Recently I’ve been thinking a little bit about going back to school. To be honest, the chances of me actually doing it are probably pretty slim, but I’m at least a little interested in exploring the possibility. I really don’t know much about the whole grad school process.
My main reason for considering more school would be that my career path has kind of skewed away from my major in college. Basically, I have a 4-year business degree with an MIS major, but I’m no longer really interested in a career in IT. My previous and current (and probably future) jobs are business related but not in the IT field. If I went back, it would probably be for another business degee with a different major.
One secondary reason I’ve considered more school is that my employer pays a portion of tuituon. Another would be the fact that I actually have enough free time to do it right now, and I’m not sure that I would have the time in the future.
My problem is that my undergrad GPA was about 2.74, which is less than the minimum requirements at pretty much all the schools that I’ve checked out. I realize this GPA is average at best (actually pretty bad), but I have a few reasons why I think I could do better if I went back and that I would have a different attitude towards school.
I’m wondering what I would have to do about this if I did decide I wanted to go back to school. Would it be a big uphill battle just getting into school with a GPA this low? Would schools even consider me? If I do decide to persue this further, what would be the best way to go about it?
I’m also wondering if it is possible to go back and raise your GPA after you graduate, or is that pretty much unheard of? I’d be willing to re-take some of my undergrad classes to raise my GPA if it were possible. Does this ever happen?
Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any advice.
Do the schools you’re looking at consider GRE’s (Graduate Record Exams)*? It might be worthwhile to prepare thoroughly and take it to see how you do. Most schools look at those like SAT’s. If they are very good, it might offset a lackluster g.p.a., especially if there’s a good reason.
*I don’t know if business graduate programs require something different. You take LSAT’s for Law school, for example.
Depends what schools you’re looking at. My undergrad GPA was… well, let’s leave it at “lower than yours,” though not by a whole lot. I got into a (low-tier) grad school with no trouble. And my grades in grad school were far higher than in undergrad; I finished a Master’s with a 3.91.
The 3.91, coupled with a high LSAT score, got me a full-tuition scholarship to law school.
So no, a low GPA isn’t a crippling deficiency, unless you’re dead-set on going to Harvard or some equally prestigious school. (Funny story: When Harvard got wind of my LSAT score, they sent me an unsolicited invitation to apply to their law school, even waiving the application fee. When they saw my undergrad GPA, they stopped returning my calls.)
When you say you’re looking at getting another business degree but in a different field, do you mean you’re interested in an MBA?
If so, your work experience will probably count more towards admission than your GPA. If you have a really good resume and strong GMAT scores, you could probably get into a good–though not neccessarily top 20–MBA program. Getting into a top 20 school would be harder, but you could do it if your resume is outstanding and you have other attributes they’re looking for.
Personally, I don’t think an MBA program from a “good but not great” school is worth the money in many cases. However, you mentioned that your employer would pay for it.
Since your employer reimburses tuition, you could take a couple classes as a non degree student (many places don’t have too many entrance requirements for that) to show that you are academically capable now.
I was lower than yours. I got into two decent schools.
I would work for a couple of years. Get your boss to write a nice recommendation. It would help if he or she was an alumnus of the school to which you are applying. Bone up on the GRE or GMAT (whatever you want to study) and do well. Come up with a good reason why your GPA wasn’t great. Alcohol abuse early in college is always reliable. I don’t use the sick parent or grandparent one that a couple of my friends used. I have a fear of bad karma.
That said, the test scores seem to mean a lot. A buddy has been trying to get into law school with decent grades and his LSAT seems to be the barrier.
Well, I’m about to find out. I applied to a grad school in January and my GPA was just a smidge higher than yours (2.76.) Keep in mind, though, that grad schools look more at the classes in your major. So in those lower grades were all from science, language, or literature classes and you’re going to business school, they won’t matter as much. In my case, my grades in my major were the lower ones, until I switched majors, then they were almost all A’s and B’s, but since my switch was still in the same field (different types of engineering) those initial lower grades will still be taken into account.
Recomendation letters and GREs also can mean a lot. I know for a fact that all three of my recomendation letters were extremely good, and as another bonus, one of them was written by a faculty member of the department I’m applying to. My GRE scores were decent, but not great. In fact, if you looked at them, you’d think I should apply to an English program, not an engineering one.
I still have high hopes, though. Then again, I’m, not applying to MIT or Cal Tech or anything, either, jsut a mid-level school.
Here’s what my husband did: he had a bad undergraduate GPA - this was before I knew him so I’m not sure how low. I do know he was kicked out of school for grades though. Anyway, he was rejected from an MSW program and so offered to take a class as a a non-matriculator. He did and got an A so they accepted him.
Thanks for the replies, they really help me to get ideas of how to think about this. I really appreciate the input and other perspectives.
To follow up a little bit, and answer questions:
No, I really don’t have a good reason for my low undergrad GPA. It really was just doing enough to “get by”, an accepting C’s. I think I could do a lot better now, mainly because I have a different attitude/outlook in my late 20’s, than I did in my late teens to early 20’s. I really think I’d take school a lot more seriously now.
Yes, I had been thinking along the lines of going for a MBA. But, now that I think about it, I’d definitely consider a second undergrad degree instead. Maybe it would be a better idea to go back and get a second major, and thereby raise my GPA a bit? The if I really wanted more school I could still go for an MBA.
The schools I’d be looking are pretty average public universities. Definitely not top 20 schools or super prestigious universities.
It looks like I’ll have to do some more research to see exactly where I stand, but its really nice to know that my GPA won’t necessarily shut me out as much as I thought it would.
Depending on the program, your life experience can count a lot toward requirements for a degree so another one might make sense and not take as long as you might think.
Good GRE/GMAT scores, life experience, and your articulation of your more mature goals and approach to school should count a lot. How long ago did you graduate undergrad?
I got into a VERY prestigious private college for my Master’s degree.
The funny thing is, they put me on two year probation because of my undergrad grades…and it only took me a year and a half to get my Master’s degree, so I was never taken off probation
What kind of grad school are you thinking about going into? If it’s traditional, where you get a stipend and you do research for a professor and you TA a class, etc, then IME, a low GPA isn’t that much of a barrier (or a low GRE for that matter). It really matters on who you know and who you plan on working for. If the professor really wants you in his group, the university will find a way to admit you.
If you’re trying to get an MBA, it really helps to score high on the GMAT. But, if you come from a prestigious company and/have quality work experience (i.e. a good position, hopes of getting into a better (at least B level) position, then you have a good shot of getting in. If you’re company has sent a lot of its employees to the school, then your chances are better.
If you’re trying to get into law or medical school, good luck. All the top schools require a really good GPA and a high LSATs and MCATs. Law school might be easier since I just read a report that applications have dropped (good news for me ;)). I’ve heard of fair to middling scores getting into both (though more for med school), because of some great recommendation from some influential people.
Low grades can be explained away by a huge number of factors. Of the success stories I’ve heard (and seen) family issues seem to give the most leeway. If you’re in a major that does not traditionally have high scores (e.g. EE), then that could also be a factor. Also, coming from a prestigious undergrad also helps.
