Continuing with our blog series on application tips, it’s time to discuss academics. Academics are an important component of the application process because it is necessary for every admitted student to have a strong academic profile in order to do well in the MBA program. In considering the academic potential of each applicant, the admissions committee evaluates prior academic experience as well as tests, either the GMAT or GRE, as well as the TOEFL or IELTS (for applicants who earned their degree/s in a foreign country where the official language is something other than English). Although this blog will focus on academics, such as prior academic work, next week’s blog will cover tests so make sure to check back in with us.

When we evaluate prior academic experience, we thoroughly review undergraduate transcripts as well as graduate transcripts (if provided). In evaluating transcripts there are several things that we consider, including: the rigor of the school, the courseload associated with each major, as well as grade trends. So don’t worry too much if you got off to a slow start as long as you were able to improve your grades with time as you learned new study methods and got more comfortable with your major. In general we try to give applicants the benefit of the doubt, so a few lower grades can be offset by higher ones. Although not required, graduate coursework can contribute to a candidate’s academic profile, as can additional classes taken post-undergrad. Courses such as accounting, statistics, or economics are usually the best ones to show good academic preparation, but not required since we always want to admit students with diverse perspectives, including diverse academic backgrounds.

In terms of how we evaluate transcripts from universities around the world, we are familiar with the grading systems and relative rigor for each country, so we understand the context for each applicant’s performance. It is not necessary to convert grades to a 4.0 scale since we will examine transcripts according to the grading scale for the school attended.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, academics are only one part of the application process. To learn more about our application process, feel free to read our earlier two blogs covering our new essay and letters of recommendation and check back in with us over the next few weeks as we continue with our blog series on application tips. Good luck!