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AcademicGround >> Few bad grades=screwed for life?
| 10/26/06 3:31 AM | |
Jonwell
6 
Edited: 26-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 44814 |
I've never gotten along well with school, and my first couple years in college were a complete wreck. Basically I'd have been better off just not going. I'm turning it around now, progressing in my major and doing well in class, but unfortunately I'm still trailing a few Ds and Fs. From an admissions standpoint, will these haunt me forever, or is there a point where they just cease to matter? I'm planning on grad school after I finish my BS (if I get accepted at a university, I'm still worried about that). |
| 10/26/06 10:07 AM | |
|
Neslo
Edited: 26-Oct-06 Member Since: 05/02/2004 Posts: 1781 |
Hopefully not I have a few bad grades myself. Probably don't put down your grades on the front resume. Or some up with some intelligent excuse why you didn't give a shit about exams.. maybe you had to work part time late into the night and early mornings to earn your way through college (lies). |
| 10/26/06 12:58 PM | |
|
WEB
38
Edited: 26-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 3832 |
Grad school looks at your test scores, your grades in the field you are applying for, and your grades your senior year. |
| 10/26/06 4:16 PM | |
|
asdf
4
Edited: 26-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 10355 |
Do some research, work really hard at it, and publish some papers. In science, research can trump grades. |
| 10/26/06 6:36 PM | |
|
Polaris
3
Edited: 26-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 944 |
Don't know myself, but I had a teacher who said she is having a hard time getting into a PhD program because she got a C, but it was in an English class and she was an English major. |
| 10/27/06 1:25 AM | |
|
FiatLux
Edited: 27-Oct-06 Member Since: 03/12/2002 Posts: 4499 |
It really depends on what your GPA is and how much you can bring it up. It really needs to be 2.75 at the very lowest, but most schools want a 3.0 Your major and what grad program (not just subject) matters a great deal. However, I have been told that for English and Political Science that most schools don't care about your GPA. |
| 10/27/06 2:31 AM | |
|
Jonwell
6
Edited: 27-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 44821 |
Physics major, somehow I think that lessens my chances. But my f's and d's are in non major classes, so that's good. |
| 10/27/06 7:49 PM | |
|
Liyon
28
Edited: 27-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 12225 |
I don't know how far into college you are, but you could start back at a community college and work your way up. If you have time/money, maybe you could retake some of those classes. Your history matters, but your current progress is much more important. You can have D's and F's from years ago, but if you have all A's and B's from here on out, you'll still look pretty good. |
| 10/28/06 12:50 AM | |
|
P.V.Jena
Edited: 28-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 436 |
Hey, I was a physics and math double major, now doing my Ph.D. in Physics at UIUC. For graduate school, grades in physics courses, overall GPA, subject GRE, research experience, publications, teachers recommendations are all going to be factors that affect your admission. While most people who get in are fairly strong in all categories, an exceptional performance in research will over shadow everything else. I had a decent GPA (3.5, 3.75 in Physics) and a couple of C's in gen ed classes. I didn't care much about it and hopefully the schools didnt either. |
| 10/28/06 6:08 PM | |
|
TapoutRookie
Edited: 28-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 2259 |
Over the last 2 few years I have had to take F's in a few classes. I was in the Reserves and getting the GI Bill. Without fail, they military would deploy me near finals and midterms and I would not be able to finish the class. If I dropped the classes then I had to pay back the Governemt for my GI Bill and at $1200 a month over 5 months, it wasn't happening. So I took the F...brought my GPA down an ass load and have retaken the classes again to bring it up...went from a .8 back up to a 3.0 ish....so retake the class if possible. |
| 10/29/06 12:04 AM | |
|
asdf
4
Edited: 29-Oct-06 12:05 AM Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 10375 |
To add to PV's story, I had a 3.5 GPA, with a C and a lot of B-'s. But 2 publications at the time of application. I got in everywhere grad school I applied. |
| 10/29/06 3:43 AM | |
|
Jonwell
6
Edited: 29-Oct-06 Member Since: 01/01/2001 Posts: 44846 |
Roger, research it is. I can retake classes, but the old grade isn't expunged it's just lined out. It doesn't factor into GPA, but still appears on the transcript. Lame, but whatever. |
| 11/5/06 12:31 AM | |
|
ifidieidie
Edited: 05-Nov-06 Member Since: 11/12/2003 Posts: 873 |
All is not lost. My sophomore year was a disaster. I got a couple of C's and passed only one course in the spring. A couple years later I got in to a PhD program at Princeton. |
| 11/5/06 9:49 PM | |
|
antifret
Edited: 05-Nov-06 Member Since: 06/21/2006 Posts: 116 |
I'm in a similar situation. I failed some art, anthropology and philosophy classes because I was a goofball and didn't intend on going to graduate school at the time. My gpa is like a 2.65. My gpa in my major (economics)is 3.4 or so and I want to get into a decent masters program. I got a 1290 on the GRE and have good rec letters I hope. How do you rate my chances? |
| 11/6/06 2:00 PM | |
|
amorphous
11
Edited: 06-Nov-06 Member Since: 10/26/2003 Posts: 7248 |
I was going to start a thread but I'll ask a similar question. I've had a rough experience at a community college so far. My study habits are complete shit and the result has been two F's and a couple dropped courses. However, I intend to repeat those courses and get a better grade. So, if I improve those grades and boost my GPA will I be set? (Along with letters, interviews, etc.)Or will the fact that I have dropped courses and Fs (even If I made them up later on) fuck me over? I think I do I have some legitimate excuses though. I'm struggling with some personal stuff and I work full time to pay for school. |
| 11/6/06 9:53 PM | |
|
antifret
Edited: 06-Nov-06 Member Since: 06/21/2006 Posts: 117 |
amorphous, I would find out where you want to go and do. Contact people there and ask them what to do in order to get into the grad program there. Do an internship in the field you want to be in and take and do well in your major classes. Transfer out of the community college and into the best research university you can get into that is within your budget. Also it's better to drop courses than get an F as I am finding out. |
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