vincenm wrote:Hi

Background:
I have a CGPA of 6.3/10 from NIT Warangal ,which is consistently in the top 10 National rankings, and I majored in Electronics Engineering.

The major has the toughest curriculum and grading standards among the majors in my college. If I had taken a simpler major my GPA would have been much higher.

GPA trajectory:
I started at 7.x range in freshmen year but once I started to study my major in 2nd year , my GPA crashed. This continued to my 3rd year. In final year I studied harder and raised the GPA up for the 2 semesters but not as high as my freshmen GPA.

Issues:
I chose my major without doing any research on the subject as I was just going after the money I will receive in my job once I graduate the college with that major. As I started to study the courses for the major I realized that I didn't like the subject at all. I lost interest and diverted my full attention to Extracurricular activities for the 2nd and 3rd year.

What changed for me :
But in final year I had some kind of epiphany and realized that I should have worked harder on my GPA as the recruitment season started in final year.

I doubled down on study , along with working on more extracurricular responsibilities as well, and was able t o raise my GPA . In the first semester I got place with a company but I wasn't satisfied. I practiced harder for the upcoming job opportunities.

In the last semester , I got placed in another company with a pay package that was double of that I got in my first job placement.

I was able to get GMAT score of 680 by balancing 10-12 hours of office time . ANd to not repeat the mistake of choosing the wrong major , I did extensive research on the potential schools and the ST and LT goals of my career .

In short : My 2 year low GPA streak was because I lost interest in the course because of my bad research and my post college goal of getting a high paying job.


Should I explain all these points in my optional essay ? Is there any points that you think that shouldnt be mentioned at all ?

I would like to hear your opinions on how I can proceed on this issue. Thanks in advance.

1. It is not clear what stage of the career you are in. Have you just graduated or do you have say 5 years of experience? Are you planning to go for your MBA this year or in a few years. The question is important because as you gain more experience, your grades start becoming relatively less important - dont get me wrong, they will still matter, but the relative importance goes down. This is more so, if you are able to carve a stellar trajectory at work. Some insights on where you stand in your career though is required to give a better answer to your query
2. In general, I personally do not recommend highlighting this in the optional essay because for every one like you, there are likely to be 10 others who did good in ECs AND in academics AND got great jobs. Of course, this is again relative to what you are aiming for and what's gonna be the competition. But unless there are some really extenuating circumstances, anything you say is likely to come across as an excuse in the optional essay. Besides, this is not really 'low', maybe just tad below average I suppose? You might just skip it entirely
3. What you should however do is to have things in your profile that overcome this to some extent. Like I said, the grades are not going anywhere. But a stellar career record, great GMAT, some additions coursework and the likes can be various ways you can showcase to the adcom that the GPA is a thing of the past!