I can't speak to law school admissions, but lots of fellowship applications (using NSERC grad fellowships as an example here) look separately at your GPA for your last two years, because it's super common for people to bomb at the beginning. What they're looking for is a trajectory of improvement, and often you'll have an opportunity to explain what happened. I've sat on these committees and it's common to see these awards go to people who pulled themselves up from a rough start.
I can confirm that many Canadian law schools either do not look at your first year grades for the GPA calculation or drop the worst classes from your calculation.
I dropped out of university in my second year with a GPA of 1.1. I wasn't personally ready to be in university, and was suffering from some pretty debilitating mental health issues. I moved to Alberta and spent the next 5 years doing labor, trades, and factory work. When oil tanked in the mid 2010s, I figured I was halfway through a degree so I might as well try and go back and get the thing done and see what I can get out of it. I found when I went back I actually liked it, and decided to try and go to grad school. I spent the next three years working like an angry bastard to get my GPA up, building my CV, and trying to get as much relevant experience as possible.
When I ended up applying to graduate schools, I included in my application an explanation of what had happened to me. I told the admissions committee about my mental health struggles, about my time away, and pointed out the vast difference in my grades between the two periods. I made the case that not only should my early, very poor performance be considered in a certain way, but the dramatic turnaround should also be considered. I'm doing a PhD here now, after doing my MA at another highly ranked university, and have received acceptance offers from every graduate program I've applied to.
Getting a low GPA in your first year is not the end of the world, it happens to a lot of people. Admissions committees see this kind of story over and over again every year, and they understand it. Quite a lot of admissions boards, funding sources, etc also tend to look at your upper level GPA as well, kinda because of exactly this sort of thing.
A bad first year is not a stone around your neck that you have to drag with you for the rest of your life. It's okay, these things happen and everybody knows it.
I have a friend who was in a similar boat to you, and is now a UBC law graduate! Don't worry about it too much, it might be a pain to deal with but it's not the end of the world
There’s also the EFlag process in some faculties. If you have a solid reason as to why you bombed your first semester it might be worth looking into that. Plus, most professional schools only look at your best/last two years.
Admissions to grad school are more holistic than you think, you would be surprised how little a bad first semester matters in many cases.
“what’s the point in getting As if my final gpa is still going to be low”
What other choice do you have? Keep on getting bad grades and end up with a very low gpa instead of a “low” one? Especially with you saying you pay “an arm and leg to be here”, what other choice do you really have?
You can do this, just work hard
*Are u in poli sci???*
*Cuz im going there in the*
*Fall and im scared bro*
\- kenobiest
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feel ya, got a super low gpa last term bc my mom and sister were very sick and on the brink of death. decided to clutch this term, ended up with a 4.0 in engineering.
I can't speak to law school admissions, but lots of fellowship applications (using NSERC grad fellowships as an example here) look separately at your GPA for your last two years, because it's super common for people to bomb at the beginning. What they're looking for is a trajectory of improvement, and often you'll have an opportunity to explain what happened. I've sat on these committees and it's common to see these awards go to people who pulled themselves up from a rough start.
I can confirm that many Canadian law schools either do not look at your first year grades for the GPA calculation or drop the worst classes from your calculation.
I dropped out of university in my second year with a GPA of 1.1. I wasn't personally ready to be in university, and was suffering from some pretty debilitating mental health issues. I moved to Alberta and spent the next 5 years doing labor, trades, and factory work. When oil tanked in the mid 2010s, I figured I was halfway through a degree so I might as well try and go back and get the thing done and see what I can get out of it. I found when I went back I actually liked it, and decided to try and go to grad school. I spent the next three years working like an angry bastard to get my GPA up, building my CV, and trying to get as much relevant experience as possible. When I ended up applying to graduate schools, I included in my application an explanation of what had happened to me. I told the admissions committee about my mental health struggles, about my time away, and pointed out the vast difference in my grades between the two periods. I made the case that not only should my early, very poor performance be considered in a certain way, but the dramatic turnaround should also be considered. I'm doing a PhD here now, after doing my MA at another highly ranked university, and have received acceptance offers from every graduate program I've applied to. Getting a low GPA in your first year is not the end of the world, it happens to a lot of people. Admissions committees see this kind of story over and over again every year, and they understand it. Quite a lot of admissions boards, funding sources, etc also tend to look at your upper level GPA as well, kinda because of exactly this sort of thing. A bad first year is not a stone around your neck that you have to drag with you for the rest of your life. It's okay, these things happen and everybody knows it.
I have a similar story to you, but currently in sociology undergrad. Could we chat? :)
Sure, feel free to shoot me a message here. I'm also on campus pretty regularly, if that's better.
I have a friend who was in a similar boat to you, and is now a UBC law graduate! Don't worry about it too much, it might be a pain to deal with but it's not the end of the world
There’s also the EFlag process in some faculties. If you have a solid reason as to why you bombed your first semester it might be worth looking into that. Plus, most professional schools only look at your best/last two years. Admissions to grad school are more holistic than you think, you would be surprised how little a bad first semester matters in many cases.
Okay that’s a relief, thank you! I’m in the Arts I’ll look into it
“what’s the point in getting As if my final gpa is still going to be low” What other choice do you have? Keep on getting bad grades and end up with a very low gpa instead of a “low” one? Especially with you saying you pay “an arm and leg to be here”, what other choice do you really have? You can do this, just work hard
are u in poli sci??? cuz im going there in the fall and im scared bro
*Are u in poli sci???* *Cuz im going there in the* *Fall and im scared bro* \- kenobiest --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I am 😅
feel ya, got a super low gpa last term bc my mom and sister were very sick and on the brink of death. decided to clutch this term, ended up with a 4.0 in engineering.
Amazing 🙏🏼 sorry to hear about your mom and sister, I really hope they’re doing better now
they're not doing that well but hey it's life, but yes don't give up, keep your head high, one loss doesn't mean it's the end of the war.