Profile evaluation for Ross (Michigan), Johnson (Cornell), Tepper, GMAT Focus 675, Commercial Banking background, from Korea, Republic of

gmatclub

Comments 9 comments

10 months ago

Hi. Congrats on putting all the applications together!
UCB - is that Berkeley?

2.9 is low but you should justifyi/explain why it is low and that it is not representative of your current situation /position. Hopefully that is something you touched on but even if not, you should have issues with the MS programs. Bschools tend to be pickier about GPA as they have to report those for rankings so that's hard to predict but your solid GMAT should help, esp as not many women from Korea apply. Fingers crossed.

summermoon

Hello! Appreciate your thoughtful comments.
Yes, it’s UC Berkeley. I’ve addressed my low GPA in my applications, highlighting the lessons I learned from the experience and focusing on how I can bring unique value to the program’s community. Fingers crossed! and thank you again for your encouragement.

Berkeley Undergrad is very competitive so that demonstrates that you were a competitive high school applicant and seems like you have a great work experience/history, which probably did not care about your UG GPA, so as long as schools would be willing to take a small hit on their GPA average, you should be in the clear. Not sure if 675 was your high range of the score but if you could bring a higher score to the table, they could trade off lower GPA for bumping the GMAT average but only if you can improve it by 30 or more points. Otherwise, probably not worth the hassle of retaking the test and reliving all that "fun" experience. Your 675 is definitely competitive and won't keep you out but a higher score may make you more attractive to the "rankings" department. (many but not all, esp not HBS, allow to send updated score during the application - a new thing this year)

thomasfrank

Your GPA is on the lower side for competitive MBA and MSBA programs, but your determination and relevant work experience, especially in global financial institutions, can make a strong case for your application.

MBAApp27

3 months ago

She got in.

admitStreet

Congrats, well done! Any insights on how you offset any concerns your GPA?

Regards,
Arvind (Founder & Principal Consultant, admitStreet)
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Because not everything is about gpa. It’s an mba not a medical degree. Yall need to stop fear mongering people about gpa and focus on the bigger picture. I have a 2.9 and work in investment banking (closed over $1B billion + in transaction.

Thanks for the reply, but if you took the time to read my comment, I asked them if there were insights from their journey on how to offset 'any' concerns? Maybe there were no concerns, but I'd let them answer, and not generalize/ preach.

Regards,
Arvind

Find it surprising that there would be insights to gained though. She is not the only one. Myself included - broke into a highly competitive industry with a lower GPA. The easiest answer to that is simple - make up for it in other areas and be strong at other things. Her GMAT is good - maybe her work experience is even better! From the sounds of it she didn’t really talk too much about her GPA in her apps and that may have helped.