<p>I posted previously in the employment section, and got great answers about half of my question. Perhaps the other half will do better here.</p>
<p>My first two years of college were very difficult for me- toward the end I was diagnosed with depression and acute anxiety . It was so severe that I ended up taking a year and a half off of school. Unfortunately, the damage to my gpa was already done. I have a 1.9 covering ~50 credits, and 30 credits from AP testing. I've recently come back to school and my grades are fine now (3.5), but even if i maintain them to graduation, the highest I will attain is a 2.6. </p>
<p>Obviously, this disqualifies me from the minimum requirements of most legitimate graduate schools (I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I've started studying and taken a few practice tests, and I'm not concerned). I am an international affairs major, plan to pursue a masters (and eventually a doctorate) in history. Will a liberal arts program consider post-baccalaureate work? Is there something else I need to do to prove my worth as a student? I'm feeling like no matter what I do now, my recent psychological struggles have ruined my chances at attaining my professional goals.</p>
<p>You need to look around for a good M.A. program that will take into account the fact that you have got your act together, and have pulled your grades up. Yes, they do indeed exist. Talk with your professors about how to work around your GPA issues. A place that cares more about your GPA in your major might work for you.</p>
<p>Other options include electing a second major that will keep you in school for another semester or year (this only works if you can afford it, if the major is pertinent to your career goals, and if you can pull good grades), or working for a few years before applying to grad school. Then you will have more than just an academic record to bring to your grad school application - and depending on the job, your employer might even pay for your studies.</p>
<p>Your whole transcript will be relevant for graduate admissions including post-bac. and any other courses you take for a grade.</p>
<p>Indeed, a post-bac program or an unconventional masters program might be the ticket if you can’t find a regular masters program that will accept you. Several top rank universities have programs, for example, Penn has a variety of post-bac and “alterna-masters” programs: [Liberal</a> & Professional Studies Degrees & Programs](<a href=“http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/]Liberal”>The College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS))</p>
<p>Another approach would be to find a university that will allow you to take graduate courses as a non-matriculated student. It will be expensive and slow (you’ll likely be limited to one or two courses per semester) but once you have 2 or 3 semesters in you’ll also have established a track record of graduate level work and developed some very good LOR writers.</p>
<p>Next, TALK TO YOUR PROFESSORS, especially the ones you’d plan to use for LORs - they will be able to give you the best advice based on their knowlege of your academic performance.</p>
<p>And finally, graduate study in the humanities (including History) will involve “reading knowledge” of two modern research languages (typically German and one other, often French, but both must be field appropriate). If you don’t already have one in the bag, that’s your first priority before you even think about applying to graduate programs.</p>
<p>All that said, grad school admissions have become incredibly competitive and in some fields, even a 3.5 may not make the cut unless you have something special to bring to the table (e.g. research, publications, etc.).</p>
<p>Thank you, WilliamC, exactly the candid advice I was looking for. I will definitely start compiling a list of alternative programs and talking with my profs. Fortunately, I’ve spoken Spanish since elementary (I plan to focus on Latin American history), and I’ve been taking French since I was 11. One important requirement out of the way, at least! </p>
<p>And if I can manage an overall 3.5 and STILL can’t get into any grad programs, there is something wrong with the system, not me- if it comes to that, its time to find something else to do with my life :P.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, how would an undergrad get into research and publications, et cetera? I didn’t even know that was possible, if you don’t include delivering someone’s coffee.</p>
<p>1) Research your school’s research opportunities. Almost every university has some sort of undergraduate research program. Here at Penn we have [Center</a> for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships](<a href=“Penn CURF”>Penn CURF) which admittedly is a more elaborate system than many but it should give you an idea of what to look for at your school. If your university is large, there may also be opportunities at the “college” level - this is where you sometimes find undergraduate journals being published.</p>
<p>2) Check in with your department as well. Chances are good there will be a senior level research class or an “honors paper” or something like that. (This is often where the undergraduate journals get their material.) In the Classics department at Penn we had both a formal Honors Thesis class (actually 2 consecutive class) and an “individual study” class number that a professor could activate when a student wanted to get deeply into a particular subject not offered as a regular class.</p>
<p>3) Find out when and where the major conferences in your field take place. In many cases national or international level conferences will have opportunities for undergrads, even if it’s something as simple as a poster session.</p>
<p>4) You should think of every class paper as a potential publication. That means writing in suitable academic style, using primary source materials whenever possible, digging deep for background research that supports your position, and so forth. During my undergrad years at Penn I had two instances where the professor actually suggested places where I could publish a class paper (neither was accepted but the experience was wonderful). That’s what you want to have happen. And anyway, you’ll need a good paper as a writing sample for your grad applicatiions.</p>
<p>5) Whenever you read something for a class, watch for phrases like “deserves more study”, “not examined here” or “beyond the scope of this paper”. Those are great big shiny flags pointing to an area that a real published academic author thinks is worth at least a paper or two. Once you get used to looking for the signs, you’ll find a couple in almost every chapter or paper you read. When you spot one that interests you, schedule office hours with your professor, do some background research and then go discuss the possibilities.</p>