<p>I recently received my full GRE scores in the mail: 800V, 780Q, 4.5W. Unfortunately, my undergrad GPA is only 2.8 from Virginia Tech, which isn’t very highly ranked among humanities and foreign language departments.</p>
<p>On the plus side, I speak German fluently, and having worked in Taiwan for four years I also speak Mandarin tolerably well. I would like to get into a linguistics or translator-training program somewhere, but I am completely lost as to where to apply.</p>
<p>2.8 in humanities and foreign language + humanities @ VT… How was your last 2 years of college? Did you have a horrible semester or two? I think this would play a big role…</p>
<p>Congrats on the 1580.</p>
<p>I don’t think your “screwed” by the way… even without the 1500+ GRE</p>
<p>My last two years/ 60 credits at VT were definitely above a 3.0, not sure exactly what the numbers were, though.</p>
<p>The pattern was more that I felt interested in 3000 and 4000 level courses, took a lot of them, and did well, but I let the 1000 and 2000 level courses slide because they bored the snot out of me.</p>
<p>I had a 2.8 GPA overall when I graduated(engineering) from a nontop school and managed to get into a Masters program at a top ten university for my program… Like you, I made major improvements in my junior and senior year. So definitely not screwed, but not in a good position either really.</p>
<p>absolutely talk about your gpa in your SOP. In fact, you need to emphasize it, with a good spin. read a few admissions essays how-to books. They will almost certainly have a huge section teaching you how to writing for such circumstances, with many examples.</p>
<p>Just an opinion.
Do not mention “I let the 1000 and 2000 level courses slide because they bored the snot out of me.” This mentality will KILL you.</p>
<p>A better approach would be to admit your low grades and show that you are moving on and is capable of doing well on higher level courses… because the grades already tell the admissions or recruiters that the 1000 and 2000 level courses did in fact kick your @ss.</p>
<p>The low level courses didn’t “kick my ass,” but I see what you are saying.</p>
<p>Other than that, I think you are giving some good advice, and I will certainly address my GPA in the sop and try to avoid arrogant or condescending language.</p>
<p>Do you have something else in your background like a major project you undertook or something like that? Clearly you are extremely bright and you should apply everywhere with a program that ‘doesn’t bore the snot out of you’. I know exactly what you mean about intro level courses; it can be very hard to find the motivation to actually put in the effort, especially in the case of extremely bright students (far brighter than I am).</p>
<p>The point is, if you can find a way to show that you are in fact more talented, able and driven than other less bright work-horse type students with 3.6-3.8 GPAs, you could in theory be accepted anywhere. Make personal links with faculty in the departments that interest you and who research that you are genuinely interested in. Otherwise you may (read: WILL) fall through the cracks in initial screening.</p>
<p>By the way, I don’t believe the 1000-2000 level courses kicked your ass at all; quite the opposite to be honest. I can personally relate, having nearly failed out of university in my first year due to lack of effort in mandatory intro garbage, and then killing graduate level courses in subsequent years. Ended up with far more excellent grad school acceptances than I expected. A key point is DO NOT RELY ON THE SOP, because it is generally not read at the first stage of cutting applicants. You need to be pre-emptive and proactive about informing the people who count (at each department you are applying to) about your true ability and potential. How you go about doing that is up to you.</p>
<p>So get a strategy together, get some profs on your side, and then execute the plan. Good luck.</p>
<p>Off topic. So you took German in Virginia Tech? Do you feel fortunate to not be at the wrong place at the wrong time on THAT day? What was that experience like?</p>
<p>So it seems what you are saying is that I need to get in touch personally with the department I wish to attend and address the GPA issue possibly even before they receive my application. That sounds like a good idea.</p>
<p>re: the VT massacre, I took German at VT but I graduated in 2003, so not only was I not in blacksburg on that day but all of the professors I knew back then had already moved on to other departments as well. So much has happened in my life since college that i don’t really feel “connected” to the attack, if that makes sense. I do feel fortunate that none of my old profs or former classmates were hurt that day.</p>
<p>Also depends on what kinds of jobs you had in Taiwan. For example, if you were just teaching elementary kids conversational english in day care schools, and enjoying yourself at local clubs at nights, then chances are, your experiences in Taiwan won’t be much of a help.</p>
<p>You nailed it. I was actually teaching adults, I spent some time at ShiDa learning Chinese, and I had some freelance writing gigs, but other than that…yeah.</p>
<p>You will be fine. Just make sure you have some safe school and also some shot range school you apply to.
I know people with 2.5 GPA and high GRE that got into top tier 1 and 2 program. The point is don’t just based your school search on ratings but on interest and opportunities.</p>
<p>You can also tried a master’s degree as your back up plan if your are shooting for the PhDs</p>
<p>I’ve been looking around at the minimum requirements for grad schools in the southeastern US and it looks like a lot of them parse your GPA beyond the raw composite number. For instance, some of them are looking for a 3.0 within the last 60 credit hours, which I certainly have, while others only care about 3000 and 4000 level coursework, which is perfect for me because I tended to excel in more challenging classes. In fact, looking back at my transcript I have mostly A and B grades within my German major. It looks like I will be going to grad school after all. Thanks so much for the help and advice : )</p>