I Screwed Up

[summerskiss]

Went to community college, earned A.A.

Transferred to 4 year uni...things went downhill.

Took time off to work full time, now I'm ready to attend community college again to ease back into being a student and "start fresh".

My gpa right now is 2.9, I have about 2 years experience as a circulation assistant, my bachelors will be in either graphic design, sociology, or criminology.

I just want to know if anyone has had a crazy undergrad career like I have.

Did you still get into a program?

Will I be frowned upon for taking time off/changing majors all over the place/going to multiple schools?

I fully intend to raise my GPA, have good letters of recommendation, write a nice personal statement, and do well on the GRE.

*sigh* Thanks for replying

[Mal83]

I had gone to 3 schools in order to get my BA. I spent a year and a half as a Biology major at a small private school. I was very happy my first semester, but after that my commitment to the subject matter started waning and I was doing well grade wise in everything other then the science related courses. So it was in my 3rd semester that I had decided it was time to rethink things. My parents told me to come home and take some time off, but I was terrified to do that, I wasn't supposed to have to take time off, I've always been good at school and I was supposed to have it all figured out already. Plus I was scared I wouldn't get back into it for some reason. Anyway, I refused to take time off and went straight to a community college to figure things out there for much less money. I was so turned off to the sciences that I went the art direction and decided to take some interior design classes...what a disaster that was, I mean it was OK, but I quickly realized that was not where I needed to be. But I found myself more and more attracted to political science, cultural studies, and languages. So I ended up completing an AA in International Studies. Once I was really into that course of study I knew that was it for me. Then right after I transferred to the college where I got my BA in the same major.

I then did 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer which is directly related to my field and is considered valuable experience, which is generally required for admission into an International Affairs/development type program. I was a little worried about the fact that I had gone to 3 schools and how that would look to admissions committees, but it panned out just fine. I was accepted to 2 out of the 3 schools I applied. I'll be attending my top choice school, the acceptance was off of the waitlist but it's an acceptance nonetheless. But what helped was that after seeing that my first undergrad school had nothing to do with anything, admissions committees would clearly see that I had some direction...international studies at a CC and finished up my BA in the very same subject and then got some very relevant experience.

I'm not sure how much more you have to go before getting a BA but it's good that you're thinking ahead and have narrowed down your choices for a degree, but a word of advice from someone who changed their mind repeatedly would be to start out with an open mind, you don't have to declare a major immediately. You seem to have a few options but they're pretty different. As you get more into a particular course of study you might see that it's not really what you want. Taking classes in different areas, perhaps the ones you mentioned, in the same term might prevent you from having to start completely over if you were to change your mind. If I had it to do all over again I would have started at a community college, it's really the best thing to do if you're not 100% certain, I mean I guess if you or your parents have money to burn it's OK to flounder around at a private university. Get that GPA above 3.0, it's not unheard of to get into a grad program with a lower one but then the other areas of your application will have to be stellar like a lot of relevant experience or very high GRE scores. You should also be thinking about from whom to get recommendations and be making more of an effort to make sure they know your abilities so they have really good things to say about you. Of course your SOP is really important, the committees don't just want a list of what you've done and your accomplishments, they want to know how your education and relevant work/volunteer/internship experiences have prepared you mentally and academically for that particular program. So you should be aware of how the course of study you choose will get to your ultimate goal and desired occupation. Don't hesitate to ask anything else.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Mal83

[summerskiss]

You have very good advice. I don't know how I'd explain a degree in graphic design helping to prepare me for MLIS...After reading your story, I feel encouraged

[Mal83]

You have very good advice. I don't know how I'd explain a degree in graphic design helping to prepare me for MLIS...After reading your story, I feel encouraged

Well good! That's why I usually just lay it all out there because I don't have the "I decided what I'll do at 17 and then stick with it for 4 years in college" story. You definitely don't have to have one of those to move up in academia. I know people who did that, didn't change their minds once, but had completely lost interest by the time they graduate and are now in totally different jobs anyway, but they had to go to school again in order to get those jobs.

I'm in a totally different field so I really couldn't say what would prepare you for an MLIS. Is there such a thing as a BA in Library Science? You should poke around this forum and see what others have done before going into grad school. You could also just check out university websites for graduate library science programs and see what the requirements are if you haven't done so already. Even if it seems too far away at this point and you have no idea which school you want to go to, just check a few out to get an idea.

