Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Covering up poor grades for school admission
Hello!
I am going to apply to a grad school in the US and I have some doubts about the grades. Although overall my grades are quite good, I do have three 3/5 ("C" I suppose) among 58 disciplines. (No GPA system in my country).
Is it important to have an excellent diploma? Is there a way to cover these grades? I was thinking about finishing a MOOC and purchasing a verified certificate. Also, I have read that a reaaally good GRE score could cover up, but as a foreigner I probably would fail verbal section. Maybe it would be better to forget about scores and focus on polishing a portfolio.
Any ideas? I've read a lot about the US grad schools, and it seems that universities are very picky about grades and other quantitative measures, aren't they?
I've seen and heard people with exquisite portfolios get into Harvard even with GPA's around 2.4, with 2.0 GRE writing scores. As the comment above mentions, I assume your GPA would be just fine. Very few gradschools actually care about your quantitative measures--you just need to provide the bare minimum. The only exception among top-tier schools would be Princeton as far as I know.
Portfolio>>Recommendations>>Essay>>Test Scores and GPA.
Focus on more important things first, and worry about the numbers later.
i got a C in my senior studio because i was busy crafting exquisite bong rips and still got into the Master's program. its all about portfolio, personality, and connections.
I have similar situation. I have a GPA of 2.8 (BSc. of Architectural Studies) and GRE score of V-146 and Q-155 (I don't have my writing scores yet as I just had the test yesterday).
Do you guys think I have a chance at good M.Arch Schools (with funding) if I have strong portfolio, essays and recommendations??
Thank you all for the answers! I would definitely focus on portfolio.
By the way, in some countries grades rarely objectively show academic abilities of a student. I know a bunch of brilliant people with poor grades and a lot of narrow-minded and slow graduates with excellent transcripts. I mean that even people with low GPA can perform well at a graduate school.
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