ACE and GPA minimums

[CarpeDiem8]

Started thinking about graduate requirements that appear to require 3.0 for last 60 credits. Since the first 60 credits of my degree will be ACE, they don't have a GPA. Then I panicked a bit thinking about having to maintain an average of 3.0 for the last 2 years of my bachelor's, which are upper level, and how difficult it would be to raise it. For arguments sake, if I had a 2.0 for the last 60, then it would take a substantial amount of additional courses to get GPA to 3.0. The flip side is if I had 120 credits with 2.0, it would be nearly another associates degree to get it raised to 3.0, and need straight 4.0's! I don't think I would be able to even find that many additional classes that I like! Lol

So it begs the question - could ACE hinder or help? How about if I could have reported 60 credits of 4.0 but didn't because they are ACE?

Any experience with this?

Thanks!

[sanantone]

I don't know how every program works, but I believe it is common practice to calculate a GPA based on the last 60 graded credits or however many graded credits are required. When I applied to Angelo State University, I was told that they would just skip over all the CLEP, DSST, etc.

[dfrecore]

Started thinking about graduate requirements that appear to require 3.0 for last 60 credits. Since the first 60 credits of my degree will be ACE, they don't have a GPA. Then I panicked a bit thinking about having to maintain an average of 3.0 for the last 2 years of my bachelor's, which are upper level, and how difficult it would be to raise it. For arguments sake, if I had a 2.0 for the last 60, then it would take a substantial amount of additional courses to get GPA to 3.0. The flip side is if I had 120 credits with 2.0, it would be nearly another associates degree to get it raised to 3.0, and need straight 4.0's! I don't think I would be able to even find that many additional classes that I like! Lol

So it begs the question - could ACE hinder or help? How about if I could have reported 60 credits of 4.0 but didn't because they are ACE?

Any experience with this?

Thanks!

It just depends.

First, not every graduate degree requires 60cr of graded credits.

Second, if you're only getting 2.0's on your UL courses in your major, then I'm not sure you should be getting a graduate degree in that - if it was something you enjoyed studying, I would imagine your grades would be higher, just because of interest alone. If you can't get better than a C in a major course, you should probably consider putting more effort into it, or switching majors.

Third, you can always go back and get a graded course if you feel the need.

Fourth, you should work backwards from your goal. If your goal is to get a particular graduate degree from a particular school that requires 60cr of graded courses, then you should work that into your plan, even if you're going to one of the Big 3 and don't need those graded courses for your Bachelor's degree. You should also make sure that you're getting all of your prerequisites (and those should be graded if necessary).

Fifth, many people here have gotten into good graduate programs without 60cr graded.

Sixth, you can always choose a program that does not require graded credits. There are plenty of schools that do not have that requirement, that you may want to look at.

[CarpeDiem8]

For example, I am considering San Jose University's MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) program. Their requirement is a 3.0 on the last 60 credits. For my bachelor's I'm taking liberal arts so at this point it's not exactly a major in the traditional sense of the word. I'm just trying to think ahead and not paint myself into a corner. I have never gotten a degree, so not sure how hard the last 60 are going to be, maybe I would be fine, maybe not. I'm just trying to think of all angles before committing to a path. I'm not a very good gambler and sometimes fall prey to analysis paralysis! Lol

Thanks,

D

[cookderosa]

Sanantone and Dfrecore gave you excellent advice. In addition to that great advice, just apply anyway. You'd be surprised at what requirements aren't really requirements at all.

[inkleind]

I have been stressed about this as well, it keeps me tottering between cosc and tesu constantly. I AM worried about finishing at TESU, applying for grad school and being denied for a complete lack of a gpa since I'm testing out of everything.

I think I'm coming to terms with it though. I know I can get into SOME school. Will it be Harvard or John Hopkins? Maybe not. Maybe. When the time comes I'll write the best damn letter they've ever read, I'll get recommendations from the highly successful people in my life. And then I'll hold my breath and wait.

I'm not going to let that one little line (GPA above 3.0) dictate my success.

[CarpeDiem8]

Since there are only a select amount of universities that provide the MLIS/MLS program, I have to try to be a little more prudent. All of them have the same basic requirements of the GPA that I can see, the only differences appears to be more flexibility with the other requirements like letters of recc's, GRE scores, etc.

[keepsingin]

I agree with CarpeDiem8, 3.0 gpa seems standard for specialized programs. To anyone who knows, could you post a list of the grad schools that have gpa requirements less than 3.0? I know a few have been mentioned on here.

It's been mentioned that (most) grad schools skip over CLEP/DSST scores (I'm guessing this means they would skip over all ACE scores too) when calculating gpa. I'm curious if one had a 3.0 gpa from ~18 UL prereq credits taken at a Uni (the other 100ish being CLEP/ACE credit), would that be acceptable for a 3.0 gpa grad program?

[davewill]

Nevermind.

[CarpeDiem8]

Sorry guys, just over-analyzing everything. I agree that if one cannot maintain a B in the last 4 years of obtaining bachelors, then they are not ready for graduate school, hence why grad school has minimums! LOL

What my point was is wondering *how* ACE inter-plays with one's GPA, etc. Hindering or helping. The more courses one has, the harder it is to raise your GPA (and vice-versa). So I guess what I was thinking is that if I received 4.0 GPA my first 60 credits, how would that had otherwise impacted my GPA within the last 2 years of said bachelors. If I got a C in, let's say, just 2 classes during my last 60 credits of bachelors - wouldn't a solid 4.0 within the first 60 credits create a brick wall whereas without it, the GPA would be impacted more easily....?