So to say that my first couple years worth of classes and attempts aren’t great is an understatement. My last 60 are near perfect. I know that some schools mention that they focus more on gpa and grades from your last 60 credits. I’m hoping to find some schools like this, does anyone know of any? Or were you in a similar situation? What schools did you end up applying to? Thanks for your help!
I would say that all schools do this to some degree. The key is whether your application is strong enough to get through the initial cut and to get a full review. At the most selective programs, this might be a challenge if your overall GPA is not great. A less selective program will have the luxury to look at all applications fully and then your last 60 hours will stand out.
I suggest, you look into the schools you would like to attend and select a range of programs to make sure you have at least one you are pretty sure that will admit you and all of which you would be happy to attend. This will give you the best options.
Thanks for the advice. Thankfully my overall gpa is pretty good despite the initial years. I’m worried that those first couple years of grades will really hurt me though during the application process. If I have great references and a strong personal statement and my overall gpa and gre scores are good do you think it’s going to really hurt my chances?
It depends on how bad your grades were and what classes you took during those first two years, as well as how high the upward swing is now. It would be worse if you didn’t do well in some foundational classes for the field during those first two years than if you just didn’t do well in a bunch of general education classes, but depending on the strength of the rest of your application a program might still admit you.
They were pretty bad, and for the most part in general education courses in the first year or two. Since then my grades have been almost perfect and I am doing my best to get put together a good well rounded resume and application. Does any one have any suggestions for schools that place more weight on the last 60 credits?
You have not mentioned what field you are looking at and if you have some other constraints or reasons to be in one kind of school or another or place in the country. Without some more information, like overall GPA, GRE scores, it is pointless to even try to provide recommendations.
Even if you did, though…I mean, even if you said you were looking in one of my fields (psychology or public health) I couldn’t give you an answer, because no school is that publicly detailed about their admissions decisions. I mean, no school in my field explicitly says that they will ignore the first two years of college in favor of the last two. I think most schools would agree that major classes and more recent coursework are more important than general ed classes in freshman and sophomore year, so I don’t think there are any special schools you need to look for. Any school could be a school/program that does this for the right applicant.
I know that everyone is trying to hedge their bets, but the entire purpose of the graduate school admissions process is…to find out whether you’ll get in somewhere. If we could somehow guarantee our own admission before applying, we wouldn’t need to apply. I think what you should do is find some programs that are otherwise good fits for you, apply - with some strong recommendation letters and a really excellent personal statement - and see what happens.
Yea I know it’s difficult to make any direct recommendations. I am looking at graduate programs in communication studies (with focuses in media, journalism, graphic design, anything of the sort) or a journalism program. I am retaking the gre next month. My current overall gpa is a 3.5 and I still have to finish this current semester and another semester. I have no preference to any particular place in the country. Just trying to see if anyone can recommend a good school with a decent program that I might have a chance with.