<p>Hey all! I'm a junior in university and i really need to know what do grad schools look at when you apply to them?? I mean i know they look at grades but how high do your grades have to be???
Also, If you did a minor and you decided you wanted to follow through with it, will a grad school accept you into this minor?!?!
Please help ASAP!! I'm making a decision based on this information!! I need it badly! Any help is appreciated!!</p>
<p>Funny,</p>
<p>There are no "minors" in grad school really. At least not in the undergraduate sense. But doing a minor as an undergrad can be both fulfilling and useful in making you seem well-rounded.</p>
<p>As far as what a school looks for it really depends on the program. What are you interested in?</p>
<p>Actually, U of Arizona has PhD. minors which is 12 hours of graduate-level courses in the minor, and you will have an advisor in that dept. who will serve on the panel at your defense, since your dissertation must encompass your major and minor.</p>
<p>Huh. I stand corrected. I had never heard of a school offering such a thing.</p>
<p>Funny28 - typically, the minimum GPA is 3.0. You will also likely need to take the GRE. You will need three recs. from professors who know your work, a writing sample, and a "statement of purpose". Depending on the field, they will expect a certain minimum level of preparation. </p>
<p>Many undergrads overfocus on the GRE - it is really about 4th after GPA, writing sample/SOP and recs. However - in many schools it will be a deciding factor in university wide fellowships so you do want to do as well as possible. Just don't sweat it for admission.</p>
<p>When you get back to school start talking to your academic advisor(s) and the profs in your upper level major classes. They will know what's happening in your field and will probably know many of the profs who will be reading your applications. Your school may also have a specialized advising office for grad school applicants.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I suggest that you begin looking into what subject you plan to pursue and whether you will be working towards a Master's or a PhD, where applying for Master's program is much easier.
As far as GPA, like WilliamC says, the 3.0 GPA is the minimum for virtually all graduate schools though there may be some who may look past it if you seem strong in other areas. However, many schools look only at your last 60hours, which is your Junior and Senior year, so if you can get stellar grades starting now until graduation, it will help your application. If you plan to apply to very competitive programs, you will need a very competitive GPA and GRE scores. </p>
<p>Your statement of purpose and your LOR's are vital to your applications, so I would start your SOP now, so that your advisor or other professors look over it, or give you ideas, also, some schools require different things in your SOP, so if you start researching your potential schools now, you can start tailoring it to each program. </p>
<p>I'm not sure if I'm understanding your last question correctly, do you plan to pursue a degree in your minor or do you want a graduate minor?</p>
<p>I don't know if you've been to livejournal.com, but there is a community called applyingtograd which helped me when I was applying to PhD programs in Applied Math.</p>
<p>what is your major/minor, and what do you want to study in grad school? Knowing that would help answering your questions.</p>
<p>Caltech has minors.</p>
<p>Hello again. I'm majoring in Biology and i plan to minor in Psychology. This fall will be my 3rd semester at university. What i was worried about was that if i ended up liking psychology more than biology as a future career, is it okay if i applied to grad school to get a degree in psychology??I mean is it possible to pursue a grad school degree in a subject you didn't major in as an undergraduate??
Thanks a lot to all of you. i really appreciate the help.</p>
<p>It's possible, such as U of Arizona, also I'm sorry to keep using this school as an example but it is the school I go to, but for their psychology PhD, they have a list of required classes such as :</p>
<p>Introduction to Psychology, Statistics, Research Methods, Abnormal Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Personality, and Social Psychology</p>
<p>that you must have completed if you don't have a B.S. in psychology, so I would start researching your intended schools and the course requirements, however some don't require the required courses but only that you show your ability to pursue a graduate degree in Psychology. Some programs also require the Psychology subject test so you may want to start preparing for that since you aren't doing a major in psychology. But the answer to your question is you can definitely get a graduate degree in your minor.</p>
<p>Well why don't you take some more courses and see what you like. You can always change your major by take additional courses. Or you could double major.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hello again. I'm majoring in Biology and i plan to minor in Psychology. This fall will be my 3rd semester at university. What i was worried about was that if i ended up liking psychology more than biology as a future career, is it okay if i applied to grad school to get a degree in psychology??I mean is it possible to pursue a grad school degree in a subject you didn't major in as an undergraduate??
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sure, why not? Plenty of people have done just that. For example, take Vernon Smith. He got his BS in EE from Caltech. He then got a PhD in Economics from Harvard. He then later went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for his work on behavorial experimental economics. It's not clear to me what exactly behavorial economics has to do with electrical engineering. Or take Robert Engle. He got his BS in Physics from Williams, and his MS in Physics from Cornell, and then followed that up with a PhD in Economics from Cornell. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2003. </p>
<p>Just in my circle of friends, I know people who have switched from undergrad to grad in the following disciplines: ME to EECS, ChemE to EECS, physics to MatSci, MatSci to BioE, and in a rather extreme case, Biology to Civil Engineering.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Many undergrads overfocus on the GRE - it is really about 4th after GPA, writing sample/SOP and recs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would actually say that rec's are probably #1. If you have some widely respected profs endorsing you, you will be able to get into many top schools even if you have mediocre grades. For example, I know a guy who got about a 2.9/4 GPA at MIT, but nevertheless was able to get admitted to many of the top PhD programs, including MIT itself, mostly because he had strong endorsements from several MIT profs. On the other hand, even if you have stellar grades and everything else, if your rec's are bad or even lukewarm, you will have difficulty getting into any decent program.</p>
<p>
[quote]
what do grad schools look at when you apply to them?? I mean i know they look at grades but how high do your grades have to be
[/quote]
</p>
<p>For PhD programs, rec's are probably the most important consideration of all. Research experience, and especially publication, is also a big plus, although it isn't strictly necessary to get in (some people can get in without it). Then of course there are your grades, your test scores, your SOP, and your interview.</p>
<p>sakky,</p>
<p>LoRs can be a bit of a wildcard. It sorta depends on who you can get for them. If they're the sorta typical, "he's great and really has a good work ethic" sorta letters, then I'd put them in 2nd or 3rd behind GPA and relevant experience. If they're AWFUL, then they become important. If they're AMAZING, then they become important. My experiences with academic graduate admissions is that they're much less formulaic about things than say...med school or law school.</p>
<p>What I will say is this. Grad-school admissions seem to be far more likely to actually CHECK your references more so than, say, undergrad adcoms or professional school adcoms will. For example, many (probably most) of the top PhD programs actually make it a policy to call one or more of your references who submitted letters, especially your academic references (granted, they are unlikely to check references coming from professional sources, but they are also unlikely to weight them much). So if you do get one of those typical LOR's, then when they come calling, they are going to want to find out whether they really do think you are amazing, or are just lukewarm about you (or actually think you're awful).</p>
<p>Sakky~ thanks for all the info..it helped, specially the examples!
Thanks to everyone else as well. I guess i'm going to keep an open mind and keep my options open. Time will tell:)</p>
<p>sakky,</p>
<p>That's true. But just based on what I've been told, the typical reference usually doesn't get much thought past, "Oh, he's not an idiot."</p>
<p>I agree. But, again, that's where the phone call comes in. When they check your reference, you don't want the guy to hesitate to give you a good word. And believe me the programs are looking for that moment of hesitation. For example, they're going to ask your recommender whether they should really admit you, and if the answer starts off with "Well...", then you're dead.</p>