I am applying for admissions to a graduate program in education with teaching certification to teach English as a Second Language. I am currently taking 6 grad. credits at the school.
I have been out of school 16 years, graudated from a Top 25 liberal arts college with a degree in Romance Languages and, unfortunately, a very low (barely passing) GPA. I had some medical as well as family problems during my college years; basically, I got off to a bad start and probably should have taken time off to mature and get my head together.
Last semester I took an undergrad class needed for certification and got an “A” and I’m very confident about my ability to do well in the two classes I am taking now. I also have relevant teaching experience — 2 years as a tutor in my local high school for a non-English speaking student, 1 year as a sub and 1 year as a bilingual tutor in reading. I have very good references.
The school I’m applying to requires the Praxis I test for which I received a waiver based on my SAT scores. The only test I could take to show my ability would be foreign language proficiency testing, which has some application to my course of study but is not required. There will be a test I must take for certification (Praxis series, I believe) but I’m having trouble finding out which one it is and, at this point I may not have the background knowledge for it.
Any suggestions for me? Should I explain my situation to the admissions folks and be upfront about it? I know that the school will work with people to raise their GPA with additional courses. Do you think my current coursework and relationships I am building with my professors will help me? Thanks for any advice you can offer.
.
