<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>Cumulative 2.85 gpa, environmental science and technology major. </p>
<p>Mom's set on me applying to grad school, even though I keep telling her I won't be accepted. I have my senior year left and am planning on doing well this year. Also planning on taking some time off to work after undergrad before applying to grad school. </p>
<p>Don't have any notable extracurricular activities, except for my involvement in an on-campus cultural student group for the past three years. I've had random, technology-related jobs on campus and had an internship this summer where I taught English to students in a foreign country for two months. Nothing outstanding.</p>
<p>Is there anything I can do at this point to ensure I am accepted to grad school somewhere in the future?</p>
<p>Why do you want to go to graduate school? I mean, besides your mother telling you to? What would be your desired end result? What are your career plans? What field do you want a degree in?</p>
<p>Graduate school is not (or shouldn’t be) something you just “do” because you can’t figure anything else out. It is a means to an end.</p>
<p>The best thing you can do right now is explore career opportunities and figure out what you want to do.</p>
<p>I honestly had no plans to go to grad school until my mom told me to. I’m going to apply since she wants me to, but I would be perfectly content teaching English for the next few years until I figure out exactly what I want to do.</p>
<p>Mom may not get a vote, at this point. Teaching English, btw, won’t overcome the gpa situation the same as working in your field for a few years.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t apply because your mother wants you to. That’s uncommonly silly.</p>
<p>More to the point, you have not the slightest hope of being accepted with your situation/attitude. You haven’t even explained what degree you want to pursue - which means that you literally can’t apply, because you have to apply specifically to the department and program you want to enroll in.</p>
<p>Graduate school is not two or four more years of college - it’s an intensive training and internship in advanced techniques and research in a particular field. You have to know what you want to do to be accepted. Since you apparently do not, you, bluntly, have no business in grad school - yet.</p>
<p>Not only in a field, within it. Grad depts expect you have defined your research interests, best as possible, when you apply. It’s not the undergrad buffet line. And, funding is (can be) dependent on how much they like your record and goals. Add to that, to some extent, your current profs need to endorse you and be able to point to focused activities in the field.</p>
<p>Or do you want a teaching/education masters or ESL?</p>