Alienman

I need some ideas. I made the decision to pursue my Master's in engineering because I really want to involve myself in a particular field of research, but my overall GPA was 3.0 and my major GPA was 2.9. I have a couple of complicating factors: 1. No work experience in my field. I had personal and family issues, and at the end of it all I'm working part-time at a photography studio and putting every cent into my grad fund. 2. It has been nearly five years since I graduated. On its own that's not a huge deal, but with the lack of experience I'm basically dead in the water. I'm going to be taking courses at a local college in the summer and fall, but I need something else if I want to succeed. I haven't taken the GRE yet, but the practice tests indicate I'd have around ~155V/165Q or higher, so I'm not worried on that front. I'm going to hail-mary apply to a couple of schools in the fall, more to get practice at applications than expecting to get in, but aside from that I'm kind of stumped.

I've decided to pursue my master's in aerospace engineering after getting my BS in 2013, but as I am now I stand no chance of getting accepted to a decent program. -My overall GPA for undergrad was 3.0, major GPA 2.9 -I got C's and D's on a couple of core courses -I did not have any internships or co-ops in undergrad, and I was unable to find employment in my field (I had family obligations that meant I was only available for part-time work; that has since changed but the gap on my resume is conspicuous) I'm not looking to get into a top-5 program; rather, I'm looking at lower-tier R1 schools. Even so, I recognize that on paper, I don't amount to much. I can probably get 95th percentile on the GRE Quantitative and 80th percentile on verbal, but I understand that the GRE doesn't amount to much on its own. To boost my competitiveness, I've decided to enroll at a local college to take/retake some higher-level courses on a part-time basis. My hope is that by doing well in these classes and engaging with the professors, I can improve my record and get letters of rec as well. The thing is, there is very little information about post-bacc programs *anywhere,* except for the ones to do with med school. I don't know what to expect, I don't know how applications will work, I don't know where I can find more info, and I especially don't know how to optimize the time I spend doing this. Is there anywhere with more information about this sort of thing? Has anybody here done something similar? Apologies if this is the wrong forum.