Why do graduate schools only look at last two years of an undergraduate program?

Question

Hello, I am considering applying to grad school and most of them have said that, in addition to a good GRE score, they also recommend a good GPA for the last two years of your undergraduate studies. Why do they do this? Do they also consider your earlier years? Do the last two years make much more of an impact than your earlier years?

The reason I ask is that my first year in college wasn't that great. If I improve in my upper-level classes, will I still have a chance for graduate school?

Thank you very much.

Answer 1

They will take your earlier years into account (particularly if you're a bordeline entry) but the most important are your final years.

There are several reasons behind this. One is that many first year students have trouble adjusting to uni - it's very different to high school, many may move away from home for the first time, embark on a serious relationship, struggle with the higher courseload. Basically it's a year of changes and adaption and many students, regardless of ability may struggle a bit - most uni's recognise this.

Another reason is the first year of uni are about working out what you want to do - students are often encouraged to take a variety of subjects, particularly ones they hadn't done before, to get experience to to get a taste for the types of majors on offer. As such some students may do a subject, score poorly and realise it's not for them and then change majors.

Finally, academically, the first year of uni is the easiest. I look back at my first year classes and I'm astounded that I found them hard at some stage! The final years of your course, as the work gets harder, is more comparable to a grad program - the workload, the difficulties, how you cope with the pressure etc. A lot of people excel in their first year and as the course progresses their marks get lower and lower.

Good luck!

Answer 2

They look at everything. They care more about the last two years -- because your performance in the upper division courses in your major are a good indicator of how you will do in graduate school.

I did miserably my Freshman Year -- but really well after that. I got into several highly rated graduate programs. I now have a Master's Degree from Duke and a PhD from UC-Berkeley.

Answer 3

i assume it relies upon on the particular grad college you're utilizing to... admission standards are not uniform around the board. once I utilized to grad college, they appeared at 4 issues: your GPA out of your junior and senior years (be conscious: for this purpose, they think approximately instructions taken once you have reached 60 semester instruments or ninety quarter instruments, which in many cases includes junior and senior 300 and sixty 5 days, yet could be before in case you're taking a lot of instructions), letters of advice from professors, your very own fact, and scores from the Graduate checklist examination (you're able to take distinctive exams, including MCAT, LSAT, and so on finding on your container of learn.) They do request a duplicate of your transcript, particularly to maintain you hassle-free approximately your GPA, in spite of the incontrovertible fact that it would additionally demonstrate glaring abnormalities, like in case you failed chemistry thrice. some thing like which may cause them to think of two times, yet a minimum of on the colleges I utilized to, they did no longer calculate a GPA based on your first 2 years.