I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or feelings about my situation. I earned a bachelor's degree in history with a poor gpa of 2.4. However, during this time I was diagnosed with a brain tumor that I have since had removed surgically.
With renewed health, I have recently earned a Masters of Education and my teaching credential with a 4.0 gpa. Will my undergraduate degree, forever haunt me or is there any way I can bring this up during the interview process?
I think you probably have a reasonable explanation for your low undergrad GPA. You should be able to address this in writing if there is space provided on your applications.
My low gpa in my undergraduate did not affect me or some of my friends. My gpa in the credential program and later classes were 4.0 and that was what they looked at.
They look at qualifications, experience, and continued educational courses.
My undergrad GPA wasn't the greatest; under 3.0 I believe. My master's was much higher but when I was hired they didn't ask about my grades during the interview. They didn't even know my GPA until after they offered me the job and they received copies of my transcripts.
I'm not sure how closely prospective employers will review your transcripts. I have been on several interview committees, and I can't ever remember someone's undergraduate GPA hurting his/her chances of being offered a job. At the end of an interview, there is usually a time for you to ask questions or provide any additional information that may be helpful, so it probably wouldn't hurt to bring your situation up then. Good luck!
I had the same issue. 2.6 or so undergrad, 4.0 masters and 3.8 credential. Everyone has areas in which they are deficient. I just expect to compensate for my low undergraduate gpa in other areas.
I failed my first semester of undergrad. work, and my final GPA came to a 3.1 (I had to drop the bad habits fast and work hard to make up for those Fs). I know administrators have looked at my transcripts, but none of them ever commented on that first semester since I have a 3.8 Masters and 3.7 credential. I think they'll look at your more recent academic work. Try not to worry and if the opportunity arises, explain your situation.
Agreeing with the others. If you had below a 3.0 GPA and you overcame that, it speaks volumes for your ability to grow and improve. It may also indicate that you will have empathy for students who are struggling and need a little help with their own growth.
I have only had a few schools/districts ask for the undergrad GPA. I had some classes I didn't do so well in, these hurt my GPA. I did good in my methods classes for teaching, but it didn't do enough to pull my GPA over a 3.4 or so. So far grad school is a 3.99. I got one A- (four classes left). I'm not sure how much GPA plays into being hired. A person can do briliantly in theory, but horribly in practice--the real world.
