Need to know the best way forward!

Parents Forum
1

<p>I find the advice of the parents in this forum as extremely well informed and helpful, to say the least! </p>

<p>My daughter will be graduating next year from one of the leading public universities, majoring in Economics and Foreign Affairs. Her GPA is very average 3.1/3.2. Her dream of getting into the Ph.D track seems to be buried for the time being. She wants to go for a Graduate Degree and still not able to reconcile with the fact that her GPA is not going to support her. In the process, she is confused about what to do now? She is preparing for the GRE. </p>

<p>I would be glad if other parents could help me with their recommendation. Thanking all of you in advance.</p>

2

<p>Well it’s either graduate school or a job, right? Shouldn’t she be pursuing both?</p>

3

<p>What does she want to do for career someday?</p>

4

<p>I see two possible paths forward to get into the PhD program she desires:</p>

<ol>
<li> Get a job doing some sort of research in the same or related field she wants to study in grad school. Then a record of success after 2 or 3 years of that will help overcome the smudge on her record that is her grades.</li>
</ol>

<p>2, Apply to the Masters program in the same department in which she wants to earn her PhD. Masters programs are often easier to get into. Then go there and impress the profs for a year or two and then apply to transfer from the masters to the doctoral program. If the department likes you, and you are already there, it would be very easy to change programs.</p>

5

<p>I agree, look for a job and look for a Master’s program and cross bridges when she gets to them.</p>

6

<p>I think her grades in her major are more important than her overall GPA for grad school.</p>

7

<p>Wordtu
There’s many reasons for a “low” gpa–perhaps the student started in Engineering which has a very low gpa – average is below 3.0. By comparison standards, external scholarships in engineering require 3.0 some even 2.7 gpa in contrast to other fields with more widespread appeal having gpas of 3.5 for scholarship consideration. </p>

<p>Some students have a rough freshman year and it takes a long time to bring a gpa back over 3.0.</p>

<p>RINTO
Is the gpa higher if calculated without freshman year? That can be a serious push to an application! If she’s had two years of 3.4+ could still be a viable applicant.</p>

<p>Trying to find a job with a 3.1 isn’t going to be easy either. </p>

<p>Females in economics PhD programs less rare and so don’t rule out a second tier program if that is something she’ll consider. Many excellent schools to attend. Pick up a Masters and transfer to stronger school later always an option.</p>

<p>Also, look at the current school-- many have “accelerated” degree programs for in-house students with far less stringent application requirements.</p>

<p>Post in the Graduate School forum- might get more advice there.</p>

8

<p>3.0+ from a top university might not look that bad with excellent GRE scores–prep hard.
Many grad programs aren’t that competitive. Still worth a shot. Getting into a masters program is a good idea.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Maybe I don’t live in the real world, but I have been on several search committees and we would not disqualify a candidate with a 3.1 GPA. In fact, while we require transcripts, we only look at grades in particular subjects if they pertain to the job, such as computer technical skills and/or and english/communication.</p>

10

<p>My 2 cents worth: Don’t know about grad schools, but in private industry (where I have always been) I would calculate an applicant’s GPA in just the classes that applied to the position. </p>

<p>I would also track the GPA by quarter/semester to see if it was going up or down or constant. I usually found those whose GPAs were upward trending did best on the job. To me, it indicated that they liked their field of choice and “got” the subject matter as the subject matter got more difficult. Would assume that a grad school would have the same considerations.</p>

11

<p>FWIW: when our son was interviewing for jobs, in admittedly a different field, some employers had a cutoff of 3.6 GPA for interviews. So it can matter. But I don’t know if our son’s experience is applicable her.</p>

12

<p>As with most ‘grad school questions’ it is hard to answer without knowing more specifics (but of course its understandable if one doesn’t want to share them on here either- fields are often small). But it all depends. It depends on one’s major, one’s field of interest, and what calibre of school one is applying to. It depends on where the weak spots are on one’s academic record (as they relate to the graduate degree) and it depends too on the rest of the package- especially gre scores, letters of rec, research.</p>

<p>In my field and in the schools I have worked (and have probably served on 20 or so grad selection committees), we would not look at someone with a 3.1 (and no amount of research or work experience would reduce that big factor). However, I can easily imagine that in other fields and/or schools, the answer could be quite different. </p>

<p>I would also like to reiterate that if she has a PhD in mind, she should have already been working with faculty during her undergrad, to get research experience and to know if she would even enjoy it or be good at it. And the faculty she is working with can probably give her the best advice (far more than we can).</p>

