Community College Classes to Boost GPA

[ihatechoosingusernames]

I'm still waiting to hear back from my last school, but I've been rejected by all of them so far. I graduated with a BA in Psychology (3.3 cum, 3.38 psych) in Dec of 2012, and then I moved down South with my husband and his military job. I'm currently in an area that lacks actual universities, but I have quite a few community colleges within reasonable driving distance. 

 

Has anyone else taken community college classes in an effort to boost their GPA? Do you think it would look bad to an adcom? If I do take some classes, I'll try to address my weaknesses (lack of any "hard" science classes, low grade in a statistics course) instead of taking easy classes, but I want to know if this is a worthwhile idea. Ideally, I'd like to enroll for spring and summer quarter so I can boost my GPA before next application cycle. 

 

Thanks

[PsychGirl1]

It is worthwhile... if your GPA is the actual reason you didn't get any interviews, or if you have any major gaps/issues in the classes you took (ex. you have never taken stats or research methods, or did really badly in those classes). You can also look into online classes- I took Abnormal Psych through Harvard Extension School while I was working FT and I would strongly recommend it to others. You probably also want to get research experience (even if there aren't universities, there may be hospitals and research centers with RA/RC positions) and a poster or two, at a minimum. You may also want to consider MA/MS programs. You might want to get some real-life experience related to community psych, if anything is available in your area. Not sure if a clinical experience or two would help you or not- probably would depend on your area of research/interest. Retake your GREs if you can get higher, practice your interviewing skills, and start having people review and edit your SoPs now. There is also no harm in reaching out to schools and asking them if they can identify some weaknesses for you.

 

In summary: there are a lot of things you can be working on over your gap year(s). Do as much as you can and whatever is possible to help your odds. Good luck!

[nightwolf1129]

Keying off of what PsychGirl1 said, it might be worthwhile to visit your local Veterans Affairs hospital (since you live in a military area there should be at least one close by) and see if they have a psychology/mental health department.  Most psychology research departments at the VA have Research Assistant (or Research Technician) positions that only require a B.A. in Psychology and you would be working under a psychologist for approx. 2 years.  Most of these positions are term-based and are funded via research grants.  In addition, you'd have an ability to author or co-author poster presentations (as PsychGirl1 said), or perhaps collaborate on a paper.  I've been working as an Research Assistant at the VA for about 2 years now and have had the opportunity to author a poster which I've presented at an international conference, and am co-authoring a paper submission.  Many of my colleagues on the RA level have been able to use this experience to help further their chances of admittance into PhD programs (especially since many PhD programs are research heavy).  One thing to consider, though, is many researchers who hire Research Assistants are interested in candidates who have a strong statistical and research background (e.g., did well in Undergraduate statistics class, did some research or took a research-based class as an Undergraduate, etc.) because much of what I do is centered around research and knowledge of psychological statistics.  So taking a stats class at a local community college might be a good idea to help bolster your resume should you apply for an RA position.

 

Lastly, if you're not able to get hired as a full-time research assistant, you can also look into possibly volunteering your time to assist in their research.  Several of my co-workers who had once volunteered, have been hired full-time.

[ihatechoosingusernames]

Thank you for the suggestions! I realized last night that it would only really be worthwhile to improve in specific areas rather than attempting to raise my GPA. In order to raise my GPA to a 3.5 I'd need an additional 58 credits, and I'd need to get a 4.0 in all of those classes. I think I'll take a stats class and look into becoming an RA at the VA. 

 

Thankfully, I have research experience and two poster presentation where I was first author. I'm also hoping to focus my volunteer efforts...I volunteer at the animal shelter because I like the animals, but my research area is violence against women. I really should be volunteering at a women's shelter. 

[Guest joshw4288]

I certainly advise considering an M.A./M.S. program. Psychology is incredibly competitive right now. Even at some of the least competitive places I applied, they were still receiving 65+ applications for 3 spots. Anecdotally, at my interviews, the majority of interviewees had master's degrees in psychology or related fields. 

[nightwolf1129]

Assuming she doesn't incur $$$$ in student loan debt to earn an M.A. in Psychology, she would still be required to complete the full 5-6 yr PhD track even if she was going in with a Master's.  The only reason to pursue a Master's onroute to a potential PhD is if you do extremely well in the program and obtain a high enough GPA to offset the lower Undergraduate GPA.  But again, it's all about the cost-benefit ratio and whether it's worth accruing more debt.  Working as a Research Assistant might be a cheaper alternative to jumping into a Master's program.  Unfortunately even having a Master's degree is not always an automatic guarantee that the applicant will get accepted into a PhD program.  I think retaking stats class at a local Community College and looking into some research & volunteering opportunities is a good "first step."  As a wise person once said "Why stare at a closed door when there's an open window beside?"