<p>I've recently decided that I want to go to grad school to pursue a masters degree in computer science, but I have a rather low undergraduate cumulative GPA of 2.6ish. I graduated from UCSD back in 2000, and it's now over a decade later. I've been doing web development / software engineering as a career ever since graduating. Unfortunately, I didn't work as hard as I should have during my undergrad and I kinda regret it now. I'd like to get into Cal Poly Pomona, and I was wondering what my options are for the greatest chance of success. I believe Cal Poly Pomona requires a minimum 3.0 gpa.</p>
<p>1) Retake courses to raise GPA (is this a likely course of action? how long would it take? do colleges realistically allow you to do this?)
2) Do very well on the GRE and pray they let me in.</p>
<p>I've been away from academia for quite a while now, and I was wondering if anybody's been through a similar scenario in their life that might be able to give me advice and share with me how they got into grad school under similar circumstances.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I have not been in a similar situation, but there was a person who got accepted to my grad program this past year who had been working as a software engineer for ~10 years. Of course, I don’t know what his GPA was, but I think your extensive work experience in the field should help you a lot. If you’re really passionate about going back to grad school, I would do both of the options you listed - take more advanced CS courses, to show you are capable of doing well in the coursework, and also try your very best on the GRE. I’m assuming you live in California - you can try looking into the courses at a UC extension, or take summer classes at a university. If you decide to take courses again at UCSD, they may not let you re-take any unless you didn’t pass them. If you take courses at another university, it might be easier to re-take classes - I doubt they would take the time to examine your undergrad transcript to see if you already took the courses you are enrolled in. </p>
<p>Also, sometimes grad programs are willing to “bend the rules” a little bit. If you think taking extra classes would be too much of a burden, and you’d like to start grad school sooner rather than later, I would try to contact the school beforehand and ask if they will at least consider your application, even though you are under their GPA cut-off. If your GRE scores, essay, and letters of recommendation are stellar, I think you definitely have a shot.</p>