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Poor academic semester...

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Ivan91
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Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 14:28
Hey guys,
I am not sure whether this is the right place to ask this, if not, please correct me.
I would like to know your opinion regarding a poor performance during a single semester.
My spring 2012 semester just ended and I got 3.20 GPA for that semester. My GPA always varied between 3.60 and 3.75 , which I guess is the average for top business school. Due to this semester results, my CGPA fell to slightly below 3.60. I still have 2 more semesters to go and I am not worried, however, how do you think schools will view this ?
I know GPA is not the most important factor and much more important is what I do after graduation but still, this semester I got a B- which is my worst grade in college and I am worried.
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 14:36
The average GPA at the top schools is around 3.5. As long as you're at or around this number, you'll be fine. A 3.2 for one semester will not impact your chances.
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Ivan91
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 14:51
I was involved in a lot of activities this semester, including student conferences abroad, SG and stuff. And the worst thing was getting ill the weekend before the finals week :)
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 15:11
A 3.2 is something I don't think you necessarily need to explain unless you started getting C's
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Ivan91
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 16:49
Nope, the lowest I got this semester was B- :)
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 20:24
Ivan91 wrote:
Hey guys,
I am not sure whether this is the right place to ask this, if not, please correct me.
I would like to know your opinion regarding a poor performance during a single semester.
My spring 2012 semester just ended and I got 3.20 GPA for that semester. My GPA always varied between 3.60 and 3.75 , which I guess is the average for top business school. Due to this semester results, my CGPA fell to slightly below 3.60. I still have 2 more semesters to go and I am not worried, however, how do you think schools will view this ?
I know GPA is not the most important factor and much more important is what I do after graduation but still, this semester I got a B- which is my worst grade in college and I am worried.


A 3.2 for one semester is not even a blip on the adcom's radar. One B- does not even warrant an explanation in the optional essay. Give yourself a break. While this semester was not as good as previous ones it still wasn't bad. Considering all you had going on I'd say you still did pretty decent. Unless you're planning to apply to b-schools during undergrad by the time you're ready to apply this won't even matter to you.
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   09 May 2012, 20:30
I had a similar thing happen to me my final semester of school. For some reason, I decided to take 3 electives plus doing my bachelor's thesis all at the same time. There were some interesting classes I'd always wanted to take and it was my last chance. I ended up with my only C, a B-, and even the dreaded W in one class that I just couldn't even muster the time to go to the mid-term for. But I got an A on the thesis, and I think that was really all that mattered. As long as it's clear you weren't taking the semester off to go to Cancun and do blow for six weeks, i.e. you said that you were busy with all kinds of conferences and stuff, it literally will never even become an issue.
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   10 May 2012, 04:07
btw guys, I would like to ask you something else. In my school, people usually take 5 classes per semester. However, I have estimated that I need only 3 classes in my last semester to graduate. My question is, does it look bad to only take 3 classes in the last semester, considering I took 5 ones in all the other semesters. Should I take 2 more electives, or it doesnt matter at all ?
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   10 May 2012, 06:04
Ivan91 wrote:
btw guys, I would like to ask you something else. In my school, people usually take 5 classes per semester. However, I have estimated that I need only 3 classes in my last semester to graduate. My question is, does it look bad to only take 3 classes in the last semester, considering I took 5 ones in all the other semesters. Should I take 2 more electives, or it doesnt matter at all ?


Doesn't matter. As long as you get the credits to graduate, admissions committees aren't going to care that you didn't take a full load of classes your final semester.

I know you are considering b-school, but you're still a few years away from applying. Make the moves you want to make in life right now without concern for what an admissions committee 3-5 years from now will think of them. If you pursue what you're passionate about you will have success. Don't live your life according to an application you'll fill out in the future.
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   10 May 2012, 06:46
Ivan91 wrote:
btw guys, I would like to ask you something else. In my school, people usually take 5 classes per semester. However, I have estimated that I need only 3 classes in my last semester to graduate. My question is, does it look bad to only take 3 classes in the last semester, considering I took 5 ones in all the other semesters. Should I take 2 more electives, or it doesnt matter at all ?


Doesn't matter. Take what interests you however.
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DaMan12
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   10 May 2012, 08:05
This isn't entirely related to the OP but I was wondering if AdCom's are sympathetic to lower GPA's in terms where one took a heavy course load.

I did my undergraduate in mechanical engineering, and my school forced us to take 6 full courses in half of our academic terms (1 semester per year). Usually the breakdown was 5 science/math/engineering courses and then 1 arts course.

This led to about 35-40 hours of class/labs/tutorials in a week. Coupled with all the required HW, reading and assignments my GPA tended to drop in these terms.
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   10 May 2012, 08:14
DaMan12 wrote:
This isn't entirely related to the OP but I was wondering if AdCom's are sympathetic to lower GPA's in terms where one took a heavy course load.


They are more sympathetic than a Top tier medical or law school adcom would be on lower GPA's due to heavy course loads, so yes.
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hello212
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   11 May 2012, 16:37
It just hit me that someone born in 1991 is now in college, and is actually far enough in to have a "worst" semester. Good lord I'm getting old.
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Ivan91
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   12 May 2012, 06:39
hello212 wrote:
It just hit me that someone born in 1991 is now in college, and is actually far enough in to have a "worst" semester. Good lord I'm getting old.


Haha, well said :) Well, I just finished my junior year in college , 6 semesters are over, I ve taken most of my in-major classes..
Time just passes so fast.
btw, just slightly off topic, students from Russia and the ex soviet countries graduate from high school at 17 and if they study for example in the UK where the undergrad degree takes 3 years to complete.. these students can graduate at 20. And I am 21 and still a senior :D
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink] New post   15 May 2012, 13:10
It's just business school. From my understanding, you can bomb your undergrad so long as you work hard on the gmat. A 3.0 and 760 gmat is top ten material lol!
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Re: Poor academic semester... [#permalink]
15 May 2012, 13:10

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