How will my low-GPA be looked based on my profile? Can it be overcome at all?
Transfer student from a California community college to a low tier University of California (think Merced, Santa Cruz, Riverside)
CC GPA: 2.98
UC GPA: 2.10
Was on academic probation but graduated in good standing from the UC.
Major: Mathematics
Calculus (series): C, B, B+, C+
Stats/Probability: A
GRE: 330 ( 168Q, 162V)
Work Exp: ~5 years (4 in FinTech as an analyst, with 1 promotion and 1 in IT, think software/hardware sales and sales engineering)
Started 1 non-profit, however no traction and it failed. Not sure how much this matters.
I was laid off last year, however after that I wanted to focus on health since I had an injury and had to get a surgery (I have a good story recovering from it), later wanted to focus on my travel goals and within community. I traveled across USA and Canada on land, from NYC to SF and Montreal to Vancouver. Did a trip in Euro.
I volunteer at an entrepreneur org, I wanted to learn from the people who scaled businesses successfully and from my mistakes of starting one prior. I have good leadership experience here. I also volunteer at an educational org, mentoring and event organizations. Apart from that I have some randoms exp volunteering at hospital, park clean ups.
I want to do an MBA to basically pivot, with a short term goal of consulting or bizops. I wanna get good as problem solving buisness issues, learn the nuances and learn how to scale and put together good teams. Long term is to start my own company, focused in FinTech.
Low GPA reason: Tbh its a mix of being new to the country, financially insecure, and providing for family, depression. My parents and I came here form another country, I was 18. Parents had to start from the scratch since they didn't come here sponsored by a nice job. They started from min wages, I had to chip in, also had a sister who was going to school. I think the pressure made run away from problems and "hide", I also thought I wouldn't be enough to help my family out and felt ashamed. But I got chipping away at college, slowly and not giving up despite academic probation and was finally able to graduate in good standing.
I networked my ass off to find a job, since GPA wasnt helping. I learned in the process how to network efficiently, build connections and maintain it. When I got the job I was sincere and did way better than I did in college. This created a positive cycle for me where I overcame things that hindered me prior. I made decent money, so I wasn't worried about finances, which led me to be happy overall and I was organized and saw what it takes to be successful in a work environment. My work was quant heavy, I have learned good deal of Excel and SQL in it and I also taught new hires and build training materials to on board them because I was good in my role. Also showed my academic maturity thru my GRE prep/score.
School I'm interested in: Tuck (dream), LBS (dream), Goizueta (reach), Darden (reach), Kelley, Jones, McCombs, Kenan-Flager, Foster.
Thoughts and input welcome on how I can further alleviate my profile.
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