Curious if this a consideration in grad school admissions as it can be for undergrad. DS is graduating this May and considering grad school. He’s a hs class of 2020 grad who struggled a bit in his first few semesters due to the pandemic—online learning, general impact of the pandemic, etc. He fully turned it around and has done very well from that point on, but it had an impact on his cumulative gpa for sure. Major gpa is solid. Anyone have insight into how this might be viewed?
It will depend on the degree and how they evaluate applicants, if there are other considerations besides gpa (work experience, letters of rec, etc), how competitive the degree is, how competitive the other applicants are etc.
Some graduate degree programs have higher acceptance rates, while others have very low acceptance rates. Even within highly competitive degrees…schools may have differences when it comes to evaluating grades.
Without having more information about the degree it is hard to directly answer your question, but my guess is that an upward trend and a strong major gpa will only be viewed as a positive! Many schools have a space within the application to explain these things.
Is he able to speak with current students who attend the programs he might be interested in attending? Are there virtual open houses or information sessions?
Depends on what sort of grad school.
A thesis MA/MS, a professional masters (like MBA), a professional doctorate (MD, DD, etc), a PhD, etc., each admit students based on different criteria.
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I agree with other answers that “it depends”. However, many students struggled during the pandemic. The uptrend should help. Also, at least my personal experience suggests that grades in your major and in closely related subjects will matter quite a bit more compared to grades in very different subjects. As one example, for a math major applying to a graduate program in a subfield of mathematics, a couple of poor grades in art and art history classes did not seem to matter.
Also, at least in our experience relevant experience, such as work and research experience, can also help quite a bit.
I would be cautiously optimistic. However, grad school admissions can be difficult to predict.
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My daughter applied for a masters during the pandemic and at the same school as her undergrad (so the letters of rec were written by her same professors to themselves?). Her freshman and sophomore grades, when she was in a different major, were not the best but she finished strong. Also, because of the pandemic she didn’t have to take the GRE which was a godsend because she really sucks at math. It really helped that they knew her and she received a fully funded position (which was a huge surprise to me, but she is a very hard worker and she did prove that decision to be correct).
She just graduated and her adviser raved about her, as well as another prof. They really want her to go for a PhD, but I really want her to have my grandchildren! I think she wants a break before any more school.
I think if OP’s son picks the program wisely, lower grades in early courses should not be a problem. GRE scores may matter, the level of the program can matter, the strength of other applicants can matter. Sometimes it is just being in the right place at the right time.
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Some masters you need (or top schools) require work experience. Others not.
There’s also tests GRE, Gmat, LSAT, etc), ECs, recommendations and more.
So many variables…hence you need to share specifics.
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Is he planning to attend straight from undergrad or will he work first?
I do not know what degree your son is interested in and how admissions will view his grades, but keep in mind that the further he gets from undergrad, the more experiences and accomplishments he has after undergrad, the less important those lower grades (non major) eventually become because admissions will have more to evaluate him on (of course there are exceptions depending on the degree he is seeking).
Also, depending on the degree - he can take higher level classes/additional classes prior to applying to show the admissions committee he can do the work. I actually think getting a C or two his first year due to the pandemic will not hurt (given the upward trend) but of course this depends.
I am speaking in generalities…we do not know what your son plans to do. As noted there are many variables and factors considered in grad school admissions.
Thanks so much to all for taking time to respond. He’s a Poli Sci major/Philosophy minor with a strong interest in higher Ed/academia, but he’s also considering taking a year off to work and travel before starting grad school.
He’d love to stay at his undergrad school, but they don’t have a poli-sci grad program, so he’s looking at large universities in the northeast, which is where he would prefer to live. He’s also applying for jobs and internships, and then he will see what his options are and go from there. I’m in the role of cheerleader at this point, hoping to be able to advise if asked, but he’s steering the ship.
I guess a follow up question would be whether or not one can defer for a year if accepted to a grad program? He’s mentioned the idea that he wants to apply for next fall while he’s in full job search/resume mode and in close contact with the profs he has strong relationships with, and then defer for a year if he gets an interesting job opportunity. Is deferral a thing in grad school like it is for undergrad, or does it depend on the school/program?
Thanks again!
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It depends on the program, I assume. My daughter’s graduate program only allows a deferral for very specific reasons and you have to apply and get approved by the committee on a case by case basis. This was explained to all new students.
