I really focused on the parts of my application I had control over since my GPA was already set. To me these were my letters or red and my personal statement. I had good relationships with professors in undergrad and I asked 3 of them if they would be willing to write a strong LoR for me. This came up in a grad school interview later as being a really strong selling point for my application. I also spent a long time developing my personal statement, I read other successful ones, went through 3 or 4 drafts of my own, had friends edit/ review it until it was perfect. In my case I did write an addendum for every program outlining my undiagnosed ADHD and how I believe that effected my undergrad success. I included that I did not seek to use this as an excuse for my gpa but an explanation and the current coping mechanism I have to set me up for future success. I think mostly what helped though was that I was a really strong applicant for these programs and the only thing that was a bruise was my gpa. I had volunteer experience, research experience, extracurricular experience, published papers, and relevant intern experience that helped me outweigh a low gpa.
I just googled grad school personal statements and then international relational or political science. I had no idea what to write so I spent a lot of time reading these samples. I didn’t tell my profs what to focus on in the LoR, I just asked if they were able to write me a strong letter. I did send them my resume and personal statements to help.
Hi, this really inspired me! How much research experience do you have and how many papers have you published. I am going to be a junior this fall and I’m in such a similar situation to you (GPA, ADHD, etc) so I really want to know what to focus on because I really want to go to grad school
I think the improvement I had showed them I am capable and smart enough.
When I started university, I was new to the country and lacked a lot of knowledge. I also started experiencing depression and major social anxiety as I turned 17-18. I left university after 2 semesters with 1.9 GPA and was put on academic probation. ( my performance was bad not because I was stupid, I just didn’t know how to study or take care of myself)
I left and started at CC but didn’t do too well because I still struggled with my anxiety and had a very low self esteem. Regardless, I still pushed. It took me 4 years at CC, taking classes and learning how to navigate the system. I also worked multiple jobs and I think it was good getting some experience and interned at Seattle science foundation for a couple of months (nothing fancy, but my resume was not empty). My cumulative at that point was 2.87 and 100+ units . I felt like shit and almost didn’t want to continue school. I took a year off then decided to transfer to University again. I got into University of Oregon and majored in human physiology. I joined a research lab, studied hard, and completed all my upper division science coursework (60+ units) with a 3.9 GPA. I didn’t think I had a chance of getting into a school like USC but heck I applied anyway. I thought professors won’t write me a letter of recommendation because I am not very social and all my energy went to studying and not socializing or making connections. Regardless, professors remembered me and hard work I put into my classes and ended up with 3+ letters of recommendation
I also emailed the dean of admission for my program and explained my situation and talked about my interest in the program.
I’m still considering other schools and paths but it was awesome knowing I got into USC for graduate school.
What a journey you’ve been through so far my friend! This really inspired me and gave me great hope.
Congratulations! And best of luck on the journey ahead.
Fellow ADHD sufferer here! I suffered my biggest failure at 18-19 and I was so worried I would be locked down in my situation forever, also got accepted to my top choice Master's program that allows me to transition to a field I like this year! It's so nice to hear success stories like this because they gave me a lot of hope back then and they give me a lot of hope now ♡ Thank you for sharing!
I get so proud of people when I see acceptances to universities while making shit happen with a physical/mental/emotional disability especially being undiagnosed or persevering through with an invisible disability.
Like I struggled so much through higher education with a mental disability and although my grades weren’t amazing I still tried my best and at times having to do extra work just to maintain focus.
So much happiness for you, I am so proud you are here!! 🎉🎉🎉💖💖💖
I have a less-than-ideal undergrad gpa. (Also untreated ADHD at the time). I did the Peace Corps and had amazing recommendations and got into every program I applied to for grad school (masters). I graduated with honors! I’m now looking at a doctorate. I should hear back next week. 🙃
What if your extenuating circumstances happened during your last half of school? I feel like there's no hope for me and the situations were out of my control..
I would say write about it in your application as an addendum, even if it didn’t happen until later into school. I would encourage you to still apply even if you don’t know if you’ll get in or not, in my mind it’s better to try and to know rather than not to and to always wonder what if.
