MBA Application essay explaining low GPA

I have to explain my low gpa in this essay.True experience, but I got differing views from people.
Is this essay convincing ?

There are moments in your life when going gets tough. When your back is against the wall, quitting is very easy. These are the moments that can shape you as a person. My first couple of years in college was an epic struggle. There were moments when I wanted to give it up and go back home. As a 17 year old, it was not easy going to a place 1700 kms away from your home and with a completely different culture. The food was just not my type and on top of that , I could not speak one word of Hindi, the language commonly spoken there. Very soon the weather turned into a harsh winter. I found my self falling sick a lot of times and I was too drained mentally to concentrate on studies.

I had not realized the challenges I signed up for. But the college carried a good reputation and I was not yet ready to call it quits.Slowly I got accustomed to the place, got a hang of the language and more importantly ,made new friends.It was in my final year that I really started enjoying the work I did. My final year project is easily the best bit of work I did during those 4 years ,for which I got an A grade. Now I look back with pride to the fact that I decided to give it a fight and came out better off. It was a very valuable lesson in my life, which no course work could teach me.

Ashwin, the reasons you gave also sound more like you suffered from homesickness than anything else while at college. The reasons you gave were really quite shallow (you did not like the food? Really? How did that affect your GPA?) A convincing reason for this type of statement is normally medical or academic in nature. Maybe you did not like the major that you chose before. Maybe you got severely ill during the semester and it affected your academic performance. But homesickness is not always an accepted excuse for a low GPA.

You can try to use this statement as it is though. While we may question the validity of your claims, we do not really know what sort of explanation regarding a low GPA the reviewer will accept. I can understand why you got mixed reviews for this from your friends and peers. Your story does not exactly respond to the prompt. Your last portion does not continue to explain why you had a low GPA. So you cannot use that portion in this statement.

Are these the real reasons you had a low GPA? If this is the truth then have faith that it will be seen as such by the reviewer and in the process, help your application. If I were you, I would blame the low GPA on the fact that I did not speak Hindi, which is the language that was used in the university you were attending. That is definitely the best reason to produce a low GPA. After all, how can you learn if you cannot understand what was being taught?

Thanks a lot vangsiespen .
It is now quite cleat that the world loves to turn a blind eye to the torments of a troubled teenager.
I will find some other way to explain this.

I actually think you did a good job, and that you did explain your situation.
Many students do have a hard time adjusting to school, but that doesn't make it any less valid!

falling sick a lot of times...

I'm sure that you are not exaggerating your experience, and I do think this is a valid excuse. Even if it was your mental health, that counts as health.

I decided to give it a fight...

So you have something to be proud of! Fighting alienation and anxiety and depression is convincing if your good character.

Some people may find this hard to empathize with, if they have never experienced it, but again, you lived it.

Trying to adjust to new cultural environmental factors to you may not be all subjective, however. I think it is a universal experience.

Stick to your point, and have confidence! You do have to believe in your answer/reason as was said, and that will shine through then.

Good luck!

ef_carol

- ..when the going gets tough.
- quitting to quit is very easy.
- I wanted to give it up and go back home.
- ...away from your home and
- ButHowever, the college carried...
- ...in my life,whichthat no course work could teach me.

So you asked if this part of your application essay is convincing, I say yes, given the conditions that you have elaborated in the essay.

It is really a challenge when you're new to town and you try to blend in. It takes a lot of effort, time and long nights to think about how you're going to interact with the people around you. However, days and nights will pass and when you do good and hope for the best of everyone, everything will fall into place.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope my remarks help.