Application dilemna: 750/2.85

First, thank you very much for spending your time repsonding to insecure MBA applicants.

I have read several MBA admissions books and am most impressed with "Your MBA Game Plan". In particular I found the school reviews very useful and was pleased with the organization. I highy recommend this book every serious MBA candidate.

In response to your questions:

I graudated in 2001.

My GPA situation is actually worse than it appears. My GPA dropped each year I was in school and I did not do particularly well in Financial Managment/Statistics/Economics. On a positive note I did not fail any classes

I worked 30+ hour weeks during my sophmore and junior years at a startup and then founded a company my senior year and ended up selling it later. Additionally my sister was battling brain cancer during this period and I missed unbelievable amounts of class.

I have not taken any classes since graduation nor do I have any professional designations.

Thanks again for helping me define my MBA application strategy.

Mark

Hi again,

The trend is grades combined with the GPA is unfortunate but on the bright side a large number of hours worked during studies is probably one of the best received explanations of low grades.

There are two stereotypes that one might encounter with this test score/GPA combination:

1) That the applicant is a rather weak student who merely "tests well"

2) That the applicant has strong skills but refuses to apply himself/herself (the "slacker" problem)

Further coursework addresses potentially addresses both of these issues but showing that your test score is indeed representative of your true abilities and that you can apply yourself to grad-level coursework.

For the sake of repetition, it is much better to show the admissions officers that your can succeed at the graduate level rather than merely telling them.

Hjort

nt