Poor academic record, hoping to go to graduate school

[district]

I began undergrad at a public university in 2008. I did acceptable my first semester there, but extremely poorly afterward. I have been suspended twice. During my time away from school, I have attended counseling to sort through the many issues I had while in school, and somehow in the process was diagnosed with ADHD. Fall 2011 was my last semester at that institution, and since then I have tried to really recover and get my academic career straight. I have since held a part time job working as an aide at a private school, then moved on to a full time job working in the Student Life department at a local college. I have also completed my Associate's Degree Liberal Arts with a 4.0 GPA. I am planning to return to my previous undergraduate institution beginning next summer to complete my degree in Psychology. I do not have many classes left to take there to get my Bachelor's, so I technically can graduate after two summer semesters. However, my GPA will be extremely low due to lots of Fs (and I'll have two suspensions on my record). I hope to go to graduate school in counseling/student affairs but know I can't get in most places.

 

Is it wise to stay longer than needed to bring up my GPA (at best, I could get a 2.5)? Or would it be better to find a certificate program or some other institution and take classes there?

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[grad2020]

Don't stay longer than needed! End the madness, GRADUATE and get more relevant full-time work experience!

 

From here you can either start taking a class or two every semester (or get a certificate if you like) while you are working. Once you have a BA/BS you can enroll in almost any school to just take classes without formally matriculating. When I did it the university called it the "school of professional development". They don't care about your previous academic record because you are not a formal university student and they still get money out of you. After a couple of years of getting straight A's and getting professional experience, apply to grad school. 

 

I failed 4 classes in undergrad and was charged with academic misconduct. I am not a bad person, I was just stupid and immature. A couple of years after graduating I started taking classes and did very well. I applied to 2 grad schools with all these bad marks on my transcripts and was accepted to both. The more time that has gone by since your academic problems the better and the more you separate yourself from the person you used to be, the better. The application service counted my post-bacc grades into my "graduate gpa" even though non of these classes were graduate levels (If you feel ready maybe even try to take graduate level courses before applying), so admissions committees saw my "long ago" bad undergrad gpa, and my very recent 3.83 "graduate gpa".

 

Also make sure when you address your past in your personal statement (or wherever) that you are honest, don't give excuses and show that you have grown as an individual. That's what I did and I think this makes perfect sense for the field you want to go into. In fact it may make you an asset in helping students who are struggling with academia and the transition to living away from home. Positive spin!

 

I am in the 2nd year of my master's program (3.96 gpa) and will be applying to PhD programs this fall. 

 

Good luck.