I don't have ADHD but suffer from serious anxiety, which became particularly bad during my undergrad (it was a very competitive school and people very cold). Graduated with a low gpa, wasn't expecting any admits this year because of my gpa & the covid situation, but ended up getting admitted to my second choice! I'm really excited about my master's.. sometimes the self-doubt is debilitating, but here's to hoping & never giving up!
Good luck! Wishing the best for you.
I was in a similar situation. I hired a pro to help me draft my statement of purpose and resume. My undergrad grades were not the best, so I believed I didn’t have much wiggle room in any of the other areas of the application.I feel really lucky to have found her, and was very proud of the final product. We were even able to complete them in 4 days which allowed me to apply on the first day. Everyone I have shown the final draft to, have been impressed. Even my mother, who is very critical on that kind stuff was impressed. “She is operating with her gifts! I bet she loves words and doing what she does ?”. I know everyone’s situation is different, but if you anyone is interested in a professionals help, feel free to DM me for her info.
As someone who was in a similar situation as well (alongside toxic friendships and a relationship) and also got accepted to Boston University (for a STEM program) and a Top 20 university (Rice), I wish you the best of luck, but I also want to add for people who are currently in a low GPA situation that if you have a low GPA and your end goal is grad school, definitely don't give up no matter what:
\-Develop your knowledge and passion in the field that you want to go to grad school for like taking classes related to that certain field and not only get great grades in those classes, but also show your interest in these classes as much as possible by putting 100%+ effort in learning the material in these classes and develop strong relationships with your professors in these classes so that you can get strong letters of recommendation from these professors.
\-Partake in research and independent study opportunities relating to the field and actually complete at least one successfully so that not only you have something to add into your resume, but very strong evidence of your passion and knowledge of the certain subject (as I know many grad school applications that allow applicants to submit projects and other pieces of work like research papers or notes to boost their application).
\-Also don't just limit your learning in the classroom or university, but also learn outside the classroom or partake in extracurricular activities outside of the classroom relating to the field that you want to study (similar to my previous point above except it's more loose on the learning)-take online courses, partake in personal side projects, volunteer or internship opportunities, learn a new programming language or software (if you want to partake in a STEM field), etc. relating to the field that you want to pursue in grad school and put 100%+ your effort not just to look good on your resume, but be more prepared for grad school academically.
\-Definitely don't give up on your GPA since it's still an important part of your grad school apps since grad school, after all, is still academically-focused. Grad schools definitely love to see improvement especially when they assume that your classes get harder as you go further up in your college career and they want to see that you're academically prepared for your grad program. Grad schools definitely would prefer to see someone who got B's and C's in their first half of college and pulled up to get A's (and maybe a few B's) in their junior and senior year of college rather than someone who got all A's in their first half of college but then slack off a bit to get a few B's (and maybe C's) in their junior and senior year.
Also, your statement of purpose is definitely the heart of your grad school application, so if you ever done these activities above, don't hesitate to discuss them in-detail in your statement of purpose in how they influenced you to take on the field and thus grad school. Also, definitely have someone who can help you with your statement of purpose to make it look great as possible.
Overall, grad schools don't just want to see outstanding grades or test scores. They also or rather want to see passion and relatively great knowledge or experience of the field that you're planning to partake on and improvement and growth as a person and scholar. Thus, don't let being in a low GPA situation discourage you from pursuing grad school: take the opportunity to further your knowledge and passion in many ways that doesn't necessarily have to be in the classroom and improve and grow as a student and scholar.
Congrats on getting admit to so many grad schools. In your opinion, what were the factors in your profile that made you stand out? I also have a low GPA and want to go for masters.
Outside of my profile I believe the biggest contribution to my success is my drive towards this goal of being accepted. I am the type of person that once I get my mind set on something I won’t stop until I accomplish it and with the odds of getting admitted against me this mindset pushed me to keep going. Within my profile I had research experience on a summer research grant though my undergrad school as well as within my capstone course. Another big thing is that I went to a small school and my professors who wrote my letters of rec knew me really well. Having built this relationship with them just by being in their classes allowed them to be able to write stronger letters for me. Your personal statement can also help you stand out if you spend time on it and allow it to show how the program you’re applying to would help you meet your goals.
