I was a an Honor’s student back in the day (3.5 GPA) and had a full paid scholarship, but didn’t pursue a professional path afterwards. So I don’t have good professional references either. It simply took me longer than others to figure out what I wanted to do and I had a number of personal/mental health problems (but I have nothing on the level of, say, a criminal record).
What can I do about this?
Academic letters of reference are clearly not an option. How about getting professional letters, from a supervisor at work? if you have one of those, and possibly others who know you and your motivation well, that will have to do.
Are you looking for a Masters program? In what field?
I could ask for professional letters but my work history is pretty spotty. I’ve jumped around a lot of different jobs/fields through the years and while I did fine in my work and was generally liked, I didn’t do anything exceptional. I didn’t maintain good contacts either. I feel like my “professional” letters would actually work against me. Essentially I didn’t try to work my way up any of my jobs because I wasn’t interested in pursuing that line of work. I was just working to survive and it took me a long time to find something meaningful.
Eventually I’d like to get into a Masters program in Psychology (clinical, Jungian, existential/humanistic), but maybe I’ll have to start by taking some undergrad classes because my Bachelor’s was in the liberal arts. I suppose that could be a way to get my foot in the door?
What do you plan to do with the degree?
If there’s a particular school you are interested in, perhaps you could contact its graduate admissions office and talk to them. Schools often have a different admissions track for non-traditional students.
Good luck.
Some programs might let you register as a non-degree student to take a few graduate courses and prove yourself. Then you could et letters from the professors with whom you took these courses. Call the admissions office of the school you are interested in to see if this option is available.
Not for graduate programs. They’re going to expect to see three letters of recommendation, even if she’s non-traditional, largely because there really is no standard for a “traditional” graduate student.
But taking classes as a non-degree student is definitely a good option. You’d need to anyway if you did not major in psychology and want an MA in psychology.
Also, keep in mind that an MA in clinical psychology will not allow you to practice therapy. You’d want an MA in mental health counseling, or an MSW.
Back in the last century, I changed fields of study (humanities to ag. science). I spent a year and a half at my cheap home state public U first as a “senior transfer” and then in “non-degree grad student” status. I got great grades and had excellent LORs from the professors there when I applied to grad school. I know several other people who have done that sort of thing.