<p>Hello,
I am about to be a Junior at Washington College. I currently have the GPA above and am a Bio/art major with a minor in Chem. I wish to go to grad school for microbiology. However, I am concerned my GPA is to low to get into a masters/PHD program. </p>
<p>Well, whether or not it is on the low side depends a lot on where you want to go! Years ago, I was given the following rubric:</p>
<p>3.5+ GPA: Apply to top-5
3.2+ GPA: Apply to top-25
2.9+ GPA: Don’t be picky
<2.9 GPA: Good luck.</p>
<p>Now, that was for PhD programs in engineering and ignored everything but GPA (as I will continue to do here), but it still works as a general guide. I would think you would be able to get in lots of schools as a masters student, fewer for PhD. Of course, you could get your masters at one school and then go somewhere “better” for PhD.</p>
<p>So your concern is not baseless, but may be exagerrated depending on your aspirations.</p>
<p>I generally agree with this rubric but as cosmicfish mentioned, it only takes into account GPA. If you are otherwise an outstanding student with a 3.4 GPA, you could potentially get into a top 5 program (that’s my story, anyway). You could have lots of research experience, or work with a famous professor who has connections at your target school, or your major/science GPA could be much higher, or you could be a perfect fit with the department.</p>