Reply to DD wants to take a year off before graduate school... anyone BTDT?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I took 2 years off between BA and MA, and then 8 years between MA and PhD. The 2 years was pretty standard in my field. The 8 years, not so much. But it worked for me.

[b]That GPA is going to be a huge hurdle[/b]. She will need not just an outstanding portfolio, but also outstanding references and GRE scores. Even then, it may just be too much to overcome for a top three school.

[b]As much as I loathe unpaid internships, she may benefit from taking one with a local sports team to really dive into data analytics. That would certainly strengthen her candidacy for grad school[/b]. It would also help her make industry contacts and she may find she can secure employment without grad school. [b]She can learn python and other programming languages on her own or through non-credit offerings at local colleges[/b].[/quote]

I think this sounds like a good way to spend a gap year.  All 3 of these points really resonate with me.  If anything, taking the courses AND doing well on them, can bolster her application.  I like PP's idea about an unpaid internship (agreed that this is a double yikes in normal circumstances) and the data analytics.  It jibes well with her sports background and her degree interests.    It is good she has an acceptable GRE score but she needs to pump up her background to make up for the GPA.  Between the classes and the internship she should be able to increase her network and hopefully parlay that into a "real" job while she is applying to schools.

Caveat -- make sure the classes are from good schools like NOVA Community College or something similar.  Don't let her get sucked in by some fly-by-night for profit scam company.  That won't help her.[/quote]

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