1. Addressing Low GPA/Undergrad Percentages: PythaGurus
Captured in National Media
59% in Undergrad: Admitted to Global Top Schools? Do able?
You have Low Percentages/GPA in Graduation: How to be powerful in addressing your weaknesses
We did a nationwide article on this today and it is an important day for us. Today, we got full page
coverage in one of the National Dailies today “The Tribune” and it makes us feel proud to share with you
the acknowledgement we got from the community for the success we have created for you, your
friends, and their Friends J. Over the years, we have worked with people with very diverse backgrounds,
and one common thing that keeps the engine running is the stand we take for our consumers. We got so
much of love and appreciation from you over these years. You do not know a secret “We have learnt a
lot from you- There are so many of you with different mindsets, different experiences, and different
aspirations”
http://epaper.tribuneindia.com/351917/Jobs-Careers/JC_08_October_2014#page/3/1
Through this article, I wanted to reach out to the masses and address concerns on the Low GPA’s and
recommend ways to overcome the limitations. Pasting the article below for your reference: all of you
can take actions to get over the past performance.
• I do not have good scores in my graduation. Will that affect my chances into an MBA programme?
Think about it this way: Why is a school concerned about your past? Why is a school concerned about
your graduation scores? In India, most of the universities consider your 10th and 12th scores as a factor
for elimination. However, for most of the international MBA programs, the past performance is
reflective of the candidate’s ability to manage the rigor of the future programs. “If the candidate has
done well in the past, he is very likely to do well in the future too” is the thought process, considering
the fact that most of these schools are known for VERY rigorous programs. Even though these Business
schools do not consider your scores in 10th and 12th, your performance in Graduation plays an integral

2. role. That being said, this is subjective and there are ways to overcome the limitations you have in your
past academic performance. There are many candidates we have worked with in the past, and we could
identify many successful strategies to get them admitted to top tier programs such as Wharton,
Columbia, Duke, Chicago Booth, London Business School, Insead, and many more international
programs in the Tier 1 League. Let us look at some of the ways to fill in for the academic gaps:
- GPA Conversion: Always start your assessment with the GPA conversion. Do not do the conversion
yourself. Instead, reach out to renowned bodies such as www.wes.org(World education Services). They
have tools to convert your Indian percentages into international GPA’s. 65% in graduation has different
connotation for Engineering, English Honors, BSC, Law, and Humanities. In order to compare apples to
apples, you need to get those converted to an internationally accepted number. Get it done by
professionals (Such as the one above). Just as the schools accept your GMAT Scores, they also accept the
GPA Transcripts from some of these professional bodies. After the GPA conversion, if your 58% in BA
translates into a 3.3 GPA (It might), it is not as bad as you thought.
- Performance in Math, Statistics, Accounting, Finance, and related subjects: If your overall GPA was
low, but you fared well in some subjects that are of more interest to the school than the others,
highlight those in the optional essay. Tell the school that you were not driven by the absolute numbers
and were not a part of the rat race, but you did exceptionally well in the areas that should matter to the
school. As long as you can prove your mettle, you will be able to assuage the concerns of the school.
- Other Activities: Imagine you walked into your graduation college in India and decided to work on skill
sets other than academics. You can highlight that started actively participating in the club activities, or
played an integral role in managing the annual fest, or were a part of dramatics club, or were managing
budgets, or the placements of your college, you need to highlight those. The schools need to understand
your reasons for being excellent in the academic areas. As long as you can highlight the other
transferrable skills that you picked up in your graduation experience, you will do fine. Most of the
schools will have optional essays. Use them as blank cheques, and talk about these experiences.
Remember: Just do not elaborate on these experiences. Schools are more interested in knowing why
these were important for you.
- Pick up Relevant courses now: Visit Coursera (Google it) and identify some of the international
universities such as University of Pennsylvania (Wharton school of business), University of Michigan,
University of Virginia (Darden Graduate school of business). Pick up courses in Finance, accounting,
statistics, and showcase your performance in those courses. Most of these courses are not very
expensive, and are of international repute. Pursue them before apply and highlight them in your
application. Schools will gauge your seriousness and your low performance in graduation will drown out
to a great extent.
Source: http://pythagurus.in/blog/addressing-low-gpaundergrad-percentages-pythagurus-captured-
in-national-media/