Not gonna be accepted straight out of undergrad. What should I do in the meantime?

[esgalerin]

I dropped out of college after my first two years (dissatisfaction with original major, denial about dissatisfaction, depression, denial about depression; you know how it goes). During the next two years, besides bumming around and generally feeling sorry for myself, I figured out why I wanted to go to school and what I want to do with my life, and now I really want to go to grad school.

The problem is that when I dropped out, I had a GPA of something like 1.9, so I figure that to manage a 3.0 GPA, the minimum GPA to be even considered for most grad programs, as far as I can tell, I need to retake all the classes that I failed before AND get close to a 4.0 in my remaining time in undergrad... which I haven't been doing. (I got a D+ in one of my classes in a quarter when I took 5 classes as opposed to the usual 3-4 classes. On the other hand, I got on the Dean's List last quarter, which is apparently noted on the transcript.) I'm going to be a senior in linguistics in the fall, and my GPA is currently a 2.6 (3.5 in the major), which means that I won't be able to apply this winter, but I can probably raise it enough to apply next year.

I know there are plenty of people who don't get accepted by any programs the first time around. Presumably they're doing something to make themselves more attractive candidates besides rewriting personal statements and retaking tests, but I have no idea what that is. Should I take classes at a community college to boost my GPA, even if those classes aren't particularly related to linguistics?

On a related note, does anybody know how strictly admissions officers stick to the minimum GPA listed on websites? Other than my GPA, my credentials are pretty decent, I think. There are two professors whom I'm fairly confident will write me strong LoR's, and I'm going to try to get in on a research project when the school year starts. (It didn't even occur to me that non-science undergrads could do research until a month ago. It's not just to boost my application; I want to go into research eventually.) I usually do well on papers, especially when the topic is one I care about, so I'm not too worried about the personal statements. I haven't taken the GRE yet, but unless I go into full-on panic mode, I should get a pretty good score. Didn't mean to brag, but my point is that if they won't necessarily reject me out of hand for having a GPA of less than 3.0, I might go ahead and try applying this year.

Sorry for the general rambliness of the post. I was feeling kinda panicky up to the last bit. (But you must be used to that on these boards, huh?)

[Eigen]

I can't speak for your field, but my understanding is that if there's a stated minimum, it's likely a directive from the school rather than the department, and will more than likely have to be fairly strictly adhered to.

It might be possible for a department to request an exemption, so if you've got stellar research experience and letters of recommendation, that might be possible.

Also, I'd imagine you'd want your current GPA to be as high as possible to show significant improvement. You don't mention what your GPA is since you've come back, other than that it's not close to 4.0.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Eigen

[esgalerin]

Wow, fast reply! Thanks!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that they'd stick pretty firmly with that 3.0 cut-off. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, though, in case somebody knew otherwise. =/

I've only been back three quarters. My GPA during this time has been a 3.6, a pretty marked increase from what it had been previously. Of course, I'll point this out on the personal statement.

[TheFez]

The other problem with you proposal is that Ad Comms are pretty smart folks - inflating your GPA with some easy course at a community college isn't going to be unnoticed. It may do more harm than good.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately) actions have consequences. Your best approach may be to do stellar work as a returning student, (3.6 is only marginally stellar) perhaps getting a second, related major. Study and get really good GRE scores (i.e. 90th percentile). Get strong LORs from profs who can attest to your "epiphany" as a student - write a compelling SOP and keep your fingers crossed.

[TheFez]

Oh, forgot to ask - you are talking Master's program? or PhD?

If you are considering a PhD and can't get in, you may be able to boost enough to get into an unfunded masters program where you can demonstrate yourself and then apply.

[esgalerin]

Well, without that one D+, it's a 3.75. All A's with a couple A-'s and B+'s in the mix. Soooo I'm hoping that they'll look closely enough at the transcript to see that. (Yeah, maybe not GREAT, but I hope that it shows that I'm a competent student.)