What degree is he seeking? A masters? PhD? When you say higher Ed/academia…I assume he is looking to teach at the college level?
Is he planning to work abroad so that he can travel? A year isn’t enough time to travel AND gain meaningful work experience. Many employers, internships etc will want a time commitment of at least a year (possibly more).
What degree does he have in mind? What are his specific interests? There are many options out there under the bigger umbrella of political science.
I think if you look at most in academia - just scanning profiles, most seem to be at second schools - and @Shelby_Balik is a professor and has posted about this exact thing before.
Actually, she’d probably be excellent to respond to your post in general if she’s out there.
I’m sure there’s a school for your son - because just like undergrad, there’s a lot of schools of varying selectivity.
There’s so many degrees he could consider - from a Master/PHD in Poli Sci to the education or MPA or even Law. Sounds like it wouldn’t be the last two.
Good luck to him.
Some/many programs offer a variety of concentrations within a PS masters program that students can choose from. I assume he is looking for a masters now?
Working first will allow him to explore and discover those interests. If he applies right now it might be rushed, unless of course he knows exactly what he wants.
This is just my opinion, but it might be a better idea to work first and then apply, rather than apply and try to defer. This will provide him with time to grow and explore his potential interests…as well as build his CV.
Just my opinion without knowing any details.
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All good questions that I’m not sure he has definitive answers for, but this is so helpful to me to think about as he seeks our advice and tries to plan for next steps.
He is primarily interested in international relations, and yes, he says he’s interested in teaching, so. PhD program would be preferable to a terminal Masters. I think he has a lot of research to do and some school visits to make as he explores his options!
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Thanks so much. Yes, a combined Masters/PhD seems to be his interest.
Good luck! Has he applied yet? I assume deadlines are approaching…
Also, I am sure he knows this but some degrees may want the GRE, research experience etc. He will figure that out!
He’s in the process on 2 schools of interest that he’s visited before. He’s a smart kid, so I think that if it feels right and makes sense he will see it through now, and if not he will postpone in favor of work.
Best wishes!
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Thank you!
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I had a kid who wanted a PhD in International Relations/Public Policy. A very wise advisor suggested graduating and getting a job. The world wouldn’t run out of graduate programs during the one or two year break… and for SURE the kid’s professional aspirations would improve with time away, an actual job working in the field.
It took five months of working for the kid to pivot. Did end up in graduate school, but not in public policy, and not a doctorate. Kid ended up in a much more competitive program than would have been possible if applying while in undergraduate; has never looked back.
So nice when a faculty member steps up! Make sure your son has checked in with a couple of professors before getting too far ahead of his skis. And by the way- kid’s first boss asked after a few months “What’s your long term plan?” and when the answer was “a PhD in Public Policy” the boss laughed and said “you need a Plan B”. I know that if either parent had suggested Plan B we’d have been ignored or laughed at… but when someone credible, a highly admired professional says “that’s not the right path for you” a kid often listens.
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Thank you—one of the main reasons why I’m letting him get there on his own, and just hoping I can have a good understanding when/if he asks for my two cents. He’s spent a good deal of time over this break fine-tuning his resume and beginning to apply for internships and jobs through his school’s Handshake platform. He has some lovely relationships with professors, and I know he values their opinions and advice, so I’m hoping he has some good conversations when he’s back on campus in a few weeks that can help him to decide whether to move forward or wait.
My husband and I both took about 4 years off to work, lived a few different places, etc. before going to grad school, so I’m a big fan of taking this time to have a variety of experiences. I also feel that my ds, like many hs class of 2020 kiddos who didn’t take gap years, kind of pushed through despite all of the sudden loss at a pivotal transition and never really took the time to process. In an effort to try to make things as normal as possible at the time we encouraged this, but we are hoping he will take the time now. At the same time, we know he needs to feel like he has agency over his next steps this time around, so we want to support him if grad school is what he wants.
As I’m writing this, I’m realizing this is exactly what we probably need to say to him, lol.
If he’s a Senior and he ultimately decides to seek a position, the hiring time is in full swing and for some industries over.
What type of jobs would he pursue? He needs a plan besides being on handshake. Have him set up an indeed daily feed - but again, what types of jobs would he be interested? Does he want to be in a think tank or business or work for a city or museum, etc. He has to think about that type of thing - and develop a game plan.
Or perhaps he’d travel and then come back and pick up a job in a restaurant, ski area, or something nature-y.
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