How concerned should I be regarding my future for grad school?

[Chiefs_Fan]

Hello all, this is my first time posting here so I apologize if these are common questions that have been answered! I went through a few pages to look for some answers, but couldn't seem to find any.

 

I will be applying to grad school this December in hopes of starting in Fall of 2014. I'm hoping to be admitted to a higher education administration program in order to have a career in admissions or career counciling. Currently I'm looking at three schools in particular; Missouri State, University of Oklahoma, and SIU Carbondale.

 

I've got a few issues that might hinder my application. First off are my grades. Overall, my GPA is 2.92. Not good at all, and I take full responsibility for it. I didn't take my education seriously in my early years of college and I'm paying for it. The programs I'm looking at give more importance to the last 60 hours of undergraduate study and I've done better in that regard, GPA of 3.28. Not great, but better than the 2.92. I still have 30 more hours to complete before I apply, and in the absolute best case scenerio, I would have a 3.48. My question is are these numbers competitive at all for higher ed programs? The three programs I'm looking at require a 3.0, 2.75, and 2.7 respectively, but I'm unsure where I stand against other applicants.

 

My second concern is my lack of experience in campus activities. I work a full time job in retail just to survive; I have no financial help from my family. Thus, I have little to no time to join clubs or volunteer at institutions on campus. In my efforts for an assistantship (I want one solely for experience, the tuition factors are just a nice bonus), will my lack of experience completely shut me out of being considered for these? My current boss says she has no issue writing me a recommendation highlighting my dependability and ability to be a leader, but this is all in retail and not higher education.

 

Thank you all so much! This worries me on a daily basis and I just want to get a view on whether my worries are justified or not.

[uromastyx]

Those are certainly low numbers, which don't consider the GRE. The program cut-offs are typically not ideal for these programs. But if these programs seem reasonable for you to aspire to then surely you can work to put together as strong an application as possible.

If your experience is also lacking then you may have a somewhat tenuous application. Are there internships or experiences that you can acquire before applying?

[Chiefs_Fan]

The only thing I could possibly do is set up some sort of job shadowing for two or three hours a week in the mornings. Don't know how that would look in applications, but I guess it would be better than absolutely nothing.

[HigherEd2013]

It sounds like you're still in undergrad based on the thirty hours to complete. Is there a particular reason you want to go straight into grad school? Would you ever consider taking a year or two off to get some experience in Higher Ed? Having some experience under your belt would make you a more competitive candidate and compensate for some grades. Especially in Higher Ed, they are interested in the experiences that led you to apply. Also, a bunch of the job opportunities for master's degree candidates require several years of experience (I'm a little nervous going in with only two full-time years :/). If you have a particular job in mind that requires a master's with limited full-time experience, then that's great! I just haven't found many in my area, so I thought I would throw that out there.

 

That's not to discourage you, especially if you are ready to apply in December, just to make you think a little bit. I'm not sure which part of Higher Ed you want to go into, but admissions counselors are always up on the job boards. Admissions counselor positions are perfect for people coming right out of undergrad. They pay $30,000-35,000 per year (not the best, but it could be a little better than retail pay?), possibly higher depending on the location. There's also a fairly high turnover, so there are more job available. It would also give you some experience to see one side of the university and then you would have an easier time switching to positions within that university. Something else to think about: if you get a job at a university and get a master's with them, they will pay for part of the degree. You sounded like you were concerned about money, so I thought I would mention that. Good luck!!!

 

Everyone on this board is really friendly and happy to answer questions. None of us are experts because we've all just applied, but feel free to ask away .

[Chiefs_Fan]

Thanks for the reply! Basically, I want to go to grad school straight after undergrad because I turn 25 next month. It's taken me longer because I went through some personal problems when I was straight out of high school and school took a back seat for a time. I just would like to get my career started, you know? I'm not getting any younger. Also, I'm going to have to start paying back student loans after I graduate and with my meager income, it will be a major struggle.

 

I guess I will have to find some way to get experience in the next year. I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it. Between a full time job, 5 classes, and studying, I only sleep 5 hours or so a day.

 

Anyone know a way to function with 2 hours a sleep a day?

[Lulubelle]

Maybe there are organizations on campus that hold various one-day events that you could volunteer at? Or other short-term opportunities? I know for some groups I was a part of, we might volunteer an hour or two to staff some sort of speaker visit or some kind of recruitment table. Or can you look for a job that will give you more related experience?

[Chiefs_Fan]

Institutional Research is one of the fields I am interested in in the realm of Higher Ed. I actually just emailed the Office of Institutional Research on my campus hoping to set up a job shadowing situation for 2 or 3 hours a week. It's not much, but I figure it could at least lead me to another avenue for a letter of recommendation when the time comes. I'll keep this topic updated as I hear from them!

[ZeChocMoose]

Institutional Research is one of the fields I am interested in in the realm of Higher Ed. I actually just emailed the Office of Institutional Research on my campus hoping to set up a job shadowing situation for 2 or 3 hours a week. It's not much, but I figure it could at least lead me to another avenue for a letter of recommendation when the time comes. I'll keep this topic updated as I hear from them!

 

I worked in IR after my master's degree in higher ed.  If this is truly the direction that you want to move in, I would suggest going to a program that emphasizes research design and statistics.  This usually means that you'll be cutting out student affairs type programs and typically one year programs because you won't be able to take enough statistics to make you competitive for an entry level position in IR.  You might also want to look at Educational Methodology master's degrees.  In general, the more methods and data analysis skills that you gain in your program, the better that you will do on the market for an IR job.  Also, it helps to have an assistantship or internship in either IR or educational research in your master's program.  (Sometimes this may be hard to do in a typical student affairs type master's program.)