Does the admission committee for graduate studies look down on foundation courses

Question

Many universities do not accept international secondary school qualifications unless there is an agreement between countries. The agreement I think compares the standard used in the country of the university (e.g. GCSE A-levels or SQA (Advanced) Highers in the UK) with the qualifications of another country.

International Students with unaccepted qualifications are given a conditional offer in some UK universities. The student has to do a "Foundation Course in ......" in an institution affiliated with the university (an "International College") and by passing with a certain grade, they go to 2nd year of a 4 year bachelor's degree or to 1st year of a 3 year bachelor's.

Beside the topics related to the degree, the foundation course focuses a lot on academic skills such as writing, presenting, note taking etc.. On the university transcript, the first year appears as a "credit transfer".

My question (finally), does the admission committee look down on such certificates even if the student got the bachelor's degree with a high GPA?

If it makes a difference, I would appreciate it if answers are given related to: 1- entry to MS degree 2- direct entry to PhD.

Answer 1

In general, if the GPA is high, this shouldn't be too much of a big deal. Normally I would look upon such a class as equivalent to an introductory-level course, and would not "look down" upon such a course. If the grade in such a course is poor, however, that could affect the decision.

If you are concerned about reviewers at another school evaluating this course appropriately, you could always include a note about it somewhere as part of your application (either master's or PhD).