Undergrad GPA fine, but HORRENDOUS graduate GPA
Posted: 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.
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.