(Psych major here, if that makes a difference.) Is it true that grad schools will consider your major GPA in addition to just your overall GPA? Frankly, the difference is minuscule right now–the former is 3.01 while the latter is 2.97. And also, I’m going to be a senior in the fall so that 2.97 definitely won’t change much. But will it help if I do really well in the four psych classes I take this coming semester?
The biggest pitfalls to my GPA were a 200-level Soc class that I foolishly took in my first semester of college, an Intro to Chemistry class that I took to fulfill my science requirement, and two Neuroscience classes–only one of which I needed to graduate. Everything else is at least a B-minus.
The thing is, though, I want to be a therapist. Those Neuro classes are what brought my major GPA down, but will any grad schools see my transcript and take into consideration the fact that Neuroscience really isn’t what I want to do?
Yes, it is true that schools will do that. They can take into account a discrepancy between major GPA and cumulative - like maybe you have a cumulative 3.1 GPA but your major GPA is a 3.67 because you were a physics major early in college and didn’t do well in those classes before switching, or because you were pre-med and dropped it, or whatever.
But do keep in mind that grad programs don’t necessarily completely disregard the other grades, and some programs or professors might take them into account more than others depending on what the coursework is. For example, while psychology GPA is important, some programs may include neuroscience classes into that or mentally weight those higher than if you, say, didn’t do well in chemistry or English. Other programs really care a lot about both, because they want students who are all-around strong and do well even if they have to take classes in things they aren’t particularly interested in.
That makes sense. Unfortunately my GPA from semester to semester hasn’t exactly shown improvement. I went from a 2.3 to a 3.6 between fall and spring of freshman year, but that steadily decreased over the next three semesters. My GPA in the spring of junior year was higher than the one in the fall, but it still fell short of 3.0 (and it was also the first semester in which I didn’t get any A’s).
Do you think it’s too late to make a change? It’s really hard to find grad programs for psych (particularly counseling) that accept people with less than a 3.0, and it’s frustrating because I’m so, so close to that.