Getting into a top school (academic history)

Academic history

You may have some explaining to do

Ah, youth. Those halcyon days of yore, when you blew off classes in college, got less than stellar grades, partied a little bit too much...and now it's coming back to haunt you. All may not be lost, however. Basically, schools want to be sure that you can do the work. Having a high percentage of students who flunk out doesn't exactly look all that wonderful on a school's fact sheet. If your grades were mediocre, the GMAT becomes a little more important. Again, a high score won't get you in, but it will reassure any members of the admissions committee who might have concerns regarding your academic abilities. If some of your grades were dismal, don't ignore them in the hopes that no one will notice. They will. Address these issues head on, explain what happened, and why it was a once-in-a-lifetime anomaly. If you've taken any other courses or classes since then in which you've received grades, bring those up. Anything that can help establish that you can handle the academic rigors of the most challenging b-school programs will only help your case.