Will the GRE as my major mess up my GPA for grad school?

[KariedAway]

First off, thanks SO MUCH for all the valuable information you have added to this forum. You are all godsends for lurkers like me.

I am plotting my plan of attack for the BA at EC. My major will be Psychology, as that is a very easy subject for me to tackle. I am studying already for the GRE in October and thanks to your posts, (BIG shout-out to alissaroot!), I have a great lineup of study materials and resources.

I plan on attending Rutgers for my graduate degree when finished with EC, however, they have a GPA requirement. I realize that DSSTs and ECEs, (and some CLEPs), are graded but my concern is with the GRE. Knocking out my major with the GRE will also knock out a large portion of my 'grades', as it doesn't show grades or even classes on the transcripts.

In your opinion, would it be a better choice to take all those ECE/DSSTs for my major just to ensure my GPA or should I do the cheaper, faster option of taking the GRE? (I feel VERY confident that I can place high on the test.) And here's a question saved for last because it's the dumbest: If I have, let's say, only 25-30 credits worth of A's and the rest of my degree is pass/fail then will my GPA still reflect a 4.0? Don't you think a graduate school would look closely at that and think, "umm, suuure she got a 4.0 but that's because she only has a handful of graded exams/classes!"

Thanks for your thoughts!

[bkbarden]

I would love to hear the answers to these questions. I had absolutely no plans of going to grad school... until I [almost] finished my bachelor's in less than 10 months. So now I'm thinking about it a little, but I'm clueless as to how it all works.

Could someone explain the GRE, what it is and how it works? And what if I have no GPA? Is it possible to find grad schools that will overlook that?

[perrik]

Scenario A: Your graduate studies are closely related to psychology and either require or strongly suggest psychology as your undergrad major (master's in psych, counseling, industrial/organizational psychology, etc)

Scenario B: Your graduate studies are not closely related to psychology, so you've chosen that major due to interest/background.

In Scenario A, take all the graded courses you can to fulfill the major requirements. Do not use the psych GRE to do so, because your GRE credits will appear as "Psychology {number of credits} lower-level, {number of credits} upper-level".

In Scenario B, go ahead and take the psych GRE! Just make sure you have plenty of graded credits to balance out that big chunk of pass/fail credit. The GRE max is 30 credits, so that gives you 90 credits' worth of elbow room for grades. I think a grad school admission committee won't care so much if your GPA is based on 60 or so graded credits; if your GPA were based on just 3 graded credits, they may have some questions! Try to maximize your graded credits - otherwise, contact the grad admissions office at Rutgers and ask (hypothetically, of course) if they require a GPA based on a minimum number of credits.

My final GPA will be based on 79 graded credits, 27 from a GRE, and 14 from AP exams. I'm deliberately avoiding taking CLEPs or pass/fail DSSTs except algebra, and may go through Straighterline/Fort Hays to get graded credit for that as well.

[alissaroot]

KariedAway: My suggestion would be to contact the grad school you plan on attending directly and asking them this question. If you are choosing a highly competitive program, I would think they would want you to have a good GPA in traditional classes within the area you plan to study. Your application will consist of other stuff besides just your GPA, so make sure you have rock-solid letters of recommendation and an excellent SOP (statement of purpose).

Even if they do not like it, you do have other options. You could enroll at Rutgers or another school as a non-degree-seeking student and do well in a few courses and then apply as a degree-seeking student, or you could enroll at an open-enrollment school like WNMU and take a few classes, do well in those and transfer to Rutgers. This may also help you save some money if Rutgers lets you transfer a few credits. I think a good way to prove you are capable of doing well in grad school level work is by actually doing well on some of the work and putting that on your application. You could also see if Rutgers would accept you on a probational or conditional basis, and then do well.

Your GPA will indeed reflect a 4.0 even if you only have 30 or so graded credits.

Thanks for the shout out, I have been hoping that sharing my GRE experiences in minute detail would help people thinking about it. Trying to find discussion about it when I was considering it was a nightmare, so I'm very satisfied to help others!

Could someone explain the GRE, what it is and how it works? And what if I have no GPA? Is it possible to find grad schools that will overlook that?

The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is an aptitude test intended to gauge the readiness of potential grad school students in a chosen field of study. But EC will award up to 30 undergraduate credits for a high score on this exam, up to eighteen at upper level, allowing people to test completely out of a major for $130. It's not easy, but many people have earned nice big chunks of credit this way, for very little money. It is offered three times a year in 8 subjects.

Yes, you can still go to grad school. You can choose an open enrollment program, such as WNMU or Harvard Extension school, or you can do as perrik suggested and take a more traditional route for your major, using the GRE for an Area of Focus or a second major that you do not necessarily plan to study in grad school. I wouldn't worry, most grad school programs I have looked at have an 80% acceptance rate or better. Many online and distance-learning programs accept even more students than on-the-ground programs. What I'm trying to say is, your chances are good, very good as long as you have a decent GPA, excellent SOP, good letters of recommendation, and a shiny resume.

I'm not an expert of any sort in grad school admissions, so take all this with a grain of salt. As always, your mileage may vary.

Good luck!

[KariedAway]

Thanks for the responses thus far!

To clarify, I am aiming for the JD at Rutgers School of Law. This means my undergrad can be anything really, as long as it's with a strong GPA. My best chances to excel are with psychology, so, Perrik's Scenerio B fits nicely here.

