Thinking about Grad School - Research yes, grades maybe?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I’m going to be a 3rd year at a mid-tier UC, and was thinking ahead about grad school. I’m double-majoring in History and Political Science. But I’m getting a little worried because I want to get into a top-30 university in my field, but am not sure whether my grades will be good enough.
I’ve done a lot of research so far, only finishing up my second year, and am planning to do a lot more. </p>

<p>My first research experience was actually being a subject for a PhD candidate, a friend and colleague of mine who is working on her dissertation in Writing. This is ongoing. My second one is with the Department Head as a research assistant, who has actually been acting as my mentor for the past year and a half. Depending on funding, I might be able to do it next year. This summer, I’ll be working as a research assistant for my PhD friend. I applied for University grant money (UROP) to do my own research project in History. And my senior year, I’m planning to do an Honor’s Thesis in Political Science. </p>

<p>As far as grades go, I have a 3.4 so far overall, and 3.6+ in my major classes alone. My GEs are the grades pulling my GPA down, but I’ll be done with them soon.</p>

<p>So questions:</p>

<li><p>Is my mediocre GPA gonna prevent me from getting into schools I want, and hopefully with scholarship money? I’m leaning towards Georgetown, Notre Dame, UCLA, Stanford, etc. I mean, how much will my 2 C’s in Calculus (C- and C+) hinder me?</p></li>
<li><p>How much of a role will LoRs play? Because I do so well in my major classes, I actually enjoy the class better and have been (up to this point unintentionally) becoming really close with my professors. The History department head is my mentor. My advisor for my research project will soon be a professor emeritus of History. I’ve developed relationships with the Political Science Associate Dean and a famous Nuclear studies professor, both of whom I’m considering for my PS Honors Thesis. I’ve done great in terms of student-professor relations, so how much will this factor in?</p></li>
<li><p>I’m leaning towards History for my Masters. The writing GRE practice questions were cake, so I didn’t worry too much about the GRE. Then I saw some practice questions for the math part of the GRE, and I nearly cried. How much do you think I can bomb the math portion without significantly hurting my chances at grad school? (I’m joking, but actually I’m really scared for the math portion)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks so much for reading!</p>

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<p>That GPA isn’t too bad. Especially if you aren’t finished yet. LORs will help, as will SOPs and research. You also don’t want to bomb the GRE.</p>

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<p>One thing you might want to take note of about the maths portion of the GRE is that it is usually scored a lot higher then the vocab portion (meaning a small drop in points in the math portion will result in a huge drop in percentile, whereas a few points off the vocab portion isn’t going to make a difference in percentile). For example, I got 790/800 for the maths portion but only secured 89th percentile, whereas had 650/800 on vocab but was placed at 96th percentile.</p>

<p>So…my point is: prepare well for your maths portion, it really isn’t that difficult :)</p>

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<p>Thanks you guys!</p>

<p>Here’s a list of the reach schools I was thinking of applying to, in no order.</p>

<p>UCLA
Stanford
Georgetown
Notre Dame
Columbia
Michigan</p>

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<p>[Stanford</a> History Department](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/history/undergraduate/coterm_ab_am.html]Stanford”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/history/undergraduate/coterm_ab_am.html)</p>

<p>They expect a 3.75 in major gpa, with probably similar or higher standards for other schools. Most MA programs are additionally unfunded or will require substantially higher grades and strong LOR, research, and GREs. GRE Math won’t matter too much, so long as you score 500-600 or so. Do apply to these schools, but make sure you apply elsewhere also.</p>

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<p>I agree with Blah; you can apply to those schools but make sure you apply to others also. My friends from a mid-tier UC had higher stats and went to similar grad schools to your list (and their stats were in physical sciences, which generally tend to have lower GPAs). However, your second two years are going to play a more important role in your application, so you still have time to bring up your GPA.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the reassurance. This is definitely great news.</p>

<p>By how much does one’s major GPA count more than overall GPA?</p>

<p>And with my current stats (3.46 Overall GPA, 3.6/3.7+ GPA Major GPA), with excellent LoR’s and a decent GRE score, what kind of programs could I expect admission from? Maybe not Ivy Leagues, but UC’s or State schools?</p>