High undergrad GPA and low grad GPA

Long story short, I graduated from top 20 college with 3.9 undergrad GPA (BS in Economics). After I graduated, I started working for my family business which is in real estate industry. While working for my family, I pursued part-time master's degree in real estate finance and I graduated with 3.1 GPA. I was bad at time managing between the work and the school. I am planning to apply for M7 this year or next year to make a shift in career to investment banking. I have 740 GMAT with a few leadership positions (extracurricular) under my belt.

I was wondering if I can actually omit the part that I did part-time master's degree if the gpa actually can hurt the odds of getting into M7.

I would appreciate any comments.

4 Comments
 

Most schools will ask you to report any universities you attended (and they can verify this info later via background check) so you can't omit it completely. Since every applicant has an undergrad GPA (but not everyone will have an additional MS one), that typically has more weight in the process. So I don't think it should hurt you too much, given the strength of your GMAT and undergrad GPA. If there's context that would be helpful to explain about the MS GPA, you can use the optional essay to address it.

Kate Richardson Senior Consultant, mbaMission www.mbamission.com Sign up for a free phone consultation: https://www.mbamission.com/consult/
 

As Kate wrote, most schools will ask about all grades in all classes taken for credit since high school. If you are asked, you CANNOT omit.

You do need to provide context and evidence that the same thing won't happen again.

Will it hurt? Possibly, but you can't turn back the clock. Submit a stellar application focusing on your strengths and accomplishments, use the add'l info section in most apps to point to your undergrad performance and the fact that you will devote yourself 100% to the MBA while in bschool so that your performance will be more like your undergrad performance that the PT grad.

Best, Linda

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting
 

Thank you both for your comments. Would the fact that I have master's degree be appeared in the background check if I didn't apply for financial aid or anything that would show in the system other than the school itself's?

I mean if I lie about having a master's degree without actually having it is lie and fabrication. However, not mentioning the fact that I have a master's degree if I don't feel like to could be justified... isn't it?

I don't really want anything negativity on my credential...

 
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Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting

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