2.77 gpa. help.

[prodigiousflame]

Hey everyone,
I graduated from UC Irvine last year with a 2.77 gpa in Psychology and Social Behavior. All throughout college I was confused and lost. I thought I wanted to enter the HR industry upon graduation which as far as I know doesn't require a high GPA. Then nearing the end of my college career I did a couple HR internships and realized it was definitely not for me. I studied abroad in Sydney and I found the psych program over there vastly different, and my grades plummeted. So now I'm out of college, did the research on OT and would like to pursue it..however my low GPA does not permit it. That and I haven't taken all the prereqs (anatomy, physiology). I called Downstate today and asked what the chances were they'd accept someone with my low GPA score. She basically said admissions wouldn't even fart in my direction.

So what should I do? I don't wanna give up.

I don't know if getting a 2nd bachelors is the smartest thing to do at this point. Should I go for a post bacc? Forgive me if that sounds stupid, I just learned what a post bacc was today.

Would that increase my chances if I were to do well?

If I took courses at the community college wouldn't that just raise my CC gpa and not do much to raise my UCI gpa?

Also would it be easier to get into a school abroad? For ex I've visited Melbourne, Australia and fell in love. What if I were to go to a school there, work there for awhile, and then upon return to the states take the license exam?

Can you guys help me figure out my options? I don't want to sit behind a desk for the rest of my life. I genuinely want to help people.

Thanks guys

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[FutureOT2013]

I was in your position, I had a 2.7 overall GPA when I decided to go for OT. I got straight A's in all my prereqs, took an online Nutrition course for another 3 units of A and was able to bring it up to a 3.0 overall. This allowed me to apply to my top choice, USC. The thing with me was I double majored in undergrad, so when I graduated I had well over 140 semester units and a 2.7 GPA. You should be able to bring your GPA up to above a 3.0 if you get straight A's in all of your prereqs. While the 3.0 allowed me to even apply to a school like USC, it was the prereq GPA, my recommendations, my personal statement, my GRE score, and the upward trend of improvement I showed that got me accepted there. Your GPA really isn't beyond help if you haven't even taken the prereqs, there are enough units to ace there to give yourself a chance. Also, some schools look at your last 60 GPA like SJSU. My last 60 GPA was a 3.6, because 45 of them were the prereqs I aced. You have some work to do, but it can be done.

 

[FutureOT2013]

Forgot to address the CC part. The schools I applied to didn't distinguish between your 4 year GPA and CC GPA. I did all of my prereqs at a cc, and my 4 year GPA was a 2.4. I did 2 years at CC, transferred to a 4 year, graduated, worked, did my prereqs at the CC and I got into both schools I applied to (USC and SJSU). If for some reason your GPA doesn't improve much, Samuel Merritt requires a 2.8 as do other schools across America I think.

 

[JavOT10]

Texas Tech OT program requires a minimum of a 2.7 and it is a good program.

 

[lizzo76]

I just have a couple clarifying questions. In what way was the program in Sydney different from your home program such that your grades plummeted? There definitely can be major differences among psych programs... it is often considered a "gut" major but some programs are exceptionally difficult. (At my small liberal arts college, Psych 101 was the most-failed course on campus and all the other classes were very small, some with as few as 5-people, and discussion-based, and I never saw a multiple choice test in 4 years.) You don't say something like, "I had a difficult time adjusting to being away from home, so I did poorly..." you suggest that work itself was different so you did poorly. I'm wondering, being realistic, not obnoxious, whether you feel confident that you could handle the prereqs and then the actual work of the OT program. What if the work is so different from what you experienced before that you do poorly?

Also, I assume you're in the states... is money no object? Obviously doing the full program in Australia would be very expensive, just from the travel standpoint. I studied internationally for my last masters, and schools often raise tuition for international students, too. Also... not sure if Stafford loans can be used. I actually DID look into programs in Australia, just because I love Australia, and I looked into the loan issue, but I can't remember if they could be used or not.

But why would you think it would be easier to get into a school in Australia?

 

[prodigiousflame]

the psych program at USyd was completely different--it was more lab work, math, college starts off not with general ed over there but with your actual major, so other students had way more preparation and knowledge of the work. In class teachers would reference previous curriculum that I had no clue about. Night and day different from the psych program at UC Irvine which is less lab-based. However as far as other coursework I did pretty well..communications, business etc.

You're right about it being more expensive in OZ I was just trying to figure out my options.

One reason why I effed up so badly in college was because I didn't have a goal, I didn't take my coursework seriously. If I know what I'll ultimately end up doing I find a way to do well in school. I got a B's in AP Bio in HS as well as chemistry so if I try hard enough I can do it. But I don't know if these grad schools really care about that after seeing my college GPA.

Do all grad schools just look at your last 60 credits because my junior college gpa is around a 3.4

 

[lizzo76]

That actually sounds much more like my undergrad psych experience. We didn't declare a major until sophomore year, but we were already taking our major courses freshman year. It doesn't sound abnormal... but I'm wondering, when you chose to study abroad was this not known to your school? (I'm not criticizing, just genuinely interested.) My psych dept. actually wouldn't accept credits from ANY study abroad program with which the school had arrangements (which sounds kinda nuts and like they think awfully highly of themselves.) This was based on their knowledge of the curricula at other schools. It seems like you were unnecessarily put into a difficult situation where it was harder to succeed.

In any case, your recent comments make a better explanation! 🙂 A lot of people have the same problems. I took all honors and AP courses in high school (whatever was the highest level available for a given subject) and got almost all As and yet I got a D in chemistry my first semester freshman year. It was NOT any harder than my high school chem class... just slightly more advanced, meaning it built on the earlier stuff a bit, but I should have gotten an A. Instead, I skipped literally half the (8 am) classes and then by the time I got to the final, I felt I'd screwed up so badly that it wasn't even worth studying... so I didn't. (TOTALLY STUPID!!!) As it turned out, everything on the final was somewhat familiar to me, and had I just studied, I could have at least gotten a B. So... same boat as you. That was my only D, but I got two Cs, both also my freshman year, all from skipping classes constantly. (Back then, I really thought high school was a means to an end... the end being college... my goal was to get into a highly selective college, and I didn't look past it, at all, to the importance of my college grades. So I understand that.) OT schools will never see your high school transcript, so they won't know how well you did in AP courses in high school. That being said, you could include in your statement something about your grades, taking full responsibility for your poor performance, but explaining how clearly you are capable of doing well in those subjects, as you did well in AP in high school. Also - you have the chance to prove yourself in the prereqs. My worst grades in college were in math and science, which really is kind of crazy, since those were my strongest subjects in high school in, like I said, honors and AP courses. So, I've worked extra-hard in A&P I and II to show that I am capable of doing well in science courses. I hope that will help me.

I would hope that schools only looked at the last 60 credits, because it would wipe out my worst grades. I guess you'd like the opposite. But I don't know. I'm not sure there is any consistency across OT schools the way there is in other fields.