I did extremely poorly (as in barely graduated with a 2.2) in my undergraduate. That was due to a set of circumstances that I have worked hard since graduation to put behind me in order to prepare for grad school. I have been interning since graduation and in the meantime I have found what I want to do in grad school.
I plan to pursue two degrees, one is a actually a master’s in urban planning and the other is a certificate in data science.
I want to retake the courses that I failed and get my GPA up and then take the GMAT.
However, aside from retaking the courses that I failed, how can I show that I am serious about getting an education? I am aware that it may seem very improbable to admission personnel that I want an advanced degree and would do any better after such a flawed undergrad even with perfect grades in retaken courses. What else can I do? I know I can do it. I just don’t know how.
You should meet with the two departments and ask them what you need to do to show that you are ready for admission. They may have specific courses that you need to take that are more important for them than the re-takes you are currently planning or that they want in addition to those re-takes. They also might require you to enroll as a non-degree grad student and to take a certain number of grad courses before they admit you to the program as a regular grad student.
^ Agree with the above. And do you live by your old college? Because your Fs would only get replaced if you took the classes again there. But totally agree that retaking classes unrelated to future studies might not be the best approach.
Take graduate level courses as a non-degree student before you apply. That way you can include the transcript that has your much improved and graduate level grades as part of your grad school application to prove you can handle that academic rigor of graduate courses and possibly have them count towards your degree when you do enroll as a master’s student.
Also, I don’t know of any universities that let people come back to retake classes after they’ve graduated. Your GPA gets cemented in when you graduate from what I understand.
Yeah, retaking classes won’t raise your GPA per se, but taking some graduate-level classes as a non-degree student as well as potentially some undergrad prerequisites you still need (and doing well in them) can go a long way towards convincing a program that you have the potential to succeed. But don’t go back and retake, like, freshman comp or something.
Also, urban studies master’s degrees are far more likely to require GRE scores than GMAT scores. GMAT scores are usually asked for by business schools.
I will go ahead and ask to each department about what I should do to be ready. Also thanks for the tip on taking grad courses as a non-degree seeking student. I do not know if I will be allowed to do that but I will try.