Explaining a Bad Year

Hey everyone,

Background: I go to a Target Ivy League school

Cumulative GPA: Around a 3.7.

I finished first year with a 3.95/4.0 GPA, I finished second year with about a 3.5/4.0 GPA.

In my second year, I got 7 grades in the A range, and 5 in the B range (I also took 2 summer classes and got 2 A+'s in them, neither were bird courses, they were quant economics classes). There was no consistency in the classes I did good or bad in (i.e., one semester I'd get a B in the Finance class, the next semester I got an A in a finance class, and then I'd get a B in a qual class one semester, and an A next semester, or a B second semester, and an A first semester.... you get the idea).

My cumulative GPA is >3.7, but of course, I missed the Dean's List in my second year (it is only based on Fall/Winter term GPA when I had a lower than 3.5).

I know I'm going to get dinged for this downward trend. My semester GPA breakdown in my second year was fall semester had a 3.3 GPA, winter semester 3.5 GPA (got all A's in the winter except one B- which screwed everything up...), and summer semester taking 2 classes was a 4.0 GPA. I need to know how to explain it.

Honest truth why I did much worse? I got really cocky after a successful first year, did well until exams came along first semester during my second year, and got killed. Moral of the story: Don't skip class guys. Same thing happened second semester for one exam (I did much better on the other five exams).

Of course, I regret this, I took my summer courses to show them an upward trend, that I am willing to work hard, that I regret it. The rest of my resume looks good: Good work and volunteer experience, winner of several case competitions, etc.

So when the interviewer in an interview looks at a 3.95 first year, and then a much lower GPA second year, what can I say without sounding like a whining kid or making excuses? What would you say, or if you were the interviewer, what would want to be told? I'm not asking for a lie, I'm asking the do's and don'ts. My idea is to just say I accept full responsibility for the lackluster performance, it was entirely my fault and I got full of myself after first year, I took summer classes to show you guys I'm still a hardworker and it was a one year thing that won't happen again, and that there isn't a day that has gone by that I haven't thought of how hard I screwed my credibility up.

My target industry is consulting by the way.

Any help/advice would be really appreciated.