Poor undergrad GPA, offer with no funding, is this the best I will get?

[saw]

Hi, it's my first post, I hope everyone will be gentle.

So I had a terrible undergrad with a 2.5GPA. I reformed my ways and came back to school after working for a year or two, yielding a last 60-credit GPA average of 3.0. GRE was above average. Published work by alma mater, but not publication per se.

Applied to three schools (two out-of-state, one in-state), all masters (as I'm told I'm in no shape for a PhD), got into one but with no funding of any sort at all. I'm facing out-of-state tutition, on-campus accomodation, and such costs that would completely obliterate the $90,000 I hold in savings in 2 years.

Is this the best I can do, or should I reapply to more places this year? This time around I could have the article actually published, GRE improved, and be certified proficient in a langauge skill I hope to use in future research.

If I must self-fund, I would prefer masters in-state, and finally out-of-state for PhD. Grades expectation is nothing but A's going forward from since I came back. Area is city planning.

[lilymasala]

You do have some options. You could take the financial hit for the first semester or year and show the department that you are worthy of funding based off of how much you've reformed and what you're capable of. You could also look outside the department, there are tons of scholarships and funding opportunities available that you could apply to (although unfortunately many of them do look at undergraduate GPA). There is always also financial aid, submit that FAFSA.

I know personally how hard it is to get into grad school with a sub-3.0 GPA. In all honesty you're not in a position to be picky, especially since funding for MA problems is usually scarce as it is. Best of luck.

[Gneiss1]

It depends. First I would make sure grad school is really something you want and need to do. I'm not sure what your field is, but before investing so much time and energy into a grad degree you want to make sure it will truly prove to be significantly beneficial in the end. I would say it will probably be fairly difficult to get into a masters program with funding from where you are starting. It isn't impossible, but you have a few things going against you. For starters, there is a lot less funding given for masters as opposed to PhD. There also is a lot more people applying with the economy as it is and less funding in schools, so it can be a bit of a tough market out there.

If you do decide you want to go and are confident you can excel, then as lily mentioned you can always go and show them what you are worth then applying for funding. Good luck!

[stell4]

I have a sub 3.0 as well, and above average GRE's. I applied to all out of state schools, 7 total and made it into 1 without funding. Luckily for me I am in the western states and WICHE applies, giving me instate tuition at my out of state school. Even with that I am looking at about 40-50k in debt, all student loans. I believe my MS degree is a good decision for me. There's a pretty big shortage of educated individuals in my field and the lowest end of starting salaries will still put me in a great place to pay down my debt. Additionally, I have enough equity in a home that could go towards my loans too. Also, my prof has given me a lot of hope I will receive funding at some point; I am prepared either way.

It's tough to get into schools with a poor GPA. Will your degree be worth 90k to you and your future? Have you considered applying for a PHd instead of MS? Though it may be a bit tougher you may have a better chance of funding if you could find a good fit.

Good luck with your decision!