taking classes as non-degree seeking student=admission

[Nico Corr]

Is taking courses as a non-degree seeking student at a school you eventually want to apply to a good way of gaining admission? There is a particular graduate school I want to enter to study conflict resolution, and I was told taking courses there first as a non-degree seeking student was a good "Trojan Horse" strategy for gaining admittance. I have a gpa of 3.7 when taking into consideration my last 60 credits, but before had a not so great gpa of 2.5 and I'm worried this will keep me from gaining admittance. I figure taking courses first for no credits would be a good way to show I can do the work.

[sierra918]

This did work for a girl in my M.A. Program. She did a year of required courses in our program and was admitted the following year.

[rageofanath]

It depends. I've taken 3 courses so far as a non-degree seeking student at the university I work at, where I'm currently seeking admission.

The first two were a few years ago as a "special student" program. It was made clear in the admissions material to the program that it is not considered a 'back door' into the school and you should not take classes through that program with the intent of applying for a degree after. At the time I was not seeking admission to the school so that was not my intention of taking the courses. I took the courses for credit and have a transcript as a result.

However I am now working with one of the professors I took a course from. My admissions goal is to get into his lab as a grad student rather than the, well, "unusual" situation I'm in now. The third class I'm currently enrolled in as a tuition assistance student -- I am working at the university enough hours a week to qualify for low cost courses for credit, though its non-degree and not in a program. The tuition assistance program does not have this stipulation. In fact, it says in the pamphlet if you later get admitted, you can transfer previously taken credits toward your degree.

It is hard to say whether this work will improve my admissions chances as a direct result of the grades I received, or if the admissions committee will look at the fact that I did special student a few years ago and have it look like I'm trying to use the trojan-horse method despite what the admissions packet for non-degree said, and have that count against me. I'm going to get at least one letter of recommendation from the coursework though, as well as a transcript with credit on it. If my current goals are not viable and I choose to apply to a different school, the letter, transcript, and credit gained will be very valuable.

I can't say I recommend taking courses for non-credit, especially if you're paying for them. Auditing a course (taking it for noncredit) doesn't always require you to do everything the other students do, so it also is not proof of your current abilities and often doesn't mean anything to an admissions committee. Usually auditing students don't even get a grade. Taking non-degree courses with the goal of being admitted might hurt you if that school specifically advises that you don't do that, but it might help you if you're using it to gain contacts, network, and build a higher level transcript. 

[GradSchoolTruther]

If you do well in the course, it's a good signal. If you don't or exhibit poor behavior, then it's not a good signal. Seen both happen.