Should I apply

[olosir]

I'm a 28 year old male who earned an undergrad degree from a good liberal arts college in Management. Unfortunately, my GPA was only 2.8 and I basically achieved nothing. I regret my lack of motivation and discipline, even more so now given that I'm in a mid-level management role that I hate. However, I have a steady income, definite advancement opportunities, and full benefits. I also graduated with no undergrad debt. I'm simply not content to remain in this position, and regret and a desire to "right" things is compelling me to pursue a graduate degree in a new field. Still, I question whether it's worth it due to finances and future job prospects. I don't even know how to begin this process because I'm not assured of admission after my lackluster undergrad performance. I'm interested in Pratt's and the University of Washington's Masters of Library Science programs, as well as The New School's Organizational Change Management program. I've made a few inquiries to each school and their advice is to take the GRE, score well, and focus on the letters of recommendation and statement of purpose. I hope this will be sufficient. If it is, then the issue is which program to choose and can I really justify incurring up to $80,000 in debt and starting over at 30. Practically, I realize there are many risks, but I also know that I can't remain stagnant and just resign myself to my current career.

What are your thoughts on a plan of action and even the programs I mentioned?

[Seeking]

First rule is to stay motivated and not be influenced by negativity. If you stay positive and keep on working hard towards your goal, you'll make it.

Before convincing the Graduate School, you should convince yourself that you really want a Graduate degree in a different discipline and why you want it.

There are many in late 30s or even in early 40s who go for a Graduate study, so your age is no factor for feeling low about.

A high GRE score, good SOP (see elsewhere on this forum for some great advice on how to write a strong SOP) and strong recos are the essentials to get you into any graduate school.

Having said all this, you are leaving a stable job and gong for a new discipline. Hence, you need to do some research about the job prospects of that particular discipline and the past success rate of the graduates from that particular department. I feel you can choose a discipline that will enhance your job prospects. I don't know about the success rate of the subjects you have mentioned. You need to research it.

You need to ask yourself what appeals to you, what you have an aptitude for and whether it will lead you to a growth in career. We all are interested in several subjects and a good strategy is to go for the one that will lead to a good career growth, making others as our secondary area of expertise.

There are graduate schools that give full or partial funding for graduate study. You may consider applying to those programmes, to avoid getting into high debt.

For example, with your management background, a graduate degree in a discipline related to industrial psychology is a good match and psychology departments have good funding for graduate study. You may look for "Human development," "industrial psychology" etc. to look for programmes and funding. But first, you need to ask if you like the idea of studying human development. Environment policy, foreign languages, economic development etc are some other fields that go well with management and all these disciplines have funding at graduate level. You may even combine two subjects to get an extra advantage, such as environmental policy with foreign language courses. You need to ask yourself which discipline you'll be comfortable studying and working in.

Good luck with your graduate school search.

[olosir]

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of investigating industrial psychology and environmental management. I think change management is also a good fit.

One other question:

Would getting recommendations from only professionals (no professors) hurt me?

[Seeking]

No, they shouldn't. they should help you if they are strong.