Even Possible to Go Back to School?

I've been taking classes through a local community college for years now. My field is IT, and my classes have all been pre-reqs for certifications, so my path may be a little different. However, I am being laid off this coming Tuesday, and I've talked to school counselors about going back full-time.

It's super-easy to go back to school. I wasn't a very good student the first time through, either. I've learned a lot from that and have been a nerdy straight-A student ever since.

Take a few non-matriculated classes at a local community college or the college you wish to go to. Get good grades and have your profs write reference letters that say you are capable of progressing in the program. In your Personal Letter write about your professional experience and why you want to go back to school. Don't spend more than a few sentences talking about your bad grades, but acknowledge that they are there. If the bad grades are outside your major, you can also talk about how you have a much higher GPA in your field of interest.

My cousin recently applied to graduate school but was afraid he wouldn't get in because he had a pretty terrible junior year due to too much partying. He did the above (highlighting his high GPA in his major) and that his time off from school has allowed him to grow and now he will start grad school in the fall.

Good advice from Diva. In addition to the connections to be made, there's nothing like taking some non-degree classes to determine whether you can get back in the swing of academic life.

Also, keep in mind that standardized tests might not weigh you down as much as you think. The GRE is a requirement for some schools, but not all, and, in some cases, it seems that they just want to know that you've taken it.

The school will also likely put the most weight on the part of the test most applicable for the program to which you're applying. For instance, if you're applying for an engineering program, they probably won't be nearly as concerned with your verbal stuff as your math stuff. If you're applying for an English or Communications program, the math stuff barely matters.

The GRE general exam has gone through some changes in the last few years, too - it's not all multiple choice and true/false questions. There are a few short essay sections, so you're not stuck with a bunch of predetermined answers, none of which seem exactly correct. It's unlike many other standardized tests in this way.

You can do anything you want! Remember, you're a Melon!

Another thing to consider is to do the distance ed thing through one of the bigger schools. It would be a chance to get your chops up and still maintain a job were you to want to get something temporary to help pay for school, and in many cases the schools offer Masters degrees online as well. Like Diva suggested, you could get your grades up this way and as DaveB intimated, it's a good way to see if you're up to the task. The extra benefits are you don't have to uproot your life to participate, and if a new job offer comes up you could conceivably do both the new job and school.

The best American school I've come across: University of Phoenix. I have taken two weird math courses through this school (both in knot theory) and they were very enjoyable. Best Canadian school: Athabasca University. Athabasca is cheaper to go to than Phoenix, but I am not sure how easily you could use credits from this school to apply to an American finishing school. The school where I work (Red River College) has a whole slew of distance learning options as well, but it's a college VS a university. In Canada, colleges teach practical skills/trades/technologist training, universities more complex fields of study.

I dont know if its the same all over but at USF if you failed a class you can retake it up to two more times to help out your GPA although I dont know if it counts as just a pass/fail after the first attempt so the improvement may be minimal. It's a fair amount of extra work and it isnt cheap but if you want to try to improve your GPA it's an option.