Is the 3.0 GPA requirement cumulative or by semester?

[chowder138]

I just transferred to Georgia Tech after two years at another university. I earned 70 credits and a 4.0 GPA at my previous university but I'm expecting GA Tech to be much more difficult, so for the first time I'm worried about the 3.0 GPA requirement. I'm not sure how SMART's GPA requirement works but as I see it there are two options:

1. The requirement is semester by semester. i.e. if I make less than a 3.0 GPA in one semester I'm in trouble, even if my average/cumulative GPA stays above a 3.0.

2. The requirement is for cumulative GPA, in which case, as I understand it, those 70 hours of 4.0 GPA will be a massive benefit in case I start struggling.

Anyone know for certain which one it is? If it's cumulative then i could make straight Cs for the rest of my degree and be fine, so I really hope it is.

[Scholarperson1896]

I just transferred to Georgia Tech after two years at another university. I earned 70 credits and a 4.0 GPA at my previous university but I'm expecting GA Tech to be much more difficult, so for the first time I'm worried about the 3.0 GPA requirement. I'm not sure how SMART's GPA requirement works but as I see it there are two options:

1. The requirement is semester by semester. i.e. if I make less than a 3.0 GPA in one semester I'm in trouble, even if my average/cumulative GPA stays above a 3.0.

2. The requirement is for cumulative GPA, in which case, as I understand it, those 70 hours of 4.0 GPA will be a massive benefit in case I start struggling.

Anyone know for certain which one it is? If it's cumulative then i could make straight Cs for the rest of my degree and be fine, so I really hope it is.

I believe it’s cumulative. However, I transferred from one school to another in my undergraduate career and my credits gave me a “T”. They gave me the credit but the letter grade/GPA didn’t transfer. Only new grades from university #2 counted towards my degree. I’d talk to your advisor. Best of luck!

[GuEsT0102]

It is definitely cumulative. I asked that question during the onboarding call and he confirmed it is cumulative.

[AnotherGuest]

I just transferred to Georgia Tech after two years at another university. I earned 70 credits and a 4.0 GPA at my previous university but I'm expecting GA Tech to be much more difficult, so for the first time I'm worried about the 3.0 GPA requirement. I'm not sure how SMART's GPA requirement works but as I see it there are two options:

1. The requirement is semester by semester. i.e. if I make less than a 3.0 GPA in one semester I'm in trouble, even if my average/cumulative GPA stays above a 3.0.

2. The requirement is for cumulative GPA, in which case, as I understand it, those 70 hours of 4.0 GPA will be a massive benefit in case I start struggling.

Anyone know for certain which one it is? If it's cumulative then i could make straight Cs for the rest of my degree and be fine, so I really hope it is.

I'm actually a graduate of GT. I'm pretty sure they don't count your transfer course grades towards your cumulative GPA. I believe it resets. Whatever cumulative GPA GT puts on your transcripts is what SMART will care about. Would be a question for the registrar on how they break down GPA calculations on official transcripts. My transfer credits from dual enrollment years ago had no benefit to my GPA as they weren't included in the transcript calculations.

[malarious]

Cumulative.

Your grade point is only calculated by your own schools grades. So if you transferred in with other credits, those all have no impact on the GPA that SMART (and your new school) will use. Even if you have 120 credits when you transfer in, you have 0 credits and 0 grade points coming in. It is easier to have issues when you first arrive, so be ready for that.

[blondeycas14]

"Scholars maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale from the academic institution(s) for which they receive SMART funding. After a SMART award is funded, only the grades for the degree funded by SMART are used to calculate GPA. If the scholar fails to maintain the required GPA, the scholar may be placed in an auditable status of non-compliance and/or dismissed from the SMART Program."

[ky502]

Like everyone else said, it is cumulative. But they do send a rather nasty email when your semester GPA is below a 3.0 (happened to me once).