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I graduated from the University of MN with a 2.8, and I know it's rather pathetic but let me continue. Over the last 3 years, I've had to go through a few hardships-- my husband was ill for almost a year, so I had to put school on the backburner for awhile. I also had to work more because he was unable to. After he got better and started working, I started experiencing my own health problems mostly due to the lack of good insurance and healthcare. My husband's health insurance wasn't great at all, and the year when he was sick I was not able to take my maintenance medications the way I should have because we could not afford them.
Flash forward, and to just get through school and finish I took classes full time almost nonstop because I just wanted to be done. Unfortunately the more classes I took, the lower grades I got. I still had to work because my husband and I are still essentially broke, but we've been able to pay off a couple loans.
Then, I started to have more health issues, but these were different because I've had to see specialists to get it sorted out, and the pain I experienced was so bad it would leave me incapacitated for days at a time (due to ovarian cyst).
If one would look at my transcript, they'd see that I had a mixture-- in a lot of classes I got B+'s and higher-- in some, I got B-'s and C+'s. I also got a couple of C-'s from my last semester because of poor performance. My graduation gpa says 2.8, but my final cumulative gpa is actually a 3.1 because a couple of teachers didn't enter my grades until after my degree was conferred.
I feel like all doors that were once opened to me have slammed shut right in my face. Is there ever any hope for grad school? I don't even know where I'd be able to go that would accept someone with a graduation gpa of 2.8, and heck what about job searching? (I haven't worked full-time since my graduation due to the health issues, which have gotten better). I already know the minute you don't put your gpa down on your resume you can't get hired and it's an automatic assumption that you got bad grades.
How would I even ever explain this, even if I did want to go to grad school? What, that I was "always having issues?" I read somewhere from a director of admissions that admissions are always hesitant to admit someone who constantly "has issues" because to get an advanced degree, a person needs to have the mental rigor and capacity to overcome their circumstances. Clearly, I didn't have that!
Did I miss the part where you stated why you want to go to grad school- what subject matter / type of grad school? Have you taken LSAT/ MCAT/ GRE/ etc grad school entrace exams? How did you score?
I have not taken the GRE yet, because I don't know if it would be worth it. My degree's in psychology and I'd like to get my master's in psychology first if I were to go to grad school. I already know that getting into a Ph.D. program isn't going to happen unless I got into a M.A. program and did stellar there. I'm not too optimistic though.
Last edited by sas384_; 01-25-2011 at 12:59 PM..
Reason: added degree
GPA is very degree dependent. For some it matters and some it doesn't. What is your degree in? If your GPA should read 3.1, file a grievance with the school to have your grade properly reflected in your transcripts. I am sure you can get into a graduate program, but you will need to take the GRE and you may be placed on probation for a semester or two in order to prove that you are capable of better than 2.8 work. Edit to ask: Why do you want to go to grad school and what do you want to do?
I mostly want to go to grad school to further myself in a career, as with a bachelor's in psychology I'm only going to get so far, especially in today's economy (or the future for that matter). I'd like to do clinical counseling work, psychometric testing, children's therapy, that sort.
I graduated from the University of MN with a 2.8, and I know it's rather pathetic but let me continue. Over the last 3 years, I've had to go through a few hardships-- my husband was ill for almost a year, so I had to put school on the backburner for awhile. I also had to work more because he was unable to. After he got better and started working, I started experiencing my own health problems mostly due to the lack of good insurance and healthcare. My husband's health insurance wasn't great at all, and the year when he was sick I was not able to take my maintenance medications the way I should have because we could not afford them.
Flash forward, and to just get through school and finish I took classes full time almost nonstop because I just wanted to be done. Unfortunately the more classes I took, the lower grades I got. I still had to work because my husband and I are still essentially broke, but we've been able to pay off a couple loans.
Then, I started to have more health issues, but these were different because I've had to see specialists to get it sorted out, and the pain I experienced was so bad it would leave me incapacitated for days at a time (due to ovarian cyst).
If one would look at my transcript, they'd see that I had a mixture-- in a lot of classes I got B+'s and higher-- in some, I got B-'s and C+'s. I also got a couple of C-'s from my last semester because of poor performance. My graduation gpa says 2.8, but my final cumulative gpa is actually a 3.1 because a couple of teachers didn't enter my grades until after my degree was conferred.
