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I feel like I have a pretty well-rounded story about my GPA to address in the failure essay. In high school, I graduated top 10 of my class, 4.5 GPA, 1500 SAT, varsity hockey team & tennis team, Eagle Scout, etc. I was accepted to the Scholar's program at Carnegie Mellon. DUe to financial troubles in my family, I then transferred to penn state. At penn state, I sort of lost myself and did a little bit too much partying, etc. As a result, my grades suffered and I graduated with a GPA of 3.1.

I think that I can craft a pretty good essay from this talking about how I matured from the experience, and then demonstrate how I matured with my accomplishments in my career.

Do you think this is a good way to approach my failure essay? Or will the Adcom just roll their eyes at another GPA story?

If you can effectively communicate why your low GPA was a failure for you and what you learned from the experience, then it is an appropriate topic for the essay. Be sure to note your "lessons learned" and why you will not make the same mistakes again.

The adcoms are used to the GPA stories, so don't worry about that angle. Keep those details in and your story will stand out because it's yours--unique to you because of the details. While a 3.1 is nothing to really apologize for, because you can work in a story around being an Eagle scout and 1500 SAT, etc plus how you have matured etc. as you mention, I think it's worth it to contribute a thoughtful, CONCISE optional essay on your GPA.

bryantmichaels wrote:The adcoms are used to the GPA stories, so don't worry about that angle. Keep those details in and your story will stand out because it's yours--unique to you because of the details. While a 3.1 is nothing to really apologize for, because you can work in a story around being an Eagle scout and 1500 SAT, etc plus how you have matured etc. as you mention, I think it's worth it to contribute a thoughtful, CONCISE optional essay on your GPA.

What are your thoughts on using this story for a failure essay as opposed to an optional essay? Thanks again.

yes also a good topic for a failure essay if that is an option.