Mongo1271

Hello everyone, First of all thank you all for contributing to this fantastic resource. Here's my background: I'm an Intelligence Officer in the Marine Corps with nearly 4 years in and am weighing my options between staying in for a few more years or getting out and transitioning back to the civilian world. I'm currently deployed to Afghanistan and will likely do one more deployment before I am eligible to separate from the service. I had a poor undergraduate record, largely in my first 2 years, at a highly regarded liberal arts school in the south. I had few extracurriculars beyond playing on the football team. I graduated in 2007 with a 2.62 overall GPA with a double major in History (3.0 GPA) and Communications (2.9 GPA). My underperformance in college is my greatest regret. It wasn't a product of any hardship, just plain old lack of hard work and motivation. After graduating from college I worked for a real estate developer for one year before joining the Marine Corps and earning a commission. My record in the military has been very good. I've finished near the top of my class in all of my schools, to include being the honor graduate from my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) producing Intelligence Officer course. I've done well in my assignments and could count on several individuals for good recommendations. I've yet to take the GRE but am confident that I can pull off a good score. For my post-service career I'd probably attempt to stay in the Intelligence Community or the DOD in a policy role. I know I could get a job at an agency or private company doing intelligence work based on my experience but I'd really like to get a Masters degree before or while working. My questions are: Is it realistic that my post-grad experience will help me get into a decent school, or is my GPA insurmountable? What can I do now to improve my chances of acceptance or bolster my resume? I'll be taking the GRE when I get back and I'm set up to take micro/macro economics courses from UC-Berkeley when I get back to help improve my GPA and give me some more recent academic exposure. Are there any specific programs that anyone would recommend I look into that would fit my goals and or skill sets? Thanks for all the help!