I needed advice as to how prestigious colleges will view a student’s grad school application if he switched from a prestigious university to an lower tier school during his undergrad. Personally, I carried a 2.8 in my first prestigious university in a tough major, and now am currently holding a 4.0 in a lower tier school in an easier major. If the GPAs are combined, I meet the minimum GPA requirement for grad school programs. However it is still around a 3.0. I hope to take out a loan to pursue my Masters.
- Will prestigious schools consider the “upward” improvement trend in my grades from both the schools or will they just dismiss it just because the classes in my new major and school aren’t as technological as my classes in my previous major and school?
- Will they make disapprove of switching to an easier school? I had to for financial reasons, although I didn’t talk about it in my application essays.
What kind of graduate school? I.e. academic graduate school like PhD program, or professional school like MBA, MD, JD, etc.?
It is simply a Master’s program and not a PhD, MBA, MD, or JD. Most of the programs are completely online and don’t ask for a GRE.
If it is an online program then it is likely to be a professional (coursework only) degree. You will probably have a good chance to be admitted if the field is your second major. They will look at that more closely than the first part of your academic career.
@xraymancs My second major is not in the same field, but I do have a certificate for the major I am trying to pursue in Master school.
Thank you for your responses by the way.
Most graduate schools are mainly concerned with meeting the 3.0 threshold as a baseline. For competitive programs where higher gpa is expected they are going to be mainly interested in your last 60 units or your major units performance. Switching schools isn’t really too much of an issue. Depending if you have the qualifications in what you are going for, I can’t really tell that switching majors would mean anything.
I’m not sure you need to be concerned about any of this. Programs that don’t ask for GRE are uncompetitive anyway. They are usually more concerned with the qualification of your checking account balance, so do your due diligence and make sure this is of any value in the field.
It would be helpful if you could give more details. Otherwise any answers are purely guesswork. No one will be able to (or interested in) trying to identify you. If we know the majors and schools involved it would be easier to give you a specific answer.
@BrownParent said what I was about to that it sounds like the programs you are applying to are not terribly selective.
I went from doing Computer Science at Vanderbilt University to doing Youth (Christian Ministries General) at Biola University.
@xraymancs I went from doing Computer Science at Vanderbilt University to doing Youth (Christian Ministries General) at Biola University.
It also can matter what the master’s degree subject is, and what it expects for undergraduate preparation, in relation to what you have.
@ucbalumnus It doesn’t really say in the admission requirements on the graduate program page, although I do have a certificate in the master degree subject.
I take it your choice of Masters is not Computer Science? I think you will be fine and the upward trend will help. Ifit is Computer Science, you might have some issues because they will want you to take remedial courses to get ready for the program.
@xraymancs It is not Computer Science or anything too technical. Rather, the major in the graduate program is more related to management.
Then i don’t think you will have a problem getting into the program you want. Even at selective universities, the online programs and those which are coursework only have lower admission standards than the research-oriented degrees.
@xraymancs That’s really interesting. I didn’t know that Master’s degrees are categorizes as coursework degrees or research-oriented degrees.
Yes, the ones with a Thesis are research-oriented and the more professional degrees have only coursework.
Research oriented programs will normally require extensive independent research and a formal written thesis. Some won’t require any coursework at all other than whatever the major and minor field advisors think is necessary.
Coursework oriented programs normally have a strict course series that must be completed. In some cases there are no electives at all. While there may be a capstone project completed as part of the program, that is usually just one course of many, and the final product is a written paper or oral presentation.
I was under the impression that a Master’s degree is coursework and rather a PhD is research-oriented.
What I am getting from the posts is that an online Master degree even from a good university has lower admission standards than an on-campus Master degree because the on-campus Master degree is more research-oriented. However, aren’t many on-campus Master degrees mainly coursework?