TestingMBA wrote:
So I went to a state university, did most of my credits, before graduating I started another program and enrolled at another institution transferring some general education credits over. Both degrees were awarded in the same month. However, my actual paper degree for the second institution came first. How does adcom view this for their stats on undergraduate GPAs? I had a 2.5 at the first institution studying Molecular Bio, and a 3.83 in the second institution studying computer information systems.
The last class I took at the state institution was in summer 2015, and my second bachelors classes were taken from november 2015 - june 2018. I took more credits in the first institution, but my latest institution is more related and more recent to my current career as an engineer. I'm not sure how admissions view this, but I was admitted into a Master's program following this, and I just finished in Information Science with a 3.73 GPA from a T15 school. What the heck is going on? I ask because depending on how my undergraduate GPA is calculated for MBA admissions, it greatly impacts my acceptance rate as well as what I need to score on my GMAT.
Hello,
TestingMBA, and welcome to the forum. If two different degrees were actually earned as an undergrad, then you will almost assuredly need to submit both transcripts, but the rest--i.e. how the school would interpret those transcripts--is a question you could pose to the admissions office of the school to which you were considering applying. In most transfer cases, the GPA is calculated from the transcript of the second school. I know this from experience. I transferred out of a school with a 3.9x (something, maybe a 5?) GPA to a more competitive school, where I ended up earning a 3.86 or so. That second cumulative GPA was the important one, even though I was still required to submit both transcripts to all graduate programs. Remember, schools want to advertise how strong their student body may be, so it would be in the interest of the school to consider your higher GPA, regardless of which degree was actually earned first. If you felt the need, you could always address the issue in an essay or supplement to your application.
Good luck.
- Andrew