First of all, my apologies for the anxiety-ridden (and honestly, pretty damn whiny) post. I’m just having a bit of a crisis, and was hoping to receive some guidance.
I am a white female in the first semester of my Junior year of college, and I’m having a few…issues. I’m going to a small liberal arts school that is extremely non-selective (70% acceptance rate). I am a Business Management major and I’m currently getting a 3.07 GPA. I started school with a 3.4 in my first semester, but I was raped during winter break Freshman year, and and diagnosed with a chronic illness a month later (honestly…yikes). I tried really hard to fix my issues, but my grades plummeted during my Sophomore year and the second half of my Freshman year.
Since then, I’ve managed to bring my grades up a little - I got A’s in two classes that I took during the Summer, and am on track to get A’s during this semester - and am also in leadership roles with four on-campus clubs/organizations. I’ve had three internships (although only one of them was at a larger/well known company), and was also awarded a research fellowship from my school.
However, I’m also extremely anxious about my life post-college. I hope to get my MBA one day, and work in marketing. However, all I’ve been hearing is that a 3.5 GPA is pretty mediocre in the eyes of most MBA/MA/PhD programs (and potential employers), especially if you have a “cupcake” GPA like Business (as opposed to something like Engineering or Chem) from a small and non-selective school. I have friends who are currently getting 3.6 GPAs at Ivy League colleges who complain about how they have to bring their grades up. At this rate, I will have to get all As for the next four semesters to just get a 3.5, and hearing about how I’m going to have a “mediocre” GPA at best really makes me feel like crap.
Additionally, I’m set to graduate from school with $22,00 in federal student loans, and will pretty much depend on a generous financial aid package from a graduate program - assuming that I can even get into one.
My assault/illness are documented by the school, but I know that most graduate programs and employers don’t put a lot of stock into “extenuating circumstances” letters regarding bad grades (if they put stock into them at all). Additionally, I don’t want to feel like I’m relying on a sob story to apply to jobs/graduate programs. I’m trying very hard, but am feeling a lot of hopelessness at this time. However, I know that doing well is my responsibility, and I want to make sure that I take every single step to reverse my situation, and make the most of the remaining three semesters of college.
I suppose the questions that I have for the community consist of the following:
I there anybody who is/has been in a similar situation? If so, what did you do (or, what are you currently doing) to turn things around?
Additionally what steps - other than bringing my grades up - can I take to make myself more competitive in graduate program and job applications, post college?
Thank you so much (especially if you managed to get through this whole thing)!