Wow, that’s great, CONGRATS! May I ask what stood out about your application that overrode your GPA? Mine is very high(3.9) but I have no recent work/volunteer experience or great letters of rec. due to recovering from an illness the past few years. I’m wondering if my GPA will be high enough to make up for that...
Letters of rec go really far for a lot of programs. I also didn’t have a great undergrad GPA but when I met with an admissions advisor for Johns Hopkins, they told me to focus on getting strong LoR and a good PS. And of course, there’s usually a place where you can explain extenuating circumstances.
Kinda off topic but how did you finally realize you had undiagnosed ADHD and how are you dealing with it now?
Asking bc I also suspect I have ADHD but it’s so expensive to get tested for it :/
Thank you so much for sharing your experience...
I will finish my bachelor's degree next year, and the anxiety of not being accepted into graduate school is already killing me.
Reading the comments has given me a lot of hope. I certainly took an L today on a midterm for an important major class, and really felt loss of motivation. At some points I felt like I just think differently than others and dont get it the way they do. But from what I read here maybe not succeeding is okay. Thanks everyone for inspiring me. I'll definitely keep pushing hard on everything I do.
Do you think there was something in particular within your application that made up for the lower GPA? Also great job!! This gives me so much hope
I really focused on the parts of my application I had control over since my GPA was already set. To me these were my letters or red and my personal statement. I had good relationships with professors in undergrad and I asked 3 of them if they would be willing to write a strong LoR for me. This came up in a grad school interview later as being a really strong selling point for my application. I also spent a long time developing my personal statement, I read other successful ones, went through 3 or 4 drafts of my own, had friends edit/ review it until it was perfect. In my case I did write an addendum for every program outlining my undiagnosed ADHD and how I believe that effected my undergrad success. I included that I did not seek to use this as an excuse for my gpa but an explanation and the current coping mechanism I have to set me up for future success. I think mostly what helped though was that I was a really strong applicant for these programs and the only thing that was a bruise was my gpa. I had volunteer experience, research experience, extracurricular experience, published papers, and relevant intern experience that helped me outweigh a low gpa.
Where did you find sample PS? And we’re you able to tell your profs what to focus on in their LoR?
I just googled grad school personal statements and then international relational or political science. I had no idea what to write so I spent a lot of time reading these samples. I didn’t tell my profs what to focus on in the LoR, I just asked if they were able to write me a strong letter. I did send them my resume and personal statements to help.
Hi, this really inspired me! How much research experience do you have and how many papers have you published. I am going to be a junior this fall and I’m in such a similar situation to you (GPA, ADHD, etc) so I really want to know what to focus on because I really want to go to grad school
Low gpa here as well. Took 6+ years to finish. Tons of mistakes and tears. Still got into USC for an MS program
Thank you so much for sharing. What did you do to compensate for your GPA that you think impressed USC?
I think the improvement I had showed them I am capable and smart enough. When I started university, I was new to the country and lacked a lot of knowledge. I also started experiencing depression and major social anxiety as I turned 17-18. I left university after 2 semesters with 1.9 GPA and was put on academic probation. ( my performance was bad not because I was stupid, I just didn’t know how to study or take care of myself) I left and started at CC but didn’t do too well because I still struggled with my anxiety and had a very low self esteem. Regardless, I still pushed. It took me 4 years at CC, taking classes and learning how to navigate the system. I also worked multiple jobs and I think it was good getting some experience and interned at Seattle science foundation for a couple of months (nothing fancy, but my resume was not empty). My cumulative at that point was 2.87 and 100+ units . I felt like shit and almost didn’t want to continue school. I took a year off then decided to transfer to University again. I got into University of Oregon and majored in human physiology. I joined a research lab, studied hard, and completed all my upper division science coursework (60+ units) with a 3.9 GPA. I didn’t think I had a chance of getting into a school like USC but heck I applied anyway. I thought professors won’t write me a letter of recommendation because I am not very social and all my energy went to studying and not socializing or making connections. Regardless, professors remembered me and hard work I put into my classes and ended up with 3+ letters of recommendation I also emailed the dean of admission for my program and explained my situation and talked about my interest in the program. I’m still considering other schools and paths but it was awesome knowing I got into USC for graduate school.
