Senior Year Grades

[clinicalhopeful]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I notice that almost all clinical Ph.D. programs have December 1 application deadlines, which is before my college's first semester ends. I plan on applying while in my senior year of college so will the admissions committee get to see my first semester senior year grades? I would hope so.

 

[JockNerd]

I notice that almost all clinical Ph.D. programs have December 1 application deadlines, which is before my college's first semester ends. I plan on applying while in my senior year of college so will the admissions committee get to see my first semester senior year grades? I would hope so.

Typically, no. If the deadline is Dec. 1, and grades aren't issued till, say, Dec 20, how would the grad schools get them?

You might see if your prof of interest wants an unofficial (as in, copy and paste then email from your schools online info system) copy of your 1st semester grades. But gpa and such needs to be submitted with the application.

 

[JackD]

Really? That sounds kind of early. Most of the places i am looking at have deadlines in January. Really, you could probably just wait a few weeks and send in an updated transcript if you think your current one is inadequate.

 

[erg923]

I think the majority of programs still have a Jan 1st deadline. But, I know alot have December 1st or 15th too. I doubt admission committees ever look at anything before the Christmas holidays, so I'm not sure what the logic is with the December 1sr deadlines anyway.

 

[deleted176373]

Well if your grades are good it shouldn't matter...

However, if you are struggling to get that GPA up, you might want to take a year off to get your degree conferred and your GPA up to where it needs to be.

My grades were good but my transcript was funky (56 hours CLEP, 29 transfer credits *Many pass/fail*, and only 2 semesters of "real" grades.) Having my degree completed and graduating Summa Cum Laude made a difference to some extent. So if you are in that situation, no harm in considering a year off or only applying to your dream schools this time around.

Most of the programs I applied to were Dec 15th, with a mix of Dec 1 and Jan 1 deadlines. Schools are all over the place with this and really I wish it were more like the system the med schools use.

Mark

 

[JockNerd]

Well if your grades are good it shouldn't matter...

If the OP is taking 8 or 10 credits over his or her senior year, that's a LOT of course grades not being counted.

 

[Ollie123]

I think Dec 15th is probably the "average" date - at least of the schools that I looked at.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see some attempt at standardization by the APA in the future, though I imagine getting schools to comply will be tricky. Its becoming increasing ridiculous though as everyone wants to be "first" so schools keep moving back their interview date. A few years ago, my school was always one of the first interviews people went on, now we're usually middle of the pack, if not on the tail end, and we've had roughly the same timeframe the whole way through.

Honestly, I can't say that I really understand it - I know there's probably a few people who are just looking for ANY acceptance and won't even bother visiting other places after receiving an offer, but I imagine they are in the minority and probably not the highest caliber student to begin with.

OP: You can probably send an updated transcript or unofficial grades if they desire, though as long as your GPA is decent, I doubt a semester's worth of grades is going to be the thing that makes or breaks your app. Typically its the research experience that holds back people applying straight out of undergrad - not the extra coursework.

 

[clinicalhopeful]

My grades are good. I was just curious, due to the very early application deadlines.

 

[clinicalhopeful]

I think Dec 15th is probably the "average" date - at least of the schools that I looked at.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see some attempt at standardization by the APA in the future, though I imagine getting schools to comply will be tricky. Its becoming increasing ridiculous though as everyone wants to be "first" so schools keep moving back their interview date. A few years ago, my school was always one of the first interviews people went on, now we're usually middle of the pack, if not on the tail end, and we've had roughly the same timeframe the whole way through.

Honestly, I can't say that I really understand it - I know there's probably a few people who are just looking for ANY acceptance and won't even bother visiting other places after receiving an offer, but I imagine they are in the minority and probably not the highest caliber student to begin with.

OP: You can probably send an updated transcript or unofficial grades if they desire, though as long as your GPA is decent, I doubt a semester's worth of grades is going to be the thing that makes or breaks your app. Typically its the research experience that holds back people applying straight out of undergrad - not the extra coursework.

Well, a big part of the reason that I would like for the admissions committee to see my first-semester senior year grades is because it will have a grade for my honors thesis work, as well as some other very important psych classes. It's not that my GPA will be bad and I will want to show some improvement but I would like to show them how hard I'm working in my senior year. Is it considered acceptable to send an updated transcript once I receive my fall grades or would that just be considered annoying?

 

[Ollie123]

Well, a big part of the reason that I would like for the admissions committee to see my first-semester senior year grades is because it will have a grade for my honors thesis work, as well as some other very important psych classes. It's not that my GPA will be bad and I will want to show some improvement but I would like to show them how hard I'm working in my senior year. Is it considered acceptable to send an updated transcript once I receive my fall grades or would that just be considered annoying?

I'm sure many people send updated transcripts - I doubt its annoying, though it may not buy you terribly much.

As far as the honor's thesis goes, having an "A" grade for it is nice, but it won't buy you a fraction of what being able to talk intelligently about it during an interview does. Definitely include that you are doing one and the topic (and possibly a brief description) on your CV and/or personal statement. I imagine the grade will be relatively insignificant relative to how interesting the professor finds the topic, how it might relate to their work or demonstrate your promise as a researcher, etc.

Of course, more A's never hurt anyone either😉

 

[Boston2k]

Well, a big part of the reason that I would like for the admissions committee to see my first-semester senior year grades is because it will have a grade for my honors thesis work, as well as some other very important psych classes. It's not that my GPA will be bad and I will want to show some improvement but I would like to show them how hard I'm working in my senior year. Is it considered acceptable to send an updated transcript once I receive my fall grades or would that just be considered annoying?

Perhaps you could put on your CV that your senior thesis is in progress, the tasks you've been required to do for it, and expected completion date XXX. Then you can send them an update when it comes in. This might be one resolution.

 

[NeuroNeuro]

My GPA wasn't stellar due to my lower division bio classes so I sent in my fabulous fall quarter grades the day they were available since applications were still being reviewed. Who knows if it mattered but it made me feel better 🙂

 

[psydd]

ideally, i will be entering a grad program for the fall 2010 semester.

i won't be finishing my honors thesis for undergrad until the spring 2010 semester. obviously this is a really important part of my research experience for grad schools to see on my application, etc. i feel like telling them that the completion of my thesis is "anticipated" is going to look bad in comparison to other applicants who already have the thesis completed.

if the applications need to be in before my thesis and other fairly important credentials are complete, is that basically screwing me for that admissions season? or is there a better way to prove to them that i'm actually getting this stuff done, and not just saying it?