Trying to get into a Psychology Graduate Program with a low cumulative GPA

Graduate School
1

<p>Here's my GPA situation:</p>

<p>-I transfered to a college with a GPA of 2.6 and about 70 credits.
-23 of those credits I received from Basic Training and Tech School from the Community College of the Air Force. I am currently in the Air Force Air National Guard and have been for my entire college experience. 6 of those credits I CLEP'd. The rest of them I earned at that university. </p>

<p>-I began my junior year at my new college 2009 fall and I did so poorly that I was put on academic probation (1.66GPA). The 2.6GPA didn't carry over to the new college, the school doesn't factor in transfer GPA's into a student's cumulative GPA, the only grades which are factored into the GPA consist of the credits taken through that university. </p>

<p>-I did a little bit better in Spring 2010 earning 2.77 on an 18 credit schedule. My cumulative GPA at this time was a 2.33. </p>

<p>-I did very well this last summer 2010 earning a 3.91 on an 11 credit schedule (kind of a lot for summer). My cumulative GPA at this time was a 2.75. My major GPA at this time was a 3.05.
-2 of these credits were a retake course from fall 2009. I turned the "F" into an "A". </p>

<p>-I am doing very well right now, fall 2010, probably going to earn a 4.0gpa on an 18 credit upper division course schedule. This will make my cumulative GPA a 3.13 and my major GPA around a 3.5ish. </p>

<p>-I am planning on taking 27 credits of upper division courses in the Spring of 2011 (I can get approved). I am confident that I can earn a 4.0. This will make my cumulative GPA a 3.4. My major GPA will be around a 3.8ish by then. </p>

<p>-I am planning on taking my final 12 credits in the Summer of 2011. I am confident I can earn a 4.0, which means my cumulative will be 3.47 and my major will be a 3.82ish. </p>

<p>I am wondering how my GPA part of my application will look by that time. I am not worried about getting strong LOR's or a high GRE score. I do have some research experience however I don't have anything published (still an undergraduate). I am 22, male, like I said member of the USAFANG for 3 years, could I get into a top 20 program? top 10? let me know what you think. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>your GPA might not a huge problem but might raise some flags. </p>

<p>what types of programs are you applying too? </p>

<p>How much research experience do you have?</p>

<p>without knowing the answers to these two questions its hard to say. research experience seems to be the most important factor and clinical programs are the hardest to get accepted</p>

3

<p>The inputs below are mere opinions of mine so please feel free to disregard them:</p>

<p>1) Unfortunately, when grad admissions ask for “cumulative GPA” they are often referring to GPA from all of your undergrad work. Therefore, your 2.6 from CC will be taken in to consideration and this is definitely not favorable</p>

<p>2) While your optimism and determination is admirable, it seems a bit naive. You assume all A’s for 57 credit hours yet to be completed. Moreover, 27 credit hours in a semester is unheard of and if you can achieve a 4.0 from that semester, the rigor of your college grading standard may be questioned especially given your 2.6 from a CC. </p>

<p>Aside from GPA, your research experience is not strong either with no publications. Assuming you do not have any significant publications on your application, you have no chance at top 10 programs given that you did not experience any significant trauma during the early years of your college career (e.g. had to take care of a severely ill family member). </p>

<p>NEVERTHELESS, you may still have a shot at top tier schools outside of top 10 that only considers the GPA of your last two years IF you can gain some significant research or work experience related to psychology before the application time. Invest some time in identifying those schools and attempt to gain more research experience rather than taking 27 hours of courses.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for your opinions. Here are my opinions on your opinions :)</p>

<p>(1) Unfortunately, when grad admissions ask for “cumulative GPA” they are often referring to GPA from all of your undergrad work. Therefore, your 2.6 from CC will be taken in to consideration and this is definitely not favorable.</p>

<p>-You are correct. I can see why you would think that. My 2.6 was actually from a state college. It was an aviation program at UND. That program is one of the best in the country. The CC info I was talking about was the credit (23 or whatever) I transferred in to UND from the training I received prior to going there. But yes my 2.6 will be a part of my 3.5 cumulative, which would turn out to be about a 3.05 cumulative…very low to think about a top 20 program. </p>

<p>2) While your optimism and determination is admirable, it seems a bit naive. You assume all A’s for 57 credit hours yet to be completed. Moreover, 27 credit hours in a semester is unheard of and if you can achieve a 4.0 from that semester, the rigor of your college grading standard may be questioned especially given your 2.6 from a CC. </p>

<p>Good point. I wonder what would happen if I were somehow able to get the professors to vouch for me on how difficult the courses they teach are…because it isn’t an easy load. They are tough classes. I happen to be scoring high A’s on tests whose class averages are in the upper D range to lower C range. I am not naive, I know exactly what I am capable of doing if I have a goal in mind. </p>

<p>3) Aside from GPA, your research experience is not strong either with no publications. Assuming you do not have any significant publications on your application, you have no chance at top 10 programs given that you did not experience any significant trauma during the early years of your college career (e.g. had to take care of a severely ill family member). </p>

<p>Seriously? How many undergraduates have something published? I’d say less than 2%, if that! I do have research experience, but I have no idea what “research experience” even means, that is pretty vague. Right now I am doing a study with 30 participants if you’d want to call that “research experience”. Trauma during my college career? Nope, unfortunately my mother did not die yet. Maybe I should kill her, then pull the 27 credit 4.0, then have something worthwhile on my application since all this other crap I’m doing is apparently worthless.</p>

5

<p>^
No need to get defensive! Everything you’ve been doing to help your app most certainly <em>does</em> count. I think the poster was saying that a GPA affected by major outside circumstances might be easier to explain as not a “true” demonstration of your abilities, not that having a dead mother would get you in! </p>

<p>I agree that most people aren’t published as undergrads (I did have a publication when applying straight out of undergrad, but that was unusual), but then again, most people don’t apply (or at least get in) straight of undergrad. Out of my cohort of ten people, only three of us came straight from undergrad–three came straight from masters programs, two had masters plus post-masters experience, and two had post-BA work experience. Working as a research assistant for one or, more commonly, two years is a great way to gain research experience. Looking at funded masters program is another good option. That said, if you want to apply straight out of undergrad, it is possible to get in, and a good number of people do so. </p>

<p>Research experience is, well, experience helping with or conducting research. Examples include running or testing participants, collecting, coding, and entering data, doing lit reviews, helping with project conceptualization or grant writing for research grants, and writing or editing manuscripts. Broadly speaking, the “best” research experience you can get as an undergrad is creating and running your own thesis study–with guidance from faculty, of course! It sounds like that’s what you may be doing with your 30 participants (?), and if so, great! Getting your name on conference posters and presentations is good as well.</p>

<p>What type of psychology program do you want to apply to? Clinical/counseling, experimental, social, school, etc.? That will make a big difference in terms of giving you advice.</p>

<p>In general, thinking about “top 10 or top 20” schools is essentially useless in psych, as there are so many different subfields and program quality, reputation, and focus can differ greatly across different psych PhD programs even in the same university. Thus, “top” schools vary by subfield. Also, you have to apply by research match–that is, you have to show direct, focused interest in one (or, somewhat rarely, more) faculty members who match well with what you want to research. You will really, really struggle with getting into a program if you can’t make a case for a very strong research match with faculty there. Also, if you are looking at clinical, counseling, or school psych, you’ll also want to keep clinical/research balance in mind, depending on what you want to do with your PhD.</p>

<p>Will your GPA hurt you? Probably, yes. It will probably get you screened out at some schools. With that being said, your upward trend will mitigate this somewhat, and people have gotten into psych PhD programs with undergrad GPAs lower than yours, so there’s hope.</p>

<p>When are you planning on applying?</p>

<p>I hope this helps! Good luck! </p>

<p>PS. Are you still at UND? Based on what I’ve heard from a friend who’s a grad student there, I have a lot of respect for their psych faculty.</p>

6

<p>“Nope, unfortunately my mother did not die yet. Maybe I should kill her, then pull the 27 credit 4.0, then have something worthwhile on my application since all this other crap I’m doing is apparently worthless.”
This was absolutely outrageous. This type of outburst coming from a supposed psychology PhD hopeful is especially ridiculous. I was certainly not insinuating that you harm your mother, I merely asked about a potential traumatic event during your first years as such is the case with students whose GPA spikes from 1.6 to 4.0; usually some severe event occured to impede your academic progress during that 1.6 year or you transferred to a school with inflated grading system. For instance, my older friend had a GPA of 2.0 during her first two years. Her cumulative GPA soared to a 3.3 (with 3 more years with intensive hrs) but she still received 20 rejection letters (100%) b/c her excuse for the early years’ GPA was that she was immature.
Having said that, I merely assumed that you had a better excuse since you were aiming for top 10 PhD programs. </p>

<p>Going by your number of 2% (which appears to be an unsubstantiated percentage), consider how many spots are available for PhD study at top 10 programs vs 2% of undergrads with publications in fields related to psychology (which can be from any of the major/fundamental sciences - biology, chemsitry, physics - as they can all contribute to an interdisciplinary field such as psychology). If you want to cite a figure without basis next time, please make up one that would support your own argument. </p>

<p>As for my “pretty vague” usage of the phrase research experience, I could not provide you with a more specified suggestion as the only pieces of your academic background provided from your post were that you attended an aviation college and that you are now interested in psychology. I suppose that I should have been impertinent enough to guess that you conduct research on acrophobia. If this is not what you are referring to about the vagueness and you in fact do not what research experience means for admins, then here it is: 1) can you lead a study to successful completion? 2) are you a capable reader and writer to produce a manuscript without constantly needing reproofs from your PI? 3) and this depends on the field, are you a competent bench worker in your field?</p>

<p>CC was extremely helpful for college admissions but this graduate section is an absolute waste of my time; reading and offering comments to those who ask for an honest evaluation of their profile, only to have them bark back showing not only unwarranted complacency but sheer disregard for the opinions of others. Why ask for profile evals, if you think you are already an outstanding candidate for top 10 schools? Too many responses in the grad section of CC are mere comforting gestures, attempting to reassure status quo instead of guiding those with considerable time left before applications to address their weaknesses. From tomorrow I will not waste 30 minutes per day on this website, thus I will not be able to respond to your reply westy3789. So please, please read the below message: </p>

<p>If your anger caused you to ignore my last paragraph from the previous post, read it again. **There are top tier schools out there that explicitly requests only cumulative GPA from the last two years of your undergrad career. So identify those schools and you will have a fighting chance. ** That was not sarcasm if you mistook my message the first time. For those schools (some in top 20 use such discretion), you would have a good chance of receiving interview invitations since you boasted about exceptional LORs, leading a research study, and projected but high GRE scores. That is the reason why I suggested that you invest more time in research so that you can perhaps list a conference presentation on your CV before app time as your initially poor GPA will be a none issue at those schools. Your dedication and positive outlook should serve you well in grad school, but please learn to deal with others’ comments. If you thought mine were trenchant, just wait until you face the haphazard wrath of reviewers for publications.</p>