Can I get into Iowa University's PhD program?
January 9th, 2011 | 
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Hi and welcome to my blog,
I opened this blog to help anyone who is preparing for his GRE exam.
I remember myself when I started - I was so lost and in such a panic.
Luckily I got this great Gre guide that helped me a lot
So study hard and good luck!
I want to get a PhD in English. I have a 3.5 GPA from my undergraduate program. I have 2 really good references and 1 nice one. GRE verbal is strong. Writing sample is strong.
I do have a blemish in my record. For two straight semesters I withdrew from all of my classes. I had just lost a loved one and I was very depressed, but I didn’t want to stop going to school. Eventually would just lose steam and stay in bed for days. Of course, I got better and now I’m perfectly fine, but the blemish is there.
Iowa U’s English department website says they discourage anyone from applying if he/she has less than a 3.5. I’m afraid this is code for: we usually get candidates with much higher GPAs, but the lowest we’re willing to go is 3.5.
Posted in gre course | 
Tags: blemish, english department website, gpa, gpas, gre, phd in english, semesters, steam, undergraduate program
Hmm. You want a _Ph.D._ or a master’s to start?
I highly advise you to first apply to a master’s program at either the U of Iowa or a smaller school. It’s rare in the English field for a school to admit a bachelor’s degree holder right into its Ph.D. program. And even if a school did this for you, are you sure you could complete the foreign language requirement(s) (though I understand U Iowa’s are fairly lenient)?
In any case, withdrawing from classes, even for a whole year, for a legitimate reason shouldn’t be a problem. I failed – totally bombed – two classes (one of them calculus) outside English and was easily (may I emphasize _easily_) accepted to a small public university master’s program.
A master’s program might be good for you for two reasons: one, it’ll give you two extra years to beef up your GPA and pad your resume with conference presentations and a stunning thesis; and, two, it’ll help you decide if graduate study is really what you want to do with yourself (though I hope you’ll find it is). Of course, Ph.D. study is even more intensive than master’s work, but it makes undergrad work plain laughable.
A possible third master’s degree benefit is … you get to stay in school longer! This has been my favorite benefit thus far.
Assuming that you meet all of their requirements for admission (i.e. a BA and some kind of Master’s plus the required GPA), why not go ahead and apply instead of trying to outguess them. Or at least go talk to a real live person instead of relying on what their catalog and website say.
You are anticipating the worst when you haven’t really tried yet. You are reading between the lines and coming to conclusions that may not be warranted. Go find out what the real story is.