<p>As an undergraduate I got a BA in Economics and a BS in Applied Mathematics.</p>
<p>My CGPA is pretty horrid (2.25) because i have a medical condition and I was sick a lot. Wasn’t really able to concentrate in classes at all in the first 4 years (I did a dual degree)</p>
<p>My major GPA for Economics however is 3.85 (All A+/A/A-). I know the difference between the two is pretty drastic, but I explained the issue in my essay when I applied to grad school.</p>
<p>What I want to know is what my expectations should be regarding grad school admission?
(I’m confused as to what some of them want. All of them say at least a 3.0, but they aren’t specific as to if its CGPA or Major GPA (Junior/senior level work)</p>
<p>What are your extra curricular activities? Have you taken the GREs? Admissions will notice the huge gap but if you do really well in your major it shows you know your material in your field. Experience is a plus, and draws attention away from your overall gpa.</p>
<p>You’re going to be a very hard sell for graduate admissions - that 2.25 CGPA is seriously below what most grad schools expect from their candidates. Your best bet is to look for programs that primarily consider the last 60 units for admissions. No school looks just at “major GPA” - all of your classes from those last two-plus years will be calculated.</p>
<p>However, that’s only a minimum entrance standard - unfortunately, your low CGPA will likely still be a topic of conversation on the admissions committee. Hopefully you have other strong pieces of your application (GREs, letters of recommendation) that will support your goal.</p>
<p>All you can do is apply and hope for the best. Good luck!</p>
<p>As you research graduate programs, pay attention to university-wide minimum GPAs for admission. If your GPA is below the cut-off, the department may not be able to admit you (or only with great hassle) even if they wanted to. </p>
<p>If the GPA is not otherwise specified, it refers to your cumulative GPA. When I was applying to graduate school in math, all of my 14 schools asked about my cumulative GPA and a couple were interested in my major GPA as well. Only a single one wanted my GPA for the last 60 credits. I don’t know which GPA is commonly used in economics. (You see, math has a clear distinction between in-major and outside-of-major classes. Econ and the sciences don’t have that because students take a lot of courses in allied fields, like math.)</p>
<p>Yes, I have taken the GRE. I got 1440 (770Q/670V/5.5W) They also made me take the IBT TOEFL because I’m from a non-English native language country(I got 119/120)</p>
<p>I’ve interned for 4 summers (At 2 consulting companies involved in Economic Research) as well as tutored freshman/sophomore Engineering students in Physics and Math for 2 years in the Engineering Dept.</p>
<p>I’m thinking about re-taking the GRE to try to improve the score tbh.</p>
<p>I did a dual degree (Math Major and Physics Minor) + (Econ Major/Math Minor)</p>
<p>So classes that have no bearing on my Econ degree (Physics, Nuclear Engineering etc…) are counted towards my CGPA, which in turn is what grad schools look at when you’re applying. Makes little sense if you’re applying for a program related to Economics.</p>
<p>But graduate schools don’t look at it that way. What they will see from that is a student that bit off more than they could chew, and struggled to keep their head above water in every other discipline. An econ graduate degree isn’t just econ classes - there’s likely coursework in math, statistical analysis, research methods, maybe other social sciences depending on your research interests.</p>
<p>I really wonder why you didn’t drop the second major/minor - at some point, you had to realize it was becoming a boat-anchor on your GPA, right?</p>
<p>I would suggest making contact with potential professors at your target schools, and asking them what their feeling is in regards to your sharp GPA split. That will give you a much better sense than any guessing games we could play here. Your GRE scores are solid - not sure I’d bother retaking, though it really couldn’t hurt.</p>
<p>Don’t bother to retake the general GRE. Your scores are high enough to make any cut-off, official or unofficial, and better scores will not improve your application in any way. GREs, once you make it to a certain level, carry little weight.</p>
<p>You said you “applied” to graduate school. Does that mean that you didn’t get in anywhere last application cycle? If this is the case, you might want to readjust your expectations.</p>
<p>Well, I’m thinking of casting a wider net (Apply to more graduate schools) Hence this thread.</p>
<p>Regarding my applications this year, I got conditionally accepted at one school. The really odd part was that they asked for a minimum 3.0 GPA in their acceptance letter. I sent them my transcripts so they know that I can’t get a 3.0 CGPA. Because of this I’m naturally assuming that are referring to my Degree (Major) GPA.</p>
<p>The first degree (Math/Physics) was undertaken when I was sick so my GPA wasn’t exactly stellar. When I branched off into Economics and got better my GPA rose fairly dramatically. (2.2 to 3.5-3.9). So i basically have 4 years of terrible GPA and 1.5 years of high GPA.</p>
<p>It definitely makes for an odd transcript tbh.</p>
<p>I<code>m in a somewhat similar situation as yours. I am interested in what you said in your personal statement explaining the situation. You obviously don</code>t have to go into details if it`s personal, but a brief explanation. Thanks.</p>
<p>I explained my medical condition as concisely as I could (It’s a very rare neuro-muscular disorder. Less than 1 person per 100,000 has it) and how difficult it was to get diagnosed. (I bounced around all over the US seeing specialists for a good 4 years). After I was diagnosed, I was able to tackle the problem (Can’t really do much when you keep getting sick and you don’t know what’s wrong with you) and that’s when I was able to really concentrate on my classes. I mentioned my rising GPA in my last 1.5 years as evidence that I could endure the rigors of graduate school (I think this is something that is key. You have to prove that there was a serious academic turn-around). I also met three wonderful teachers in the Econ dept of my school who really helped me along my path (They all taught classes I got an A+ in), and they agreed to write my REC’s. (It also helped that in their rec’s they put me in the top 1% of their students)
What also helped was that I did a degree in Applied Math. A lot of graduate level Economics involves higher math so they also probably took that into account. </p>
<p>Speaking objectively, even with all that, I probably got very lucky that the person(s) reading my application was/were very understanding towards my circumstances.</p>
<p>You can probably write a letter with your application to explain your low GPA. It may do the trick you need or for other persons in the forum. Beyond this try and show your academic prowess with writing samples, recomendations or a portfolio of work. Good luck!</p>