Hi there,
So I’m currently a student wrapping up my third year and basically my GPA sucks. I would need a 3.2 in my last two years or higher and a cGPA of 3.0 or higher to be considered for the vast majority of the grad schools I’m looking at. I was wondering if I have any chance of being accepted to a good school for example, Mcgill ( the above mentioned requirements were for this school). My current GPA is about 2.4 and I really need it to be higher. If you don’t make the GPA is that the end for you? How much do grad schools take extra curriculars and reference letters into consideration? Hopefully all hope is not lost but I could really use some direction.
Thanks!
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Hey there,
Most grad schools take their minimum CGPAs seriously, but they often fluctuate depending on the applicant pool of that year. So say the standard is 3.0 but there aren’t many people applying. If that’s the case, they’ll lower the average a bit. However, that can work the other way too.
Although there are some schools that are quite rigid and won’t even consider students if they don’t meet their 3.3 requirement, even if you’re literally at a 3.28. Trust me.
But if you don’t make the necessary GPA, that’s not NECESSARILY the end for you. It just means you can’t be picky and that you may have to expand your search and apply to a lot of different grad schools. I mean some can be really hard to get into — e.g. University of Toronto, McGill, UBC — but some can be incredibly easy.
Now extra curriculars and reference letters come in to play depending on the program. The latter, yes, is always a factor, but to be honest I don’t think the former matters all that much unless your extra curriculars are actually relevant…
Also be careful with your letters! Don’t just ask a prof to write you one — ask if they can write you a POSITIVE one.
Cheers!
aska