Abysmal undergraduate GPA 2nd sem. soph at a Target. HELP PLEASE
Hey guys,
So I really need advice. I have about two years worth of credits from a top university (think Penn/Duke/MIT/Columbia), but due to extenuating medical circumstances, have been in and out of school and have several leaves of absence (I'm doing much better now, and believe the circumstances that led to this will no longer be an issue). In addition to having several "W's" on my transcript, my gpa is horrible - in the 2.0-2.5 range to be exact. I tried applying to a non-trad program at a comparable school, but was harshly rejected and told that, since I'm now in my mid twenties, my high school performance no longer matters, and even though I would be transferring from a school on par with that one (compared to most students in the program, who transfer from far less rigorous community colleges), I haven't done any remedial coursework. Other than the name of my current school, the other things I feel that I have going for me are the business I started a little while ago and the fact that I'm widely self-taught on a lot of business-related subjects. My past coursework has nothing to do with business, but I'd like to major in economics or finance, or even transfer to an undergraduate business school. While I don't need to go to school to become a successful entrepreneur, I want to and feel that the networking opportunities are quite valuable. I have also been increasingly interested in going to law school (admittedly, some of this pressure may be due to the fact I come from an extremely academic family where even my grandparents have graduate degrees, but I do really think I would enjoy it).
As of right now, I feel that my options are to:
-
Stay at my current school, pull my grades up, and graduate with at best, an underwhelming gpa.
-
Take a few community college courses in business/econ/finance and re-apply to comparable non-trad program
-
Take a few courses and apply to a traditional undergraduate business school of comparable status, highlighting my business experience
-
Focus on my business and become a college dropout
One of the reasons I'm not interested in transferring to a non-target is because of how much money I've already invested into my education - well over $100,000 ( didn't get refunded for the withdrawn courses).
If you have any advice on what I could possibly do to overcome a weak gpa and become more competitive as an applicant, I would really, really appreciate it.
I think maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to take more classes than needed to graduate to boost it up or to pick the major that requires the most units. For example say you wanted to be a CPA which usually means 150 semester units. You would have around 30 extra units to boost it up and get a higher gpa because as far as I know at least in California, to take the CPA requires a bachelor's in Accounting and roughly 30 extra units of your choice to get to 150 semester units. These extra units don't have to be major related either so you could take some other easier classes to catch up. if you decide to do this you could potentially get your cumulative around 3.4 ish if you get all A's for 3 years and have a 2.5 right now. Plenty of tax lawyers have cpa licenses.
My advice based on dealing with a similar situation:
-- Stop worrying about your grades. Too late. For your remaining time in college, major in what you're most interested and work hard enough at the grade game not to flunk out.
-- Network your ass off, become popular with your classmates, join a fraternity, pursue various interesting job/career opportunities off the IBD/medical/Biglaw treadmill, and don't worry about keeping up with the overachieving set. Be part of the happy bottom quarter. Ignore OCR.
-- If you're going to be an entrepreneur, your grades are completely irrelevant. Otherwise, outside of IBD/medical/Biglaw/academia, no one will give a damn what your college grades were, or even ask. I know what I'm talking about here. I've been a White House political appointee, network TV news producer, management consultant in the dotcom boom, and for the last 10 years in HF/Asset Management; and grades just never came up. In most cases, even people who care about pedigree think "what school?" not "what GPA?"
-- Concentrate on thinking, speaking and writing excellently, and you'll find many doors open after a few years, even in career areas where folks just out of college need strong transcripts to qualify. An enterprising attitude, acceptance of career risk and above all, a great professional and social network trump a high GPA almost always.
Thanks for the advice. You guys don't think I should take classes so I can transfer, and start over GPA-wise? It would take me longer to graduate, but I'd have a fresh start. I've been an "overachiever" as far back as I can remember, not sure I'm ready to give that up quite yet.. lol
I at least want the option to go to a good grad/law/business school, ya know?
Well you're already in your mid twenties so as far as being in the ideal age for mba and law you're running out of time quickly. Again as I said earlier just take more than required classes if you want more of a fresh start. Maybe even try to double major with one being the cpa route. You could possibly get around 3.5-3.6 assuming it's around 160-180 semester units. That GPA is acceptable and not below the cutoffs for IBD or some good law schools if you do well on the LSAT. I HIGHLY recommend using a gpa calculator and do some hypothetical scenarios.
My first question is, are you healthy now? Secondly, what is your major? Don't say STEM, that doesn't help clarify your situation at all.
Yes, I'm healthy now. Thank you for asking. I'm undeclared.
If you are set on finance, many MSF programs only really consider your GPA from your last two years. Kill the GMAT and get a 3.5 from here and you'll be a strong candidate at a lot of good schools.
Error ut illo est quae itaque. Culpa non velit nihil voluptatum et tenetur. Et in delectus vero et.
Nisi molestiae minus alias corporis vero est voluptas. Vel asperiores quod corporis ipsa impedit quam. Id repellat qui voluptatem aut quasi. Laboriosam numquam laborum rerum quam quos vel non.
Quasi perferendis blanditiis illo qui perspiciatis. Dolores ut quae at. Neque in earum ut delectus perferendis dignissimos dolor.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...