Go to School? What are your grades?

[secretly]

I was on National Dean's List last year...and then this year I started fencing...

[Aeric]

If you're in college, GPA doesn't really mean much when you get a degree unless you're going for grad school. Get a specialized degree and there's no need for grad school, so no need to worry about grades. Just pass, and live it up.

[ShadyLane]

GPA may matter in university if you want to meet scholarship requirements OR if you want an earlier date for course registration (well, in my university, they do that...). Usually scholarships require that you have e.g. 75% average or something. Maybe you'll get it, maybe you won't, it really depends on your grades. If you want free money to help pay for your tuition fees, GPA does matter.

[fencingfrog]

*sigh* one of my grades is a 79.4%. ****. not fair, cuz my test grade didn't even move my average!!

[Krazyhades]

I'm an all-honors the best grades kind-of-guy...minus the steroetypical part about being a nerd with no life. Definitely not a nerd, don't usually get along with them because I don't understand the mindset. I love learning but hate school...

[TrainingDummy]

Yeah, I'm going to go to grad school for my PhD. I have one year of undergrad left and a 3.23, so it's crunch time. Not gonna shirk my fencing, though. I coasted by through high school too, back when I had classes like "Mastodon Studies" and the like. You'll see, you'll see!

[ShadyLane]

Yeah, I'm going to go to grad school for my PhD. I have one year of undergrad left and a 3.23, so it's crunch time. Not gonna shirk my fencing, though. I coasted by through high school too, back when I had classes like "Mastodon Studies" and the like. You'll see, you'll see!

Wow, you're jumping ahead and applying to do your PhD?? Usually they (your supervisor) let you do your Master's first but if you're really smart, they could let you jump ahead and do your PhD without necessarily needing a Master's degree if you're doing well in your research or something (from what grad students been telling me).

[ShadyLane]

I was on National Dean's List last year...and then this year I started fencing...

You make it sound like it's a bad thing...

[TrainingDummy]

Wow, you're jumping ahead and applying to do your PhD?? Usually they (your supervisor) let you do your Master's first but if you're really smart, they could let you jump ahead and do your PhD without necessarily needing a Master's degree if you're doing well in your research or something (from what grad students been telling me).

Depends on the school, applicant, department, professor, etc. I would LIKE to go straight to PhD, which is what my mom did. Usually one applies to both assuming they are going after the PhD. Since I am still not sure what I want to end up doing after grad school, it is quite possible that I might only apply for a Master's position and go for the PhD in something a bit different.

[Zasha]

I was on National Dean's List last year...and then this year I started fencing...

an admirable sacrifice.

[larkmaj]

Wow, you're jumping ahead and applying to do your PhD?? Usually they (your supervisor) let you do your Master's first but if you're really smart, they could let you jump ahead and do your PhD without necessarily needing a Master's degree if you're doing well in your research or something (from what grad students been telling me).

I think it may also depend on the field. I hear in the sciences you go for your PhD then at the 2 year mark if you don't pass your qualifying exams you can get a Masters as kind of a booby prize.

[epeeisky]

I think it may also depend on the field. I hear in the sciences you go for your PhD then at the 2 year mark if you don't pass your qualifying exams you can get a Masters as kind of a booby prize.

That is about how it works. My dad got his Ph.D, and my brother is going for his now. From what they told me, when you present your research if it is not at what the school deams the doctoral level, then they give you two options. The first being take that masters degree or continue doing research until you present something worthy of the Ph.D.

[ShadyLane]

I think it may also depend on the field. I hear in the sciences you go for your PhD then at the 2 year mark if you don't pass your qualifying exams you can get a Masters as kind of a booby prize.

As far as I know, you can either apply for admission in a Master's or a PhD program. I suppose it could also depend on your discipline of study. Usually students apply for their Master's first but it's possible for them to progress into a PhD program. It also depends on research funding. There's a grad student I know who was initially doing her Master's and in the midst of finishing up her Master's, she was asked if she wanted to do a PhD since she was getting government funding. You usually start off doing your Master's and not your PhD and need at least a year's worth of study before you could apply for a PhD program OR the alternative - you graduate with honours and jump right ahead into a PhD program without actually having to do a Master's first (although I think it really depends on your discipline).

[sjpfencer220]

The more I fence the closer my fencing and school grades get. If I keep going like this I'll have a C in everything soon- good for fencing, bad for grades!

So by the time your an "A" in fencing, you'll be getting straight "U"s in school!

[sjpfencer220]

oh, by the way- straight A student every year... then again, I'm only in seventh grade.

[slowgraffiti515]

i got screwed out of an A in studio this semester but so far i have a solid 3.0+ calc kicked my ass last semester...

[General Sweetpants]

I'm majoring in Basket-Weaving and minoring in Bag-piping!

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I'm majoring in Basket-Weaving and minoring in Bag-piping!

So are you an athlete??

Whenever I think of basketweaving all I can think of is a Div I football or basketball player at a big school like Ohio St. or Nebraska.

[General Sweetpants]

So are you an athlete??

Whenever I think of basketweaving all I can think of is a Div I football or basketball player at a big school like Ohio St. or Nebraska.

Yup! An athlete of the best kind!

[Ordway]

Let's see... This semester, some As and Bs, a few Cs, and alas, a couple of Ds and Fs.

Oh, wait - you mean the grades I got, not the ones I gave? Never mind then.

(I'm a college English professor.)

(For what it's worth, good grades are not incompatible with fencing. I ended up with a 3.96 GPA as an undergrad, while fencing. Though in retrospect I would have relaxed more, and studied less. A few Bs wouldn't have killed me.)