Low GPA, would a masters help?

[Johnwickk]

Hello everyone,
I wanted to know if getting a 1 year masters in science would be beneficial for someone who has a sub 3.0 gpa. First year of university my dad suffered a heart attack, second year of university my mom became paralyzed from Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy illness. Because of this my first two years of university were nothing but Cs and Ds. Third and fourth year was when my gpa was around 3.4 3.5. I had done extremely well in almost all of my classes (eg. Chem 1 - A-, Chem 2 AB, Orgo 1 - A, Biochem A, etc) I know i am capable of having a higher gpa then i have right now but i wanted to know what would be my best option. I am writing the DAT in November and hoping to do well. Should i go back to school and do a post bacc or apply for a masters program? The problem with a post bacc i think is that my gpa wouldnt increase too much but if i did a masters, dent schools will see a separate GPA with upper level science courses.
Thank you

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[darknightzzz]

Hello everyone,
I wanted to know if getting a 1 year masters in science would be beneficial for someone who has a sub 3.0 gpa. First year of university my dad suffered a heart attack, second year of university my mom became paralyzed from Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy illness. Because of this my first two years of university were nothing but Cs and Ds. Third and fourth year was when my gpa was around 3.4 3.5. I had done extremely well in almost all of my classes (eg. Chem 1 - A-, Chem 2 AB, Orgo 1 - A, Biochem A, etc) I know i am capable of having a higher gpa then i have right now but i wanted to know what would be my best option. I am writing the DAT in November and hoping to do well. Should i go back to school and do a post bacc or apply for a masters program? The problem with a post bacc i think is that my gpa wouldnt increase too much but if i did a masters, dent schools will see a separate GPA with upper level science courses.
Thank you

how many units/credits you took at your university already?

from other posters, it is recommended you take postbach to push your GPA up to 3.0 GPA overall and science first then complete a master. Calculate your year well because if you take the DAT in november and wont apply for another 1-2 year it may expire.

it seems like you have the potential/capability. Have you considered retaking all the classes you got Cs and Ds in and stack up the units? like 20 units or more since you took them already, it will be just review. this is just my thought

very heart broken to be in your situation. it seems like life brought you very down big time. Im sure you will find your way back.

 

[Johnwickk]

how many units/credits you took at your university already?

from other posters, it is recommended you take postbach to push your GPA up to 3.0 GPA overall and science first then complete a master. Calculate your year well because if you take the DAT in november and wont apply for another 1-2 year it may expire.

it seems like you have the potential/capability. Have you considered retaking all the classes you got Cs and Ds in and stack up the units? like 20 units or more since you took them already, it will be just review. this is just my thought

very heart broken to be in your situation. it seems like life brought you very down big time. Im sure you will find your way back.

Hey, i have a total of 96 credits. It isn't alot so i think there is alot of room for improvement. Another problem with a postbach is that i will have to start in the winter term. Also the dates for the DAT are only in November and February because i am writing the Canadian version. If i can get into a masters without doing a postbach, do you think i will still be competitive?

 

[darknightzzz]

Hey, i have a total of 96 credits. It isn't alot so i think there is alot of room for improvement. Another problem with a postbach is that i will have to start in the winter term. Also the dates for the DAT are only in November and February because i am writing the Canadian version. If i can get into a masters without doing a postbach, do you think i will still be competitive?

are you canadian? why are you writing canadian? if so, i believe you gotta be more competitive than average US applicants since you are international (albeit canadian has a lee way)
yea 96 credits, retaking half of that (1 year) of all As can pull up your gpa to 3.4 and then get a master if you would like or try to apply before you started the master and do the master in that cycle

from what i see, some people with below 3.0 and master high GPA still struggle because its just how much the undergrad GPA holds. you should visit under 3.0 club and read more stories to find your own attack plan

 

[Johnwickk]

are you canadian? why are you writing canadian? if so, i believe you gotta be more competitive than average US applicants since you are international (albeit canadian has a lee way)
yea 96 credits, retaking half of that (1 year) of all As can pull up your gpa to 3.4 and then get a master if you would like or try to apply before you started the master and do the master in that cycle

from what i see, some people with below 3.0 and master high GPA still struggle because its just how much the undergrad GPA holds. you should visit under 3.0 club and read more stories to find your own attack plan

Yeah im canadian. I think what your recommending is a good option because say i do get a masters and apply and get rejected. It wont be because of my masters, itll be because of my undergrad GPA. So you think as long as im around a 3.0 with a MSc of 3.6 i should be good?

 

[darknightzzz]

Yeah im canadian. I think what your recommending is a good option because say i do get a masters and apply and get rejected. It wont be because of my masters, itll be because of my undergrad GPA. So you think as long as im around a 3.0 with a MSc of 3.6 i should be good?

i see people with master strive to get 3.2-3.3 at least with undergrad. and master u should strive for 3.8-3.9. its the trend i see around here

 

[Johnwickk]

i see people with master strive to get 3.2-3.3 at least with undergrad. and master u should strive for 3.8-3.9. its the trend i see around here

Hey, also i forgot to ask, do you recommend doing a formal or informal post bacc?