How is your graduate or under graduate transcript? Weak. Let us define a weak grade - anything from B- and downwards. Admission committee is looking for consistency in your mark list. What if my marks were erratic?
Extra-curricular
Maybe, you are the type of person who got carried away with the extra-curricular activity, and as a result suffered in your academics. Can you prove it? This story can turn your weakness into your strength, if your extra-curricular had anything to do with leading or managing a team.
GMAT
If you do not have any good story to compensate your poor grades, a stellar GMAT score can come to your rescue. A 700+ GMAT score with a balanced verbal and quant scores can more than justify your lack of top grades.
Private Course
Join private courses in subjects where you were below par. This initiative would show that you are a pro-active person, the one who does not sulk in setbacks. This would also show how you value education and how serious you are in joining the course.
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.