To make up poor undergrad GPA, is it better to do an MS or get another BS?
Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 11:54 pm
I got a 3.2 overall GPA for my (first) undergrad, major GPA was probably slightly lower. I don't have any good stories, I was just lazy and unmotivated. However, I have been studying on my own after graduation while working, and find that motivation to study and do well is finally coming to me. I recently took a grad course as a non-degree student and got an A.
I would like to try to get into a top 10 school. I know it sounds highly unrealistic, but I would like to try. I think that my biggest and the only problem is my GPA. Everything else is good - I have a 1st author paper in a decent journal from undergrad (somehow I was motivated enough to do the research), good letters, and my PGRE practice is coming decently as well. But the low GPA is serious enough to have my application rejected outright from the top schools.
To make up for this, I want to go back to school full-time. Most people would say that I should choose an MS. That sounds like the natural thing to do, since I would take advanced classes, but there is a big problem with that: MS grades are often more inflated, and it may not convince the adcoms that I have gotten my GPA issue fixed even if I get a 4.0 there.
That was why I was wondering whether I should go back go undergrad all over again. Undergrad GPAs aren't inflated, and it seems that students with high uGPAs often get into top schools regardless of whether the undergrad institution was Harvard or just a moderate state university. But when I have talked about this with other people, they said that it would be a waste of time. My parents also said that they would partially support me for an MS, but not at all for BS because that's ridiculous. I don't know if there are any MS programs that are well known among adcoms not to inflate GPA.
What do you think?
I would like to try to get into a top 10 school. I know it sounds highly unrealistic, but I would like to try. I think that my biggest and the only problem is my GPA. Everything else is good - I have a 1st author paper in a decent journal from undergrad (somehow I was motivated enough to do the research), good letters, and my PGRE practice is coming decently as well. But the low GPA is serious enough to have my application rejected outright from the top schools.
To make up for this, I want to go back to school full-time. Most people would say that I should choose an MS. That sounds like the natural thing to do, since I would take advanced classes, but there is a big problem with that: MS grades are often more inflated, and it may not convince the adcoms that I have gotten my GPA issue fixed even if I get a 4.0 there.
That was why I was wondering whether I should go back go undergrad all over again. Undergrad GPAs aren't inflated, and it seems that students with high uGPAs often get into top schools regardless of whether the undergrad institution was Harvard or just a moderate state university. But when I have talked about this with other people, they said that it would be a waste of time. My parents also said that they would partially support me for an MS, but not at all for BS because that's ridiculous. I don't know if there are any MS programs that are well known among adcoms not to inflate GPA.
What do you think?