need advice for applying to grad school

Hello all

TLDR at bottom.

I apologize if there are better places to post this. I tried posting a few other places but didn't get any response, though someone told me to try here.

Basically, i am looking to attend a masters program in either architecture or fashion design. To keep this somewhat concise, i'll avoid explaining why I am interested in these fields. I graduated (debt free) from college in spring 2018 with a bachelors in liberal studies, and a GPA of 2.72 as well as a less than impressive transcript to boot. To be honest, I was very lost in college, dealt with pretty severe depression, and wasn't excited to do or study anything. I only graduated by kind of floating through a multitude of menial classes.

After working odd jobs for the last year and doing a lot of reflecting, I finally feel as though I have lifted myself out of the depression and am ready to point my life in a new direction. I am interested in pursuing a masters degree in one of these two fields I have interest in (architecture/fashion design). Unfortunately, both fields require portfolios, which i do not have (despite taking art classes in college/high school- lost everything to a broken laptop and frequent moves). I am considering attending a community college to familiarize myself with programs and techniques used in one of these fields as well as create a portfolio, and then applying to a masters program. I am also considering trying to learn the important programs and techniques on my own, and then craft my portfolio from home.

So I need advice on: what the benefits are for architecture/ fashion design as a career, what steps I should take to develop a portfolio/ what could be beneficial to include in my portfolio, what steps I can take to make up for my poor GPA and transcript, what steps I can take to look in to an affordable loan/ an affordable university to attend a masters program, and what steps I can take to be more financially secure throughout this process. I am also curious as to whether it would be wise to obtain my associates in one of the fields and then apply to graduate school, or if that would be a waste of my time and money (as a result of being forced to take unnecessary classes).

I want to include that though I am not in a rush to make this happen for myself, I would hope to be able to finish a masters program before I am 30. If what I'm hoping for is unrealistic, please let me know that too.

Thanks everyone!

TLDR: 23 years old with a bad GPA looking to try and get myself into either an architecture or fashion design graduate program.

Submitted April 19, 2019 at 11:22AM by spacecasesam http://bit.ly/2XvdpCp