Grad school/Job hunting advice?

[Elephantz]

I just graduated from undergrad with an overall 2.7 GPA and a major GPA of 3.1 in Public Health Policy. I'm currently taking courses towards a Certificate in Business Management at a local community college and have a 4.0 GPA there thus far (I have 2 more classes to take this semester to be finished). I was planning now working in the public health field for a while before going to grad school (to make up for my low GPA) but have had no luck in finding a job so decided I might try to apply for the Fall 2015 (or even Spring 2015) terms. I'm currently studying for the GRE and will be taking that in about a month.
Here is my overall experience thus far:

- Office Assistant at an optometry (I used to want to be an optometrist) Nov 2011-current (I'm going there as needed since I can't find another job)
- Volunteer at a hospital (NICU cuddler - for fun) from Dec 2013-current
- Intern for my local health department (just helped out with some accreditation stuff) June 2013-Sept 2013
- Intern for the Patient Experience department at my school's medical center June 2013-Sept 2013
- Intern for a health promotion program for a local county Jan 2012-May 2013
- Intern at another optometry June 2010 to May 2011
- Volunteer at a hospital from June 2006 to Dec 2012 (started in HS and kept going back when I had time)
- did a field study internship at a infant toddler center for 3 months

I've applied for the Columbia Summer Public Health Scholars program and am contemplating Community HealthCorps as well. I've also applied for internships with the AHA and volunteer positions with some local public health organizations (this is all to tide me over until I actually go to grad school). Hard to find a job in Long Beach/LA/Orange County areas since I don't speak too much Spanish and don't have enough experience.

Any advice on grad schools/job hunting? I really appreciate it!

I want to apply for an MPH with an emphasis/concentration in Health Policy/Management/Administration/Leadership because I want to work with organizations to help develop, implement, and manage programs and policies that can allow communities to make better health related decisions.

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[Stories]

I would say you should list and emphasize your experience that is relevant for whatever goal you want to pursue. If it's a job or education in administration, emphasize those skills you've learned and experiences you've had in such a setting. Since the work you've done in a clinical setting isn't particularly relevant, I would consider omitting it or pushing it lower on your resume/cover letters.

 

[Elephantz]

Thanks for the input! I'm hoping to push down my clinical experience by hopefully interning with the AHA and volunteering with a public health organization for the next few months (more if I don't get accepted into the Columbia Summer Public Health Scholars Program) and hopefully applying to AmeriCorps for Fall of 2014.

I just get nervous about all of this since I don't have a stellar GPA and I'm not sure what my GRE scores will be like. I guess since I'm hoping to attend in Fall of 2015 I have some time to work on the other aspects of my application.

I'm taking courses at a community college but I believe I'd have to take another 7-10 classes and get A's in all of them in order to bump my overall GPA up to a 3.0 since I have a lot of units from undergrad so I guess after this semester is over and I get my certificate I'm not going to go crazy trying to raise my GPA.