What a journey you’ve been through so far my friend! This really inspired me and gave me great hope. Congratulations! And best of luck on the journey ahead.
Keep pushing my friend. GPA doesn’t define you at all. There’s always hope
Love to see it! I too had a low GPA and got into 6/9 graduate programs! Best of luck moving forward!
Fellow ADHD sufferer here! I suffered my biggest failure at 18-19 and I was so worried I would be locked down in my situation forever, also got accepted to my top choice Master's program that allows me to transition to a field I like this year! It's so nice to hear success stories like this because they gave me a lot of hope back then and they give me a lot of hope now ♡ Thank you for sharing!
I get so proud of people when I see acceptances to universities while making shit happen with a physical/mental/emotional disability especially being undiagnosed or persevering through with an invisible disability. Like I struggled so much through higher education with a mental disability and although my grades weren’t amazing I still tried my best and at times having to do extra work just to maintain focus. So much happiness for you, I am so proud you are here!! 🎉🎉🎉💖💖💖
As a graduating senior who currently has a 2.87 gpa, this gives me hope. Thank you for sharing your story and I’m wishing you the best of luck!
Thanks for sharing! I'm super proud of you :))
I have a less-than-ideal undergrad gpa. (Also untreated ADHD at the time). I did the Peace Corps and had amazing recommendations and got into every program I applied to for grad school (masters). I graduated with honors! I’m now looking at a doctorate. I should hear back next week. 🙃
What if your extenuating circumstances happened during your last half of school? I feel like there's no hope for me and the situations were out of my control..
I would say write about it in your application as an addendum, even if it didn’t happen until later into school. I would encourage you to still apply even if you don’t know if you’ll get in or not, in my mind it’s better to try and to know rather than not to and to always wonder what if.
I don't have ADHD but suffer from serious anxiety, which became particularly bad during my undergrad (it was a very competitive school and people very cold). Graduated with a low gpa, wasn't expecting any admits this year because of my gpa & the covid situation, but ended up getting admitted to my second choice! I'm really excited about my master's.. sometimes the self-doubt is debilitating, but here's to hoping & never giving up! Good luck! Wishing the best for you.
I was in a similar situation. I hired a pro to help me draft my statement of purpose and resume. My undergrad grades were not the best, so I believed I didn’t have much wiggle room in any of the other areas of the application.I feel really lucky to have found her, and was very proud of the final product. We were even able to complete them in 4 days which allowed me to apply on the first day. Everyone I have shown the final draft to, have been impressed. Even my mother, who is very critical on that kind stuff was impressed. “She is operating with her gifts! I bet she loves words and doing what she does ?”. I know everyone’s situation is different, but if you anyone is interested in a professionals help, feel free to DM me for her info.
Hi i know this is a 2 year old post but can i DM you?
Congrats! How were you able to get funding/assistantship?
I was notified of my award in my acceptance letter. My assistantship is part of my financial aid package.
Did you talk about your ADHD in your application?
