I don't know too much about UH. I was pre-med for three years, and spent most of my early college career curled up in a bottle of Crown on my apartment floor. Needless to say, I graduated with an impressive 2.654. I had no problems getting into a handful of schools. Most schools are more concerned with a good portfolio than they are GPA and GRE scores. I don't know about everywhere else, but at TTU, there's quite a few people in a similar situation (Arch as a second major). GPA's are really no big deal if you perform well. Especially if you have a school like TTU who will take your ARCH GPA into consideration if your cumulative sucks.

Methinks you need to get your shit together if you're really thinking about a career in architecture. It's not really worth doing if you're going to half-ass it. If you were "very commited" to your grades then you wouldn't have a 2.7 GPA.

pvbeeber, I disagree. Some people make mistakes early on. If it weren't for those three years I spent dicking around with pre med, I would have graduated magna cum laude. I was very committed once I came around and got started in architecture. Its amazing what getting engaged (and later married) will do for your work ethic.

I agree. Just pointing out that he's moving in the wrong direction if he's concerned about slipping from a 2.95 to a 2.7. Schools vary in the importance they attribute to GPA, but there's no question that a 3.7 will get you further than a 2.7.

agreed.

rfuller i also very much agree with you... my GPA was 2.4 after 2 1/2 years of architecture school... for a variety of reasons, i just was not able to focus and do what i needed to do... eventually the light went on and i was able to graduate with above a 3. When i look back at it, im sure i could have done so much better had i not been such an idiot/basketcase from the age 17-20

however i also agree that if your serious about getting into a good school, moving backwards is not the image you want to present. I have been told by credible people that graduating sub 3 gpa is not the end of the world... especially for situations like mine and rfuller's where there was marked improvement made in the later years.

I think administrators are generally understanding that often school takes some getting used to... if you have a strong portfolio and have showed an upward trend in your transcripts, i think you can overcome percieved deficiency in gpa

yeah, true that!

Thanks guys, I know I made some bad choices, but I promise I have been working really hard in my classes, but I work part-time and I blame that on my lack of studying this semester. I have been speaking with the Architecture Counselor over the few months on how to go about getting accepted because I was worried that my GPA would not get me in despite the fact that she said that I had an excellent starter portfolio, UH isn't one of the top school for Arch program, and I wish I would have worked really hard to get into a superb school, but I cant turn it back, I can only try harder and learn from these mistakes.

Word up. Working part time is not a good idea if it's interfering with your grades. You're better off quitting your job, taking out a loan, and focusing on school as much as possible at this point. You'll be taking on debt, but you have to realize that your education is an investment.

i had a low gpa also when i was attending a community college after high school. i was taking general education classes to transfer to a university of california campus trying to major in marine biology or graphic design but i just wasn't taking school seriously at the time. as an elective, i took an introduction to architecture and a design class, and even then i wasn't taking those classes seriously. i was eventually placed on academic probation for having too many dropped classes and a low gpa. the probation was what kicked my ass. i began looking into architecture schools and then focused on re-taking some of the general education classes. i got good grades on those, which raised my gpa. i was also doing well in the series of drafting classes i was taking. i don't know about your school, but the one i was going to had a policy, i forget the proper term for it, in which you can eliminate a certain number of classes you've previously received Ds and Fs from, from being included in the gpa calculation. its a trip, i know, but you have to meet the condition of maintaining a certain above average gpa for a year, from what i remember.

i emailed the admissions counselor and the academic counselor at the arch school i was going to apply to and wrote that i was concerned about not getting accepted because of the low grades i've received. and like what letdown has mentioned, they wrote back saying that they focus more on the applicant's improvement: "upward trend in your transcripts". and of course, they said the portfolio is very important. i was able to raise my gpa to mid 3's before applying( i admit, there was one golf class in there). i had a cool trigonometry, history, geology instructors too when i was trying to get my gpa up. well, i got accepted to the 2 arch schools i applied to, graduated...now i just gotta deal with loans cause that's B-I-itch...

Dammson, I have this low GPA now, and I wanted to apply to the School for Fall 2008, but the admissions deadline is March 1, 2008...........you said you had to pick your gpa beforehand, guess that doesn't leave me much time? if thats the case I guess I have to wait another year to reapply. I am still going to talk to them because my transcript started out bad my first semester, but I improved greatly all throughout the rest of my semesters in Junior college. Cant take back all those bad grades in the beggining (and now at the very end), evidently the University still factors in those bad grades regardless if you had taken them over again and done better. if They had gotten rid of those two D's and an F (Remedial Course), I would have a 3 something.

if you wanna keep your precious GPA stay away from architecture school :).

"If it weren't for those three years I spent dicking around with pre med, I would have graduated magna cum laude."

...

xacto, thanks for taking that one out of context there. Definitely a couple of things there that don't look good together in the same sentence. Duly noted.

...at least that's where I think you were going with that post.

are you applying for undergrad at UH.
when i applied there i just did it as a
new student and got into the school
first. then brought my classes over a
year later.

no big deal, but you have to have a
min gpa to be a transf. student. not
saying the everyone there is a genius
but it is a rule. i know a few people that
didnt get in because of that.

so if you havent applied yet, then do it
as a new student and you wont have
any problems

so what do people think admissions would think of my >3.0 GPA? I was doing fine (like 3.2 or so I think) until a lot of family and personal/financial stuff went kablooey late junior/senior year, and I just couldn't focus on school at all.

It shows a 'downward trend', but do you think if I explained the situation, they would be willing to take it in to consideration and accept me anyway?

portfolio.

you need at least a 4.3 to get into any school that I know of

Take the year off from school and just work. Save up the $$$ so you can really concentrate next year w/out needing a job. Then apply with your kick ass GPA.

I know a few people that took years off before reapplying to college. Almost always it was just to save up some extra cash so college wouldn't be polluted with menial part time jobs.

had a 2.8 in UG and non-impressive GRE scores. got in to grad (at a top ten school) and first semster recieved a 3.7 gpa. I'm a fan of working for two or so years, diversifying your portfolio and resume, and building good references. GRADES MEAN NOTHING (in the end) anyways. good luck

ps. the main portion of ugrad was spent in Comm college