Which Major / Major GPA Should I list?

Hello All!

In Short, I am a Biology/Geology major interested in pursuing paleontology in graduate school. I am currently applying to my first school, which is a PhD-only Biology program. I took a summer class on field paleontology through this department and have been encouraged by two professors to apply!

Here’s where I’m (probably overthinking) my application:

The program states that it likes to see GPAs over 3.6, but that’s not required. My current GPA situation is:

  • Cumulative: 3.73
  • Biology Major: 3.6
  • Geology Major: 3.8

The application specifically asks to give the name of my major and list my major GPA. I’m not entirely sure which to do, but I have four possibilities I have thought of:

  1. List Biology as my major, despite the low GPA relative to what's recommended
  2. List Geology as my major, which has a higher GPA. I know some grad students in this program who work on paleo research came in with geo majors, but I don't know if they would like to see Bio more.
  3. List both as my major and take the better of the two GPAs (in this case, geo)
  4. List both as my major and calculate a combined major GPA

Hopefully that wasn’t too long. Basically, which would you recommend? Any and all help is appreciated! :slight_smile:

Option 4 is the most transparent. You can detail your separate GPAs in your personal statement.

Option #4.