Hi,

4 years ago i graduated from my degree in computer animation with a third class honors. I was immature, young and one of my parents was ill at the time - things got the best of me and I screwed up my degree.

Fast forward to the present, I've matured and gained some much needed life experience. I've improved in my personal time since then with my computer graphics work utilizing time when i can, have worked full time as a graphic designer and want to do a masters in Visual effects so i can gain a career in this industry.

Is this possible with my current grade, will universities dismiss me immediately?

Or as its a computer graphics degree, will they consider me if I can show a decent work level through my portfolio even with a third class grade?


Thanks in advance for any information on this matter.

Hi Esay - I did a MSc with no BSc so you will be able - apply to your chosen Uni's with a decent proposal and if possible, references/support from your job. I had 25 years in the industry as my experience - not sure how much you will need to show how you have improved from your BA but the Uni's will be able to guide you on that.
Plus, if you have funding in place it will make the process 10x easier!! My PgDip to MSc application went like this:
Uni "Who is sponsoring you?"
Me "Me"
Uni "Welcome aboard".
Didn't even need to go through my proposal!! Ok, I did have a distinction for my PgDip which helped.

I think you most definitely have a good chance. Obviously, they will look at your grades, but if you have years of experience and have actually done good work in the field, you can refer to all that in your application. If your work's good and you focus in your personal statement/statement of purpose about how your grades in uni suffered due to personal issues but that you've learned a lot of the necessary skills in the meanwhile, and that you really are motivated to pursue a master's in the field and have a proven record of doing high quality work (always make sure to give specific examples of that and tell them exactly what you did and how), then they are going to consider you.

At worst, you lose the $80 fee for application. Shouldn't you at least try your luck?