Input wanted from people in college or college grads

Hi everyone I will try and make this short and sweet. I am 32 years old and last year I started college for the first time in my life. It was difficult for me to get back in the swing of studying and doing homework all while working, being a husband and a father. After I finish my 4 year I want to go on to a graduate degree.

My question is that during my first year I did not do as well in some classes that I would have liked and I want to repeat them so I can get my gpa up. Currently my gpa is 3.0 which is not terrible. What I am wondering is does it look bad on a transcript if I take a class more than once so I can get a better grade? Has anyone done this and if so were you questioned about it when applying to graduate schools?

reply to post by lcbjr1979


Most of it depends on:

a) your current college's policy on what they show on the transcript. (such as repeated attempts at classes) You should find out from them how it will reflect on your transcript

and

b) How picky the graduate college is about applicants and that particular bit about retaking classes. Are you going to a particularly prestigious one?

Also though, I have to applaud your willingness and drive to go back to school. I did the same thing myself. I went back in my 30's, got my Bachelor's, then my MBA.

Best of luck to you.

Remember, do you know what they call the kid with the lowest passing score in his PhD class? DOCTOR

reply to post by Gazrok


No it is not prestigious such as ivy league, I am going to the University of Minnesota. Thanks for the kind words, I am pretty much going back to school out of neccesity. I hurt my shoulder really bad in the Air Force 10 years ago and with my job now as a paramedic has slowly been making my shoulder worse (had 6 surgeries in 10 years) and my back is starting to go, so I am re educating myselfe to get a new job that wont tear my body up. I am studying biology and health science.

reply to post by lcbjr1979


Actually no it does not look bad. You should however talk to a counselor at whatever University you plan on applying to.

I went back for a second degree at about 33. It was really strange being surrounded by kids. Best move I've ever made and netted me nothing but management positions until I started my own business.

When I see something like that, to me it says this person is highly motivated. But like I said, consult a counselor.

3.0 is not bad either. I've found some employers actually shy away from the 4.0 crowd as they are harder to manage and harder to hold on to. 3.0 is pretty good for somebody out of the loop for that long.

Last I saw, unemployment among Grads is at around 3.5%. Good move and hope it all goes well for you

reply to post by lcbjr1979


More power to you friend. It is really hard to go back at a later point in life. I know, I got my BSEE at 48. I graduated with a GPA of around 3.8 and guys with a 3.0 all got jobs just a quickly as I did.

reply to post by wtbengineer


This may sound really stupid but I guess I never knew that employers looked at college transcripts for hiring.

Originally posted by lcbjr1979
reply to post by wtbengineer

 

This may sound really stupid but I guess I never knew that employers looked at college transcripts for hiring.

I think what he is trying to say is that it really doesn't matter what GPA you have or what's on your transcript. The only thing that matters is if you have that little certificate showing that you spent an obscene amount of money on something that is at least sort'a kinda like the job you are applying for. The certificate only helps them sort through applicants, it doesn't help them find quality workers... not that you wouldn't be a quality worker or anything.

I took Calc I a second time so I could move on to Calc II. I whined about it to my professor (who had a PHD in math from Rice University) and he said he failed Calc his first time through. He's still a freaking math wizard and does research for NASA on the side.

No one cares in the end how many times you re-take a class from what I've seen. If you really need to then re-take a class. If you're just wanting to brush on something see if you can audit a class if your college allows that.

reply to post by lcbjr1979
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reply to post by lcbjr1979


You've probably had teaching assistants for a lot of your class time. Keep an eye out for an actual professor in your field that you can get along with. Build up that relationship (or two) with good work and a good attitude. They will help you get into grad classes that would otherwise be closed (depending on their influence), they might even take you on as part of a team if you're really lucky. The U is a place where who you know matters a lot.

reply to post by lcbjr1979


Yeah, all that information is required by the potential employer. I thought that I would have an advantage because of a higher GPA than some of the other people in my class but the reality of the situation was that a couple of guys with lower GPAs than me got hired first at the same place I eventually got hired. I think maybe they had some kind of experience that I didn't that helped them.

reply to post by Elzon


You've hit that nail on the head! And I even had a professor that told me the same thing. He said that the only thing that college does is show potential employers that you have the ability to learn. That is so true. I don't use ANYTHING I learned in school at my job. Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I do use math all the time and if I didn't have all that advanced calculus and diff. equations etc. then I would take a lot longer to figure out the problems that come at me at work.