<p>I just saw my official transcript for the first time and realized that it doesn't show my major GPA. Is this the norm?
I would think this would be shown, but surprisingly it isn't.</p>
<p>It’s the norm. It’s also the norm for graduate programs to look primarily at your overall GPA. They may take a look at grades in specific classes, but often the overall GPA is what matters.</p>
<p>That’s strange. I’ve heard the exact opposite: That grad programs care about your major GPA more as grad schools care only about about areas relevant to your major.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten the impression that they don’t do through with a fine-tooth comb and separate out what was a major requirement and what wasn’t, but more generally they look at how you’ve done in relevant coursework. For examle, linear algebra isn’t required for my neuroscience major, but doing well/poorly in that will have a greater impact on my application than how I did in my history course.</p>
<p>Grad programs care about BOTH your cumulative AND your major GPA. For some programs the major GPA may matter more (like academic MAs and PhDs) and for others, your cumulative may be what they’re interested in (like professional programs such as MBAs and MPHs). But generally speaking graduate programs are interested in how you do in all of your classes, because doing well overall shows that you’re able to work hard even when something isn’t directly relevant to you.</p>
<p>And I got the same impression as nanotechnology. Some schools will ask you to compute your major GPA or will compute it themselves, but other programs just look more generally at what you did in your major classes or relevant classes (like linear algebra for any field that uses statistical and/or computational analysis).</p>
<p>A lot of departments who care about their rankings will look at overall GPA, since that’s what goes into rankings, even in PhD programs. Especially since there are more and more qualified applicants to choose from these days, so they can pick someone with a high overall GPA who also has good grades in major. They don’t have to choose between one or the other. And yes, as juillet said, your overall GPA is an indicator of your persistence and work ethic, both of which are extremely important for a PhD program.</p>
<p>Certainly having good grades in your major helps, but it’s only going to ameliorate a mediocre overall GPA, not completely wipe it out.</p>