Will a Disastrous 1st Quarter Affect My Chances of Getting into Grad School?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the impact of a poor first quarter performance on graduate school admissions. The original poster received an F and several incompletes in 2004 but has since improved academically at a community college. Forum participants agree that while the initial grades will negatively affect chances, the overall GPA is a more significant factor, with a GPA below 3.0 being particularly detrimental to graduate school applications.

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  • Research the GPA requirements for specific graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering
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Prospective graduate students, academic advisors, and anyone evaluating the implications of past academic performance on future educational opportunities.

Williams.235
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Hey everyone, I've been a forum lurker for quite some time and have decided to come out of the darkness.

I have concern regarding my chances of getting into grad school if I decide to go that route. I basically flunked out of my first quarter of college back in 2004 and ended up with an F and a couple of incompletes due to laziness and inability to adapt to the change. I took the next quarter off and came back strong the quarter after at a local community college and have been doing well ever since. I plan on going back to my original school to finish up my Mechanical Engineering degree in near future.

My question is, will that 1st quarter of F/incompletes hurt my chances of getting into grad school? I estimate I will graduate between a 2.9-3.3 GPA.

Thanks everyone.
 
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Yes, it will hurt. Comparing you to someone who got straight A's in that quarter instead, that person will be at an advantage. Will it hurt a lot? Probably not.

I think your bigger problem is your overall GPA. Below 3.5 is not very good. Below 3.0 is bad.
 

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