Do grad school see transfer grades?

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the impact of transfer grades on graduate school applications, particularly for students transitioning from smaller universities to larger institutions. The original poster, a sophomore, expresses concern about potentially receiving an A- in a calculus class due to a poor performance on a test, which could affect their graduate school prospects. They confirm that most graduate programs require transcripts from all previously attended colleges, meaning that any grade below an A will be visible to admissions committees. The consensus suggests that while lower grades can be detrimental, they are not insurmountable obstacles for graduate school applications.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of GPA calculation and grading systems
  • Familiarity with graduate school application processes
  • Basic knowledge of calculus and its significance in mathematics
  • Awareness of the importance of academic performance in STEM fields
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the specific GPA requirements for graduate programs in mathematics
  • Explore strategies for improving academic performance in challenging subjects
  • Learn about the significance of letters of recommendation in graduate school applications
  • Investigate the role of personal statements in mitigating lower grades during applications
USEFUL FOR

Undergraduate students considering graduate school, academic advisors, and anyone navigating the complexities of transferring universities and maintaining strong academic records.

DeadOriginal
Messages
274
Reaction score
2
Hi all!

I am currently a sophomore transferring from a small unknown university to a large state school. I hope to go to graduate school for mathematics one day. I've been getting decent grades. I have gotten an A in everything but today I was forced into a life and death situation kinda thing and I made the wrong choice. (Exaggerating like no tomorrow of course...)

The story is I messed up big time in my calculus 2 class. For the first two tests I got a 98 and a 100 respectively but I took the third one today and oh ************. <Please fill in the stars with your imagination in a very bad way.> These three tests are 60% of the final grade with another 10% from homework and 30% from the final. I estimate that I will be getting around an 80 on the third test and knowing I will get the full 10% from homework I need to get at least a 98 on the final to get a 95 for my class grade which I believe is the cut off for an A.

Yes, yes. I know I sound like another whiner/ranter that this board sees so very often and I acknowledge that fact. I must let the world know of my dumb mistake. Anyhow...

It was all due to this one problem where I had to find if the series n/sqrt(2n^2-5) converges or diverges which was arguably the EASIEST question on the darn test. Being worth a whole 20 points and being so easy my mind just slipped. For those who might think I didn't study enough, I think I studied so much I couldn't even tell the difference between functions anymore thus leading to getting this one wrong. At first I used the integral test and that diverged. I then used the divergence theorem to show that it was divergent as well but for some strange reason as I sat there for 40 minutes(No exaggeration on this part. I was done with the rest of the test for a while already.), I decided to use the limit comparison test.(Probably because everything else was based on the limit comparison test and ratio test and the ratio test didn't work. Should have known better than to think all test questions would somehow be correlated.) I crossed out the previous work with the integral test because my mind was so jumbled up I just closed my eyes and chose one. After the test I realized the limit comparison test didn't work...

I believe I shouldn't have much trouble scoring a 98 or better on the final but I like to know my options. I am an extreme pessimist to the max.

If by Sir Issac Newton's will, I don't make the 98 and get the A-, will I be forever damned? I am transferring to a new school so my real question is, when I graduate from that university, will this black spot be seen on my transcript by the university committee of whichever grad school I will be applying to? (I gathered that anything worse than an A was detrimental to applying for grad school.)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Ok. I realized that because of this question on the test I became careless about the other questions. I know for sure there is another wrong one. There goes my A.
 
To answer your question, most applications (all I have ever seen) ask for transcripts from every college you have attended previously. So they will see the grades.

Perhaps more importantly, if getting two problems wrong on a test causes you this much stress, you will be absolutely miserable with a career in science. In research, things don't work all the time. (Not to mention the high degree of difficulty of grad school)
 
Thanks for the reply.

I have made my peace with it.(for now) its just so frustrating that I had the answer and decided to go with the wrong one.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
3K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
Replies
15
Views
4K
  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
6K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
5K