13

<p>I don’t think people should continue with higher education unless there is a real good reason for it. It shouldn’t be because they don’t know what else to do. Sometimes it is harder to get a job when someone has too advanced degree. It is why I asked what she wants to have as a career someday.</p>

14

<p>The MA route seems to be the best way to go. Apply to several places-- not all out of reach-- so that you have a better chance. Also consider waiting a year to apply so that the spring grades become a factor (assuming they will bring up the GPA). I’m wondering if it would be good to take off a year or two. Some people do much better in grad school after being out of school a bit.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for sharing your thoughts and possible solutions. </p>

<p>She is trying,desperately,for a job. In the current scenario, getting a job, right after undergrad with vey average GPA seems to be a tough call. Yes, she is preparing for her GRE and she is aware of the fact that a good score, to a certain extent, will mitigate the current problem. </p>

<p>MA as an option? If she does it from one of the relatively less kown Public Universities, will it enhance her job prospect or getting into Ph.D track, a year later? I have considered it as the last option. Also, full funding of the course will be an issue! </p>

<p>GAP year - yes, she could prepare herself for GRE as well as GMAT, and hopefully, with dedicated preparation for the standardized tests, she will be able to get good score. However, she is not keen as she perceives it as ‘being idle at home and a burden on the parents’. </p>

<p>With regard to her GPA, she has weak scores in the courses loaded with quantative side of the Economics and therefore, getting into jobs in the field of Finance and Accounting seems to be very difficult. She has distinct strenths in oral and written communication, very smart in presenting her thoughts, unfortunately, her GPA is not supporting her to get interview calls from the major emloyers, in the campus, like the Big Accounting Firms, IB, Consulting Firms. </p>

<p>She is extremely good in her written and oral communication. Earlier, we thought she would be a good fit to the Law Colleges. Now, with 3.1 GPA that route is ruled out. </p>

<p>I am trying to figure out how best to guide her? Your replies and suggetions are great.</p>

16

<p>Her GPA is not going to matter that much after first few jobs. I would suggest for you to pull some connections in trying to get her that first job. 3.1 GPA really isn’t that bad in getting a job. I met a friend of D1 from her school, an engineering major, with below 3.0 GPA (too much partying freshman year), has a job offer from a major consulting firm in DC. He got the internship a year ago because his friend referred him, and they just happened to have an opening. They loved him because of his work and offered him a job after graduation.</p>

17

<p>Accounting and consulting firms want quantitative people, so it doesn’t surprise me that they pass over your daughter. People with strong oral and communicative skills are still very valuable and successful in business, especially on the marketing and sales sides.
If she were my kid I’d encourage her to find a job that uses her strengths- look for people oriented positions rather than research and quantitative ones. I agree with others that the PhD track probably isn’t right for her ( based on the little you have shared) as schools generally only take students they can fully fund, and of course, have their pick from many with much higher stats than your daughter. They are also very research oriented, not people oriented.
A Masters degree, from a state university could be helpful getting a job, and possibly a PhD later, although I’m less confident about the doctorate. Why would she want a doctorate degree? You don’t really say what she wants to do with it.</p>

<p>And yes, the Masters would be on her dime (or yours) unless she could find an employer who would help out. It might be worth it, though, especially if she did well, as this is the gpa that employers would see in the future. For business, I tend to think an MA (or MBA) is as useful as a PhD unless you are planning to be an analyst or go into research.</p>

18

<p>Thanks. I think your suggestions and that of Oldfort are indeed in line with my current thinking. Let us hope for the best!</p>

19

<p>Just a thought - is she looking for a PHD in Economics specifically? This typically requires a lot of math and if that is not her favorite/strongest subject maybe a different area of study would be more appropriate. Most undergraduate degrees in Econ do not require that math needed to apply directly to a PHD program in econ. Here are a couple of links describing the requirements at different colleges </p>

<p>[University</a> of Chicago: Department of Economics](<a href=“http://economics.uchicago.edu/graduate_apply.shtml]University”>http://economics.uchicago.edu/graduate_apply.shtml)</p>

<p>[Becoming</a> An Economist - Advice for getting into a well ranked economics PhD program](<a href=“http://www.chrissilvey.com/advice.html]Becoming”>http://www.chrissilvey.com/advice.html)</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

20

<p>Thank you for providing me with the links. I have gone through them and they are really very informative.</p>