<p>Some Background: In high school I had a 4.3ish gpa, took 8 APs, mostly 5s, some 4s on the test. 5s on all the math and science though, including Calc AB/BC, physics, biology and Chemistry. And got 1450 on the SATs (old version without writing), with verbal the only area that hurt me. I was really into math, science, etc, and was planning on doing premed in college. Just giving this background to show that I'm not a total moron, and that this isn't an epiphany coming out of no where. I have been thoroughly interested in science/math/engineering my whole life.</p>
<p>Undergrad I was a pre med until an advisor convinced me I'd have no life, so reluctantly changed. I bounced between some majors, but settled on business. Didn't get the best grades, as some of the classes would be easy but would bore the **** out of me. All the challenging courses I would get As/Bs, all the rest Cs and the occasional D. So basically, not exactly illustrating me. I think my end gpa was 2.5. I also had some financial and personal issues that affected my grades at times, and didn't apply myself cause honestly just wasn't interested in the content of business classes (ie none), except for a few.</p>
<p>For the last 1-2 years since graduating I've been working for myself, running my own business. But now am ready again to focus completely on my career, whereas in college I wasn't thinking about it at all or classes for the most part. If I could go back and do an engineering undergrad, I would, but obviously too late for that.</p>
<p>I'm wondering what are my options now? I know most masters programs require an engineering degree or at the very least a science degree. I know of one actual post bac program at BU (BU</a> Engineering | LEAP) where virtually anyone can apply, but have been unable to find others. I would be willing to take extension courses at a university, but wondering how much good that would do. I'd even go back to undergrad to get a degree, but not sure the likelihood of getting into an engineering school. I'm scheduled to take the GRE in March, which I know is a must anyways for most programs. Any advice from others who have done a similar path? Or know what the deal is?</p>
<p>Well, I think you might represent one of the rare circumstances where you really DO need to go back for a second undergrad. You have two big strikes against you - your GPA, and your major. You might be able to overcome one but I am not sure how you can overome both.</p>
<p>Going into an engineering grad program requires at a minimum a certain level of math, physics, and/or chemistry, along with a handful of upper-level courses relevent to your intended specialty or sub-field. I am not sure what you had for pre-med, or how you fared, but it seems that you would require an excessive amount of remedial work to be acceptable to any even remotely decent grad program.</p>
<p>Your GPA is also a big issue. Mitigating circumstances aside (and I am not sure how mitigating they really are) your grades indicate a lack of effort, interest, and/or talent, which means all they have to go on to indicate that you have any of these is your word - not a great thing.</p>
<p>Short of a second undergrad, you would need a large number of courses as a non-degree student to have any chance. Get enough A’s (even if you hate the course) in enough hard courses and you can prove your position, that your undergrad performance was not indicative of your best effort. Plus, you could narrow your deficit in courses to the point where they might be able to take you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I had a decent freshman year, and a bad sophomore year, but got better grades as the years went on, and realized that they might actually count for something.</p>
<p>I am pretty confident I could get a 3.5+ were I to go back to an undergrad program. I guess my question would be if this is possible if I already graduated, like if it would be possible to go back to the same school (USC) and do a 2nd major, without any of the GEs I already completed. So would only take 2 years, rather than 4.</p>
<p>Would taking extension courses from a well known top 25 do anything? I’m signed up for the GRE, so would straight As in some prereqs and a very good GRE help?</p>
<p>I guess I can relate this to the people who I knew in high school who didn’t try at all, got like 2.5s, went to community college, and then transferred to top 25 schools just by getting good grades at comm college (which isn’t all that difficult). But now I find myself trying to do the same route, and wondering if there’s similar options.</p>
Generally, no. While USC might admit you for a second undergrad (not sure, some schools do, some don’t) they will almost certainly NOT allow you to count any of your old courses. As a general rule, courses used to fulfill the requirements of one degree cannot be used to satisfy the requirements of another, except as allowed by double and simultaneous degrees. This is not something you can do after the fact. In all likelihood, however, you will be given more latitude in fulfilling the requirements, especially where specific courses are duplicated (like freshman English) - you would likely be able to substitute another similar (or even dissimilar) course, but would still need new credits to fill the hole.</p>
<p>
Probably, but it is hard to say - how good is the program, and specifically its extension school? Some quite good schools have surprisingly poor extension programs. Also, the courses would need to demontrate both exceptional scholarship AND sufficient depth and breadth so as to make up for the lack of the engineering degree. This is a tall order for most engineering masters programs.</p>
<p>
The GRE will not help you much. Your problem is not basic knowledge, but rather demonstrated performance and specific knowledge. A perfect GRE would do very little for you, although a bad GRE would increase your problems.</p>
<p>
But this is a case of people gradually improving their position, while you have degraded your position significantly and now need to dig yourself out. Part of the problem is that the farther in you get (towards a PhD) the harder it is to redeem yourself. With a bachelors degree in hand, you are in a much tougher spot than someone who merely screwed up high school.</p>