LOW GPA: What you can do

LOW GPA: What you can do

What is a low GPA?

Why GPA is important:

• GPA is a clear indication of how you performed in college in the past, so business school can have a fair idea of how you will perform in the school by simple correlation.
  
  
• Often, the progression in GPA values is more important than the mean GPA itself, as an ascending GPA is often regarded as a highly valuable asset in your profile. So even if you have a relatively lower GPA than the school median figure, the fact that you have improved throughout your college semesters mean that you have been persevering and consistent.
  
  
• Higher grades, especially those in quant subjects, is indicative of your reasoning abilities and acts as an assurance that you will be able to survive the academic challenges of a business program.

How to overcome low GPA in business school application:

• Ace your GMAT: Chances are that, if you are an international candidate, your high GPA might not be as valued as those studying in US/Europe. The GMAT is a common platform and your score is equally valuable as that for your international competitors and becomes the most effective way to stand out. A 700+ score is always helpful and especially if you get a score which is higher than the median score of the school you are applying to.
  
  
• Alternative transcripts and certifications: These are great add-ons to your academic evaluations. Of course, these cannot increase your GPA but it can surely act as a guarantee that you can do well in the MBA program. Make sure to take quant courses such as finance, accounting, calculus, probability and statistics and make sure you get all A’s. Community colleges or even online programs can come of help with these, but please be certain that alternative transcripts do not erase your GPA problem. See this link for a couple of courses to consider: https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x459.xml#5
  Cerifications such as CFA, PMP, CSQL can come in handy, but make sure they are strongly tied to your story and goals for them to make a stronger impact.
  
  
• Your story: As always, your story is your best bet when you want to overcome/compensate for your low GPA. Explore the reasons that led to your GPA problems and make them your strengths. Were you working somewhere part time/full time while you were in college? Were you involved in very strong extra curricular and achieved significant results albeit with some sacrifices on the GPA front? Were you into serious national level sports? Not only these can give you tools to defend your GPA but also they can act as incredible story telling topics which the adcoms will love, provided they are aligned with your short/long term goals.
  
  
• Other facets of your application: Like your GMAT score, your GPA is also one part of your entire application and thus has limited effect in your admission. Make sure you use your essays , LOR, EC and most importantly your story so as to compensate for your GPA issues. There have been and still continues to be a massive number of applicants who did not get straight A’s but got admitted in top 10 schools and so can you. Here are a couple of inspirational profiles who got in with a relatively lower GPA/GMAT: profiles-admitted-to-top-b-schools-w-low-gmat-or-low-gpa-73999.html

Correlation Data with GPA and GMAT

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