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Hi,

I've done my undergrad from Mumbai (Bombay) University, India. Different universities in India have different grading even though most of them follow the Percentage system

For example, a First Class (60% to 75%) is considered a good score in Mumbai University (which has an extremely difficult grading system) but may be an average score in universities in other parts of India.

My score was 65% which might seem like a poor score to someone not familiar with the grading. Should I write an optional essay explaining this? Unfortunately, I can only guess what percentile my score would be (my guess 85%) but there are no official percentile-records that the university maintains.

I'm also aware that most business schools do not ask the applicants to convert their scores to GPA.

I also have a Masters degree from a renowned engineering school in the US with a very good GPA. Can I put all this in the optional essay and ask the schools to assess my academic ability based on my grades in the Masters program since they're standardized?

I read in some thread that one student (also from my university) was asked by Wharton to explain the reasons for his poor undergrad score. He had a similar score (65%) which is actually 'First Class' and a good score in Mumbai University. If a school like Wharton (which I'm sure receives many applications from all over the world) is not familiar with the grading of Mumbai University, chances are that other schools might not very very familiar too.

I'm applying to part-time programs and have 5+ years of experience working in a Fortune 500 company in the US.

Thanks!