<p>Sorry, new to this so not sure if I am posting in the right area.</p>
<p>I am in my second semester of my junior year. My GPA is quite low and it will be around a 3.2. I understand if I wanted to go to graduate school right out of undergraduate school, I would start the application process next semester. However, I've calculated possible future GPAs, and my GPA should be significantly higher after I graduate. My question is... should I wait to apply so I will be applying with my best GPA? I know GPA is not the only factor, but this is the one thing that is holding me back since I did not do so well my first couple semesters in some gen ed courses. I am just worried I won't be considered and the applying next semester would be a waste.
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>If you are at college right now, which it seems that you are, then talking to the graduate admission people in your department or college right at your own school should give you a good idea of what to do.</p>
<p>What kind of grad school? What, apart from GPA do you have that will be attractive to them?</p>
<p>I want to go into social psychology. I am currently building up research experience. Just finished a project and applied to present it… I am currently working on a project with a professor and a partner, and we hope to eventually get it published. I also am going to do independent studies for more research in my next semesters, and possibly a summer research program. So I also wonder if waiting to apply to build up more research background will help as well. I am pretty close with a couple of professors as well, so hopefully I’ll be getting good recommendation letters… I haven’t taken the GRE yet, so I can’t say if that will be attractive, but I certainly intend for it to be.</p>
<p>I suppose I should talk to a professor about it.</p>
<p>It will never hurt to wait until you have more research experience, publications, and presentations built up before applying. You will want to prepare as much as possible for the GREs to offset your GPA. Make everything else in your application as strong as possible. </p>
<p>If you can afford it, apply next semester and if you do not get accepted to a program you like, just reapply the following year. If you can’t afford to apply like that, taking some time off and keeping in close touch with your profs/prospective letter writers will be beneficial.</p>
<p>And yes, you should find a prof in the field of social psych who preferably has some familiarity with the programs you are interested in and will be able to give you relevant advice for those programs.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t wait on the GPA by itself, but I would definitely wait to build up more research experience. I’m in social psychology myself and the field has gotten fiercely competitive in recent years, with most successful applicants having taken a year or two after college to do research in addition to 2-3 years of research in undergrad.</p>