igottastewgoin

Thanks for the reply. I think that taking classes as a non-degree student while working would be ideal, but there aren't any colleges close to me that offer upper level courses by distance or at the time of day I could attend. I also feel a bit of urgency to take as many relevant classes as I can as soon as possible in case I'm not able to make anything else materialize and going overseas for a taught masters is my only option. I would feel pretty badly doing it, but I'm considering leaving my school now so I can attend classes as a second-degree student for three semesters (I think I could finish the requirements for another B.A. in that time). Obviously I would have to kiss a reference or the possibility of teaching at a public school goodbye, but I feel that my options are limited. I would probably stay on for the full year if there were a chance it might sway an adcom and mitigate (to some extent) my GPA.

My story is the standard, trope-laden one that populates the majority of these sorts of threads, thogh I do apologize if it comes off more whiny than I mean for it to. I attended a large, southern university with the intent to get a B.S. in Physics. Due to a complete lack of ambition, laziness and perhaps even fundamental lack of facility for it, I bounced around upper level math and physics courses with middling, then failing, grades. I managed to graduate from Thomas Edison State College—a school in NJ that has no residency requirement—using 120 of my 152 credits. My degree is a B.A. titled, ‘Natural Science’. Although I’m grateful for the existence of such a degree, it is as useless for what I’d like to do as the title is nebulous. I began working at various jobs, attempting to audit some graduate math courses as a non-degree student at the same time. I realized that I lacked the necessary background (the highest level course I took in math was a linear algebra course that I did surprisingly well in), but there were no undergraduate courses that fit with my schedule. The courses did kindle an earnest desire to get a master’s degree in math, however. Currently, I am teaching physics at a high school. Teaching an AP class has really made the itch to further my studies even more unbearable. Although I love interacting with many of my students, I’ve decided that a career as a high school teacher is for folks more saintly than I. My question is, would this teaching experience in any way sway an admissions committee or should I not bother to mention it? I imagine I would need to ask for consideration as a probationary student and take some undergraduate courses (I’ve been told abstract and complex analysis at a minimum). My GPA is so incredibly low that I can’t bear to type it. Suffice to say it begins with a ‘2’ and the second digit does not round up. Also, I have applied to several schools already that I thought I might have at least an outside chance to get into and have been roundly denied. I did, however, get into a fairly well-known Scottish university (Heriot-Watt) for a taught master's that I've been considering. I appreciate any advice.