770 gmat but 2.2 undergrad gpa

Question

Does this high GMAT allow adcom to overlook my 2.2 gpa? How will this look in the eyes of a third party? I have great stories to explain why I did so poorly in undergrad - I was more interested in making $ in a small business that a friend and I started, and playing sports/working out.

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Thanks for sharing your question. The strong GMAT performance certainly shows a high aptitude that the AdComm will love to see but they still will take all data points especially the GPA into consideration. Now you certainly want to address in your optional essay and also discuss this small business or athletic participation in another essay if there are clear leadership or results driven anecdotes that came from these to confirm the impact of these experiences. The GMAT will help you a ton but will not completely erase your poor GPA in their eyes.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

This really depends on what schools you are targeting. While it's certainly a hurdle for all schools, some may excuse it more than others. What programs are you targeting?

Also tell me more about your background

Work experience
Extra-curriculars 
Post-MBA goals

AugustAcademy · Answer

One relevant question would be - is your GPA really 2.2 on a 4 point scale, or are you doing a conversion from another scale?

If it really is 2.2, I would like to say that this is something that would need explanation (in your application that is). Although the high GMAT will mitigate the effects to a certain extent, the low GPA effect will be felt.

In a slightly lower ranked school, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

ggurface · Answer

Rounding up, my GPA is actually 2.3 on a 4.0 scale. To my credit, I studied hard courses in electrical engineering at a top 15-20 program worldwide. But I have no excuses. I dicked around in undergrad and didn't care much for school or grades, and now I am reaping what I sow.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hi there,

While the above advice on the optional essay is a great tip, and one we endorse, you want to give the AdComm something that causes them to have confidence in your future ability. What's to say that you won't revert back to prioritizing making money and working out as an MBA student? Rationalizing and sharing your mistake as an undergraduate is important, but the key is going to be what you learned from that experience and why you are convinced you won't make the same mistake again.

To dig a bit further, how many years of work experience do you have? Do you feel that you need to get an MBA now or can you wait a year? If you can wait, you might want to consider developing an alternative transcript. Taking 2-3 business courses and acing them shows the AdComm your serious, and assuming that you have the other components of your candidacy in a great spot, this might give you a chance at some of the higher ranked schools.

Hope this helps! Best of luck with your application!

ggurface · Answer

Hi, thanks for the response(s).

My official score came out today, still a 770 with 8.0 in IR and 6.0 in AWA.

I have been out of school for 1.5 years and currently work as a tech consultant at a major Canadian bank doing risk modelling for the treasury dept. I work closely with my boss and feel that he would give me a strong reference. I also have about 1.5 years of work experience in the form of 4 independent and non-school-sponsored internships.

My original plan was to start school next September, which would put me at 2.5 years of work experience + 1.5 years of internships. I have already pushed-back my plan by at least one year, which would give me 3.5 years of post-grad work experience at matriculation.

I think taking a couple courses is an interesting option for me, but I still cannot guarantee that I would do well in those courses... I work really well when I am intrinsically motivated by a target and for me to ace those business courses, I would need to convince myself that acing those courses will result in completing my end-goal of obtaining a top tier MBA.

Edit: just looked at my transcript and it is interesting to say the least.. I have a couple failed courses and a bunch of 50s. I also did really well in second year, making the deans honour's list. My calculus mark went from 50 to 92 from first year calc to second year calc. I minored in business and seem to have done okay in those courses, averaged about a B (3.0) in those six courses. I would definitely say that business courses engaged and interested me more than engineering courses. I did not put in any more effort in business classes - in fact, I probably studied less for accounting/finance/marketing classes than engineering classes because the former were intuitively much easier for me.

Overall, I have demonstrated to Adcomm the ability to, although very inconsistently, do well in quant courses and business courses. I did not get straight Cs and Bs only. There was one year out of my undergrad where I got mostly As and other high marks. Is this enough to quell Adcom's potential worry about my academic performance?

770 gmat but 2.2 undergrad gpa

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards