Some Grad School Questions

[Elocin]

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I have a few questions. I have yet to take the GRE for grad school and I have 2-3 years left of undergrad to get done.

I started out at one university for pre-medicine and went there for two years. My GPA ended up being a cumulative of 3.0. I transferred schools, to UW Whitewater, and then switched over to do something in psychology (not sure if I want to be a professor in behavioral neuroscience or be a neuropsychologist yet), and I finished my first semester and got a 3.66 at this university, and my psych GPA is currently a 3.75, and I hope to raise it.

I know that when applying, you have to submit all your transcripts, but how is this going to work with my GPA since now I have two cumulative GPAs. Will I just calculate the 3.0 with whatever I get at Whitewater? Or will I have to calculate every semester in my undergraduate career?

Also, if I were to go into a masters program and then try to get into a doctoral program, would the doctoral program look at my masters degree coursework or will they still put into consideration my undergraduate work? I'd really like to end up with a doctorate at some point.

Thanks for your time.

 

[thewesternsky]

Because you transferred schools (as opposed to withdrawing, for example), I would imagine that your cumulative undergraduate GPA will be calculated based all courses in your undergraduate career.

If you do a Master's degree and then apply to a Ph.D. program, the doctoral admissions committee will look at both your graduate AND your undergraduate transcripts.

Welcome to the board! And don't worry about the GRE yet-- save that at least until your second-last year of undergraduate work. Many people write it during the summer between their third and final year of undergrad-- that would give you plenty of time. The best thing you can do for your application right now is to work on getting research experience, if you're not doing that already. 🙂

 

[paramour]

I transferred twice during undergrad so had the oh, so wonderful opportunity to submit transcripts from 3 separate institutions. Yes, they count your grades from everywhere you took an UG course, so you will be calculating your cumulative GPA based upon both universities together. As long as your grades show an increase and you do well with your psych GPA, you should be fine. And, as already mentioned, if you go the master's route (which I also did 😀), then they will take that into consideration as well during your app review. However, some institutions may not place as much influence on that particular part of your app as other factors.

G'luck~