Relevance of Undergraduate GPA
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24 Jul 2008, 10:54
Hi
I am a 28 year old Indian Male planning to start two year full time MBA in Fall 2009. My career goal is Investment management.
I am a Bachelor of Commerce from Mumbai University (it is a three year Under graduation program). Indian universities don't follow GPA system. My score in the Under graduation is as follows Year 1- 61%, Year 2- 56% and Year 3- 69%. Percentage above 60 is regarded as first class under the Indian system. I am not sure how this is to be converted into an equivalent GPA under the American system.
I am also a Chartered Accountant (Chartered accountancy is similar to the American CPA but involves more academic rigor than a CPA). The Chartered Accountancy program is a distance learning course. It requires completion of 2 examinations - intermediate and final and three years of practical training. It is accepted as equivalent to a Masters degree for a Doctoral Program by over 75 universities in India as well as various Institutes of Management in India.
I have also passed all the three levels CFA program (CFA institute, USA). My GMAT score is 720 & Toefl Score is 113. I have over 5 years of experience in financial services (Though not actually in investment management). I believe that average undergraduate GPA of most of the top 30 MBA programs is above 3.00. My query is
1. What would my undergraduate GPA be as the American system
2. In case my GPA is below average, will a strong concentration in finance (due to two professional qualifications) & good GMAT score make up for the same (as I completed undergraduation 7 years back and the CA & CFA qualification are more recent additions to my profile)
3. I am planning to undertake additional courses in the coming months(preferable short 3-6 month courses) these would essentially be distance learning programs. will this be of any help in improving my academic record