Low Undergrad GPA Success Stories

very curious as well, lowgpa you must be stellar!

I have the same issue as all of you I went to a top five engineering school and have a 2.59. I took summer transfer courses in business and have a 3.40 for 15 credits. How will I fair you think if I apply to R1 for schools ranked 6-12 in the US? Thanks!

My GPA was always a bit of a concern. Had a 2.9 going into my final semester, so I overloaded on classes and scored a 3.8 and an overall 3.2 from an Ivy. Part of the reason why my GPA was low before my last semester was because I worked 20 hrs/week to pay for school, and because I was overly involved in extra-currics.

Got a 730 GMAT (50 Q, 38 V), and got into CBS '13 September 21st!

3.2 is not low....

Wow, great one. Do share your application strategies!

Not a success story yet...

I did not go to school directly after high school and began to work full-time. I started taking night classes at a community college and eventually finished my degree from a somewhat respected state school this summer.

Technically, I have a GPA of 3.4 upon graduation (obviously, not low) and a GPA of 3.1 from the community college (not a big deal). However, since I worked full-time (and didn't care about school at all until the last year), I have a LOT of Withdrawals, D's, and F's. I retook one course 3 times since I got too busy with work to finish it every other time I took it. Hopefully this isn't a killer for me and my GMAT (760) cancels some of it out.

I mentioned my focus on work in my "additional information" section (work actually paid for my college). I had a GPA of 3.8 in my final 10 classes, so that should help. Applying to HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, Yale, and Boston University. We'll see!

this topic gives me some hope.

I would like to become a success story.... I'll report back after I get in to a school.

thanks for posting everyone. This thread has been tremendously motivating

Hoping to be a success story:

2.6 GPA BBA in Finance (failed four in college)
Played D1 baseball (scholarship covered tuition/books)
GMAT: 670
Mexican America (U.S. Citizen)
First person to attend college in my family
Took a year off before college to volunteer at my high school coaching baseball and mentoring students in math and economics
Started a non profit scholarship fund in 2002 to help high school students pay for college or vocational school.
Started a conf to educate college students on careers in a hot industry
Worked four years on an trading desk within an investment bank


applying to UT, Rice, Penn and Harvard

My GPAs - UG is 2.9 and PG is 3.27.

The master's GPA can be a baseline. ? or only UG GPA is considered for MBA admission.?

Thanks, Vasu

Both your UGPA and Master's GPA will be taken into consideration as you'll fill both out on your application. However, I believe most AdComs will place a bigger emphasis on your undergrad GPA since most of the master's GPAs are inflated.

this is freaky because i got almost exact gpa 2.92 and 3.27

oh.. that's interesting..

somehow GPAs can be same...no wonder..but can i get your GMAT-2 score max. ? .. let me aim for it.

Thank you.!

Is this dead? No more success stories from people who applied this yr to share?

my undergrad GPA was 2.8 from a top-10 private school GMAT 660, I applied to 3 schools:

1. Duke- Admit
2. Cornell- Admit with $$
3. Rochester- Admit with full-ride

Happy to be able to post here as a success story:

1. UG GPA from Dartmouth - 2.9, major in Psychology, Pre-med (3 Ds and 1 F) - needless to say, disastrous

2. Did extra coursework at Columbia Univ Continuing Ed - 5 courses in total, cumulative GPA 3.9

3. GMAT 720

4. Applied to:
NYU R1 - admit w $$
Columbia RD - admit ($ unknown, but doubtful)
Georgetown RD - withdrawn but got interview invite

I think my secret was the extra courses helped a lot. Also I am female, not sure how much that helps.