Scenario B: Your graduate studies are not closely related to psychology, so you've chosen that major due to interest/background.

In Scenario B, go ahead and take the psych GRE! Just make sure you have plenty of graded credits to balance out that big chunk of pass/fail credit. The GRE max is 30 credits, so that gives you 90 credits' worth of elbow room for grades. I think a grad school admission committee won't care so much if your GPA is based on 60 or so graded credits; if your GPA were based on just 3 graded credits, they may have some questions! Try to maximize your graded credits - otherwise, contact the grad admissions office at Rutgers and ask (hypothetically, of course) if they require a GPA based on a minimum number of credits.

The admission handbook for Rutgers Law states:

Students with a 159-165 LSAT and a 3.5 or
higher undergraduate GPA have a high
probability of being accepted.

Median LSAT: 161, GPA: 3.30, 75% of the
students have 158-170 LSAT scores.

which leaves me to believe that I need to keep my GPA from EC very high, slam dunk my LSAT, and as alissaroot pointed out, great SOP, LoRs, etc. (Wow, I feel like I'm in the military with all these acronyms!) I wish the handbook was more specific on what the 'high probability of being accepted' exactly was, but I'm thinking around 80%.

I suppose taking the GRE and studying my arse off to ace any and all graded exams seems like a solid plan regardless of whether or not Rutgers feels like cooperating with my dream.

[cookderosa]

First off, thanks SO MUCH for all the valuable information you have added to this forum. You are all godsends for lurkers like me.

I am plotting my plan of attack for the BA at EC. My major will be Psychology, as that is a very easy subject for me to tackle. I am studying already for the GRE in October and thanks to your posts, (BIG shout-out to alissaroot!), I have a great lineup of study materials and resources.

I plan on attending Rutgers for my graduate degree when finished with EC, however, they have a GPA requirement. I realize that DSSTs and ECEs, (and some CLEPs), are graded but my concern is with the GRE. Knocking out my major with the GRE will also knock out a large portion of my 'grades', as it doesn't show grades or even classes on the transcripts.

In your opinion, would it be a better choice to take all those ECE/DSSTs for my major just to ensure my GPA or should I do the cheaper, faster option of taking the GRE? (I feel VERY confident that I can place high on the test.) And here's a question saved for last because it's the dumbest: If I have, let's say, only 25-30 credits worth of A's and the rest of my degree is pass/fail then will my GPA still reflect a 4.0? Don't you think a graduate school would look closely at that and think, "umm, suuure she got a 4.0 but that's because she only has a handful of graded exams/classes!"

Thanks for your thoughts!

>>


It's like asking people to gaze into a crystal ball....that being said- I carefully planned coursework inside my major for the reason you mentioned , and used exams for gen eds and electives. It's a personal decision, and don't let anyone tell you that you can't get into grad school if you have tested out- that's false. There are plenty of grad school options- tons of people here go to grad school and had acceptance after acceptance letter (myself included).

...that being said, it is certainly possible that you won't get into a specific grad school as a result of their admission policy. Since you have a specific grad school in mind, I would suggest working with Rutgers advisors when weighing the pros and cons of using the GRE to fill your major. They probably won't tell you flat out "yes" or "no" but they can help you understand what the typical applicant profile is. There may also be criteria something like having "X" GPA in major and "X" GPA cumulative on your last X number of credits. In that case, you have your answer.

You didn't say what type of degree or what field, but if you plan on being licensed as a clinical psychologist, that's a whole 'nother topic.

[Rainydays12]

All this talk about grades has me thinking... does Excelsior accept your "grades" from other schools when you transfer? Or do they just give you credit? Like Karied Away, I'm wondering if that will hurt or hinder me when I go to grad school.

I am going for a B.S. in Psych then plan to earn a MA Counseling so I can become a licensed therapist. I'm curious now if I will only have grades from the several ECE exams.

Any Excelsior pros have some input on this?

[perrik]

Graded course credit from other institutions remains as graded credit on the Excelsior transcript, and your GPA is calculated on all graded credit applied toward the degree.

I don't know what happens if you're an Excelsior student who took a bunch of DSSTs (EC grants letter grades for many DSSTs) who later transfers to another institution to finish your degree. Most colleges accept DSSTs for pass/fail credit only, so would you lose your graded credit from the DSSTs?

[Rainydays12]

Graded course credit from other institutions remains as graded credit on the Excelsior transcript, and your GPA is calculated on all graded credit applied toward the degree.

I don't know what happens if you're an Excelsior student who took a bunch of DSSTs (EC grants letter grades for many DSSTs) who later transfers to another institution to finish your degree. Most colleges accept DSSTs for pass/fail credit only, so would you lose your graded credit from the DSSTs?

Good to know! Not sure about the DSST's. I believe I will only need to take their statistics test. Hopefully I won't have to look for another college so I think I'm good. It just had me wondering because Penn State and UMUC (I researched a million online programs so don't quote me) only took the credit but didn't take your grades. Kind of a good thing if you were really happy with C's 20 years ago at a community college while you were partying and working....

This is all so complicated but I know it will be worth it all in the end when I have my degree!

[NJMedic]

I plan on attending Rutgers for my graduate degree when finished with EC, however, they have a GPA requirement.

On a side note if it was their Psych doctoral program you were looking at - the competition to get in is extremely difficult as they select very few candidates annually.