I graduated from UC Berkeley majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science recently. However, I have a very low GPA (major:2.3ish, overall: 2.8ish) due to depression and anxiety I have and also family problem. I am planning to go to grad school in the future, but I really concern my GPA will not let me even go into any grad school. My current plan is to work for a few years before going back to grad school. Can anyone give me some advice what can I do during these few years in order to strengthen my application later for grad school?
First things first: Take care of your mental health. Talk to you doctors and make sure your depression is under control. Remember: health should ALWAYS come first! Mental health is just as important as physical health.
Next, GPA will always play a role in grad school admissions, but the further you get out from undergrad the less it will matter. As you’ve already mentioned, I would suggest working for a few years. Get experience under your belt and try to get some publications if you’re going to be working in an academic setting. Try to stay in touch with your professors from undergrad - you will probably need one or two to write you letters of recommendation for graduate school as well as your boss. Also, give yourself plenty of time to study for the GRE, take the test and do well.
Thank you. That’s what I am going to do. I’ve been ignoring people’s advice about how important my mental health is. That’s why I choose to work first since I want to get recovery before going back to school. I have couple of questions from your advice. How can I get some publications while working in a full-time job? Is it possible for me to get a letter of recommendation from professor, which I didn’t do well(around C/C+) on his/her classes and how can I get stay in touch with them? Can you elaborate more on those?
If you are going to work in a full-time, non-academic position, don’t worry so much about the publications. They can be very helpful but they are not completely necessary when applying to a PhD program (and they’re more or less irrelevant when applying to professional master’s programs).
The way most people get publications between college and grad school is by working or volunteering in the lab of a professor doing research at a university. This is a viable option particularly in the sciences, where professors often hire recent graduates as lab technicians or research assistants for paid positions.
If you didn’t do well in a professor’s class, it’s unlikely that you’ll get a very strong recommendation from them. Generally you should get recommendations from professors in whose class you performed well - ideally an A, definitely a B or higher.