I’ve just finished my second to last semester in college with only one more semester to go. To give a little background information, I started off good in college making mostly A’s and B’s, but at the time I wasn’t working. In the middle of my college career, I was in a bad situation in which I realized that I didn’t like my college major and ended up flunking out and changing majors. This was when I found out that I had depression and was undergoing a suicidal phase. My GPA dropped from a 3.7 to a 3.2.
During my junior year of college, which was after I changed my major, I ended up making wonderful grades. I made above a 3.5, but my overall GPA only came up to a 3.37. Now, I am in my senior year, and began to get upset over the fact that I wouldn’t graduate with Honors.
I took on an unbearable 17 semester hours, hoping that an extra class that I added on would help boost my GPA. Instead, it made things worse because it took away the time that I needed in order to focus on my other classes. I also worked at least 20-30 hours a week on a job.
Several things occured this semester. I had a death in the family. Unfortunately, because I had a test that week, I ended up skipping the funeral because the instructor is very unreasonable. My mind was on the death, and I was very upset that I didn’t go to the funeral. I ended up getting a C on the first test. During two other tests this semester, I ended up getting sick. Once I had to go to get emergency help after the test, with the result being a suspected ulcer in my stomach. I had to take things easy for the rest of the semester and stop worrying about making perfect grades.
I also had to get ready for class at 8 am and didn’t get home until 5 pm. I only had a 1 hour break between that time. After I got home, I was exhausted and only had 2 1/2 hours before I had to go to work. After work I was exhausted and didn’t feel like studying or doing homework. So yes, this was not a good semester for me.
The semester is over. Unfortunately I made no A’s. I had 5 final exams in one week, in addition to needing to work. My final grades were 6 B’s and 1 C. My GPA for this semester will be a 2.85, bringing my overall GPA back down to a 3.26. I have one more semester left, which is only 14 hours. I intend to focus on overcoming the previous semester’s GPA and focus on making an upward trend.
I recently decided that I wanted to go to Grad school to get an MBA because part of my curriculum in my major was to take business courses. The semester when I took all business courses was my best semester because I felt like I learned so much and it was my favorite semester in my whole college career. I just don’t feel too fulfilled in my undergrad major, and I am just ready to get out of college.
Many of you may not think that I will be a success in Grad school, but there are many things that you don’t know about me. I am a self learner. The MBA program is at a reputable college online. Basically, the several hours that I spend in class are a waste of my time. I get nothing out of sitting in class because the instructors basically teaches from the book. Due to me having very little time to self teach myself this semester led me to a low semester GPA.
Luckily, the Grad School that I want to attend takes into account the last 60 hours you took in undergrad. The minimum GPA is a 3.0. Even with the 2.85 semester, I will have well above a 3.0 because I had great GPA’s above a 3.5 in my Junior year. For my last semester, I intend to work really hard. Luckily, we won’t be in class all day, so I will have plenty of time to self-teach myself before I have to go to work. I plan to do really good.
My question is, do I still have a good chance of getting into Grad school although I made a 2.85 for one semester in college? I am beginning to study for the GMAT so that I can make well above their standards. I also intead to wait a year or two before I go to grad school to get some work experience.
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I think you have a good chance. Just do everything you can now to get into grad school. MBA is a lot easier to get into than Phd’s, because they charge you a whole lot.
I’m sure you have potentials – you will get into grad school, but it will be hard. Basically, you have to score really really high in GMAT to make up for your low GPA. You have to be in 99th percentile.
Work experience can help too – during applications, however, you need them to focus on how your work experience has helped you and how you can be better.
Good luck
I had below a 2.0 a couple of semesters and still made it into grad school. Provisionally, but I did get in. Most grad school do look at the last 60 hours in considering admissions. Get some experience and you will be fine. You may need a little higher GMAT score to help out a little, but you should be fine.
You should be able to get into a good MBA program with your record, but you should consider first working 2-4 years. MBA programs prefer students with 2-3 years work experience after the first degree. Some accept students right out of college if they have good grades and a high GMAT score. Some MBA programs are designed specifically for new college graduates without work experience. But in those programs you don’t get the benefit of learning from other students who have work experience. A lot of valuable learning takes place through class interaction. Also when you graduate your job offers will be about the same as a business undergraduate gets because you have no work experience, and you’ve been two years out of your undergraduate field so it’s hard to get work in that area.
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