None of the above answer for the first: She's putting in excessive effort that will most likely burn her out and will not get her much in the eyes of others. Grad schools probally won't care about how heavy her course load was.
None of the above answer for the second: May have a bit of a hard time getting into grad school because she's going for quantity instead of quality, but will have an advantage because of being in the grad seminars that may outway her GPA.
yes, i think 'j' should not be too hard on herself, but... sometimes it is the gpa that matters. that being said, 2.9 is good enough to get her foot in the door. that's when you can explain things and show the progress curve.
Good lord, the 'next semester' plan would probably crush me like a bug. I never took more than 4 classes at a time when I was an undergrad.
Also, when I got in to graduate philosophy at USF last semester my cumulative GPA from undergrad was 2.65. FWIW. I screwed up pretty badly in my senior year. (Then I took 7 years off.)
Here is my comment since it was too long for the form:
I would never tell anyone to hold themselves back if they are raring to take on a large course load, but I also would never wish on someone the stress of having to perform well at a lot of courses when they don't have to take that many at once. My advice is that better GPA is probably worth fewer courses, and remember that cutting back on sleep degrades one's cognitive abilities quickly. But at the same time, never be dissuaded from following your gut.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 01:29 pm (UTC)None of the above answer for the first: She's putting in excessive effort that will most likely burn her out and will not get her much in the eyes of others. Grad schools probally won't care about how heavy her course load was.
None of the above answer for the second: May have a bit of a hard time getting into grad school because she's going for quantity instead of quality, but will have an advantage because of being in the grad seminars that may outway her GPA.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 07:08 pm (UTC)Yes definitely. The whole "candle burns at both ends thing." I'd say, pace yourself.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 06:37 pm (UTC)On the temptation toward overextending
Date: 2005-05-13 09:33 pm (UTC)Also, when I got in to graduate philosophy at USF last semester my cumulative GPA from undergrad was 2.65. FWIW. I screwed up pretty badly in my senior year. (Then I took 7 years off.)
Here is my comment since it was too long for the form:
I would never tell anyone to hold themselves back if they are raring to take on a large course load, but I also would never wish on someone the stress of having to perform well at a lot of courses when they don't have to take that many at once. My advice is that better GPA is probably worth fewer courses, and remember that cutting back on sleep degrades one's cognitive abilities quickly. But at the same time, never be dissuaded from following your gut.