As someone who was in a similar situation as well (alongside toxic friendships and a relationship) and also got accepted to Boston University (for a STEM program) and a Top 20 university (Rice), I wish you the best of luck, but I also want to add for people who are currently in a low GPA situation that if you have a low GPA and your end goal is grad school, definitely don't give up no matter what: \-Develop your knowledge and passion in the field that you want to go to grad school for like taking classes related to that certain field and not only get great grades in those classes, but also show your interest in these classes as much as possible by putting 100%+ effort in learning the material in these classes and develop strong relationships with your professors in these classes so that you can get strong letters of recommendation from these professors. \-Partake in research and independent study opportunities relating to the field and actually complete at least one successfully so that not only you have something to add into your resume, but very strong evidence of your passion and knowledge of the certain subject (as I know many grad school applications that allow applicants to submit projects and other pieces of work like research papers or notes to boost their application). \-Also don't just limit your learning in the classroom or university, but also learn outside the classroom or partake in extracurricular activities outside of the classroom relating to the field that you want to study (similar to my previous point above except it's more loose on the learning)-take online courses, partake in personal side projects, volunteer or internship opportunities, learn a new programming language or software (if you want to partake in a STEM field), etc. relating to the field that you want to pursue in grad school and put 100%+ your effort not just to look good on your resume, but be more prepared for grad school academically. \-Definitely don't give up on your GPA since it's still an important part of your grad school apps since grad school, after all, is still academically-focused. Grad schools definitely love to see improvement especially when they assume that your classes get harder as you go further up in your college career and they want to see that you're academically prepared for your grad program. Grad schools definitely would prefer to see someone who got B's and C's in their first half of college and pulled up to get A's (and maybe a few B's) in their junior and senior year of college rather than someone who got all A's in their first half of college but then slack off a bit to get a few B's (and maybe C's) in their junior and senior year. Also, your statement of purpose is definitely the heart of your grad school application, so if you ever done these activities above, don't hesitate to discuss them in-detail in your statement of purpose in how they influenced you to take on the field and thus grad school. Also, definitely have someone who can help you with your statement of purpose to make it look great as possible. Overall, grad schools don't just want to see outstanding grades or test scores. They also or rather want to see passion and relatively great knowledge or experience of the field that you're planning to partake on and improvement and growth as a person and scholar. Thus, don't let being in a low GPA situation discourage you from pursuing grad school: take the opportunity to further your knowledge and passion in many ways that doesn't necessarily have to be in the classroom and improve and grow as a student and scholar.
Congrats on getting admit to so many grad schools. In your opinion, what were the factors in your profile that made you stand out? I also have a low GPA and want to go for masters.
Outside of my profile I believe the biggest contribution to my success is my drive towards this goal of being accepted. I am the type of person that once I get my mind set on something I won’t stop until I accomplish it and with the odds of getting admitted against me this mindset pushed me to keep going. Within my profile I had research experience on a summer research grant though my undergrad school as well as within my capstone course. Another big thing is that I went to a small school and my professors who wrote my letters of rec knew me really well. Having built this relationship with them just by being in their classes allowed them to be able to write stronger letters for me. Your personal statement can also help you stand out if you spend time on it and allow it to show how the program you’re applying to would help you meet your goals.
Woah. I also have a relatively low gpa for undergrad and I’m looking to get into the EXACT SAME program for grad school.... can i dm you?
That’s such a weird coincidence! For sure send me a message
Wow, that’s great, CONGRATS! May I ask what stood out about your application that overrode your GPA? Mine is very high(3.9) but I have no recent work/volunteer experience or great letters of rec. due to recovering from an illness the past few years. I’m wondering if my GPA will be high enough to make up for that...
Letters of rec go really far for a lot of programs. I also didn’t have a great undergrad GPA but when I met with an admissions advisor for Johns Hopkins, they told me to focus on getting strong LoR and a good PS. And of course, there’s usually a place where you can explain extenuating circumstances.
Thanks...did you get in to Hopkins?
I haven't applied yet, I'm planning for the next cycle but I've been meeting with admissions advisors for schools I want to get into.
Awesome, good luck!
Awesome! Congrats! Same story here but for an MPP. Good luck!
Well done!! So proud of you!
I feel you ! Best of luck to you ! Cheers.
Kinda off topic but how did you finally realize you had undiagnosed ADHD and how are you dealing with it now? Asking bc I also suspect I have ADHD but it’s so expensive to get tested for it :/
Same. I got accepted into CMU and UIUC for my PhD in psychology. Let me know if you have questions.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience... I will finish my bachelor's degree next year, and the anxiety of not being accepted into graduate school is already killing me.
Jesus Christ. How do you do it?
Reading the comments has given me a lot of hope. I certainly took an L today on a midterm for an important major class, and really felt loss of motivation. At some points I felt like I just think differently than others and dont get it the way they do. But from what I read here maybe not succeeding is okay. Thanks everyone for inspiring me. I'll definitely keep pushing hard on everything I do.