Sean, Don and David have some good advice. Having been in a similar situation myself not too long ago (I'm currently working on finishing my Masters!!), I know how hard it can be to find a way in or feel like you are even qualified. I would add that you should also use your network. Is there anyone from one of your field jobs you had a good relationship with? If they are a professor, what they know about you will speak more strongly than your GPA or GRE ever will. If they aren't, if you let them know you are looking to get into grad school, and you have some idea what you are looking for, they can a) let you know if someone they know is looking for a student and b) tell people they know about this brilliant guy Sean who would be PERFECT for their lab. Combine this with the earlier advice and some persistence and patience, and you will have good prospects for getting into grad school.
Best of luck, Jay On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 5:09 PM, David L. McNeely <[email protected]> wrote: > ---- Sean <[email protected]> wrote: > > Having graduated with an abysmal GPA from Colorado State University back > in 2000 ( wildlife > > biology 2.7), I have found it very difficult getting into graduate > school. Two winters ago I > > completed two graduate level classes at Oregon State: Forest Wildlife > Management and a > > graduate Statistics course. Unfortunately just a B+ on the statistics > but A on the wildlife. Of > > course I have a ton of field experience going back 14 years in lots of > different taxonomic > > groups. Having just turned 36 I'm at my wits end trying to move > forward. So I am soliciting > > advice. Would a non-thesis program like the field naturalist program > at U. of Vermont be > > worthwhile? Frankly at this point I want to get into something > permanent. I'll always engage > > my naturalists interest regardless of the employment I have. If I do > something unfunded (such > > as non-thesis) I would really need to have good employment prospects > coming out of it. > > Sage words of wisdom are welcome! I'm completely open to any and all > advice. My ideal > > situation would be a thesis based M.S. on any of the many taxa I have > experience with (birds, > > butterflies, amphibians, bats, plants etc). > > Sean, is your interest in continuing graduate school for a Ph.D., or is > the M.S. intended to be a terminal degree for you? That can make a > difference in where you go, and what degree you seek at the master's level. > > There are lots of regional state schools that admit students like > yourself, and some of them are well connected for state and other > employment opportunities. Perhaps you are trying for schools that may be a > bit of a competitive reach. Your work experience should speak well for you > in state regional institutions. Some of them consider only the terminal > two years of undergraduate work, rather than the entire undergraduate > record. > > Find a professor with whom you'd like to work, send him or her you > background information, and make an appointment. See what you get from > that, and apply if encouraged. > > David McNeely > > > > > -Sean > > -- > David McNeely > -- Jay Guarneri 403 S Main St Monticello, AR 71655 (631) 813-8218 [email protected]