I feel like all doors that were once opened to me have slammed shut right in my face. Is there ever any hope for grad school? I don't even know where I'd be able to go that would accept someone with a graduation gpa of 2.8, and heck what about job searching? (I haven't worked full-time since my graduation due to the health issues, which have gotten better). I already know the minute you don't put your gpa down on your resume you can't get hired and it's an automatic assumption that you got bad grades.
How would I even ever explain this, even if I did want to go to grad school? What, that I was "always having issues?" I read somewhere from a director of admissions that admissions are always hesitant to admit someone who constantly "has issues" because to get an advanced degree, a person needs to have the mental rigor and capacity to overcome their circumstances. Clearly, I didn't have that!
So much for a future! (pulls out hair)
Clearly, you did. You didn't just drop out. Don't be so hard on yourself. First thing is first. Straighten out the issue of gpa. If it should be a 3.1, well I'd certainly make sure that a transcript reflects that. You usually have to send transcripts with applications, so that should be a priority. Secondly, a 3.1 with a full class load and I assume full time work, is nothing to bash yourself about. Actually, one person I know of that got an undergrad in psychology is having the company she got hired with pay for her masters. I'll see if I can find out where she works as it may help.
You might consider a master's in clinical Social Work over the psych master's.
For one, you don't have to take the GREs. And secondly, many of the SW schools are more interested in your challenges and how you overcame them than they are in the grades you received.
For instance, I got my Master's at Bryn Mawr, a very prestigious school. I had a 3.98 in college (one B, goddammit) and I had taken and done well on the GREs, but that didn't matter to them (though my GPA did help me get a scholarship). They were more interested in my paid and volunteer work in the mental health field, personal experiences, and in what I talked about in the interview.
Many people in school with me at Bryn Mawr had gone to college long ago, got not-so-great grades, or majored in totally unrelated fields. Only some of us were in the category of "straight-A students." Plus, Bryn Mawr is a Quaker-founded school and they don't believe in grades. University of Pennsylvania is like that too. You get essay-style paragraphs in response to tests you take and papers you write, and the final "grade" in each class is pass/fail. As someone who put a lot of stock in grades, this drove me crazy, as I tried to mentally convert a professor's long paragraph into an "A-" vs an "A."
Despite all this "softness" Bryn Mawr has an excellent clinical program, and I learned so much to successfully further my career. I got a little frustrated that some other people ended up with the same letters after their name that I did, and they did what I considered inferior work, but I had to let that go. They may be excellent therapists today, but just not very good at academic work.
See if there are graduate schools of Social Work near you, and if any of them have a system like this one. Here are links to the accredited SW programs in Minnesota:http://www.naswmn.org/displaycommon....ubarticlenbr=5
I would agree that you should look at a master's in social work or counselling. A graduate degree in psych is not going to prepare you for what you want to do.
I mostly want to go to grad school to further myself in a career, as with a bachelor's in psychology I'm only going to get so far, especially in today's economy (or the future for that matter). I'd like to do clinical counseling work, psychometric testing, children's therapy, that sort.
Where are you located?
For what you want to do you want a Masters in Counseling (probably with a goal of becoming an Licensed professional counselor (LPC)). There are tons of schools you can apply to for this, some are better than others. I think the social work degree is more geared towards drug abuse counseling...etc.
There is more to getting into grad school than just having a good GPA. Plus, there are lots of schools out there that accept students with a GPA such as yours (you just have to find them!)
Do this:
-Get a good GRE score
-Write good essays
-Have good letters of recommendation
No, clinical social work is not just geared toward substance abuse counseling; I don't know where that came from.
To get an LCSW, you have to complete supervised field experience and take a pretty extensive exam, all after completing the master's. Then you're a licensed mental health professional, and can deliver any kind of psychotherapy that you are trained in. This might include substance abuse treatment or not.
I mostly worked with adults with serious mental illness, major depression, and PTSD, but my other LCSW colleagues have worked with kids in school or office settings, with families, with couples, and delivering group therapy. We work in hospitals, clinics, private practices, schools, hospices, VA centers, substance abuse services, and even deliver clinical services to people in their homes. We do cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, play therapy, hypnotherapy, you name it, whatever our specialized training is focused on.
Now psychometric TESTING is usually only done by licensed psychologists, but the other things the OP wishes to do can fit well with a clinically-focused MSW or MSS degree and a license.
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