<p>I spent junior year doing study abroad, and spent more time on the abroad part than the studying one. So, the grades were bad (GPA equivalent for the year would have been about a 3.0). My school doesn't count study abroad grades into my GPA, so that's still stellar (3.92), but I'm worried about these study abroad grades. Are they going to kill me in applying to grad school (specifically PhD in political science)?</p>
<p>A 3.0 is still ‘okay’ so it is probably no big deal just for the one term/year. But you are usually asked to self-report your overall GPA & your GPA in your major, so if those marks show on your university transcript you would need to include them in the math. I am not sure whether they would condone or ever offer a place for in country and out of country GPA!</p>
<p>it may also depend upon what courses you took in your year abroad. if they’re really essential/foundational courses for your major, that could hurt. if the bulk of the upper level courses on your transcript were in that semester, it could hurt. but other than that, it shouldn’t ruin you too much. i don’t think study abroad grades are valued particularly critically because 1) schools assume the student is going abroad for reasons other than sitting in a library in another country, and 2) sometimes the foreign institution doesn’t grade as rigorously as the home school or vice versa.</p>
<p>I think that although a good grade on the course will be helpful for you, studying abroad itself will look good on a graduate school application.</p>