- #1
dydtaylor
- 8
- 0
What is a "respectable GPA" to graduate admissions?
Hello, incoming sophomore math and physics major here. I'm about to start my third semester of my undergrad, but I have a lot of transfer/AP credit from high school, so a majority of the GPA determining credit on my transcript is going to be from upper level courses.
Anyways, one of my major problems in high school was I had a good capability to comprehend the material in courses, but didn't put in the effort to get good grades in the class. Because of this, my test scores were high, but my GPA was comparatively low.
Thankfully, I've mostly learned from my mistakes and I know that getting good grades is something that I should really stress in College. The problem is, right now I'm for one of the first times actually being challenged by my coursework, so despite shooting for a 4.0, I can see myself very easily getting a B throughout the year (I got 3 of them throughout all of last year). I know that I can (and I intend to) do better, but I want to be realistic: there are not many students that can pull 6 semesters of straight As.
Right now my overall GPA is a 3.667 (and my GPA in my major is a 3.76, IIRC), not what I would consider bad by any means, but not stellar. I am going to do my best to make it go up as much as possible, but what kind of GPA should is considered competitive for various physics programs? Like, is a 3.7 considered competitive to a top 10 school? A 3.8? What about to a top 25? I know GPA isn't the entirety of the story, research, recommendations and GRE matters, but at what point will it no longer hinder me?
Hello, incoming sophomore math and physics major here. I'm about to start my third semester of my undergrad, but I have a lot of transfer/AP credit from high school, so a majority of the GPA determining credit on my transcript is going to be from upper level courses.
Anyways, one of my major problems in high school was I had a good capability to comprehend the material in courses, but didn't put in the effort to get good grades in the class. Because of this, my test scores were high, but my GPA was comparatively low.
Thankfully, I've mostly learned from my mistakes and I know that getting good grades is something that I should really stress in College. The problem is, right now I'm for one of the first times actually being challenged by my coursework, so despite shooting for a 4.0, I can see myself very easily getting a B throughout the year (I got 3 of them throughout all of last year). I know that I can (and I intend to) do better, but I want to be realistic: there are not many students that can pull 6 semesters of straight As.
Right now my overall GPA is a 3.667 (and my GPA in my major is a 3.76, IIRC), not what I would consider bad by any means, but not stellar. I am going to do my best to make it go up as much as possible, but what kind of GPA should is considered competitive for various physics programs? Like, is a 3.7 considered competitive to a top 10 school? A 3.8? What about to a top 25? I know GPA isn't the entirety of the story, research, recommendations and GRE matters, but at what point will it no longer hinder me?