phd at USF

[tilden61]

My son got his masters at usf, 4.00 average. Interest in getting his phd. how difficult to gain admission?? THANKS

[LunchTimeBully]

If he got a 4.0 GPA then he should get in easily. After all, a 4.0 is the highest possible average, and very few people are able to attain that. It will depend on the program but he should get in...

[Guest]

It also depends on whether the program discounts their own students... sometimes USF students have a more difficult time getting into USF grad programs.

[80mins]

For a little more on what Jim said, some graduate programs believe that it's a benefit for their students to gain multiple perspectives of their discipline, and as such, may encourage their graduates to look into advanced programs elsewhere and "spread their wings". That's the only thing I can envision possibly making it harder; other than that, I would imagine that a 4.0 from a respected program (you'd like to think USF respects their own!) should certainly work to his advantage.

[EduBull]

My son got his masters at usf, 4.00 average. Interest in getting his phd. how difficult to gain admission?? THANKS

A 4.0 average in grad school is certainly good, but you can't compare it to an undergrad 4.0 GPA because generally a course grade of "C" in grad school is considered a failure and you have to repeat the course.  You make two C's and you get booted from most programs, or at least put on some sort of academic probation or suspension.  So EVERYONE will have a master's GPA between 3.0 (at the graduated-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth lowest) and 4.0 as the highest. 

What's more important for most PhD programs (assuming it's in a typical arts/sciences/education field) is GRE scores, faculty recommendations, and publications/conference presentations.

So a student with a 3.5 master's GPA, who has their name on a publication, high GRE scores, and solid faculty recommendations is going to have a better chance of getting into a PhD program than a student with a 4.0 masters GPA but fewer of the other things.

Admission decisions for PhD programs are made strictly by the department rather than any University-wide admissions committee, so the criterion for admission can vary a lot.  Some PhD programs at USF are EXTREMELY competitive, and except only a handful of applicants out of hundreds who apply.  Others accept anyone who meets a minimum set of requirements.

[tilden61]

My son got his masters at usf, 4.00 average. Interest in getting his phd. how difficult to gain admission?? THANKS

A 4.0 average in grad school is certainly good, but you can't compare it to an undergrad 4.0 GPA because generally a course grade of "C" in grad school is considered a failure and you have to repeat the course.  You make two C's and you get booted from most programs, or at least put on some sort of academic probation or suspension.  So EVERYONE will have a master's GPA between 3.0 (at the graduated-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth lowest) and 4.0 as the highest. 

What's more important for most PhD programs (assuming it's in a typical arts/sciences/education field) is GRE scores, faculty recommendations, and publications/conference presentations.

So a student with a 3.5 master's GPA, who has their name on a publication, high GRE scores, and solid faculty recommendations is going to have a better chance of getting into a PhD program than a student with a 4.0 masters GPA but fewer of the other things.

Admission decisions for PhD programs are made strictly by the department rather than any University-wide admissions committee, so the criterion for admission can vary a lot.  Some PhD programs at USF are EXTREMELY competitive, and except only a handful of applicants out of hundreds who apply.  Others accept anyone who meets a minimum set of requirements.

[tilden61]

Want to thank everyone for your time and effort