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TheAlbatross
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. Updated on: 13 Nov 2014, 11:27
Originally posted by TheAlbatross on 30 Jun 2014, 20:21.
Last edited by TheAlbatross on 13 Nov 2014, 11:27, edited 1 time in total.
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dtse86
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 01 Jul 2014, 05:55
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Hi GPAlbatross!

Welcome to the GMAT Club! I definitely feel your pain (I think I'm the other GPA that you saw :shock: :shh: ). College was a fun time, but on paper I've limited myself severely moving forward...

I'm starting my applications now and I'm aiming for all reach schools.

My advice to you is to keep your head up and focus on the upcoming GMAT!

It sounds like you have some excellent work experiences to draw on for you essays and I'm sure you'll have no problems getting into the right program for you!

If you're ever feeling down and out feel free to PM me or reach out to this awesome community! The support and information here is priceless and it inspires me to keep trucking on through my apps.

Good luck and let us know how your doing! :-D
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 01 Jul 2014, 06:32
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Just excel on the GMAT and add supplementary letter explaining your immaturity in college. If you have achievements in sports you could add that also.
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 01 Jul 2014, 17:22
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hey , i can understand how you feel but trust me its not the end of the world. I have a friend with an absolute horrible GPA which would be even lower than yours ,if he were to convert it , yet he managed to make it to a very good Canadian program. The key is to offset your GPA by a very strong GMAT score or as you are planning - an alternate transcript.

Its been done before and I am sure you will do it as well. Just give it all you have :)
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 02 Jul 2014, 09:22
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Many thousands more people have attended MBA programs than top 10 schools.
Sure it will be much harder to get into the top 10 (not impossible) but you can get into hundreds of other schools. It is not horrible or terrible. Many people here have gone to non-top-10 and have done very well for themselves. Some have even dropped plans to attend as they found really good jobs/opportunities and MBA was no longer a needed step to their end-goal.

There are many roads to the final destinations. MBA is just one of them, and it is not an easy one.
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 07 Jul 2014, 15:20
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A low GPA isn't the end of the line for your application. Frankly, most programs care about a low GPA less than your more recent accomplishments and the factors that will more directly affect their rankings (read: GMAT and employability/salary potential post-MBA). In your essays you will need to both explain your past performance (the eloquent and honest passage above is a good start) and detail with evidence why that phase of your life is no longer an accurate measure of how you would perform in an MBA program. Strong work performance will be key, but you might also consider enrolling in one or two applicable night courses to prove that you can now perform well in an academic environment.
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 21 Jul 2014, 23:17
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Hi,

So to balance out the low GPA, two thoughts come to mind:

- Since you've been out of school for a while, solid work experience essays/reco letters can significantly improve your story (as GPA becomes a less accurate indicator of your ability so long down the road)
- Work really hard on your GMAT to cover up for GPA
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 21 Jul 2014, 23:18
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Hi,

So to balance out the low GPA, two thoughts come to mind:

- Since you've been out of school for a while, solid work experience essays/reco letters can significantly improve your story (as GPA becomes a less accurate indicator of your ability so long down the road)
- Work really hard on your GMAT to cover up for GPA
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 24 Aug 2014, 18:14
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Have you considered going for your CFA designation? Is that common in the type of finance you are currently pursuing? Do you want to stay in finance, or switch careers? In many contexts (at least in the investment management world), a CFA with work experience is an acceptable substitute for MBA (although some places can be a bit snobby about getting Top 10 MBA grads).

I'm not an admissions consultant, but the hundreds or potentially thousands of dollars you might spend to get into an MBA program of some stature may still not yield the results you want (and then there's actually paying for the program). I also generally subscribe to the belief that your finishing degree should be equal to (or better) than your undergraduate institution in terms of prestige.

Why do you want your MBA? Is it just because your profession expects it? Nowhere in your post did I see any genuine desire to go back to school, other than to perhaps improve your academic record. Studying for CFA Level 2 in my opinion was harder than RC year finance courses at HBS - and getting the full designation is a recognition to be proud of.

I'd be interested in hearing more from you, OP.
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 06 Oct 2014, 07:58
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GPAlbatross

How's it going so far? Any updates on your GMAT or applications?
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. Updated on: 23 Dec 2014, 13:48
Originally posted by dtse86 on 21 Oct 2014, 05:33.
Last edited by dtse86 on 23 Dec 2014, 13:48, edited 1 time in total.
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Well, even though I didn't really start this thread, I thought I'd hijack it to vent a little.

It's been almost 6 months since I took the GMAT and convinced myself that I could get into business school. Like GPAlbatross, I knew I had an uphill battle from the start because of an abysmal undergad GPA, but after talking with several people over the months, doing endless research and even hiring a consultant, I thought I had a decent shot (calculated about a 50/50 chance of getting into at least one of my schools).

Now I know that it's still "early" in the b-school application season, however as I begin to see interviews begin to role out, I am starting to lose hope. I have been able to get one interview (from Kellogg however it appears they try to interview everyone), but after getting one clear ding I am getting another sinking feeling about the remaining schools. At this point, I think I'll be surprised with even one waitlist. I've already determined that I won't be applying to any more schools this year and I think once I get the official rejections from the other schools, I'll take a good long break away from all of this to see if I really want to make another go at it.

As a re-applicant next year, I don't know what I'll be able to do to make myself a stronger applicant. I've already gotten a masters degree and performed better than I did in undergrad (although still not stellar I guess). I can try and retake the GMAT (I do think that I could improve a little given I ran out of time just before answering the last IR question and I started both the Quant and Verbal sections late because my breaks ran longer than anticipated), however I've been told that it wouldn't do too much to improve my candidacy.

At the end of the day, maybe I'm just too much like everyone else, but with a past that has now finally come back to haunt me. I know there's a couple of more weeks before R1 is over, but I'm going to start to look for other ways to change my career. The unfortunate thing is that at this point in my career I think it's extremely hard to make a change without a degree and I do have more obligations (bills) now that I'm married and own our place (mortgage). As the years go by, it'll be even harder to make significant career changes due to these growing responsibilities.

For now, I'm just glad that I have gotten my thoughts out and I guess we'll see what the next few months brings.

Update: I got into Johnson and Tepper!! The entire story is here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/my-mba-application-journey-low-gpa-190683.html#p1461408
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 27 Oct 2014, 18:48
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I’m getting my applications done from CK (www<dot>careerkundali<dot>in). These guys have given me the kind of personalized attention I couldn’t have gotten from elsewhere. They are a start-up that’s growing very fast and give great service. Would highly recommend them. They’ve been on the admissions panel for Indian and international Universities so they also share the admissions officer’s perspective.
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My experience is just starting... and it sucks. 11 Dec 2014, 22:12
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Hang in there!