I’m finishing my first semester of college now with a GPA of a 2.0. That was in a biomedical sciences major and I’ve decided I’m changing my major. How much will that GPA effect my ability to graduate and get a job with a different degree? Like for instance, if I get a business degree, how much will the 2.0 average of chem and bio etc change how grad schools see me or potential employers? Or will they not even concern themselves with those classes because they were outside of my major?
Answer is - it depends. My son had a rocky first year (but better than a 2.0) and ended up reporting his GPA in his major as well as overall GPA, and also made a point to list that he was on the Dean’s List senior year. Really the biggest issue for him was that it meant he got cut out of a number of internships and even some study abroad programs.
Kaela, this depends a little bit on whether some of your grades were below 2.0. But I can tell you as someone who has sat on graduate school fellowships committee that it was not uncommon for us to end up awarding fellowships to outstanding applicants to PhD programs who had begun their undergraduate years as engineering majors or the like. Both the departments/programs that admitted them to their graduate program and our committee (run by the “Graduate School”) will recognize accomplishment, ambition, and talent despite the modest grades in first year of undergraduate school.
Keep in mind that graduate programs are going to look at your application for: GRA or other test scores, overall GPA, GPA in your major, demonstrated talents (via course work, extracurricular activities, international and other experiences, language ability, essays, and other evidence of your abilities and commitment).
In short, this is not a “One false step and you’re on the street” situation. You have had a “learning experience.” Make the best of it.
Kaela, just to be clear. I was referring to students who may have started out in an undergraduate major (engineering or whatever) that didn’t suit their interests or abilities but who found their groove in other majors. Many, perhaps most, students change majors at least once. It’s normal. So their first-year grades may have been weak but after they found an alternative major they went on to accumulate classroom and other experiences (work, EC’s, hobbies even) that made them into superior candidates for graduate or professional school. Future programs and employers are going to take a holistic view of your talents, interests, and achievements, and many will find it a plus that you learned from experience and adapted your talents to go in a different direction.
The important thing will be upward trend.
Relax. Lots of kids do poorly their first semester. The real question is, did you learn what you could do differently? Read more efficiently, for example, or go to more office hours. Very often, it is poor or inefficient study skills that are to blame. You will continue to get better so don’t assume you have to choose another major. Give yourself time!
All you can do is move forward in a positive direction. You have plenty of time to improve your GPA.
My son’s favorite professor was placed on academic probation his first semester in college. He is now a fully tenured professor.
I actually got a very similar GPA to you in my first semester of my first year, but even worse! Just missed academic probation. I’m now in my 4th year and have managed to recover my GPA just fine- with a lot of work!
It’s going to take a lot of relentless work to bring that up to a 3.0 by the end of sophomore year, so that you qualify for internships.
If you realize you’re getting a C in anything now on, drop and take the W. Always register for 15-16 credits so that’s available to you.
Some schools allow Withdrawal until Thanksgiving or later. I’d say consider that seriously for any D or F.
^seconding: check NOW if you can still drop and take a W instead of a D or F.
Another opinion in favor of withdrawing from any classes you are doing poorly in. It’s worth the lost money and work.
@Kaela12345, I agree with trying to withdraw if it’s not too late, but if you can’t, I did some quick Math for you.
To get a 3.5 overall, starting from first semester, 2 A’s, 2 B+'s, and a B for 8 semesters would do the trick.
Starting with a 2.0 in the first semester, you’d need to turn that one B into an A for the remaining 7 semesters and that would get you there. Basically, you’d have to raise one class by a full grade, or 3 classes by one-third of a grade. Totally doable if you’re serious about getting good grades.
If you change schools, your GPA starts all over again, but any new school would need to see this transcript.
You are not telling us why you got the 2.0 GPA other than that you have found this major does not suit you. Is there anything else going on? Did you work hard?
Getting your GPA up is a tall order unless there is reason to think you can get the grades WalknOnEggShells mentions, and that is a lot of pressure going forward.
Have you heard you are on probation or anything?
Please look into withdrawing from classes you are getting D’s or F’s in.
Go see the academic advisor. At some schools, even though the pass/no pass deadline was earlier in the term, you can petition to change a class from graded to P/NP.
You will want to choose your classes for next term with maximizing your grades in mind. Consider easy breadth requirements. I agree with the above posters who recommend thinking about what went wrong beyond the major choice in the first term. Are you using the support resources available on campus?