Admission Sync

Here is a great post suggesting ways to overcome low GPA

1) GMAT

Pedigree of the grades does matter.Does a 3.0 in Electrical Engineering from MIT equal a 3.0 in Female Anatomy Study from Party State University? Probably not, and the adcoms know this.
The GMAT is called “the great equalizer”. It also shows that applicants with low UG GPA are not necessarily stupid, but rather very capable of performing well in B-school.

2) Work
Consistent and sustained high performance, and thus promotions, at work show dedication and hard work. Also helpful is if your workload is quantitative  oriented. This will help overcome that D in Calc I as well as a lower GMAT quantitative score.

3) Alternate transcript
If your grades are low take quantitative courses such as calculus, stats, accounting, and finance to show that you have the quantitative skills to handle B-school.Get A grades in all of these courses!

4) Masters Degree
Take a Masters degree.It’s important to do well here. Try to get a 3.5 or higher GPA in grad school, especially since some school inflate their grad level grades.

5) Essay
Don’t make excuses, but tell the adcom that you’ve matured since your undergrad days. As a proof mention mention your recent performances - GMAT,Courses undertaken etc.
Remember, you can’t do anything about the UGPA at this point. Not all applicants at top schools have greats GPAs.

Even a top school like Columbia had a 10-90% GPA range of 2.9-3.8.

Suggested Further Readings

How to convert percentage grades to GPA?

GPA Conversion Part 2

Low GPA Stories

Advice About Low GPA

What Happens If My Undergraduate GPA Is Low?

Grade Point Average and Admissions

Rankings of Universities by Grade Point Average (GPA) Required

Rankings According to GPA Required

About GPA and Class Position

How a Grade/Mark Average or Percentage is calculated on a Non-4.0 Scale

Does Your GPA Really Matter?

Understanding GPA

How universities calculate your GPA

More on GPA

Pedigree of Grades does matter

LSAC’s View of GPA Conversion

Philosophy of GPA

Filed under: GPA, Overcoming Low GPA