Low GPA's and Grad School

ticklemepink
Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:46:25 +0000

Don’t get discouraged. Go for it, especially that you have shown a drastic improvement in your MA grades (although graduate school grades can be inflated in such a way that the actual range is much narrower than in undergrad, given that anything below a B is a warning sign, as opposed to a C for undergrad). My professors at Michigan hardly blinked at my course grades and it bothered me… until I got the results from my PhD programs- waitlisted at 2 places, both top-20! I asked the DGS at both places if there were any issues, they said no. The GPA is just one factor.

While the GPA is important, the history adcoms look much more closely at the SOP, writing sample, and LORs from professors to find evidence of a strong potential scholar. Your use of languages will be an asset- be sure to include passages in which you used Arabic in your writing sample. How much Arabic and Turkish do you actually have?

Do make sure your GRE verbal is 650 or higher in order to stay in the corral.

Since your field is in Middle East, be sure to apply widely and find more than one professors whom you can work with on thematic issues, besides the “adviser” in the geographical field. Be sure to apply for FLAS to help with funding. Yes, it’ll be a hot field but right now there aren’t just enough professors around, so, once again, apply widely.

While history programs don’t expect conference presentations or publications, I would try to make an effort to polish up your strongest paper and submit for publication review.

I would NOT even explain your GPA. Focus on your strengths and ideas, especially if you don’t have a lot of room. Let your LOR writers do it, especially anyone from your undergrad (this person can be the extra- have the first three LORs come from your MA programs)