Undergrad GPA fine, but HORRENDOUS graduate GPA

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kcommeford
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:52 am

Undergrad GPA fine, but HORRENDOUS graduate GPA

Post by kcommeford » Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:06 am

Alright, here is my sob story that I need advice on:

I already have my masters degree and am applying to PhD programs. I got my masters and my undergrad at the same institution through the 5-year program where I took a lot of my graduate courses as a senior and double counted them to both degrees. So, the 5th year, I only took two classes.

However, during this 5th year I got deathly ill and had to get surgery and was a terrible student, so obviously, I got a C in one of my classes, bring my GPA down to below a 3.0 for the year (which as we all know is the equivalent of an F in grad school). I was therefore forced to take an easy course to bring it back up, but it only came up to a 3.08. Unfortunately, my school only counts the year I was officially a grad student to the GPA, not ALL of the grad courses I took as a senior (which would have averaged out the GPA to about a 3.4)

With only my undergraduate qualifications, I feel I can get into a pretty good program. However, with my atrocious grad GPA, do I still have a chance in hell to get into the same programs, or should I start setting my sights lower? Or, is there some magical way they won't count this against me since I had the plague?

Also, since the GPA is so low, would it be beneficial to retake the general GRE or just focus on blowing away the physics GRE?

FYI, since I couldn't find anyone in the profiles who got worse as school went on:

School: Colorado School of Mines
Undergrad GPA: 3.52
Major GPA: 3.52

GRE:
Quant- 161
Verb- 156
Writing- Don't know yet, as I just took it 8 hours ago
Physics- Haven't taken yet

Research- A lot, with publication in PRA


Thank you for your advice.

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Undergrad GPA fine, but HORRENDOUS graduate GPA

Post by bfollinprm » Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:41 am

I don't think it matters much at all. It should certainly be explained by you in your SoP, and hopefully will be mentioned by your letter writers (I'd recommend explicitly asking at least one to address the grade in some capacity).

photonic
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:36 pm

Re: Undergrad GPA fine, but HORRENDOUS graduate GPA

Post by photonic » Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:30 am

Deathly illness is certainly something they will understand. It might be a good idea to get letters from professors who taught the graduate classes you did well in so they see you can manage graduate coursework and it really was just that you were sick.
Also, since the GPA is so low, would it be beneficial to retake the general GRE or just focus on blowing away the physics GRE?
The general GRE isn't all that important, focus on the PGRE.



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