While a 3.0 GPA isn't a 3.9-4.0, it isn't the worst possible. One of the factors that selection committees look at is WHAT caused the GPA drop (in the transcript). But even so, other factors are weighed in on the decision of selection that are as important or more so. Your GRE scores (both general and subject). Perhaps you took a professional certification exam in your field. You also have to typically include a personal statement and 3-4 letters of recommendation... and in these, the most important factor, the most important is RESEARCH experience. Here's the two reason why: If you don't have prior existing research experience, how do you know you want to go to graduate school? If you don't have research experience, how does the selection committee know that you'll be productive and successful once you arrive? (Trust me, I've been on a selection committee... This is often how it works. Sometimes, but not always, a recommendation from a faculty member at the institution helps. But our committee DID even turn away a student that one of our Nobel Laureate wanted from an REU experience, since the GPA, institution, GRE and experience just wasn't on par with the students we did select, and we'd already made offers to at least 3 other students interested in the same research groups. The prior year we also had to turn away a student I'd recused myself from commenting on since the student had worked in my group as an REU student.)
Without research experience, good GRE's (especially in the subject test), and a solid GPA, there are always still programs out there that I'm sure you can still get accepted into (you haven't mentioned your fields of interest so we can't exactly make recommendations). You might have to take what you can get. My general philosophy is that you'll get accepted where you BELONG to be. If you don't get accepted there, chances are you wouldn't be competitive there in classes, and you'd wouldn't like the environment of the research groups that are there. If you get accepted, but don't get funding, then you might really want to think twice before accepting an admittance. If you get an offer, hopefully you also get funding... because there they DO want you, you'll probably have a few choices of advisors, and you'll probably fit into the student body. Hopefully you'll get a few such offers and then make a choice based on visits, program reputation, etc. Perhaps you could just stay at one place for a Master's degree, then move up... perhaps you'll stay for longer. Who knows?
To get the best advice from us about particular programs, please include some of this info (research experience, GRE scores, etc.) as well as your field of interest (including program type and research topic (example: physics Ph.D., experiemental particle physics, etc.) Then people in that field can make suggestions.
