<p>My cumulative GPA is 2.98 but I would really love to go to graduate school, but as you can see my GPA is low. My major GPA is only slightly higher at 3.2. So my question is if there is a chance to get accepted into a grad program? The problem is that I will need some financial aid since I am an international student (though I got my undergrad degree in Geology from a US University) whose currency is real low. So that means despite working I don't have enough money. My target schools are in the US and Canada. </p>
<p>Things that are in my favor:</p>
<p>I did do 3 semesters of independent research although one ended in a disaster.</p>
<p>I also had 2 summer research internships at schools other than my college. </p>
<p>My letters of recommendation should be descent (since I asked the profs where I got the best grades and 2 I did research with) </p>
<p>I am working on a project proposal which I intend to get done by October when I begin submitting my grad schools applications. </p>
<p>What I am wondering is if these things give me a chance??? My GPA is just so low... :( I have a great idea for my project, but I am so worried about my B/B+ major grades. :( </p>
<p>Also any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you! :)</p>
<p>You need to get your GPA above 3.0 to have a serious chance at a funded admission anywhere.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to take a gap year - do not apply for 2012 admission. Work your tail off in your senior year, and that sort of improvement trend will seriously help your application.</p>
<p>One thing that could work in your favor is that many grad schools only look at the last 60 hours. Mine actually would only look at the last 60 so it brought my GPA down some.</p>
<p>I agree with Polarscribe: wait a year. Students who have shaky grades for more than their first year but who have a strong upward trend benefit greatly from programs being able to see their whole transcripts, through graduation. Besides, graduate school applications take a lot of time, and trying to take classes while applying can be difficult. You absolutely must show a solid upward trend on your transcripts for them to take a chance on you. Right now, your GPA is too low for a PhD program, and they are the ones likely to fund you. Some master’s programs give limited funding to their best candidates, but your GPA will probably take you out of the running for such aid. The magic number for most funded programs is a 3.0 or better, with an unstated rule of doing better than that in courses relevant to the field.</p>
<p>Another reason for delaying: graduate programs see only your undergraduate record up to the time you apply – around November or December for most, although some have January deadlines. If your programs have fall deadlines, they won’t see any of your senior grades, not even the fall ones. </p>
<p>I know that international students at US universities are under more pressure to apply right out of undergraduate because otherwise they cannot stay in the country. Check with the offices that support international students at your university. See if you can possibly get a professor to hire you as a researcher or if you can secure a related position in your home country. Or maybe you can get a master’s at home.</p>
<p>First of all, sorry to dig up this old post. </p>
<p>As Momwaitingfornew stated, international students are most likely forced to leave the us after their undergraduate, and I am having exactly the same problem. I should have made up my mind and started my application for grad schools during my senior year but I did not because I needed some time to consider my options. </p>
<p>I graduated this May and I am going to take the GRE test some time next month. I have been looking for a job but it is very unlikely to happen and I will have to go back to my country some time in september. Probably I will complete my applications to various schools in my country. What is concerning me at the moment is that does it make a different if my application was sent from the us, or from my country? what i mean is that does it affect the decision of the admission commitees if my application was sent from other country? Or in other words, does it affect the decision making when the applicant isn’t currently in the us. Note that I pursued my undergraduate in the us. </p>
<p>I believe its somehow harder for an international student to get accepted into a graduate program (due to funding issues because international/non resident students are bound to pay a higher amount of tuition fees). This is why I feel like I am taking quite a risk and it is kind of a big decision for me to go back to my country because I would really like to achieve more in the us.</p>
<p>You should have started a new thread because your question really has nothing to do with the old one.</p>
<p>Where your application is submitted from makes no difference. It’s your country of citizenship that makes a difference, and that’s not going to be any different whether you mailed it from the US or your home country.</p>
<p>That’s what I was thinking. I know some people at rank ~100 CS graduate (Master’s) programs that did not have a 3.0+ GPA for their BS Computer Science. Oddly enough, these programs stated that a 3.0+ GPA was required for admissions for the MS Computer Science program.</p>
<p>The admissions criteria for a rank ~100 school must be VASTLY different for a top 10 school. As for most federal government hiring, the rank does not matter as long as the program is accredited.</p>
<p>Many employers have “relationships” with certain universities, especially for the non-funded part-time programs. Here at the “No Such Agency”, John Hopkins University is used by many for their M.S. programs. U-Maryland College Park SPECIFICALLY SAYS “No GRE required” and “Students under a 3.0 are still encouraged to apply”. </p>
<p>Some people forget that colleges/universities are a business. Since funded programs cost the universities, to reduce their “risk”, they admit the candidates with the best academic credetials. Part-time programs are not funded, therefore less risk to the university therefore they can admit that 2.5 student on a provisional basis. All that provisionally admitted student has to do is complete 3 graduate courses with a 3.5 GPA and they are fully admitted. Just think, if a grad completes 9 credits of a 30-credit M.S. program (usually the case in engineering and hard sciences), that’s 1/3 of the program. What university is going to turn down students with pre-paid money from employers and who are acing the program??</p>
<p>For many working engineers and scientists, many grad programs consists of “grad versions” of courses they already had as an undergrad. That “2nd chance” makes is very possible to get that 3.5+ GPA and get admitted fully to the graduate program.</p>
<p>I know. I am living proof.</p>
<p>Note: Now the Top-10 schools are not as flexible. I know for a fact that Columbia basically said in laymen’s terms, “we don’t care if you complete our graduate certificate with a 3.5+ GPA. We still won’t guarantee that you will be admitted”. But hey, for most technical employers, all they care about is B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S. and M.Eng., so going to a Top-100 not in the Top-10 is all good.</p>
<p>I can verify what you have said. It’s 100% accurate for those who work for the federal government or for government contractors. ;)</p>
<p>I went to Rutgers for a BS Computer Science. I was researching the curriculum of the MS Computer Science programs at Rutgers - Camden, Rutgers - Newark, or NJIT and they seem like a completely re-hash of the CS classes I took for undergrad. I’m aware these certainly aren’t top notch programs, but I’m only interested in a terminal Master’s.</p>
<p>Also, being a member of the NJ National Guard has it’s benefits. All public universities are free based on state law:
-Unlimited number of degrees (undergrad, grad degrees, professional degrees, etc.)
-Unlimited number of credits
-Unlimited number of semesters</p>
<p>Have you got into any grad school yet? I am facing the same dilemma as you do. I am a junior international student with 2.94 GPA in math major. And I don’t have much work experience like yours. Maybe you can tell me how you doing now?</p>