Please help - Low GPA in undergrad

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Please help - Low GPA in undergrad

by vanillasky » Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:09 pm
Hi,

First I appreciate the great service you are providing.

I have my Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from Bangalore University India and I graduated in 1995. I did not do well in my engineering degree, partly becauseI was caught up with the wrong group of friends, and partly because I was unable to adjust to the college atmosphere being away from home. Added to that it was really
hard in Bangalore University engineering exams to get high marks in the subjects. During the course I failed in some subjects and passed in those subjects with later attempts. I also took an additional year to clear out the backlog before I completed the degree.

Since past fifteen years I have been working in the IT industry, 12 years in the US. I'm a US citizen and currently working as a Project Lead for a fortune 500 company. I know I have a bad academic record in undergrad, but I want to pursue MBA for advancement in my career, and I'm commited about it. I'm not planning to apply for top colleges, but
planning to apply for part time MBA at a local university college which is not ranked.

I'm planning to apply for spring 2010, and sheduled to take GMAT in October. The problem is I have recently evaluated my engineering degree with ECE, and it came back with a very low GPA of 1.6. I came to know from the admissions office earlier, that if an applicant has less than 2.0 GPA in the last 60 hours of undergrad, or if the GMAT score is less than 400 he/she will be automatically denied. I'm confident that I can get a score in GMAT higher than what the college needs, may be be 550+ . But do you think should I apply with such a low GPA? In my situation will my GMAT score and work experience overcome the low GPA and put me in a better standing to be accepted?

Thanks a bunch in advance,

RB.
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by Lisa Anderson » Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:48 am
Dear RB,

If you score over a 600 on the GMAT, then I do think you should apply to the local, part-time program. Since your college days are over 15 years ago and you have a successful track record in your career, I think the school might be willing to give you chance despite the low GPA. Finally, I would encourage you to speak with the admissions office after you have your GMAT score to get an idea of how they will view your situation. Do not give up hope! I think there is a program out there that will see how much you have accomplished recently and view the GMAT score as the better indicator of your academic ability now.

Good luck,
Lisa
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by vanillasky » Fri Aug 07, 2009 2:45 pm
Lisa,

Thank you so much for your quick and encouraging response. For now I will focus on the GMAT to score above 600, and take it from there.

RB.