[Phyl]

I can't speak to your GPA but I can say there are people of all different majors in my program. There's a heavier concentration of english/history/poli sci folks but there's plenty of people outside of that. Everything can be made relevant to library science, I'd think graphic design would have some computer skills, some artsy stuff, someone's got to design book displays or develop visual materials for different programs. Every major has to have some research skills, experience evaluating sources of information and collaborative work experience. When you write your personal statement, think about what you do and the skills you learned rather than the specific topics.

There aren't very many BA in library science programs and really it's not necessary, I don't know anyone in my program with one and you need the masters degree to get a librarian job.

[summerskiss]

I can't speak to your GPA but I can say there are people of all different majors in my program. There's a heavier concentration of english/history/poli sci folks but there's plenty of people outside of that. Everything can be made relevant to library science, I'd think graphic design would have some computer skills, some artsy stuff, someone's got to design book displays or develop visual materials for different programs. Every major has to have some research skills, experience evaluating sources of information and collaborative work experience. When you write your personal statement, think about what you do and the skills you learned rather than the specific topics.

There aren't very many BA in library science programs and really it's not necessary, I don't know anyone in my program with one and you need the masters degree to get a librarian job.

Thank you for the tips about my major! It's nice to hear from someone attending a program. I keep hearing positive things about Rutgers...

[summerskiss]

Well good! That's why I usually just lay it all out there because I don't have the "I decided what I'll do at 17 and then stick with it for 4 years in college" story. You definitely don't have to have one of those to move up in academia. I know people who did that, didn't change their minds once, but had completely lost interest by the time they graduate and are now in totally different jobs anyway, but they had to go to school again in order to get those jobs.

I'm in a totally different field so I really couldn't say what would prepare you for an MLIS. Is there such a thing as a BA in Library Science? You should poke around this forum and see what others have done before going into grad school. You could also just check out university websites for graduate library science programs and see what the requirements are if you haven't done so already. Even if it seems too far away at this point and you have no idea which school you want to go to, just check a few out to get an idea.

Oh, how I envy those who have just stuck with their initial plans! HAHA I love researching the different schools out there! So far, I see that any undergrad degree is acceptable but some programs require programming and statistics courses prior to acceptance.

[falling_leaves]

Screwing up? Oh yeah. I switched programs 4 times...every single darn time I had about a year left. Took me 7 years to finish my BA degree. F's? You got it. W's? Of course! C's and D's? Yup. I think the thing that made the ultimate difference was that in my last two years, I had a combined GPA of 4.0, got three awards and really got as involved with as many extracurricular activities as possible while writing an undergrad thesis.

Trust me, I was a nervous wreck after I applied. I kept on thinking "they're going to take one look at my GPA and say, 'Pass! Next!'" There was so much self-doubt, especially because I rejected the offer of a lifetime from a university in the field I loved (and still do...long story as to why I dropped it in the end) and did so well in. I ended up getting into the program I wanted to get into for MLIS...and actually got accepted into all of the programs I applied for.

My advice:

-Work hard to raise your GPA since most programs require at least a 3.0 GPA.

-Be yourself and be true to yourself. If you've changed your bad habits, frame it in such a way that you do tell them you're a different person. Tell them that you know you need to be successful and state the qualities. Point out how much your GPA has improved. I know you can't read your reference letters since they're sealed, but if you trust your professors enough, you can tell them that you're sure that your professors would agree with how you've framed yourself.

-For the SOP, research is key. Make sure you know what is going on in the field.

Edited July 20, 2011 by falling_leaves

[modern_muslimah]

I'm checking in as part of the "non-traditional" route to BA crew. I went to three different colleges and took six years to get my BA. I went to my first college for two years but I only completed about six credits and had to leave on a medical leave. My GPA was an awesome 2.67. I went to community college for two years where I got my GPA up to a 3.86 and then transferred to another four year college for two years with a GPA of 3.77. There are withdraws on my transcripts and some Cs from my first two years. After I graduated, I took some time off to work a full time job. In fact, I waited three years after I graduated to apply to my MLIS program.

I was nervous too. I really thought the fact that I went to three different colleges would make me look bad but I think the lesson I learned is that admission committees are more understanding than I gave them credit for.

In the end, I think my GPA during the last four years plus some awards I won in my major and relevant library experience helped a lot. I worked in a library as a teen and also worked in a children's literacy program during a summer I was in college. I'm not sure if this made the difference but I do know that Library Science programs place some emphasis on relevant experience.

I think falling_leaves advice is great:

Get your GPA up above a 3.0, build a good relationship with professors so that they'll be able to write good recs, highlight your library experience, etc. Good luck!

[summerskiss]

Thank you falling_leaves and modern_muslimah