Re: question about gpa
[#permalink]
09 Jan 2008, 13:27
I think MBA gpa is relatively unimportant compared to the big factors (sop, gmat, pubs, ug gpa, name value of institutions, particularly undergrad and rigorous master's programs -- sorry, that excludes mba, and you'll understand why when you start your phd). Also, I understand (and so I think profs will as well) the vagaries of grading in mba classes in that they can be highly sensitive to things such as the team component and stupid mistakes because the tests are not too hard. Put it this way. When I talked to profs prior to applying, they'd ask me: where'd you go undergrad? what are you interested in and how did you get interested in those things? do you like research? Out of maybe 6-8 conversations, not a one of them asked me about my MBA. If anything, the bump in gpa might bump you up in some objective ordering of candidates more than the grade in strategy. And if I did care about the grades, I'd look past the strategy grades and look first at your grades in all your quant classes (stats, finance, math/engineering/science classes in your ug). So my advice is a preference towards submitting the update, recognizing that it likely won't make a difference anyhow, unless, for example, the gpa triggers some objective gate.