Graduation rarely means an end. It is, in essence, a crossroads. Left or right, to go to graduate school or enter the workforce, there are many factors that play in the decision-making process. One of the most prevalent of these is qualifications for graduate school, such as grade point average.

“Personally, my GPA is everything to me,” Olga Better, a senior in biological sciences, said. “If I don’t have the grades, it isn’t even worth applying to certain programs.”

According to Better, her GPA is what motivates her. She said if she had a low GPA she wouldn’t still be in the field she is in now.

“You can pretend your way through a paper or class, but can you really do that at the professional level?” she said.

According to Better, there are also other things expected of students when applying for admission to graduate schools. Undergraduate research, working experience in a specific field and test scores are three other aspects Better said will affect her future.

“If you make a C once in a while, that’s normal,” Better said. “But if you are constantly making Cs, you should consider your career goals. It is so competitive, and sometimes a C just won’t cut it. You can’t ride the line – if you could, more people would be in the medical field.”

Dr. Ruie Pritchard, coordinator of English education in the college of education, said a student’s ability at age 18 can be very different than at age 25, and agreed that GPA isn’t all admissions boards consider.

Graduate schools in education also focus on Graduate Record Examinations, otherwise known as GREs, and the Miller Analogies Tests, also known as MATs, in addition to grades, Pritchard said.

“Grades are often indicators of more than special content knowledge-they can indicate tenacity [and] risk-taking,” Pritchard said. “A student may select ‘safe’ electives to ensure higher GPAs…but we value those students who have taken some very challenging elective courses as an undergraduate, and have done reasonably well.”

Dr. Anne Schiller, director of the graduate program in anthropology, said a student’s undergraduate GPA is a good indicator of a student’s abilities.

“The overall GPA, especially for the last two years of an undergraduate program, provides important clues to the graduate program selection committee about a student’s study habits,” Schiller said. “Graduate program selection committees have only a limited number of teaching and research assistantships at their disposal.”

Schiller suggests students who are worried about their GPA take strides to show graduate schools they are willing to improve their performance.

“I would encourage students with a problematic GPA to address that issue directly in their personal statement,” Schiller said.

Better, who originally wanted to go to medical school, is now considering graduate school and a career with a major pharmaceutical company. She said she worked hard throughout her college career, and her GPA does her justice.

“A lot of those times when I have said no to parties and staying out late is because I realize I should be studying, and I don’t want to let myself or my family down,” Better said.

Med Byrd, director of the pilot plant in the department of wood and paper science, designed a model for students to follow that balances their efforts of becoming a rounded individual ready for graduate school.

“We preach the philosophy of the ‘three-box’ engineering program: academics, work experience and personal and professional development,” Byrd said. “It is up to each student to assess his [or] her unique strengths and areas for development in order to decide how to best fill the boxes. It’s about balance.”

He explained that work experience refers to “summer internships, co-ops, on-campus project work, undergraduate research and any other activity that gives the student actual practice in the field.”

Byrd said personal and professional development means “having a good resume and interview style, exhibiting leadership skills, working well in group situations, communicating effectively through oral and written means, and having some sense of service to others.”