t look at online master’s too well, but I thought since I have working experience already, the school probably won’t matter as much since I have no plans to pursue a PhD.
Definitely aiming for high grades on the GRE, thanks!
What online programs are you looking at? If they are for profit online only colleges you would pretty much guaranteed admission and it would be a waste of time and money. If it is a brick and mortar college offering these online programs that is a different story.
There’s actually quite a few that I’ve been eyeing. Ones that I want to apply to:
- Syracuse (heard it’s a recognized school but it’s also not a top school, im okay with that)
- UC Berkeley (This one is apparently really good, hard to get in, I dont have high hopes but gonna give it a try)
- Rochester Institute of Tech (similar to Syracuse)
- University of Notre Dame (Good school, didn’t mention any requirements about gpa)
- Illinois Institute of Tech (I think it has a minimum requirement of 3.0)
- and all the UC universities (those are also hard to get into)
Schools I know that’s a complete waste of money
- City University of New York (CUNY)
- Bellevue University
- and a few more
CUNY is a large public university. Why are you dismissing it?
I’m dismissing it because I was interested at first but then heard from people who has went into their graduate programs and said that it was a waste of time and did not help with job search
Edit: Maybe I’m just misinformed
The schools on your first list are all good schools. They are well regarded in the US. The ‘elite’ American universities offer little or nothing in the way of online graduate degree programs.
Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind 