Undergrad GPA for PhD admissions

I’m a linguistics major, and I may want to pursue a PhD in linguistics after I graduate (I am only a freshman so lots of time to decide). I have been freaking out about grades but I don’t even know what my goal should be. “Just do your best” doesn’t work because for me that means an unhealthy level of stress. What GPA would I need to get into A PhD program (any PhD program)? And what do top schools look for? And what even is a top school for grad school? I’m only familiar with undergrad rankings.

I realize that research is going to play a big roll but it’s really too early for that so I’m just trying to figure out what grades I would like to be getting this year.

Also does major GPA vs overall GPA make a difference?

You can’t have a GPA goal. It’s not within your control. Your goal is to get As which means learning the material well enough to teach it. It’s an asymptotic goal though. You can almost never get there, but it’s still your goal.

Do your best consistent with healthy living. That’s the best that you can do.

Pressure is good - it makes you focus.

Stress is bad - it makes you lose focus

Learn material well under pressure and keeping up because you want As makes you focus on the material. This is good
Worrying about your GPA and grad school is bad because it creates stress where none need be, makes you focus on things other than the material, and is self-defeating.

Some schools have minimum GPA requirements for certain programs. Look at a few well ranked programs in the field and see if they have admissions data, do some research.

I am not entirely familiar with linguistics, but I can tell you anything below a 3.0 is not likely to get into any PhD program in any field. Having at least a 3.5 is a good idea.

@ClassicRockerDad @Mandalorian thank you for your responses!

Most PhD programs don’t have hard-and-fast minimums, but a 3.5 is overall a good goal for PhD programs in general. Most programs will expect to see about that.

It’s not too early for research, either. If you already know that you are interested in potentially getting a PhD, you can start investigating opportunities now!