By the way, I recently learned about a Twitter-related phenomenon called “tweet-ups” that have been popping up around the globe and are becoming really popular. These “tweet-ups” are a play on the phrase “meet-up” and involve a group of people coordinating over Twitter to meet as a group at some predetermined place and time. It has been suggested that I start organizing tweet-ups as a way for the diverse members of my reader community to meet each other and network. Would there be any interest in this sort of thing? I’d probably start off with one in Chicago, but then I would set up more of them as I visit other cities on my personal travels. I’m still working the idea through my mind, but I’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback that folks have on the idea. Thanks and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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JG wrote:
Hi Marquis,
My name is JG, i am 26 year old spaniard currently getting ready to apply to some of the top MBA programs in the US to pursue a career in management consulting after it. I have gone through some of the entries in your blog covering other people that just like me, are wondering if the flaw they see in their resume may finish with their options to be accepted in a Top BS. However, my concern is not really age (as some of your other readers), it has more to do with GPA (which i haven’t seen any entry about).
Let me start with my background so you have some base to comment. Currently i am working in Spain for Cisco as a Consulting engineer. I got hired by them through their graduate talent program at European level (after the admission process i was the first ranked candidate, or so my manager told me). I have worked for them in Brussels and now here in Spain. Previously i worked in Paris with another networking company. I am also in the board of a small charity based in the US. By the time i start my MBA i will have a full 4 years of working experience.
During my studies i lived in Sweden on a Erasmus scholarship for a year to do my Master’s thesis (i am a MSc. in telecommunications engineering) while the rest of them were done in my hometown in Spain.
My main concern about the application for those Top MBA programs (Standford, NYU, Columbia…) is how my grades from my spanish university translate to GPA. The issue is that until recently, our engineering school grading system was heavily outdated. The most common grade was a simple pass (which translates to a 1 in GPA) or a failed, and if somehow you achieved something extraordinary a “notable” (a 2 in GPA), anything over that was almost unheard of (even if technically possible). It wasn’t rare to have 4 students passing an exam and about a 100 failing it for the hardest courses (it happened in algebra my first year). Even wikipedia reflects this issue: “Since these grades are given on the teacher’s discretion, there is no easy correspondence to the ECTS grading scale, which is based on the class percentile of passed students in a given assessment” from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_Spain.
On top of it, at that time i was playing rugby for my city’s team, which is in the second national division and i used to practice for about 4 hours a day. All of it makes that when translating my grades to GPA, they look awful (like 1.5).
Recruiters from some schools (european, though) told me that if i score high enough in the GMAT (750 is my goal) and considering my background, international orientation, extracurricular activities and posterior studies (i am a CCIE, which is a professional certification in the networking area which only has about a 7% passing rate on the first attempt and i can say that i passed it on my first attempt) that competitive disadvantage could be overcome.
Which is your view about it? Could you give me some advice? Will that awful GPA disqualify me straight away?
To finish, i would like to say that i am learning a lot from your blog and i really look forward to hearing back from you. And i apologize if this email is too long!!
Best regards!
JG
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My video response:
MBA aspirant from Spain seeking advice about GPA from Marquis Parker on Vimeo.
Key points:
- A low GPA shouldn’t disqualify you right away, but it could be an issue
– Admissions committee members understand issues like this because they get applications from across the globe and have to deal with a wide range of nation-specific grading schemes
– My recommendation would be the explain the situation in the “Additional Information” essay in each business application to provide some context around the low GPA that results after translating the Spain-formatted GPA
– Also, it would be a good idea to print out the Wikipedia article referenced above, include in the supplemental documents submitted for each application, and reference that Wikipedia article in the “Additional Information” essay
- Focus on the other parts of the application to account for any negative impact from the GPA issue
– Develop a killer MBA story (review some of my archived blog entries for advice on this)
– Knock out the GMAT and get as high a score as possible (aim for 700+)
– Present a strong set of extracurricular activities and accomplishments
– Get a GREAT set of recommendations from people who can vouch for you as a strong MBA applicant
