Really Bad GPA while studying abroad (Semester Abroad)

Graduate School
1

I have been in a dilemma for the past few weeks and it’s really bothering me and I thought maybe you guys could help.

I’ll be applying for grad school in like 15 days (Gave my GRE, TOEFL etc.). During my semester abroad at UW Madison, I focused on taking very hard classes which interested me. Also, I got myself involved in a lot of extra curricular’s and getting to know the American culture and people more.

As a consequence of doing an eclectic variety of stuff in my semester abroad, I unfortunately got a low GPA of 2.7/4. It got converted back to my Universities system and my GPA is around 3.4/4 now.

But when applying for Grad school it asks even for Semester abroad education and I’m worried it might completely hamper my chances and impact my profile negatively (Meaning it would be even worse than a student who did not attend a semester abroad)
I’m so confused as to what to do.

  1. When it asks for a semester abroad transcript, can I attach my home university's transcript for Semester abroad (It mentions that equivalent courses completed at UW Madison) or do I show the UW - Madison transcript
  2. Would universities understand that it might be that I was doing a lot of stuff which might have affected my GPA negatively.

The grades got converted to my University’s system (Upgraded) and also counts towards my final GPA.

Will the study abroad term Grades hamper my chances drastically so as to lead to rejection.

2
  1. Depends on the graduate school. If they are asking for transcripts from all schools, then you may need to send the UW-Madison one. Some graduate programs will accept the transcript from your home school as long as it has the original grades on it from the study abroad. Follow the instructions in the application; if you aren't sure, call the admissions office, or send both.
  2. Universities always know that students may end up doing "a lot of stuff" which can impact their grades, no matter where in the world they are. However, they tend to be unsympathetic to that argument, since there are many students who do "a lot of stuff" and still manage to get good grades. One of the most important things you learn in college is how to balance your activities and interests with your academic work, so you can do well. In graduate school, that's even more important, and graduate schools use your undergraduate performance to understand whether you are prepared to do that at a higher level.

So yeah, your study abroad term grades will probably negatively affect your application. Will you get rejected because of them? There’s really no way to tell without applying. Admissions are holistic and take into account your entire application, not just the grades from a single semester.