Student Stories

My GPA is Below 3.0 and SEVIS is Terminated. Lost PhD Assistantship!

Know your standard and skill set when it comes to academics.

Studying in the USA as an International student is a test of willpower, perseverance and academic skills.

Study abroad naturally provides an opportunity for you to grow personally and professionally.

I helped a student to get Visa for UT Dallas for Fall Semester. His wife was working in India. His daughter would be starting school shortly.

He landed in the USA in August. I pinged him after 30 days.

He was back in India. He quit his Masters and went back to India. He couldn’t handle the social life in campus away from home.

Likewise, education and classes will challenge your ability to learn and grow.

Your willpower will be tested.

You would think, it’s easy and natural for everyone to fly across the world and the grass will be greener on the other side. Not True!

Look at this Ph.D. student’s situation.

So, I was in the US for PhD at a Midfield University.

I screwed things up since my background was quite poor compared to US standards, so I lost my assistantship and destroyed a flawless record, from a GPA of 9.5/10 in India to  2.3/4 in the USA, although this went from 1.5 to 2.6 during the three terms there.

Would starting a PhD in my home country help a new application in the US for next semester?

Another thing I can do to sweeten things is take the subject GRE, and retake the General as well.

Really looking forward for outside ideas, I feel stuck of my own.

In summary: 

This student, returned back to India after GPA fell below 3.0

International graduate student has to maintain GPA of 3.0 or more. If not, you would go into probation for a semester. Even after a semester, if the GPA is below 3.0, then you are going to have to find a different school or pack your bags.

You are responsible for your actions.

Expect obstacles or you can even say, obstacles are the way!

I can’t really go so hard on the student and blame the student as well. Good student under-perform due to several reasons.

I have seen other instances where students suffered big time. Some are their mistakes.

  1. Lost assistantship for downloading movies (FBI tracked the IP address to the campus computer)
  2. Lost 4.0 GPA (for entire Masters) for allowing a friend to use his project for a different course
  3. Copied computer programming assignment and received an F grade and had to Retake the course

Second chance in Life and Education

There’s always a second chance.

It may not be a straight path. You have to apply again.

Get admission and F1 Visa.

I helped a student, with similar circumstance recently.

  • An Indian student studying Bachelors Degree in the USA.
  • GPA was below 2.0 for a semester.
  • After Probation, GPA did not move to 2.5 or above.
  • School gave him 7 days to leave before SEVIS would be terminated
  • He had an option to transfer to another program or leave the country

I found a school that would accept this student and transfers the SEVIS record in 2 days time.

In the case of Ph.D. student, the problem would be two folds

  • Finding another college and getting admitted
  • Getting F1 Visa again

While you are trying to get the admission in the USA, have a Plan B.

Start the college application process for Masters or Ph.D. to other countries as well.

If things did not work out for you in the US, you wouldn’t have to start all over again. Right?

Your path to the US may not be direct. You may have to get a Masters Degree in Canada or Sweden and then showcase that accomplishment to get the US Student Visa.

As I said, your patch back to the US would be not a straight line. But, you wouldn’t know unless you try. Right?

Related: I’m In Big Trouble for Copying Assignment

Similar Posts

10 Comments

  1. “I have seen other instances where students screwed up big time.

    Lost assistantship for downloading English movies (FBI tracked the IP address to campus computer)”

    Er, some more information please, reg this? Was that in the library or a laptop on campus wifi? (if it is, then it’s a problem). What are the rules regarding torrents and downloads over there??

  2. Good Day,
    I would want to know if there are any universities in the US or Canada that doesn’t require a GMATs or GRE score to apply for an Msc in Finance or any other related field.

    1. Hello,

      There are many schools which do not require GMAT or GRE,but going to those schools are not recommended as the degree they offer may not be “valid” and may not get you the dream job you so desire.

      My suggestion would be take up GRE or GMAT and get into a recognized school instead of wasting precious time and money on schools which get you nowhere.

      All the best!
      Vikram

  3. In my View before you pursue you must have minimum Eligibility criteria like you have done your Master’s earlier tht could have helped you even though Universities are providing some pre- requisites courses for completing PHD course.

    But you have to contact University DSO and explain your situation, If its a Good University then they will definitely re-consider but you have to explain them clearly & properly.

  4. Yeah, I have to agree. People have done worse. I think redoing the GRE is a good idea. Taking a few courses to bridge up the gap between the US education and the one you got, is a great idea too. You can talk about what you learnt from your first experience and how this had made you a strong persevering candidate. Remember, everybody makes mistakes, but a mistake is not necassarily a failiure, a failiure is a mistake you failed to learn from. Don’t be a failiure. Good luck 🙂

  5. Sometimes it happens when people go directly to PhD after their B.SC. To me the courses in MS are designed to prepare you for the PhD. When you go directly to PhD, may be you don’t have the opportunity to take those courses. And that creates a problem.

    1. No they are not. If u enroll for a PhD, u have to take up a minimum of 24credits for subjects related to your PhD work, so there are no issues about that. In fact, most univs clearly state that if one’s ultimate goal is PhD, s/he should go for “Direct PhD” in the application.

      1. Hey,
        Is it good idea to pursue Ph.D directly after B.E?? I ve completed my 3rd year B.E Biotech, ve done 2 internships, Cgpa is 9.3/10 (6 sems). I ll be givin my gre n toefl in a month. Is M.S a must before PhD? or can i apply for PhD with this background?? Pls help me out asap 🙂

  6. you are not perfectly clear in stating ur problem. “articles” as in publications? if u have any previous work, you should consider asking other univs’ professors personally for working on their project as well as ur PhD degree in their univ. if u gave GRE less than 5years back, u might not need to retake it again. but coming back to India and applying again should be your last option. try getting into a PhD in some other univ, it shouldn’t be tough
    Goodluck n dont lose heart!

  7. i wonder..why u went from 9.5 to a meagre 2.3/4.
    i am assuming its the GPA on normal masters courses and not for ur research?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *