<p>My Background:
BSBA International Finance from UNC Charlotte
3.2 GPA
Graduated 2006</p>
<p>To be brief, I didn't take college seriously the first time around- should have taken three years off before delving in. I went to class only on test days, that sort of thing. As much as is possible, I want to start fresh.</p>
<p>I've noticed that sub-par undergrad completion makes you somewhat of an academic pariah. Many schools won't take 2nd degree students; good grad schools require a high GPA, and mine is set in stone. My alma mater won't allow me to re-enroll and retake classes, as I could have before graduation.</p>
<p>I'm a California resident now. My rough plan is to go to Santa Monica College for a year, and transfer to Berkeley. UCLA doesn't take 2nd degree students, but Berkeley makes no mention of this. I'm looking into other schools as well that will allow it. Perhaps going to community college will qualify me a strict transfer and UCLA won't care... haven't confirmed that.</p>
<p>I could go in as a Junior with a new major. I graduate from a better school with a good GPA, and top grad schools and law school would be within reach, I'm hoping.</p>
<p>Has anybody done this? Is there an easier way to go about being admitted for a 2nd degree? This makes me wish I had dropped out, instead of finishing lazily. At least then I wouldn't be limited in school choice. Help??</p>
<p>The UC system doesn’t accept 2nd Bachelor candidates with very few exceptions, and they’re probably going to get rid of those exceptions due to the budget crunch.</p>
<p>I think your odds of doing this are between slim and none, but if you’re serious about it you shouldn’t be posting on this forum; you should be making calls and scheduling appointments with admissions officers at the various UC campuses to see what you can do.</p>
<p>I have made appointments with advisors- just wondering if anybody else has been in this situation and found a solution.</p>
<p>It seems strange to me that I’m alone in finishing a bachelors and wanting to retract it. I’m in a worse situation that a flunky. As I mentioned, an academic pariah. I’m not willing to take a 2nd rate graduate program just because I was unwise at 18. There must be someone else with experience in this?</p>
<p>A 3.2 is a perfectly respectable GPA. Mine wasn’t even a 3.0</p>
<p>How you handle this depends on what your goals are.</p>
<p>If you want to change fields, it is fairly simple to find a second Bachelor’s program. In that case you need to contact the undergraduate advisor in the new subject area at each of your target universities, and ask for their guidance on gaining admission. The steps would be pretty much the same if what you want is to complete your degree in a field related to your original major (for example Business Finance after a degree in Business Management). It would be almost impossible to be admitted somewhere else to complete a degree in your original major field UNLESS your first college/university was a completely unaccredited institution.</p>
<p>If you need specific coursework in order to get the job that you want, you may want to just take those courses at the community college nearest you, or enroll as a non-degree student at a university that is near you. You will get transcripts from these places that will verify your coursework and your grades in those courses.</p>
<p>If you need specific coursework for a grad school application in a new field, the community college/non-degree student route can work pretty well too. The grad school is going to look at all of your transcripts, your letters of recommendation (probably from those professors in those newer classes where you got all of your good grades), your work experience, and your GRE scores. Grad school admissions officers know full well that the grades you got when you were younger and more foolish are not necessarily representative of how you are going to perform now. But they do want evidence that you can perform.</p>
<p>If what you want is an MBA, keep working for a few more years. Your work history will be much more important than your undergraduate GPA.</p>
<p>I believe this is true only if you have the money to pay for it at a private college. </p>
<p>State schools are so in demand right now that many are not allowing this as they see it as ‘double dipping’. The economy and outsourcing is driving large numbers back to school. Also, if you received financial aid the first time around, you’re unlikely to get much if any Federal money now and few colleges will offer institutional money for a second degree.</p>
<p>Note that you will have to show grad schools both transcripts if you get a second degree.</p>
<p>The bottom line is I think there are no hard and fast rules, you will have to approach individual colleges and discuss it. If you have the funds many private colleges will welcome you, not the top ones but you should find some solid ones that will work with you. I would try CSU’s instead of UC’s, especially the less popular ones, because even if Berkeley does not have an explicit rule, it’s hard to believe they will accept second degree candidates over first timers with the situation they’re currently in.</p>
<p>Have you considered a certificate program or something similar to jumpstart a career? If you have 3-5 years in a good job with strong career progress and a good GMAT score, a 3.2 will not keep you out of good MBA programs.</p>
There are some people who need a 2nd bachelor’s because their career aspirations change and they need the specific technical training a bachelors provides in order to get into the career. For example someone interested in nursing, engineering, etc.</p>
<p>This is not the case here. You just want another bachelors degree in order to erase the past; you didn’t do as well as you (now) think you could have, so you want a do-over. Not only isn’t this the same as looking for specific training, you still don’t even know what you want to do!! I mean here you are 2 years out of college and its “maybe I want grad school, maybe law school, maybe I’ll be an astronaut” . Tick tock, tick tock, time is slipping away and maybe you should decide what you want to do with your life.</p>
<p>It’s fuzzy & wishful thinking that if you somehow had a better undergrad GPA you’d have all these wonderful options open to you and the future would become bright and happy (no “2nd rate graduate program” for you!). Not the case. If there actually was something you wanted to do there are plenty of options to do it right now, today. You can go to grad school (of course that would mean actually picking a field to study), you can go to law school. Maybe you don’t get into Boalt or Stanford, but there are plenty of successful lawyers who didn’t go there either.</p>
<p>The real problem here is twofold: first, that you don’t know what you want to do, and you’ve figured out a way to spend/waste the next 2 or 3 years of your life pursuing some intermediate goal and avoid having to make any real decisions. Second, that you still hold the notion of a “magic” degree we see on this forum in so many HS kids, except in your case instead of Ivy undergrad you think that a law/grad degree from Prestige U (once you make up your mind what goal to pursue) is going to guarantee you a great future.</p>
Keep in mind should you decide to go back to school you will be eligible for very little if any financial aid for a second degree. I agree with others who state a second bachelors may be necessary if you are career changing or seeking to do something else at your present place of work. If this is the case, check out your employer’s tuition aid policy.</p>
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<p>If you are planning on attending law school, your LSAC gpa will be calaulated based on your first bachelors so getting a second degree would not help your cause. My recommendation is to study, study study, kill the LSAT and apply early in the cycle. </p>
<p>Time will also be yor friend in applying to grad/law school if you build up some solid work experience.</p>
<p>I’m actually not interested in an MBA. I didn’t specify what my goals were- I only stated I wanted access to law school and top grad institutions. To be specific, I would only consider law school (to practice international law), or International Relations post-grad for civil service. I understand it wouldn’t erase my previous work, but it shows stark progress on my application.</p>
<p>Badgolfer, your rant is wasted. I need to change direction; I need the accolades I’m seeking to succeed. What I want to do is none of your business, and not related to my question. Your feelings seem self-directed. Best of luck improving your golf score.</p>
<p>To the rest, thank you for the help. I will look into private schools and less impacted state schools. I’m not really interested in certifications or a career jump start; I’m trying to get into some serious post-grad programs at this point.</p>
<p>I don’t see anything wrong if the OP wants to go back and get another degree. He did not ask for a psychological analyze of his goal so, what’s your point?</p>
<p>He said that he was not too satisfied with his academic experience but he did not say that it was the only reason that he wants to go back to school. </p>
<p>it is his money and his time that he will use to get this degree so I really don’t see why you are attacking the OP.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a do-over for undergrad. Even if you are successful in becoming an official student for a 2nd degree, it will likely be extremely limited. Most majors only require 10 courses for the degree; thus, your attractiveness to them will be based on how fast you can complete those ten courses. (Since you already have a BS, it will be highly unlikely that a college will allow you the time to retake General Ed courses.) Moreover, even with ~10 more A’s, your GPA won’t change a whole lot, at least not enough to excite top law schools (unless you ace the LSAT).</p>
<p>Another way might be to take a course as a non-degree candidate at a UC in your new, intended major. Ace the course. Get to know the prof really well. Grovel for a chance to remain as a Special Student…complete the undergrad recs and apply for a Master’s.</p>
<p>But, as noted previously, special students in degree programs at UCs might go the way of the dinosaur given the current budget situation.</p>
<p>bluebayou- good point. I wasn’t expecting to retake gen-ed, just the major courses. Was hoping that aceing a tougher major (say economics) would be enough to accomplish what I wanted. It’s starting to seem less worthwhile, but had to work it out in my mind anyways.</p>
<p>Can you clarify what you suggested about taking non-candidate courses? I’m not familiar with what a Special Student means, or how it leads them to let me into a grad program.</p>
<p>Any adult can take a most UC classes through it’s local Extension program (space available); such classes are non-degree candidate, but grades are awarded. If accepted as for a second Undergrad or under Limited Status (what I previously termed Special Student), the Extension class can count.</p>
<p>A second degree in Econ is probably doable but unlikely at Cal and UCLA since that is an impacted major. Plus, you would need strong grades in Calculus, macro and micro (all of which you have probably already taken). You can probably strenghthen your app by taking the next series of coursework at the Extension.</p>