I'm looking to get a PhD eventually, but I'm not averse to the idea of getting an MA separately. In fact, before I really started looking for schools, I was pretty sure that I would want to go for an MA first because I'm not sure that I would be able to get into a PhD program. Unfortunately, it seems that except for a few applied linguistics programs and ESL-teaching programs (Sorry, forget its actual name at the moment), there aren't any linguistics programs that are intended to end at just a master's, at least in the US. Maybe I should broaden my horizons a bit and look in Canada too. (edit: Actually, I take that back. It's been a while since I gave up looking for MA's, and I don't think I looked all that hard to begin with.)

A quick question about master's programs: are they intended to be more classroom learning than independent research, or am I mistaken? Kinda like a more rigorous version of undergrad?

Edited July 11, 2012 by esgalerin

[cajunmama]

I had a moderately crappy first year in undergrad, took 12 years off then went back in a different major, and ended up graduating 2nd or 3rd in my class. I did well on the GRE, got great LOR's and got accepted with full funding into the only PhD program I applied to. So. It can be done, it just takes a ton of butt-busting.

[esgalerin]

It's great to hear that, cajunmama. Of course I know cognitively that there are people who don't graduate the first time around, then do go on to do great later on, but it's always nice to hear from people who've done it themselves.

[radiowires]

A quick question about master's programs: are they intended to be more classroom learning than independent research, or am I mistaken? Kinda like a more rigorous version of undergrad?

It depends. The MA program at my UG institution is more focused on coursework, and although a thesis is optional I don't know how many people write one. Just from looking at other linguistics programs' MA requirements online, though, it seems like most do require a thesis (or some other kind of final independent research project).

[darkknight9]

I had a moderately crappy first year in undergrad, took 12 years off then went back in a different major, and ended up graduating 2nd or 3rd in my class. I did well on the GRE, got great LOR's and got accepted with full funding into the only PhD program I applied to. So. It can be done, it just takes a ton of butt-busting.

I too went the long route. Had the whole meet someone, get married, buy a house, have a kid, get divorced, lose the house, get visitation with the kid then go back and finish route. If you don't mind me asking, what butt busting does it take post bachelors? I took the GRE after it went to percentages and scored 65% Verbal, 69% Quant, 4.0/6.0 on my written and did get that GPA up to 3.0 by graduation (with my only fluff/filler/elective outside of scheduled coursework being Differential Equations with Linear Algebra) with three letters of req. My results have been mixed to say the least with only one school outright rejecting me, one that is telling me its still going to take weeks, and a handful that couldnt even be bothered to tell me I was out. (Fewer more aggravating things than hearing someone say to you over the phone "if you haven't heard from us, then we don't want you")

As a fellow long roader, please tell me. What else does it take? Do I treat this like a job where I pester them until I get resolution? Am I supposed to give them extra slack because it will hurt me if I don't? I've posted in the "waiting" section as well but what does it take to get into these places? If there's a secret handshake or something I'm missing, tell me please.

[Eigen]

One thing I want to point out is a slight difference here between different "long road" paths.

Cajunmama didn't do so hot at first, but then took some time off and came back and did really well- one of the top in her class, with good GRE scores, great LoRs, etc.

That's a lot different than a bad start, followed by a mediocre or "pretty good" finish. If you want to make up for a bad start, everything else really needs to be exceptional, imo.

Generally, grad school admissions do work in a "we notify the people we accepted" fashion- many job applications work the same way. It can be frustrating, but you just have to understand it's how things are played.

There's a chance that you might get a late/last minute admission somewhere, but it's starting to get really late for this year- we've already got our next year crop showing up.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Eigen

[cajunmama]

Luck played a lot in it, I'll admit. I was in the right place at the right time. Post- bachelor's butt-busting to get in was very little, for me it was all done during undergrad, but I gotta bust butt to keep it now. I applied before I even graduated and was one of the first students accepted into a new PhD program. I have many things making me a highly desirable student, some of those things I did myself, like grades and GRE, but others I had no control over, like being female, etc. And, FWIW, I'm at the same institution and department where I did my undergrad. That probably had something to do with it, too.

[darkknight9]

Thank you.