<p>I have a 3.07 Cumulative college GPA, I double majored in history and anthropology and graduated on 12/20/2013. I want a career I can be truly happy in, one that continues to challenge and stimulate me like I was when I was completing my undergrad work. I picked my majors for a reason, under the belief that money is important, but liking what you do is more important. Because of the way the market is these days, jobs in fields like the ones I chose are limited. I need to think a little creatively to balance pleasure with a positive job outlook. I was contemplating a Master's in Public Health, because it incorporates some of what I have already studied and developed over the last 5 years. But my GPA is considered "low". My confidence level is waning for that reason alone. This is my biggest question and under it is some smaller ones. </p>
<p>Is graduate school worth the pay off? (That may differ student to student,person to person). How can I jump into such a commitment without regretting it 2 years down the road? Is there any way to "fix" or "spruce up" a "good but not great" GPA? Can I take what I have now and run with it? I don't know if I'd find fulfillment jumping from one entry level job to the next. </p>
<p>It’s a tough job mkt in general. Grad school and its costs may not be worth the eventual payout at this point. Even though you graduated a few mos ago, you should still be able to access your college’s career center and its advising. Please try there. GL to you</p>
<p>I can’t answer your question about MPH, maybe someone can come along now that your post is moved into the Graduate forum, but you don’t build a career by jumping from one entry level job to another. Instead of moving laterally, you focus on moving up, into jobs of increasing responsibility and skill level! That’s career 101, maybe you need a book.</p>
<p>^^ Agreed. While it is possible to move upward while changing companies, the most common way (especially for entry-level grads with little or no full-time work experience) is to move up within the same organization. Promotions may come more quickly since your superiors can see your work first hand, whereas you would need to build quite a resume to apply for advancement opportunities at different companies.</p>
<p>I think you should try to gain some work experience before making a decision to go to graduate school. It seems like you are pursuing interests for the sake of interest, not a means to a goal (such as a specific job that you <em>need</em> that degree to pursue). </p>
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<p>But what job do you want? </p>
<p>While I agree that you should pursue something you are interested in, graduate school is not the same as an undergraduate education. Graduate school seeks to specialize you for a specific career, whereas undergrad often requires a combination of “general electives” to broaden your education. Unless you have a lot of money to spare, I wouldn’t pursue a graduate education unless it’s what you need to achieve your career goals.</p>
<p>That being said…if after some reflection you find that it is something you need to achieve your goals, you can do a few things to offset your GPA. You can look into some local schools and see if you can enroll as a continuing education/non-degree-seeking student and take a few grad courses - do really well in them - and then apply to programs you’re interested in. You also want to ensure other areas of your application are strong, such as seeking out solid letters of recommendation. You would also want to do well on the GRE (if it is required; I did a quick search and see that not all MPH programs require it, while some offer waivers to certain students). </p>
<p>At my expensive private university, an MPH will cost you $120,000 over two years and most of that will be financed with loans. No, it’s definitely not worth that, because paying off that kind of debt is difficult to impossible with an MPH. New MPH grads can probably expect to make between $50K and $75K depending on their market/city and what their degree is in (epidemiology and biostatistics pay more, health education/health promotion pays the least) but they cannot expect to make six-figure salaries. That’s why I always advise students that unless they get a scholarship, get an MPH from your state’s public university. Many states’ flagship universities are developing MPH programs now.</p>
<p>But, it doesn’t sound like you know you want to work in public health - you’re just looking for something to study on the grad level. Besides, MPH programs prefer applicants with some work history. So I suggest that you go to work. The best thing to do when you don’t know what to do next is go to work. Don’t dig yourself into debt if you aren’t unsure; work a job. If you don’t like what you do, leave after a year and a half to do something better. That’s how most people find their passion - by working in progressive steps from something that’s nice but not ideal to whatever their ideal is, or close.</p>
<p>The thing is, most jobs aren’t major specific. A history/anthropology major teaches you how to communicate, write, present, and think critically. It also teaches you to think about how people interact and make sense of personal connections. So try to find some jobs that interest you. Obviously you won’t get hired as a software engineer or statistician, but there are plenty of jobs that you can do at the entry-level. If you are interested in public health, check out entry-level jobs with non-profit organizations, with health-focused think tanks, with research groups at universities, with non-governmental organizations. My public health research lab is managed by a recent BA graduate, for example.</p>
<p>Everyone begins at the entry-level. You can’t think that you, with no experience, can jump straight into a middle management job. However, there are many entry-level jobs that are fulfilling, and you won’t stay there forever - eventually you will move up to progressively more responsible positions in your field.</p>