Hello! I was wondering if you could answer an admissions question for me. Before I start, here are the stats:
University of Melbourne
Major: Engineering
Overall GPA: 2.99 (nearly 3.0!)
1st year 2.3
2nd year 2.6 (I even failed one class this year)
3rd year 3.5
4th year 3.7
Graudated with highest Honours (you need to finish at least 4 terms on Dean's Honours list) and was on the Dean's list 4 terms in the last 2 years.
Work Experience: I work for Google. Aside from creating great products, I started out in California and then 2 years ago made my way to Ireland to do something international. In total i have over 5 years of experience building great software
I've done well here, but i'm ready for something new.
Nationality: Australia/Malta. I speak French and Spanish also
GMAT 700
Schools I'm interested in: harvard, wharton, insead, london business school, cornell
The problem is those 2 years of low GPA in university. Even though it was 8-9 years ago, still haunts my application process. What happened? I had anxiety the first couple of years and it caused me to panic during my tests. I went to the doctor and he gave me an inhaler and then , voilla! i started getting A's. It's almost embarassing to even mention here. The question is , how could i incorporate this into my application, and do I really need to? I could write an optional essay, and just keep it short and say 'Due to health problems, I did not perform well in my first 2 years.. but now.. blah blah' -- but keep it very short. I could also write a funny essay about it and somehow integrate it into my current work experience and how it's changed my view on life.. but i feel like I have so much more interesting things to talk about in my experience instead of devoting an entire essay to an excuse.
Do you have any advice you can share with me?
Thanks
University of Melbourne
Major: Engineering
Overall GPA: 2.99 (nearly 3.0!)
1st year 2.3
2nd year 2.6 (I even failed one class this year)
3rd year 3.5
4th year 3.7
Graudated with highest Honours (you need to finish at least 4 terms on Dean's Honours list) and was on the Dean's list 4 terms in the last 2 years.
Work Experience: I work for Google. Aside from creating great products, I started out in California and then 2 years ago made my way to Ireland to do something international. In total i have over 5 years of experience building great software
I've done well here, but i'm ready for something new.Nationality: Australia/Malta. I speak French and Spanish also
GMAT 700
Schools I'm interested in: harvard, wharton, insead, london business school, cornell
The problem is those 2 years of low GPA in university. Even though it was 8-9 years ago, still haunts my application process. What happened? I had anxiety the first couple of years and it caused me to panic during my tests. I went to the doctor and he gave me an inhaler and then , voilla! i started getting A's. It's almost embarassing to even mention here. The question is , how could i incorporate this into my application, and do I really need to? I could write an optional essay, and just keep it short and say 'Due to health problems, I did not perform well in my first 2 years.. but now.. blah blah' -- but keep it very short. I could also write a funny essay about it and somehow integrate it into my current work experience and how it's changed my view on life.. but i feel like I have so much more interesting things to talk about in my experience instead of devoting an entire essay to an excuse.
Do you have any advice you can share with me?
Thanks
