No, you're not screwed. Any chance you can upgrade one of the two "mediocre" LORs? Was your MA in religion or a related field? Any graduate level religion classes?
Yes, it was an interdisciplinary field, where I concentrated in what I want to study in a PhD program. I'm not sure how I can make my LORs stronger, as I worked a lot so I didn't have a lot of close ties with professors.
er, a general religion M.A., and most of my graduate courses had a certain language requirement (Hebrew) where you have to pass a competency exam to take them.
Contrary to popular belief, your LORs don't have to come from people you have "close ties" with; they just need to be able to vouch for your brilliance.
Not sure, but I suspect that having an MA degree will put some distance between your application and your undergrad gpa. I also suspect that the writing sample/SoP will probably count far more than your GPA.
(I'm curious: how high is a 3.7 graduate GPA? Obviously, it would be a really strong undergrad, but I was under the impression that the standards are different for graduate grading, and you'd want to be as close to the 4.0 as possible. I'm not in grad school yet, so I can't really speak to the truth of this...)
Quick note: while your college teaching experiences should be helpful, your testprep teaching/tutoring probably will not be, and I wouldn't even put that on your CV.
It is much harder in graduate school to get a 4.0 in many programs (including my own) because the professors feel that giving anyone an A means they don't need to improve/could equal the professor. Graduate professors like to feel superior to everyone, and thus (in my experience) hate labeling students "perfect." I know some professors in my program will not under any circumstances give As, and I knew at least one who did not read our finals (threw them out immediately) and gave everyone between a B- and a B+, depending on how much he liked them.
On the other hand, it's much harder to get a low GPA, because they'd have to really dislike you or you'd have to seriously screw up to get below a B. Since a 3.7 is an A-, I imagine it's pretty common. Maybe not at an Ivy, where getting in and showing up = all As, but many other places.
There is a lot of grade inflation in some graduate programs (e.g. if you show up and turn everything in = A), this was not the case in my program. My lowest grade on my transcript is a B-, and I did everything "right" (went to every class, turned everything in, did class participation, etc)...the professor just didn't want to hand out A's. Likewise, in another class, NO ONE got higher than a B+.
Depends on what field of religion and where you're applying. The MA will largely make up for the BA. It does depend somewhat on just where you did your MA and who you worked with and all that... it can definitely help to have worked with someone notable.
Some programs are more competitive than others. While your MA can make up for a lot, it might not necessarily be enough to be that final factor to get you "in" someplace. Actually, it's more important to have a good fit with the program and a prospective advisor. That's the part you should be more focused on.
I had a 2.9 undergrad GPA, a 3.7 Master's GPA, a similar GRE to what you're testing at (I think it was 680 Q, 700 V, and 6.0 on the writing). I did not write a thesis, but I wrote a heavily-researched paper that I presented at a regional conference. I had one OMG AMAZING LOR from someone who's a real name in my field and 2 more moderately-worded ones. (This is a guess from my knowledge of those profs - one was a last minute "My other LOR writer backed out, please write me one in 24 hours" fill in
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Thanks. This gives me hope - I'm sitting here getting bitter because I've had a LOT more of a struggle than anyone that I know financially by putting myself through college, and I'm confident that I could out-perform pretty much anybody...if I wasn't balancing 40 hours a week work (two jobs) and trying to do undergrad and graduate studies, while trying to search for "opportunities" to achieve things (while breaking my bank) that other people just seem to have handed to them. That's life though, and I've played my hand, so let's just hope it is good enough.
You probably know this, but a tip: Don't let the bitterness come through in your application. You're not the only person in the world who worked full time while completing an education or has struggled because of it. I don't say this to be snide - obviously I don't know your situation - but to be practical. Any whiff of bitterness in your app or personal statement or interview will be a problem.
I agree with this. I worked full time while in college, completed an independent research project, took a full course load and managed well over a 3.5 GPA. That's not to say that your situation wasn't difficult (or very different): I'm sure it was, and I have to admit that I was pretty lucky with my job, plus I didn't work full time the whole 4 years I was in college. I just caution against it because I'm sure the adcoms have seen applicants who put themselves through school and did very well. I think it would be in your best interest to really emphasize your strong masters record, give nothing more than a cursory mention of your difficulties as an undergrad, and have one of your recommenders broach the subject instead.
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(I'm curious: how high is a 3.7 graduate GPA? Obviously, it would be a really strong undergrad, but I was under the impression that the standards are different for graduate grading, and you'd want to be as close to the 4.0 as possible. I'm not in grad school yet, so I can't really speak to the truth of this...)
Quick note: while your college teaching experiences should be helpful, your testprep teaching/tutoring probably will not be, and I wouldn't even put that on your CV.
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On the other hand, it's much harder to get a low GPA, because they'd have to really dislike you or you'd have to seriously screw up to get below a B. Since a 3.7 is an A-, I imagine it's pretty common. Maybe not at an Ivy, where getting in and showing up = all As, but many other places.
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Some programs are more competitive than others. While your MA can make up for a lot, it might not necessarily be enough to be that final factor to get you "in" someplace. Actually, it's more important to have a good fit with the program and a prospective advisor. That's the part you should be more focused on.
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