Importance of the GPA for Admission

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I was wondering if anybody knows how colleges tend to look at a student's GPA and how they might calculate them or take them into consideration during the application process.</p>

<p>The reason I am asking is that I would like to apply for Grad School doing a Master of Arts, most likely in Journalism, though I may also go down the Communications path or perhaps even continue on with Films and Media Studies (undecided as of yet). I am currently completing a conjoint BA/Bcom majoring in Film & Media Studies for my BA and marketing for the Bcom.</p>

<p>However, I see that most applications want you to send a copy of your official transcript, and from this they can see the GPA.</p>

<p>My concern is that I have a somewhat average GPA of a B+ because in my undergrad BA, I majored in Film and Media Studies, but made a poor choice to take quite a few psychology papers as well.</p>

<p>In all of my Film papers, especially 3rd and 4th year papers, i have got a mixture of A+, As and an A-.
The problem I am running into, is that these grades have been tarnished by my Psych papers where I generally have grades of B, B- and even a devastating C- due to one particularly challenging paper. </p>

<p>Do you think when looking at the transcript, they will take more consideration of the fact that I have As in my major of Film, which is also the more relevant subject to the graduate programs I am applying?
Or have my disappointing grades from Psych papers ruined any chance I have at getting into a good grad school?</p>

<p>PLEASE can anyone offer me some advice!!</p>

<p>I am also an international student, just in case that also may make a difference to my chances.</p>

<p>Hope someone can share their opinion who knows a bit more about how admission goes for grad schools in the US.</p>

<p>Thank you!!</p>

<p>Also, unsure exactly which Universities I am going to apply for, since I haven't decided yet which path to take, but probably schools along the lines of Northwestern, NYU, UCLA etc. maybe Columbia or Stanford, but pretty sure those would be an extremely long shot. </p>

<p>I am also aware that the writing samples, recommendations, personal life experiences such as work and travel, and the personal statement are also going to be making a big impact, but I feel like the GPA is the one thing that could be letting me down more than the other areas.</p>

<p>My current job, (which is a paid internship I managed to score through a University paper where only one person in the class of 150 was selected), I am in charge of writing all their online content and running a blog for the company and also in charge of the company staff magazine. I have also written for my University magazine. </p>

<p>I am very well traveled as I have been to the United Kingdom, through Western and Eastern Europe, Beijing in China, Tibet and Nepal, traveled to LA and NYC in the States, around South America and then through parts of Central America and have also been to South Africa and Australia. </p>

<p>I just want to put down the facts of my position and trying to figure out whether I would ever be able to get into Grad School in America as it is my dream to live in the States.</p>

<p>I also would be able to pay for the University fees myself so would not need any financial aid or assistance - does this also help my chances? Please any advice is welcome!</p>

<p>Note: I also posted this thread in the International Student forum, wasn't sure which area was better to post.</p>

<p>But please can anyone with some knowledge of American Universities and the Grad School admission process give me any kind of insight as to my chances.</p>

2

<p>GPA matters a great deal when apply to prestigious grad programs, especially when you are taking a fairly easy major in which a GPA is expected to me much higher than what you have. But your work experience, EC’s, etc…do matter a lot as well.</p>

3

<p>ahh this is so worrying! Will my A grades in Media Studies help me at all?
I looked at NYU and it said you needed at least a B GPA average to get into their grad school?</p>

4

<p>Yeah, it is worth applying and if the other parts of your app are really strong, then you don’t have to worry a great deal. If you were trying for a med school I would say just end your dream right now, but since you are applying for a masters in journalism/communication, you can make up for the GPA deficit.</p>

5

<p>Oh yeah, would definitely never in a million years want to be a doctor!!!
I was definitely born with a creative brain (poor decision to take Psych classes because when I started out University, I really wanted to head down the marketing career path and thought Psychology would be a complementary major in my BA, but soon found out that it is just not the subject for me, but for some stupid reason, instead of changing to a different minor that I know I would have excelled at (eg. English or Art History etc.), I kept taking Psych papers hoping they would improve and it never did. </p>

<p>What do you think about universities like NYU posting on their sites that a person needs a B GPA? Is this just to try lull people into a false sense of security, when the reality is they need a much higher GPA or do you think the need for a lower GPA means they are a school who would care more about the applicants writing samples, personal statement, ECs etc.etc.</p>

6

<p>Also thanks so much for replying to my post! I’m from New Zealand and the entire University process is just so different over here. I attend the University of Auckland and think it is a great school, really love it, but we don’t have anything like the intense selection process that American high school students undertake, so not used to the intense competitive atmosphere!! </p>

<p>I have heard though that apparently international students are generally desired at overseas universities, is this true? Could that help my chances based on bringing some kind of diversity to the table? Also due to the ability to afford tuition, I’ve heard that it makes it easier for US colleges to accept you if they know you can pay for the education without needing financial aid, don’t know whether this is based on truth or just a rumour which circulates?</p>

7

<p>Internationals actually have a harder time getting accepted to american universities for some reason. For most schools, asking for financial aid won’t really hurt, but not asking for it may actually help. There is no quantitative data on this subject though so this just maybe speculation (talking about FA)</p>

8

<p>Really?? I thought that might have only applied to Undergraduate students. Sigh, why do these Universities post on their sites how much they want to have international students, and then simply not accept them! Though NYU (my first choice I’d like to attend) said their Graduate School of Arts and Science (which is where I would be applying) has 40-45% of their student body made up of international students, so perhaps they are particularly keen on accepting people from other countries in comparison to some other American Universities??</p>

9

<p>^ That may very well be true, and Graduate programs do tend to have less bias towards internationals than undergraduate programs do.</p>