<p>Are your chances of attending top colleges as a graduate permanently destroyed??</p>
<p>A couple of choices:</p>
<p>-Apply to a masters program (lower GPA reqs than a phd) and reapply later with a high graduate GPA.
-Get/use work experience
-Substantial research (during UG, publications, in the work force) will makeup for some deficit
-Depending on the field, a very high subject GRE may offset a lower gpa (this may be more dependent on where your UG was)</p>
<p>Depends on how screwed up it is. But if it’s really screwed up (<= 3.0), then I wouldn’t say “permanently”, but yes, for the time being your chances of attending a top college for grad school are probably close to zero.</p>
<p>But you could always take a couple years off, get some work experience, study in your spare time, then maybe take a few courses at a university, get straight A’s, and finally write a good essay that explains what has changed for you since you got your bachelors and also shows how interested in and serious you are about grad school. Combine that with very good GRE scores and you would have a chance again.</p>
<p>Since UG grades are generally predictive of grad school grades, they are generally used as a screening measure, so if your GPA is below a 3.0, many grad schools will not even bother to look at your application beyond that point. If you’re better than a 3.0, you may still stand a chance at some low to mid-tier MA programs, esp. if you have relevant research and/or work experience. It also depends on the field you are in.</p>
<p>I think that for most “top” MA or PhD programs, a sub 3.0 will always be a problem. However, you have to keep in mind that there are only a handful of top schools in each field and gaining access to them is crucial only for a very narrow subset of jobs. Graduate school is, like UG educations, extremely varied and programs run from extremely selective to rather unselective. Youre life will not be over if you dont attend a “top” grad school.</p>
<p>Short answer? No, a bad GPA doesn’t eliminate graduate school as a possibility. </p>
<p>This is very field dependent as engineering demands very high gpas to be competitive for graduate school whereas biomedical sciences can be more forgiving. Ultimately, a low gpa results in either 1)taking time in the field building up the rest of your application/career or 2)applying to less competitive programs.</p>
<p>There are also a world of Carribean medical schools, night law schools, online MBAs and the like. I guess it all depends on what tolerance you have for less reputable programs and how much effort you are willing to put in.</p>
<p>Even for a top school, it might not be over. Its not unheard of of people coming here to Stanford, taking EE or CS courses for credit while doing research for profs as a part time non degree seeking student, and eventually gaining admission with initially poor GPAs/qualifications. Ofcourse, this requires a substantial financial and time investment. Assuming you get As in the courses even.</p>
<p>Forget going to grad school.</p>
<p>^^^do you think you are helping or contributing technically accurate information?</p>
<p>You may want to take some graduate classes as a non-degree student at a school you want to attend, churn out some fabulous work and have the profs write you stellar recs. Adcoms will definitely pay attention to that.</p>
<p>It depends on how “screwed up” the GPA is.</p>
<p>Not sure what field you are in, but post-bac programs seem to be a popular option among health science students to boost their stats prior to grad/professional school.</p>
<p>No other number carries so much weighted blight in my life than the grand 'ole GPA! </p>
<p>I graduated with a 2.58 from a second tier state uni four years ago and since then I have worked full time while going for my second bachelors. My GPA this time round? A 3.5- not the best, but substantially better! Couple that with 4 years of work experience, solid recs and good GRE scores and I think I stand a better chance of getting into Grad school than I would have right out of Uni. </p>
<p>The moral of the story is: It took four years of work, a substantial financial investment and a good dose of hair pulling stress to overcome an abysmal GPA. Keep that in mind when you are MIA for your next class.</p>