Mention academic discipline action in the optional essay

[Kiran Taneja]

Hi,
I am trying to apply for Insead and wondering if I should mention my academic discipline action in college which resulted in a NO pass in that class in my optional essay. Please let me know if should ignore this topic or try to explain what happened. I have a 720 on my GMAT and 3.5 GPA with an engineering background and both management and engineering work experience.

[Bryant@VeritasPrep]

Good question. I think the answer is "it depends." Is the academic discipline something that shows up on your transcript, or is it just indicated as a "NO PASS?" If it's the latter, and the rest of your marks are fine, I would not bother explaining it. If there is an indication on the transcript of academic discipline, however, you might be wise to present the story to the committee as yousuggest, lest they read too much into it and arrive at the wrong conclusions.